Apocalypse Baby

Chapter 42 Assault

Alex stared at the skill description one last time, committing every word to memory.

[Titan's Fury: Double your strength for 30 seconds, making your attacks nearly unstoppable and allowing you to break through defenses. Drawback: After 30 seconds, strength and stamina are reduced by 50% for 15 minutes.]

The trade-off was brutal, but at this point, Alex had no other choice. He clenched his fists, his resolve hardening like the ice around him.

"If I can finish this in thirty seconds..." he muttered, his voice firm, "then it's worth it."

He took a deep breath, steeling himself.

"Titan's Fury!"

The moment he activated the skill, an explosion of raw energy erupted from his body.

The ice crucifix holding him shattered instantly, shards of frozen debris shooting out in all directions.

The sheer force of the release was enough to shake the ground, sending shockwaves rippling through the frozen wasteland.

The cockatrice king instinctively shielded itself with its massive feathered wings as icy debris rained down.

It hissed in confusion, its sharp eyes scanning through the swirling frost and fumes.

Then, Alex emerged.

His figure cut a menacing silhouette as the icy mist cleared.

His aura glowed an ominous red, crackling like flames in the cold air.

His muscles tensed, veins pulsing with an overwhelming power that coursed through him like a roaring river.

Even the air around him seemed to vibrate under the weight of his presence.

The cockatrice froze momentarily, its confidence faltering as it sensed the shift in Alex's aura.

Whatever this was, it wasn't the same opponent it had been toying with moments ago.

Alex's body trembled—not from weakness, but from the sheer intensity of the strength now surging through him.

His vision narrowed, locking solely on the cockatrice king as he put on [Fury Gaunlets]

His breathing was heavy, almost animalistic as if the power demanded to be unleashed.

Rage and adrenaline coiled within him like a spring ready to snap.

His mind was laser-focused on one thing: destroying the creature that had tormented him since his arrival in this twisted "tutorial."

The cockatrice king hissed, his mind racing as he assessed the situation.

Dozens of jagged ice spikes materialized in the air behind him, each one gleaming dangerously under the faint light, all aimed at Alex, their sharp tips glinting like deadly spears.

This human had been troublesome enough before, but now? Now he was something else entirely.

The surge of power emanating from Alex was terrifying, a strength that no D-rank fighter should possess.

The cockatrice's thoughts churned, anger bubbling within him.

How can a mere D-rank be this strong? This shouldn't be possible.

He clenched his talons into the frozen ground, his evolved form straining to maintain its power.

He could feel the energy he'd poured into this transformation waning.

His body wasn't built to sustain this state for long—it was only a matter of time before he reverted.

And once that happened, he'd need days, maybe weeks, to recover.

To make things worse, his flock was gone, shattered by the very intruder standing before him.

Rebuilding them would be an exhausting, painstaking process.

Alex's interference had ruined everything.

The cockatrice's fury burned hotter than ever, a seething hatred for the defiant human standing before him.

Why here? Why now? Why did such a troublesome creature have to appear in my territory? Why couldn't he have been someone else's problem?

But even as his anger threatened to consume him, Murzok forced himself to focus.

There was no point in dwelling on these thoughts.

Complaining wouldn't change the fact that Alex was here, and he needed to be eliminated before it was too late.

The cockatrice bared his fangs, his eyes glowing with icy determination.

A lower rank? Defeat me? Impossible.

The cockatrice king's Mana Freeze ability was still active, locking down Alex's active skills and keeping him from unleashing his usual arsenal of abilities.

That gave the king a sense of superiority—he believed this advantage would be enough to claim victory.

Alex's explosive power from earlier? A nightmare to deal with, especially when paired with that strength-enhancing skill he'd activated.

But even now, with Alex radiating raw energy, Murzok was confident he could end this fight before his evolved form burned out.

Raising his clawed wings, the cockatrice king summoned a storm of ice spikes—hundreds of them, all razor-sharp and glinting in the cold light.

With a screech of determination, he launched them toward Alex, creating a blizzard of death aimed directly at the human.

This was it. The fight would end here.

But Murzok made one fatal mistake.

He underestimated his opponent...Severely.

Before he could even register what had gone wrong, a sudden blur streaked through the frozen battlefield.

And then—

BOOM!

Alex's fist, enhanced by the glowing red power of his [Fury Gauntlet], smashed into the cockatrice king's face with the force of a meteor.

