Chapter 692 - Fighting a Centaur

As soon as he returned to his original position, he stabbed another sword to the North Passage and started exploring. In the middle of his exploration, he found another monster shaped energy that passed through him as if he was air. However, unlike the bull's body like Minotaur, this one seemed to have four feet like those of a horse and a human body.

"A Centaur?" Alex narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I will note it down in my mind first."

He continued exploring the maze while trying to use all of his skills. However, Spatial Gate seemed to be off limits in this place because he couldn't call it despite this much Space Energy around him.

"It sucks not to have that technique, but I can still use other Space Techniques like Spatial Bind and Space Plates. But…" Alex raised his hand and used his Space Bind. The chains formed into a real chain in this realm as he furrowed his eyebrows. "As expected, this is a Space Realm. Even if I use the Space Cut, I'm sure I will create a real Sword Wave. The problem is…"

Alex, this time, released his Blade of Conquest, and he could only see the Energy flying forward. He clenched his fist and destroyed the Sword Wave himself. "It seems the function is still the same. What is in the real world will affect the real world, and what is in here, or Space World, will affect whatever in this place. And I can understand why the riddle says that both can influence each other. The only problem is to search for the portal to the eighth floor."

Having formulated his plan, he proceeded deeper and deeper before he arrived at the end of the path and saw something amazing. There was a glowing vortex in front of him with a small core in the middle of the vortex.

His Spirit Eyes was telling him that the energy mostly connected to the other realm, making him hesitate.

Alex thought for a moment and sighed, "I don't know what this is for, so I think I will go back first and search for the other two paths before deciding my action."

With that thought in mind, Alex tried again from the start and went to the path on his right earlier. As he predicted, he once again met another creature. This time, he was surprised when he saw an elf. Luckily, it didn't attack him, and Alex could proceed safely to the end and found another dead end.

It had a big difference from the first dead-end that didn't tell him anything. He found out that there were golden words on the wall, so he came closer to read these words.

"Kill the Four Holy Knights, and you shall have the key to the next floor. If you defeat them without reading this sign, then you are unlucky because you are not careful. Having failed to see your opponent first without any information about them is rash. Hence, the next floor will be your doom.

"However, if you bring the tusk in the North Passage and place it in front of this sign before defeating them. You won't get any trouble on the next floor." Alex narrowed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. "It seems I am lucky because I choose to check the other paths first. This floor might take two or three times the usual time I use to clear a floor, but I think this is the most educational one."

Alex smirked and quickly went toward the last passage. Just like the sign said, there was a palm-size tusk in the last place. He picked the tusk up and ran toward the third passage. Along the way, he met the fourth creature, which was a skeleton carrying a wand.

He passed it without care and went to the sign before placing the tusk in front of it.

Suddenly, the floor started glowing and the words written on the sign replaced by another one.

"Both Realms are real, whether it's the real world or space world. You need to wary against a being who can live in this Space World for a long time because it can be considered one of the world's dangerous beings. If you want to fight the four holy knights, go to the Southern Passage and activate the Space Element by touching it."

Alex narrowed his eyes and took note of these words. Although it didn't serve any purpose to him, he thought it was new knowledge to him since there was nothing like this in his inheritances.

"Anyway, I have finished this side mission. Now I will go to the second passage and fight those four creatures." Alex nodded and ran back to the energy vortex. Before doing anything, Alex took a deep breath and contemplated over the riddle first to check whether he was on the right track.

"I don't see anything that can be misinterpreted… If I take the fact that this test doesn't know my Spirit Eyes, they must know that I can't see the beast. Or at least, a normal person won't be able to see them unless they touch the vortex. That's why I will pretend that I don't know them and think whether I miss a single clue." Alex thought for a moment and shook his head.

He then glanced at the vortex in front of him and stretched his hand. He touched the core with his index finger, and the vortex shone brightly.

It illuminated the entire realm as his vision turned from red to blue, no, it should be the realm color. Not long after, a thunderous roar echoed across the entire labyrinth.

"This is… The realm suddenly changes; no, it's replaced. I am in the same realm as those beasts now." Alex frowned and glanced at the top. Unfortunately, he couldn't go to the sky to see the entire maze because there was this energy preventing him. However, he realized that the situation would start getting complicated after this point.

Taking out his Sword and Spear, Alex began walking. The Centaur that seemed to be guarding this passage appeared right in front of him, clenching his two-handed sword. A sharp Sword Intent came out of the Centaur along with the sword and alarmed Alex. It then charged at Alex and swung his sword.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows and struck his sword with his rank 8 Sword. To his surprise, the Centaur suddenly pushed him back.

