MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

\'So he is the challenge that made those who came before me leave empty-handed,\' Alex thought as he used the summon elemental skill to call in the big guns.

Alex was taken aback by the effects of the skill, and not only did he want to see its effects but also learn about its limitations, but he knew better than to learn these facts by going against an ancient dragon who knew how to use the time element.

So, without wasting a moment, he called in Elder Mortisha\'s help to end this battle as quickly as possible, but he was quick to receive a reality check.

Alex followed by using his eyes of Ancient and Dragon Might to push his stats to the maximum mark before using Thought Acceleration to push his cognitive ability by 300%.

"It\'s a challenge for you alone, so let\'s agree that you will not get outside help, and I will not use my time magic, except age reversal," Aethelmir said before Alex heard a bellowing screech as the massive dragon came swinging at him, ready to slice him into pieces.

Alex lowered his stance, moved ahead, avoiding the claws, and swung his blade with all his speed and might before moving away with his eyes, not leaving the blow he dealt.

\'The good thing is that he is not going to use time magic, but if he can endlessly heal from any injury with such speed, then how am I supposed to kill him,\' Alex thought as he saw the clean gash heal and the dark scales returning to their perfect state.

Aethelmir came at him without a moment\'s delay, but with his speed and simple slashes, he was no threat to Alex, so as he avoided him, his headgear turned, thinking of every available option to come out victorious.

\'I still have the mask and seeing that it is not bound to or sealed, I can use it, but I am certain that using it is not the correct decision,\' Alex thought, knowing the mask was not the answer.

Alex knew that if he used the mask, he would be fighting a long, losing battle that would only end with him losing a lot of memories and strength, at best, and at worst, turning him into an empty husk.

\'My best shot is to use the Ruler pride to raise the level of Concept Eraser skill to deal with his de-aging and healing, and then use Dragon Monarch Aura to deal an insane amount of damage before delivering a final attack that could possibly kill him,\'

\'But I don\'t think this will work and it should also be my last resort because if I fail I will be dead,\' Alex thought, analyzing every word Aethelmir said till now.

"Sir Aethelmir, you did not give me the riddle of this trial," Alex asked the most obvious thing that stuck out to him.

"I already did," Aethelmir replied, with what appeared to be a wide grin before his massive maw closed in on him.

\'So, the riddle is either the mask, he himself, or something from the past,\' Alex thought, having learned enough from his past experiences to know the answer did not lie in a contest of brute strength.

\'To see the past is to be blind to the present,\'

\'This is the only line that stands out in the description of the mask, and it seems it could be his weakness, but it does not look like the riddle,\' Alex thought before he looked at the dark mask in his hands, trying to see if something was written on it.

"Boy, you don\'t have time for deep thoughts," Aethelmir said before his figure blurred and he delivered a clean hit.

\'The bastard just grew faster?\' Alex thought as he was forced to drop everything and fight to defend his life.

In mere moments, they exchanged tens of blows, and while Alex landed a number of them, they disappeared like they never landed in the first place.

\'He is not trying to kill me, at least not outright,\' Alex thought, realizing that Aethelmir was matching his speed and strength, his goal seemed to keep him occupied.

Alex kept exchanging blows against the ferocious dragon, using every moment his life was not at stake to think about what could be the riddle.

He knew that Aethelmir would not create an impossible trial, so there was an answer to the current situation, and he just had to find it. But the more he thought, the more questions came to his mind, leading nowhere.

He had also realized that for every moment Aethelmir took to heal, he became slightly slower, yet the difference was so minute that it did not matter if he was blind to the present at that moment.

As minutes passed, Alex had less and less time to think of a solution, and using parallel thinking was of little help, since every possible solution he could think of came to a dead end.

\'It looks like I have no other option but to try and kill him,\' Alex thought, as he used the Ruler Pride followed by using the Dragon Monarch Aura.

Alex was unable to figure out what could be the riddle, as each available option led to a dead end. The mask was of no use, Aethelmir was an immortal dragon who could match him in strength and speed, and searching the past gave no possible leads.

But Alex was not quitting just yet. He was using the last of his cards to either solve this riddle with pure strength or buy himself a few extra minutes to think of the right answer.

\'Let\'s make these few minutes count,\' Alex thought, using the Tenebrous Shard Enclave to get an elemental boost.

Alex followed by creating fist-sized orbs that began to release torrents of darkness that met the mighty dragon head-on, pinning him to the ground.

He followed by summoning two spheres of darkness using the concept eraser, one targeting the concept of temporal reversion, and the other targeting the concept of spatial cohesion, both costing him a third of his mana to complete just the first step.

Since Alex was not using the Nihility Sun or his false domain, he had a lot of mana to spare and could pull out the strongest single-target skills he had created in recent times.

As tens of concentrated beams, each capable of tearing through the defenses of Sixth Rank creatures rained down on Aethelmir, they did their intended damage, ripping through his scales and leaving bloody gouges in his flesh.

However, the damage was being reversed before it could take hold, the wounds knitting together almost instantaneously, as with each second he was returning to his perfect state.

As the twenty-second countdown passed, Alex began to fuel the two spheres, and once his mana was about to reach its end, he appeared before Aethelmir, releasing the dark mist at him point-blank, letting nothing go to waste.

Alex followed by releasing the other one, and as the two did their work of dismantling the concepts of reality, he began to prepare for the finishing blow.

Alex watched as the dragon roared to life, his surrounding space cracking and splitting, breaking down like being eaten by an unseen force, and while Aethelmir took a step forth, he stopped.

Alex looked down at Aethelmir, the light in his eyes dimming for a moment as hair-thin dark lines numbering a few dozen began to appear all over him and the surroundings.

In an instant, the lines began to split open, revealing the dark void of space, and with them so did the body of Aethelmir, blood gushing out like a crimson river.

The massive dragon was sliced into tens of pieces, the severed sections of the once-mighty creature collapsing into a gruesome heap, but the sight did not last even long enough for Alex to smile.

The technique Alex had used was just an advanced version of phantom sword flash, but by first erasing the concept of spatial cohesion.

The concept of spatial cohesion was responsible for maintaining the structural integrity of the force that kept everything together, and once it was removed, the very fabric of space began to unravel.

It took nearly twenty million points of mana to maintain the erasing concept in a small area of fifty meters for merely four seconds, but it was enough to deliver the fastest and strongest slashes Alex could deliver.

When the spatial cohesion was removed, Alex was free to move at a speed far surpassing anything he could manage before, and with his slashes no longer obstructed by the fabric of space, they gained a massive boost of their own.

\'This only leaves me with one option,\' Alex thought, seeing the space returning to normal, followed by the sight of Aethelmir\'s body clumping back together and making a perfect recovery.