Narrow Victory

After guessing Mandarin’s plan, Alex felt utterly frustrated. He wanted to strike back, but he could not find his opponent at all. After agonizing over it for a while, Alex suddenly had an idea. His face lit up as he murmured, "If I use this well, I can really screw Mandarin over!"

The more Alex thought about it, the more excited he became. His eyes gleamed, and the corners of his mouth spread into a grin as he laughed silently.

Outside the dark space, Mandarin waited with a calm expression. However, he had not intended to wear Alex down. Keeping the two rings operating consumed an enormous amount of his mental energy and focus, no less than Alex’s own expenditure.

The reason Mandarin had not attacked for so long was simple: the Cutting Beam needed to cool down. After being used at high intensity earlier, it had yet to recover!

Alex did not know any of this. He was still secretly preparing something within the dark space, the slight lift of his brow revealing his excellent mood.

Another ten or so minutes passed without notice. After estimating the time, Alex’s body suddenly shuddered. The metal particles filling the dark space instantly fell into disorder, then quickly returned to normal.

Outside the dark space, Mandarin immediately noticed the anomaly. He frowned slightly, his face filled with confusion. "What is this?" Mandarin had seen all the defensive and offensive measures Alex had set up in the dark space. With such a sudden change, he naturally had to stay on guard against any scheme Alex might be plotting.

Mandarin did not act rashly. The Cutting Beam was almost recovered.

Inside the dark space, Alex saw that there was still no reaction outside and could not help curling his lip. "He really is cautious!" With a sigh, he continued putting on an act of strenuous vigilance.

Another ten or so minutes passed, and Alex moved again. The metal particles and Energy Shield both collapsed. Even the Red Impact Beams around him lost control and shot straight into the sky, piercing through the darkness before vanishing beyond the horizon.

Mandarin glanced at the Impact Beams that had burst out of the dark space, then turned back to look at it. The confusion on his usually calm face deepened.

Just as Mandarin was preparing to investigate, everything inside the dark space instantly returned to normal. The transition from chaos to order took no more than three seconds.

"Could his mental strength be failing?" Mandarin quickly thought of a possibility, and a trace of delight appeared between his brows.

If Mandarin had originally intended to compete with Alex in endurance, Alex’s trick would not have fooled him so easily. But he had not. Caught off guard and bolstered by his own confidence, Mandarin was instead deceived by Alex’s somewhat childish tactic and truly believed that Alex’s mental strength was failing and his Psionic Power was nearly exhausted.

However, out of caution, Mandarin did not act when Alex made another mistake, even though the Cutting Beam had already recovered.

When Alex made his fourth mistake, Mandarin finally made his move.

He flashed into the dark space and appeared in front of Alex. The Cutting Beam fired instantly, heading straight for Alex’s forehead.

The instant Mandarin entered the dark space, Alex noticed him. He shifted his footing and ducked beneath the Cutting Beam, then slid behind Mandarin and struck like lightning, pressing both palms tightly against Mandarin’s back.

Having witnessed Mandarin’s martial arts, Alex did not dare attack him at this moment. In any case, all he needed to do was pour the energy within his body into Mandarin’s.

The moment Alex moved, Mandarin reacted. He immediately tried to retreat, only to suddenly discover that a pair of energy hands had somehow seized his feet, pinning them firmly to the ground and leaving him unable to move.

Not only that, the metal particles scattered across the ground suddenly moved. In an instant, they flew around Mandarin and formed a thin layer of sheet metal, attempting to wrap him tightly inside.

The sheet metal never fully formed. Almost instantly, the metal particles that had just gathered were torn apart by a repulsive force far stronger than Alex’s control.

But that was not Alex’s goal. As long as he could distract Mandarin for even 0.01 seconds, it would be worth it. In fact, Mandarin was delayed for nearly a tenth of a second.

By the time Mandarin came to his senses and prepared to counterattack, he suddenly felt a vast surge of energy flooding wildly into his body from behind, like mercury pouring across the ground. The enormous amount of energy gave Mandarin a fleeting sense of bliss.

But in the next instant, Mandarin realized something was wrong. Energy was still continuously pouring in from behind, and he could already feel that his body was struggling to bear it. The immense energy made him feel bloated, as though he might explode at any moment.

At that moment, Mandarin understood Alex’s plan. His expression turned icy as he tried with all his might to stop the energy from entering. Unlike Alex, Mandarin had all sorts of methods for releasing energy. At this moment, he could only cut off the source; he had no way to release it. At the same time, he did not forget to divide his attention and attack Alex. Perhaps he was too anxious, or perhaps his mind had gone muddled, but Mandarin even forgot to use his magic rings and actually fought Alex with martial arts.

This unexpected delight invigorated Alex. He desperately adjusted his steps to follow Mandarin’s movements, keeping both palms pressed tightly against Mandarin’s back from beginning to end. Even having several ribs broken by Mandarin’s elbow strikes did not make him let go.

After exchanging several moves, Mandarin finally remembered his rings.

Alex tried his utmost to resist the sudden force pushing him away, but in the end, he could not overcome the power of the magic rings. He was blasted far away, even sent flying straight out of the dark space.

Alex was somewhat disappointed that all his efforts had come to nothing, but thinking of Mandarin’s current condition made him feel a little better.

After waiting for a moment, the dark space dissipated. Mandarin emerged with fury written across his face, his steps somewhat unsteady. The massive amount of energy had restricted even his movements. Every action had to be taken with extreme care, lest any misstep trigger the violent energy raging within him.

An energy explosion could occur because there was too much energy, or because the energy was too violent. If either exceeded the body’s limit, it could cause the body to explode.

Alex had no idea how much energy he had injected into Mandarin. Seeing Mandarin’s current state, he could not help laughing, faintly seeing hope of victory. In Mandarin’s condition, aside from using the power of his magic rings, he barely even dared move. Wasn’t he just a living target waiting to be beaten?

Mandarin clearly understood his own condition as well. He glared at Alex, and a whirlwind rose beneath his feet, carrying him swiftly away.

Alex wanted to chase after him, but the moment he got close, a powerful repulsive force instantly blasted him back. The distance between them steadily widened, until Mandarin vanished completely from sight.