Upon noticing Alex engaging them first, the nearest warrior entered the fray. He lunged, with his halberd crackling with lightning energy.

    Alex dodged without even a flicker of hesitation, appearing behind the attacker in a near instant. His fist dove forward, creating a thunderp despite the incredible dense pressure the of the atmosphere surrounding them.

    It crashed into the backte and sent the Sri man flying across the molten in, shattering his armour like it was ss.

    The others didn''t hesitate to join.

    Despite knowing they had underestimated him after seeing what he just did to theirrade – they were still warriors. They expected and prepared for all the different scenarios that could take ce.

    Two opened fire with ranged abilities, taking puddles of the molten earth below them and hurling it towards Alex at incredible speeds.

    BOOM!

    The earth ruptured, sending swathes of molten earth andva flying into the air. The scene was straight out of an apocalyptic movie, and the explosion the two''sbined attack had caused had more power behind it than the entire 21st century Earth''s arsenal of nukesbined.

    The power was just that staggering.

    But Alex was already gone from the scene before the two of them had even forced the molten balls out of the ground.

    Instead of focusing his attention on the two ranged warriors and attacking them while they were busy preparing their own attack, his target was the other three who stood back and watched with smug smiles.

    They weren''t rxed, but they weren''t in battle ready stances.

    After seeing the attack the two ranged warriors had prepared for Alex, they were absolutely certain he was done for, so their assistance wasn''t needed.

    Thud…

    That was the case, at least, until two of them watched in horror and shock as their thirdrade''s head hit the ground, separated cleanly from his body at the neck.

    The most terrifying part of it all was that they hadn''t even seen the attack happen.

    Alex was still nowhere to be seen!

    One of the two staggered back, his pupils thinning to a pin prick as he watched the cleanly severed corpse of hisrade slowly sink into the molten earth.

    "What the—!?"

    Even their training hadn''t prepared them for a situation like this.

    Their preparation and information of the target waspletely inadequate –pletely wrong even!

    They were told that their target was one simple B tier, Mutant ss at most.

    But this…

    He was clearly far beyond that level of power, far beyond their own, B+ rank, Variant ss power!

    In fact this went against everything they were trained for!

    They were warriors, but they were only supposed to take on foes weaker, or at most equal to their own power…

    If they encountered a threat much stronger than themselves, they were told to surrender or escape if they could.

    ''We were lied to…''

    Well, so were their leaders, but it was toote for regrets.

    CRACK!

    His arm was ripped from his shoulder in a blur of motion, with his weapon spiralling into the air like a child''s toy.

    He screamed, but even that was cut short as a knee driven by enough force to give their tworades'' explosions a run for its money folded his body like paper.

    What was left of him hit the ground in a heap, bearing a striking resemnce to thest pile of shit Brontes had let out.

    The two ranged fighters had recovered from their attack at this point and joined their two terrifiedrades.

    "Where is he?!"

    One of them screamed in desperation, eyes darting frantically in every direction.

    His answer came not from ahead, but from below.

    Alex erupted from the molten ground itself, grabbing the warrior who''d screamed by the throat mid leap, dragging him into the air with the momentum he carried.

    The Sri Warrior struggled, punching and wing at Alex''s arm, but it was like a newborn baby trying to bend a steel beam.

    Alex''s gaze disyed no emotion. Just pure coldness.

    "You asked for this."

    The Sri''s eyes widened in terror as heat began to shimmer around Alex''s form.

    His Phoenix mes had finally showed themselves, even though they were overkill at this point.

    But they quickly turned transparent.

    The other three watched in horror below as theirrade started screaming in agony from… nowhere.

    Alex''s soul mes attacked them man at his very core, striking at his soul andpletely wiping it from existence in just a few seconds, turning the Sri man''s body into just a brain dead husk.

    He stored the now dead Sri away in his storage space.

    ''I''ll save this guy forter.''

    A message needed to be sent to those behind this after he was finished with his business in this realm.

    A warning, you could say.

    Not just to those greedy snobs behind this attack, but to the Conve to toughen up.

    Their lowers were getting too big for their boots, after all!

    tantly ignoring their orders like this?

    Perhaps his cooperation with their civilisation might have to be brought into question…

    These were the types of messages the Conve would receive when Alex dropped the brain dead Sri outside the owner of the fracture''s headquarters.

    One of the two ranged Sri form earlier began charging upwards at Alex in desperation, attempting a second attack.

    The other turned to run.

    Alex didn''t allow either.

    He dashed forward, covering the distance between him and them in a heartbeat.

    He appeared in front of the fleeing warrior and nted a palm firmly on his chest.

    Phoenix mes melted him before he could blink.

    A sudden pulse of energy followed behind him.

    BOOM!

    The other ranged warrior hadunched another attack.

    It was useless.

    If Alex could dodge the first attack, why would this time be any different?

    Another palm nted itself on thest ranged warrior, melting him just like hisrade had suffered a few seconds prior.

    The final warrior, shaking, dropped to his knees.

    He held up both hands.

    "S-stop! I surrender!"

    Alex stood still, watching him with unreadable eyes.

    He lifted Virtue''s Edge…

    …And sliced the man''s two legs off.

    "Then crawl back through the fracture and tell your superiors something for me," Alex said without any trace of emotion.

    ''Change of n, this guy can deliver hisrade''s husk for me.'' Alex thought.

    He dumped the brain dead Sri husk on the now legless warrior, before continuing to speak.

    "If they send anyone else after me…"

    "...I''lle for them directly. And your Conve can''t do a single thing about it."