Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 574: Who Is The Hunter, And Who Is The Hunted? [Part 2]

’Where is he?’

’Where is he?!’

Diona gritted her teeth as she scanned her surroundings. The mist had gotten so thick that the range of visibility was now limited to a couple of meters.

To make matters worse, the mist also weakened her sense of smell, preventing her from picking up Alex’s scent.

Suddenly, she saw something move at the corner of her eye.

Out of reflex, Diona threw a punch to her right and shattered the magical shield that flew toward her.

A few more shields zoomed out of the mist from different directions, targeting her blindspots.

The Beast Conqueror dealt with all of them with great ferocity, shattering them all without too much effort.

Her rank might have regressed to Rank 5, but the battle experience she had accumulated over the years didn’t disappear.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she might be the strongest Rank 5 in the world right now.

”What are you doing here, Professor Diona? Are you here to kill a student? You shouldn’t do that, you know? I believe that’s against the academy’s code of conduct.”

Alex’s teasing tone reached her ears. Incensed, she jumped at where his voice came from.

Even without seeing him, she unleashed a powerful punch that obliterated everything within ten meters in front of her.

”Wow, so scary. If that had hit me, I might have died instantly.”

Without any hesitation, she lunged to her left and unleashed another punch, demolishing the trees in front of her.

”Based on how you’re going all out, it seems that you really want to kill me, huh? I better report this to Professor Rowan when I get back.”

The Beast Conqueror frowned, thinking her attacks should have already seriously injured her opponent.

But the young man’s voice sounded so carefree as if to make it clear that he was deliberately toying with her.

”Where are you?!” Diona growled. ”Stop hiding, you coward!”

”Coward? Me?” Alex chuckled. ”Between you and me, who’s the one wearing a mask right now? Who’s the one afraid of getting captured by the Paragon of Space?”

”Shut up!” Diona took off her mask and crushed it. ”Come and fight me, you coward!”

Alex’s chuckles filled the surroundings and bounced around, making it hard for Diona to pinpoint his location.

Actually, Alex was using some artifacts that allowed him to project his voices from different places. Originally, he had planned to tease the warriors of the Clawford Tribe with these artifacts.

But since someone had come to harm him, he decided that he would mess with her first.

”I will fight you on one condition,” Alex said. ”Tell me why you want to kill me. If you don’t, I’ll just continue hiding until the challenge ends. After this, I will tell the Clawford Tribe that you tried to kill me.

”Although they are currently hunting me right now, we are actually on the same side, you know?”

Diona snorted. She didn’t bother giving a reply and focused on sharpening her senses.

Suddenly, she saw something moving in the distance. Without even thinking twice, she charged and attacked mercilessly.

Once again, the trees in front of her were pulverized.

But when she saw what she had hit, the rage in her heart burned stronger.

Hiding behind a tree was a scarecrow Alex had planted while Diona had been busy dealing with his magical shields.

”I’ll ask you one last time,” Alex declared. ”Why are you trying to kill me? If you don’t answer, I’ll just leave and complain to Professor Rowan when I get back.”

”Are you sure about that?” Diona sneered. ”If you don’t fight me, I’ll instigate a monster stampede and wipe out the Clawford Tribe from the face of the world. Are you sure you want that to happen?”

Alex didn’t reply right away. He could tell that Diona was seriously planning to command the monsters in the forest to attack the Clawford Tribe if pushed into a corner.

Seeing that he wasn’t giving any reply, Diona sneered because she had found one of Alex’s weaknesses.

”What’s wrong?” Diona asked. ”Cat got your tongue? Where is the confidence you showed me earlier?”

The Clawford Tribe and Alex seemed to have a good relationship with each other. As long as she threatened their safety, wouldn’t she gain the upper hand in this exchange?

Although the aftermath would be ugly, she was fine as long as she succeeded in killing Alex.

To her surprise, Alex’s response shut her up completely.

No. Alex didn’t say anything.

He laughed.

His laughter reverberated in the forest, annoying her.

”I’m sorry, you what?” Alex asked. ”You plan to wipe out the Clawford Tribe from the face of the world? Well, then. Go ahead and try. I dare you. Do you know that Lord Ramza and Professor Rowan are good friends? How do you have the guts to offend the Headmaster in so many different ways? I sure don’t have even half your bravery!”

Alex once again laughed.

The kind of laughter that grated on Diona’s ears.

The Beast Conqueror stomped her foot, crushing everything around her within a hundred-meter radius.

A moment later, she dashed at the place where the mist was thickest and unleashed her strongest attack.

”Die!” Diona roared because she had used the power of that shockwave to pinpoint Alex’s true location.

And she succeeded.

She had indeed found Alex. But instead of running away, the young man raised his shield and charged forward.

”Shield Spike!”

”Shield Charge!”

Earlier, he had been wearing his Assassin Gear. But now, he was wearing the Oathkeeper Battle Regalia.

The same Regalia he had used in his fight against Willow while she was controlling Vaan’s body.

A loud explosion erupted at the point of impact. Both fighters were blown away by the impact of their clash.

Diona coughed out a mouthful of blood because Alex’s passive reflection ability—that was now well over a hundred percent—returned the force of her blow back to her.

Alex tanked the damage, but was still blown away by Diona’s fierce strike. The only reason he survived was thanks to the combined power of the Gaia Ring and the Verdant Throne.

One increased his defense, the other his regeneration ability.

It had been a while since Alex felt truly hurt. But instead of feeling anxious or fearful, he actually smiled.

”What’s wrong?” Alex asked as soon as he propped himself up from the ground. ”Cat got your tongue?”

He wiped the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and sneered.

Diona’s reply was a roar filled with anger, and she charged for the second time.

But Alex had already anticipated this.

With a wave of his hand, Dim Dim’s Brittle Vials, Alchemy Bombs, and other explosive consumables were thrown out of his storage ring.

An earthshaking eruption took place, blowing away the mists that permeated the location where Alex and Diona were fighting.

The sound was so strong that all the warriors couldn’t help but glance in the direction of the explosion. Even those at the village took note.

”Alex...” Lavinia muttered while gazing at the mushroom cloud that rose up in the distance.

Ramza and Cairo exchanged a glance, but none of them made any move.

The Etherion Challenge was still active. None of them could interfere, for this was not a battle they could freely stop even if they wanted to.