Summoning his last shred of survival instinct, he suddenly split into more than a dozen clones, scattering in all directions, hoping to escape Alex's attack.
"It's no use. I can see right through you in this state!" Alex said calmly.
To him, the fleeing clones appeared like glowing figures, and he could easily spot the real Horned Basilisk by following the strongest glow.
Now, Alex could actually see the magic power flowing inside the bodies of others!
Locking onto Horned Basilisk's true form, Alex charged forward, sword in hand, moving like a bolt of lightning.
"This ends now! Destroy! Slash!"
A loud, continuous "Ping!!!" echoed through the nameless valley, shaking the sky above.
Suddenly, a thick, pure silver lightning bolt shot down from the heavens, striking something with immense force.
The power unleashed seemed to tear through the world itself.
From a distance, Shalltear watched the scene unfold, trembling with fear.
At that moment, she had to admit, she was so scared she almost lost control of herself.
The lightning's impact sent out a violent sonic boom, followed by waves of air like tsunamis radiating from the strike point.
Even from far away, Shalltear was nearly blown off her feet.
It took nearly half a minute before the chaos settled and the valley grew quiet again.
Where the lightning had struck, the ground had sunk deeply, resembling a meteor crater.
Just when Shalltear thought everything was over, the wreckage of buildings, suspended by anti-gravity spells, suddenly lost their support and crashed down in a shower of debris.
After almost another minute, silence finally returned to the valley.
Then, a faint voice reached Shalltear's ears.
"Come here..."
"Yes, master!" Shalltear answered, and her heart, which had been pounding nonstop, finally eased.
But as she prepared to move forward, she suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Struggling to regain her composure, she realized she was still shaking from the terrifying power she had witnessed.
Only after heavy, ragged breaths did she begin to steady herself.
Once she was steady enough, Shalltear grabbed her suitcase and rushed toward the crater.
When she reached the deep pit, she saw two figures descending from the sky, one golden, the other red.
It was Thor, the little Thunderbird, panting heavily, and the Phoenix Irene.
Shalltear gasped at the tragic sight before her.
In the center of the crater lay a Voltbrand, still crackling with electric energy but barely resembling a human form anymore.
Just a meter away, Alex was slumped on the ground, looking utterly exhausted and in terrible condition.
Alex's upper body was covered in torn clothes, the breeze whipping his tactical vest into tatters like shredded fabric, exposing his bare, strong torso.
Yet, his skin was glowing with a strange blush, and a large patch of it looked scorched and peeled back, as if burned by intense heat.
Shalltear watched him carefully.
Alex's eyes were shut, and he seemed completely unconscious, barely letting out faint gasps.
Hovering nearby, Irene looked at Alex's battered form with deep concern.
Slowly, she descended and closed her eyes, allowing tears to fall gently onto his skin.
The moment her tears touched him, it was like pouring water on a hot iron.
The liquid sizzled and evaporated instantly with a sharp crackling sound.
Despite this, Phoenix's tears were extraordinary; while some disappeared, many seeped into his skin.
Gradually, Shalltear, Irene, and Thor noticed that Alex's skin began to return to its normal color, with fresh, baby-soft skin growing beneath the cracked, damaged layers.
Suddenly, Alex coughed violently, then opened his mouth to spit out a mouthful of blood, gasping for air.
"Thank goodness," Shalltear said, relief flooding her voice.
Seeing Alex regain consciousness, she quickly pulled out several bottles of powerful potions and carefully helped him drink.
Alex, exhausted and dehydrated as if he'd been wandering a desert for days, swallowed the healing potions eagerly.
After a moment, Alex drew a deep breath, finally regaining some strength.
"I didn't expect the side effects of using the full power of Scissura Astralis while overloaded to be this severe," he admitted.
"It was so dangerous. If you hadn't been here to take care of me, I might have died alongside Horned Basilisk."
He looked gratefully at Shalltear, Thor, and Irene, knowing that without their help in today's grueling battle, things might have ended very differently.
"Master, is this guy a horned basilisk?" someone asked quietly.
"Did we really kill him?" Shalltear asked as she saw Alex regain consciousness.
He turned his head and looked at the charred corpse lying next to him.
"Yes, that's right. This guy had an incredibly strong magical shield that ordinary attacks just couldn't break through. I absorbed the electric charge from the thunderstorm to forcibly boost the magic power in my body to over 2,000 ticks. Then I focused all that power into one point. It was only by breaking through his shield's threshold and directly striking his body that the attack exploded with an instant power exceeding 1,500 points."
Alex's mention of power here isn't the same as the usual magic power reserve measurement.
It doesn't mean that higher magic power always equals more damage.
What really matters is the burst of magic power at a single moment, combined with willpower and emotion.
Originally, Alex had tested this against a special "humanoid target."
His maximum burst damage was between 600 and 700 points, which is about the upper limit for a normal wizard.
Because his body had been strengthened by lightning, and his will was especially strong, the damage he could unleash in an instant was impressive.
From a physiological standpoint, a wizard's magic power output channel has limits.
Unlike the magic power reserve, which can grow with age, the output channel can shrink or weaken over time.
This explains why some older wizards may have more magic power stored but appear weaker in strength.
So, Alex is the kind who has extremely high attack power but poor stamina.
Without the support of Phoenix tears, he wouldn't last very long at his age.
This time, Alex's [Overload-Change] ability energized almost half his body, pushing his instantaneous lumen output to the extreme.
Plus, by absorbing the electric charges, his total lumen increased temporarily.
His determination to land a desperate blow doubled the damage once more.
He then glanced at Horned Basilisk with lingering fear and said, "And the physical strength of this old thing is just outrageous."
If an ordinary person were attacked at this level, they would be vaporized instantly, but he managed to stay standing.
The strength in his lower body was simply unbelievable.
At that moment, the Annihilation sword, which had been plunged into horned basilisk's body, suddenly erupted with a powerful surge. The entire blade seemed to be reborn, shedding a layer of metal impurities.
Although the sword still looked the same as before, there was something different about it now. The whole blade radiated a calm and harmonious aura, yet the pressure it exerted was incredibly strong.