Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 572: Alex’s Strategy

Diona stared at the hourglass intensely, wishing the sands could empty out faster. With no way to tamper with the hourglass, she simply eyed it unblinkingly, as if doing so would shame the sands into moving more quickly.

Five minutes was a short time, yet it felt like five years to her. When there were only two minutes left, she and the Catkin warriors readied themselves to hunt down the fleeing Oathkeeper.

———

Inside the Forest...

As everyone else waited for the grace period to end, Alex ventured deeper into the forest.

Alex wouldn’t be Alex if all he did was run. To set up the scheme, he’d throw daggers at some of the trees he passed by.

Knowing he’d be up against hundreds of warriors at once, he had prepared considerably before their trip. The daggers he threw went through Nessia, who imbued them with rune magic.

The runes inscribed in the daggers had two effects.

One, it masked Alex’s scent. This partially negated the advantage of the Catkins, who had superhuman senses.

Their sense of smell might not be as good as that of the Dogkin Tribe, but they mustn’t be underestimated.

Two, it gradually generated mist inside the forest, further helping him conceal his traces.

He had no plan to passively flee from his pursuers.

If he could, he’d fight the Catkins as little as possible. But he had no intention of giving Diona the same treatment.

All the Catkins were represented by yellow dots on his map, which meant that they did not want to kill him.

Diona was different.

Her dot on the map blinked like a red, glowing eye. This meant that she wished to eliminate him, making her an enemy.

The Beast Conqueror even strategically planted her monster army all over the forest. Fortunately, Alex could see their locations on the map. He could just kill them to prevent issues.

’I still have a minute,’ Alex realized as he glanced at the countdown timer on his map. ’I better hurry up and deal with the small fries first.’

Although they were small fries according to his mouth, these beasts were actually Rank 3 Forest Wolves.

This was also their domain, so they could hunt easily as packs.

Alex simply didn’t fear Rank 3 Monsters anymore, especially since he had a few abilities that could easily deal with them.

A pack of ten Forest Wolves had sensed the young man’s presence before he even saw them.

But Alex didn’t need to see them to know where they were. He had the map, so the moment the wolves started charging in his direction, he already prepared to meet them halfway.

"Gravitas Dominion!" Alex waved his hand, and the charging wolves suddenly found a powerful pressure descending on them, slowing their movements drastically.

This was one of the Unique Skills Alex had gained in the past.

The strength of the gravity his enemies were subjected to depended on his rank.

For example, Alex’s current rank was a Rank 3 Oathkeeper. This meant that his enemies within the effective range of his skill would find themselves being subjected to gravity three times stronger than normal.

Alex then summoned his Warhammer and Sacrament, then smashed the skulls of the Forest Wolves using the martial skill, Hammer For All Seasons.

He even used the power of gravity to lighten the warhammer, allowing him to swing it up easily, only to increase the gravity to make it heavier mid-swing.

It was a devastating combination that Alex hadn’t mastered to the fullest. But now that he was using it in an actual fight, the prowess of his Unique Skill shone through.

The wolves died just like that, and Alex went past them without bothering to dig out the cores from their body.

The difference between monsters found in the wild and those found inside dungeons were very clear.

Dungeon monsters vanished and dropped their cores and some other items when they died.

As for monsters in the wild, their bodies remain intact.

When Alex dealt the killing blow to the last Forest Wolf, the five minute grace period also ended.

For now, he continued his plan to escape while throwing daggers left and right to give him an environment where he could target Diona from her blindspot.

A faint smirk was plastered on his face as he glanced at the small yellow dot that was following him.

Throwing a dagger, he pierced the spider’s body and finally ended the life of Diona’s scout, who had been keeping tabs on him.

———

In the plaza of the Etherion Village...

Lavinia watched as the warriors of the Clawford Tribe all rushed toward the forest to pursue the Oathkeeper.

Diona did the same. However, she simply followed behind the other warriors, not wanting to stand out too much.

However, she had sensed that Alex had defeated one of the wolf packs located at the northeast of the forest.

’He’s a sly one. I’ll give him that,’ Diona thought with a sneer. She had sensed the death of her little spider, but instead of being angry, she simply felt amused.

Earlier, Alex had dashed toward the southern side of the forest. However, the moment he had vanished from everyone’s sight, he had changed his direction and headed northeast.

He had circled around the perimeter of the village in order to throw off his pursuers, who would likely follow the path that he had taken. But Diona wasn’t fooled.

When she entered the forest, she jumped from branch to branch and headed towards her dead minions.

Her rank had been sealed, reducing her to become a Rank 5 Beast Conqueror, but the experience she gained from life-and-death battles remained with her.

She believed that a mere Rank 3 Oathkeeper wouldn’t be able to defeat her. In fact, she was enjoying this game of cat and mouse, thinking of herself as a predator.

Alex was her prey, and she would enjoy hunting him down.

She didn’t know that while she was thinking on how she would kill her target, Alex was also thinking on how he would beat the crap out of her in their battle.

He had no intention of killing Diona since it would be foolish to make Morax his enemy.

The leader of the Void-Touched was overly protective of his brethren. The one at fault here was clearly Diona, but Morax still would not let Alex get off scot-free even if he was protected by the Paragon of Space.

Alex understood that if Morax wished for it, he could control the minds of his friends and acquaintances. Of course, there were limitations since Morax could only control human beings.

But, that was enough to make the young man’s life a living hell.

All the human kingdoms would become his enemy. Those who were precious to him would also be in danger.

Although it was an unfair situation, he understood that it was impossible for the current him to offend this powerful organization.

He was already at odds with the Demon Worshipers. Adding the Void-Touched to his ever growing list of enemies would be pure suicide.

’Come, Diona,’ Alex thought. ’Let’s see what you’ve got.’

He wasn’t sure if he could defeat her in a one-on-one battle, but he was certain that he wouldn’t lose to her.

At most they would both suffer serious injuries unless Alex managed to gain a bit of advantage using the tactics that he had prepared beforehand.

He had several trump cards in his arsenal. In fact, one of them was a gift from Dim Dim.

This was an artifact that he only planned to use as his last resort if things spiraled out of his control.