Chapter 25. Under attack (2)
"Ahhh!" The cry of agony ripped from Alex's throat, a sharp note of pain echoing through the gloom as the searing sting from the shadowclaw's talon lacerated his flesh.
Yet even as the tormenting sensation pulsated through his veins, a guttural roar resonated nearby, abruptly dragging him back from the precipice of anguish to confront the harsh reality of his predicament.
His eyes darted to the source of the roar, only to be met with the terrifying sight of the shadowclaw barreling towards him once more, its foreboding figure a monstrous silhouette against the gloom.
The shadowclaw closed the distance between them with lightning speed, its vicious claws raised menacingly.
Before Alex had even time to strategize an evasion, the beast was upon him, primed to pound him into the earth.
However, Alex was not one to succumb so easily.
With agility born of desperation, he rolled out of the way just as the shadowclaw's talons came crashing down.
The beast, relentless in its pursuit, lunged forth again. Its claw, a deadly hammer in the dark, poised for another lethal strike.
Yet, Alex, summoning every ounce of his willpower, rolled aside once more.
This time, however, he calculated his evasion, rolling just far enough to dodge the lethal blow but remaining within the vicinity.
"Baam!" The ground quaked under the impact of the shadowclaw's strike.
The area where Alex had been mere moments ago was now a crater, a stark reminder of the power he was up against.
Managing to evade the direct impact, Alex was nonetheless not unscathed.
The proximity of the beast's attack had its repercussions; the razor-sharp tips of its claws had sliced open his robes, leaving a shallow cut on his skin.
The sharp sting was a painful reminder of the formidable force he was challenging.
The tremors from the shadowclaw's strike still reverberated through the ground beneath him, the aftershocks a sobering testament to the fate he'd narrowly escaped.
Now, the beast's formidable foreleg loomed ominously nearby, its monstrous size dwarfing Alex as he lay prone.
But Alex was far from defeated. With lightning-quick reflexes honed through countless battles, he drew his dagger.
With a swift, purposeful motion, he plunged the blade into the joint of the shadowclaw's foreleg.
The beast reacted instantly, a deafening roar of pain echoing through the night as the dagger pierced its hide and bit into bone.
The blade was merciless, cleaving through the joint with ease.
With a swift, brutal jerk, Alex twisted the dagger sideways, severing the joint of the shadowclaw's foreleg.
"Roarrrrrr!!!" The shadowclaw howled in excruciating pain, the sound a chilling blend of fury and agony.
The wound Alex had inflicted was severe, almost crippling.
Enraged, the shadowclaw retaliated, lifting its uninjured foreleg high in the air, ready to crush Alex beneath its weight.
Its rage fueled its strike, adding an even greater measure of force and speed to the already deadly attack.
The miraculous agility of Alex was his saving grace as he executed a swift roll to the side, narrowly evading the impending doom of the shadowclaw's vicious claws that tore through the air where he had just been.
The screeching sound of claws scratching against the hard ground echoed in the air.
With a fluid motion, he was back on his feet, his retreat a blur, as he sped backward.
He halted after gaining a safe distance, his chest heaving as he took in the surroundings.
His eyes darted around, quickly assessing the situation. Wu Lina and the others were still locked in a deadly dance of life and death with the remaining quartet of shadowclaws, their movements a symphony of violence.
His gaze then returned to his assailant, the shadowclaw he had been battling.
It was charging towards him, fueled by rage and pain, but its injured foreleg, a testament to Alex's earlier successful attack, had greatly reduced its speed.
A hint of a smile played on Alex's lips. The shadowclaw's reduced speed was a blessing.
Its lethality was tied to its velocity, and with that compromised, he had a better chance of triumphing.
Without wasting another moment, Alex launched himself toward the charging beast, a human missile aimed straight at the heart of danger.
At the last possible moment, when collision seemed inevitable, Alex executed a swift sidestep, his agility leaving the shadowclaw flabbergasted.
With a swift, fluid motion, he thrust his dagger toward the shadowclaw's eye, the sharp blade reflecting the moonlight ominously.
Before the beast could react, the dagger was already buried deep within its eye, eliciting a painful roar from it.
The sound was a symphony of agony that echoed through the battlefield.
With one quick pull, Alex removed his dagger, the blade slick with the beast's vitals.
His next target was the beast's forehead, the dagger aimed to deliver a killing blow. But the shadowclaw, despite its grave injuries, was not defeated yet.
It began shaking its head violently, flinging Alex away with a force that sent him sprawling.
Even in its injured state, the shadowclaw was a formidable adversary, a high-stage lesser Qi beast. Its power was a stark reminder of the vast chasm between their abilities.
A sense of unease washed over Alex as he stood up. "Something isn't right here, something is strange," he muttered under his breath, his gaze scanning the surroundings once more, this time with more scrutiny.
His eyes fell upon Wu Lina and the others, their struggle against the remaining shadowclaws seemed uncharacteristic.
Wu Lina was a third Stage Elite warrior and Xiao Se and Shen Hong were first stage elite warriors.
Their predicament against the pinnacle stage lesser Qi beasts was incongruous. It didn't make sense.
Fueled by this realization, he turned to face the wounded shadowclaw.
With newfound determination, he charged toward the beast, his every muscle working to squeeze out all the speed he could muster.
On the cusp of collision with the menacing Shadowclaw, Alex, with the agility and poise of a seasoned warrior, abruptly vaulted himself into the air.
His body twisted and turned in a breathtaking somersault, a spectacle that seemed to momentarily freeze the relentless ebb and flow of time.
A ballet of deadly intent unfolded in the air as Alex outstretched his right hand, the hand that held the dagger which was gleaming with an ominous sheen under the mystic moonlight.
With all the might he could muster, he thrust his deadly instrument into the skull of the Shadowclaw.
The Shadowclaw let out a roar that reverberated through the quiet night, a symphony of intense agony and despair.
It thrashed its head in a futile attempt to dislodge the tormentor, its movements wild and uncoordinated.
The colossal force generated by the Shadowclaw's desperate struggles launched Alex into the air, sending him flying like a leaf caught in a tempest.
The impact of his body against the solid earth left him tumbling across the rough terrain, a victim of the very momentum he had initiated.
For what seemed like an eternity, he rolled, tumbling over and over in a chaotic dance with the unforgiving ground before finally regaining control.
With a heaving breath, he hauled himself to his feet, his gaze returning to the lifeless form of the Shadowclaw.
"I knew it..." Alex muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. The absence of the system notification, a sound he had grown accustomed to, was conspicuously missing. "Something isn't right, no system notification... this is an illusion," he deduced, his voice barely more than a whisper in the uncaring silence of the night.