The sound of the impact echoed through the forest like thunder.

Murzok's head snapped violently to the side, the shockwave from the punch cracking his once-impenetrable beak.

His vision blurred, the world spinning out of control as he rocketed backward like a cannonball.

CRASH!

The cockatrice king slammed through the first tree, splinters flying everywhere.

CRUNCH!

The second tree exploded into icy shards as his body plowed through it.

THUD!

The third tree buckled, sending a cascade of frozen leaves into the air.

By the time Murzok's back slammed into the fifth tree, he finally stopped, his massive body crumpling against the trunk with a dull, resounding WHAM.

"Gaaah!"

Murzok let out a guttural cry, blood dripping from its cracked beak.

Its once-imposing icy scales were shattered into tiny, glittering shards, offering no protection against Alex's devastating blow.

The impact had left its body reeling, and the cockatrice king lay there, stunned and disoriented, its mind scrambling to process what had just happened.

What... what was that?

It tried to move its neck but failed. Pain shot through its body, and it realized with dread that its neck was stuck, forcibly twisted to the side by the sheer force of Alex's punch.

The world around Murzok blurred, but one thing was clear—Alex was already in front of him again.

His eyes glowed an ominous red, like a demon emerging from the depths of hell. His clenched fists trembled with unrelenting fury, and his breath was heavy with adrenaline.

Murzok's heart pounded in panic.

He wasn't used to fear, but now it gripped him like a vice.

Desperate, the cockatrice king raised its claws and conjured an ice barrier, a thick, crystalline shield to protect itself.

CRACK!

Alex's fist slammed into the barrier, sending a web of fractures rippling across its surface.

The cockatrice widened its eyes. That was impossible!

But Alex didn't stop.

With another ground-shaking punch, the ice shield shattered into jagged pieces, scattering in all directions like broken glass.

"Aaaah!" Murzok shrieked, panic and pain mingling in its cry.

Before it could even think of a counterattack, Alex reached down, grabbing the cockatrice king by its tail.

"You're not going anywhere," Alex growled, his voice low and menacing.

With a primal roar, Alex lifted Murzok off the ground. The cockatrice thrashed, its wings flailing wildly, but Alex's grip was unyielding.

In one swift motion, Alex slammed the massive creature into the frozen earth with enough force to crack the icy ground beneath them.

The impact sent tremors through the forest, chunks of ice and snow flying into the air.

Not done yet, Alex twisted his body, using every ounce of his enhanced strength to hurl the cockatrice king into the distance.

Murzok's body sailed through the air like a ragdoll, smashing through branches and leaving a trail of destruction before skidding to a halt in the snow.

The cockatrice slammed into a tree, splinters flying from the impact, but it managed to steady itself just before colliding with another.

With a guttural roar of fury, it unleashed a swarm of feather blades, a storm of icy projectiles as dense as a locust swarm, all aimed at Alex.

But the blades struck nothing but air.

Above the cockatrice, Alex descended like a meteor, slamming his boots onto the creature's back with a bone-rattling impact.

The cockatrice screeched in panic, thrashing beneath him. It tried to escape, knowing it couldn't afford to be pinned under its enemy.

But as it struggled, it realized something horrifying: its own feather blades, the ones meant to kill Alex, had been driven into the ground, trapping its wings and pinning it in place.

Alex stood atop the struggling beast, his fist drawn back, the raw power radiating from him like heat waves.

And then the assault began.

BAM!

The first punch landed squarely on the cockatrice's head, forcing its beak into the icy ground.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

One blow after another rained down, relentless and unmerciful.

Each strike sent shockwaves through the ground, creating cracks in the frozen earth.

The cockatrice screeched, trying desperately to fight back, but the sheer force of Alex's attacks left it reeling.

It attempted to flap its wings to break free, but Alex caught one mid-thrust.

RIP!

With a sickening tear, Alex wrenched the wing from the cockatrice's body, tossing it aside like discarded trash.

The beast howled in agony, its cries echoing through the frozen forest, but Alex growled:

"Shut up,"

He grabbed Murzok's face, and slammed its head back into the ground with brutal force, the ice shattering beneath the impact, shards flying in all directions.

The cockatrice lay there, stunned, its beak cracked, blood pooling beneath its head.

And Alex leaned down, his red-tinged eyes boring into the creature's.

"Stay still," he commanded in a voice cold as the ice beneath them.

"I'm not done yet."