Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

Alex's vision was blurred for a few seconds.

Pain radiated from his shattered wrist, but he pushed it aside and let the Phoenix Flames do their thing.

He couldn't afford to be distracted at this moment.

With a groan, he forced himself out the shallow hole he had created in the mound, clutching Virtue's Edge tightly in his left hand.

The sword remained intact and unharmed from the impact, to Alex's relief.

Gormak lumbered forward, his war hammers twisting back into their original form, a smug grin on his face.

"Looks like this little human isn't so strong after all."

The other three elites fanned out, creating a perimeter around Alex.

Selithia, an elite assassin, moved with the grace of a feline, her daggers at the ready.

She was flanked by Rakul, an archer who nocked an arrow and took aim, and finally, a massive figure stepped forward.

This was Gormak, who's muscles rippled under his skin, his eyes glowing with animalistic intensity.

Varkoth hadn't even entered the fray, and he stood silently in the distance, watching the showdown with a neutral expression.

Alex couldn't allow himself to be belittled like this.

His mind raced, these four were strong, he was sure he could deal with them given enough time and effort.

But Varkoth could enter the fight at any time, making him lose the advantage immediately.

Even if he didn't and let the four elites fall at Alex's hands, Alex would still have to face him in an exhausted state after finishing his fight with the four elites.

But it wasn't like there were any other options for him in this situation.

He had to fight.

With a burst of speed, and his wrist fully healed already, Alex darted towards Rakul, hoping to take out the archer first.

Rakul's eyes widened, but he wasn't taken by surprise.

It was a common tactic to target ranged or supportive enemies when outnumbered, so he was expecting Alex to make this move.

And seeing Alex just metres away from him, about to pierce his sword into with just a few milliseconds passing, Rakul snapped his fingers and completely disappeared from the spot.

Alex felt his thrust hit nothing but air, and looked around the area with his spatial perception to find out where Rakul disappeared to.

But even with his extended, 500 metre range, he couldn't feel him in the area.

'Shit, first this brute with the hammers, and now this archer. Don't tell me all of them have talents like this…'

Alex hadn't met many opponents with talents so far, as they were still quite rare in the world of the awakened.

He had only met so many humans with them because he was literally on a planet most of the time where such people congregated.

So it was tricky for him now that he was up against five of such enemies all at once.

'He has a teleportation talent, clearly much better than mine. How do I deal with him…'

Alex's mind raced as he reassessed the situation.

Rakul's teleportation was clearly superior to his own, making him a dangerous opponent to deal with.

But he didn't have the time to come up with any ideas.

Gormak and Selithia were closing in fast, and he needed a new strategy.

"Focus, Alex…" he muttered, tightening his grip on Virtue's Edge.

He pivoted, shifting his attention to Selithia.

He decided to focus on the weakest link of the group, the assassin.

Alex had already noticed that she seemed to be the weakest out of the four elites, so he deemed it better to focus on taking her down at first to make it a three versus one, easing the tension on him a little.

The assassin moved with the grace of a predator, her daggers gleaming menacingly.

She was fast, but Alex was faster.

With a burst of speed, the gap was closed between them, his sword slashing in a wide arc.

Selithia attempted to stab and slash at Alex's body, not aiming for any particular place.

But she missed.

'Shit!' She thought, dodging Alex's own sword by a hair's breadth.

She, like the others, also had an A- rank talent backing up her skills.

It was a form of blood manipulation, allowing her to significantly weaken an opponent's strength with just a drop of their blood.

But her talent had a major flaw to it.

She needed a way to obtain their blood first.

The easiest method was the one she used the most, through wounding them with her daggers, usually in a sneak attack, hence why she took upon the role of an assassin during missions like these.

But when her opponent knew of her presence, and even worse, was faster than her, then things only became much trickier.

Even worse, Xulthar, the fourth elite, seemed completely uninterested in helping her out.

Gormak and Rakul attempted to try and free her from Alex's grasp, but they were too conscious of their attacks.

They were afraid that they might miss, or Alex might dodge and use Selithia as a meat shield, so they were hesitant in their attacks.

Meanwhile, Xulthar just stood on the sidelines, watching.

Selithia danced around Alex, her dexterity and agility impressively on display.

Her daggers sliced and diced through the air, attempting to just draw a single drop of blood from Alex, but each attempt was as unsuccessful as the last.

Alex parried each and every one of her strikes, the difference in strength between them becoming glaringly obvious for both to see.

Without being able to put her blood manipulation to use, she was just like every other Red Demon soldier walking this battlefield.

He pressed his attacks, driving Selithia back step by step.

Her agility and skill were formidable, but Alex's speed and strength were greater.

With a swift, unexpected feint, he managed to slip past her guard, the edge of his blade grazing her side.

Selithia hissed in pain, staggering backwards.

But that was just the start of it all.

Alex took Virtue's Edge, and dug it even deeper into her wound, causing her to cry out loud.

The double power buff from his Phoenix Flames causing her even more pain.

'Gotcha.'

Alex thought Selithia's struggle would be over after that.

But instead of succumbing to the pain, Selithia bared her teeth in a feral grin.

She raised her dagger, and a small, dark orb of her own blood hovered over its tip.

Using her own blood was a last resort, and it was incredibly likely she could die from it.

But she had no other options.

She would die in a few seconds at Alex's sword if she didn't.