"I am losing in strength?" Alex was stunned and retreated a few steps. He could only see the energy from the Centaur, but couldn't discern his cultivation. The only thing he knew from that exchange was that the Centaur had 10-Star Martial Monarch raw strength.

"Dragon Aura. Spirit Step!"

Alex didn't hesitate to activate two techniques that boosted his strength and charged at the Centaur. "I can't waste my time against you because I don't want to fight you with the other three."

Noticing the three energy signs moving toward him, he decided to end this battle as soon as possible.

"Heaven Light Slash and Triple Draws!"

Suddenly, the Centaur showed an unbelievable speed as it struck all six attacks in a split second. At the same time, it sent another slashed right from his right.

"Not good!" Alex glanced at the attack and activated his Phoenix Aura to create a powerful fire armor and a few Space Plates to block it.

The Centaur smirked as it continued its swing, shattering all Alex's Space Plates and fire armor in a single swing. It even went toward Alex's neck.

"Seriously?" Alex immediately shifted his stance and blocked this attack with his Sword and Spear, albeit he got blown away. "That is not a 10-Star Martial Monarch Strength anymore. It's already far higher than Ryuu's! This test is insane."

He took another deep breath to calm his heart and raised his hand.

Releasing his Original Blade Path, Alex became serious.

Alex then leaped forward while his hand was still pointing at the Centaur. Suddenly, twenty chains appeared in the other realm and circled around the Centaur. Yet, the Centaur could still move its body around and tried to break free from the restrain.

Of course, there was no way Alex would let him free. Many Space Plates appeared around the Centaur's body, especially around his arms to prevent him from moving.

Meanwhile, Alex's weapons started glowing as he flew to the Centaur and slashed him a few times.

"Roar!" The Centaur roared and watched Alex cut his body, albeit…

Alex passed the Centaur and twitched his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

He turned around and found that the Centaur had broken free. Although there were a few cut wounds in his upper body, it could only hinder him a little. Alex bit his lips and thought, 'In that instant, the Centaur shattered my Space Plates and Space Bind before shifting his body a little bit to avoid vital areas.

The Centaur raised his sword and acc.u.mulated powerful energy around the sword before releasing it with all of its might.

"You want to challenge me in that aspect?" Alex smirked as he used everything he got and sent his Sword Waves. The Centaurs also sent a powerful shock wave through the ground and collided with Alex's Sword Waves.

Unfortunately, the Centaur underestimated Alex for once. Behind his Sword Waves were many powerful techniques jumbled into one. They were Triple Draws, Mythical Fire Slash, and Space Cut. The three techniques were used with his sword and spear, creating twelve Sword Waves covered with his Absolute Blade Intent.

Although six of the Sword Waves broke, the other six were still going toward the Centaur.

Surprised with the result, the Centaur quickly slashed his sword to break Alex's Sword Waves, albeit…

"Boom Boom Boom!"

A series of explosions resounded across the labyrinth as the Centaur made its appearance. Unlike the first time, he lost one of his hands and many deep cuts on his body. It wanted to roar once more, but Alex wouldn't let him as he appeared right beside him with all of his strength.

"Triple Draws. Heaven Light Slash. Space Cut."

He changed Mythical Fire Slash with Heaven Light Slash because it was better for close range. Besides, he also had another plan as soon as he saw the Centaur lose its hand.

Half of these twelve Sword Attacks were going toward the other hand while the rest aimed at his swords.

Having lost its powerful arm, the Centaur gritted his teeth as he realized he couldn't keep up with Alex's attacks if he only had one hand. Even so, he didn't give up and tried his best to fend all these twelve attacks. Yet, it was still unreachable.

Alex cut another hand and blew his sword away before sending the Centaur's head flying. The body slowly fell down to the ground, but no blood was spilled as the Centaur suddenly disappeared as if it was an illusion.

Unfortunately, he had no time to care about it and quickly regained his breathing.

As he was about to turn around, the other three Holy Knights finally arrived.

The first one was a Minotaur, a bull that could stand up like a human. It carried a huge club with its right hand. This monster seemed to be a similar type to the Centaur and would truly trouble him again.

Meanwhile, the second monster was an Elf. However, her hair was white, and her skin was purple, revealing her identity as a Dark Elf. She raised her bow and drew an arrow, aiming it at Alex. Unlike the muscle type, she seemed to be a silent type where she sniped with the bow. Luckily, his Spirit Eyes should be able to counter the movement of her arrows, preventing her from ambushing him.

The last monster was a skeleton holding a staff. It wore a long black robe that made this skeleton somehow look graceful. Alex didn't need to think about this monster and classified him as a Lich. He needed to get ready with the Dark Element attack. If it were a curse or poison, he wouldn't need to worry because his Pure Fire could destroy them.

Alex finally turned around and looked at the three monsters. "This is going to be troublesome."