Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start - Chapter 183

Chapter 183: CHAPTER 182 – Alex and the Beast 1.
Woosh!

The sound of something—something big—whistling through the air was heard. Alex could feel it through his blood that a beast was approaching him, and although he couldn’t see it, he rolled to the side.

[It’s coming again,] Sophie warned as the air whistled again, and Alex jumped aside again.

By now, Alex could at least guess where the beast was coming from. So, he waited. He waited for the beast to move again.

[9 o’clock!] Sophie exclaimed in his head, and without a second’s delay, Alex launched at least ten fireballs in that direction.

Boom! X10

The fireballs, however, didn’t hit the beast as they were supposed to; they instead went to crash into a wall in that direction.

‘Tch,’ Alex clicked his tongue inwardly, only to roll to the side when he heard Sophie’s yell. [Dodge!]

“Phew…” Exhaling sharply, Alex stood up straight; his senses flared up. ‘Looks like it really is ‘that’ beast.’

From the ‘chat’ with the vampires, Alex had found out what beast he was supposed to face, and they had told him that no attack—physical or magical—could hit the beast.

But Alex was skeptical. Although the lie detector indicated that it was the truth, Alex couldn’t believe it since the beast those guys were talking about was one of the most mysterious beasts in the whole world.

Now, however, he was sure it was ‘that’ beast.

Alex’s body tensed the next instant.

Woosh!

The beast was on the move again. But unlike before, Alex didn’t move from his spot. He had Verathian drawn out, lesser aura coating it, as if ready to move.

Yes, the beast was too fast for Alex’s attack to land on it, and even if it somehow landed, the beast wouldn’t get hit, so Alex changed his strategy a bit.

No movement could be seen, but the air cracked as the beast lunged again, a blur of nothingness that only left behind the faintest disturbance.

Just when Alex felt like he was about to lose his life, he tilted his head instinctively as the beast’s fangs narrowly missed his skull.

But he wasn’t unscathed. The searing pain in his shoulder told him he had been struck, deep puncture wounds oozing blood.

“Ghh!” He growled, but he didn’t panic; he instead smirked. He could see the body of the beast finally materializing.

This was one of the key features of the beast, along with its weakness. The vampires had told him the same.

Its body materialized, revealing itself in all its monstrous glory. The beast was a massive green serpent, its scales pulsating with an unnatural shimmer. It was called the Dissolving Viper—a beast capable of permeation and invisibility, making it seem like it is able to dissolve in the air.

‘It really is the Dissolving Viper—’ Alex thought inwardly, momentarily forgetting the situation he was in, but Sophie’s voice, filled with urgency, cut him out of his thoughts. [Alex! You can’t waste time admiring the beast!]

Alex’s body jerked as he quickly coiled his arms around the serpent’s body, his grip tightening with vice-like strength.

Without hesitation, his lesser aura-coated sword, Verathian, plunged into the beast’s giant head, and his other palm erupted a rapid succession of fireballs and thunderbolts, each exploding against the beast’s head in dazzling bursts of heat and electricity.

All that happened in a second, causing the viper to hiss in pain. Its grip on Alex’s shoulder loosened before it could do much damage, and it quickly phased through his body, disappearing again.

“Huff!” Alex huffed, gripping his shoulder as he stood alone.

He knew that the last attack didn’t do substantial damage to the beast. It was too strong for it to be damaged by just that. He could still feel his palm trembling from the impact of his sword on its scales.

The attack did pierce its scales, but it was too shallow.

‘Well, I never thought I could do much damage to a peak star-connection realm beast with such a lousy attack anyway,’ Alex shook his head with a scoff.

The air around Alex trembled, and a clear hiss mixed with a growl was heard, causing Alex to grin.

[Looks like you succeeded,] Sophie said, making him nod.

‘Look’s like it.’ His objective was to anger the beast. It was never to harm it. Only when that viper gets angry and loses its rationality could Alex at least think of winning.

But just then, Alex stumbled forward slightly, his grin faltering and his breaths ragged. His shoulder burned with a venomous sting.

His body got heavier, his limbs sluggish, and his vision blurred.

“Poison,” he muttered. This was the real problem.

The dissolving viper wasn’t supposed to be venomous. But that was before its corruption.

In the desolate, where the mana itself was corrupted, the viper had been corrupted as well. It had mutated into a poisonous viper.

Alex staggered, his fingers twitching as he struggled to keep his grip on his sword—if he didn’t neutralize the poison quickly, he would be dead before he could even do anything.

“Hissss…” A joyous hiss echoed through the air. It was as if the viper was happy with the turn of events. It was waiting for Alex to falter. It was waiting for the perfect moment to attack.

Alex, however, chuckled. His gaze turned up as he scanned the surroundings.

“You thought I wasn’t prepared for this?” He asked, his voice dry and knowing.

As if in response to his words, a faint glow pulsed from his body. His passive ability—Poison Resistance (Rare)—finally kicked in, neutralizing the toxin flowing through his system. His vision cleared, his legs steadied, and the smirk returned to his face.

That, however, wasn’t the end of it.

‘Let’s go all out from the start,’ he spoke to himself before his mana flared. Thirteen illusionary stars swirled on his chest, and the lesser aura on his sword grew dense.

The air had become noticeably heavy because Alex had turned the surrounding gravity higher while reducing the gravity of his own body.

Alex wasn’t going to hold back at all. He used every ability up his sleeves to increase his speed and power to the maximum.

Barbara’s subordinate, who was supposed to keep an eye on him hadn’t caught up yet, and Lilia’s group didn’t even know that their assassination attempt had failed.

Both of the groups were unaware of the fight between him and the viper, but that wouldn’t be for long. Now that he was using his full power, the disturbance would attract attention, so Alex wanted to end this before the others came.

He didn’t want his strength to be revealed just yet.

“Hisss!” The viper, on the other hand, hissed in anger. It seemed to have gotten angry because Alex neutralized its poison, and of course, Alex had expected this as well.

Anger issues were one of the common weaknesses of corrupted beasts. This viper was no different.

Alex rolled his shoulder, activating breath control and healing breath, feeling the wound healing as he glanced around.

[10 o’clock,] Sophie informed, causing Alex’s lips to raise as he curled his finger. “Come,” he said, taunting the viper.

“Hissss!!” An angry hiss came in response as the viper moved again—but this time, Alex was prepared.

The real battle was just beginning.