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

Alex's body throbbed with pain, his vision still swimming from the Manticore's devastating assault.

Yet, as he lay embedded in the crater it had sent him crashing into, a flicker of opportunity presented itself.

The beast had made a mistake.

It had given him distance.

A deep, guttural growl rumbled from Alex's throat as an ominous purple glow spread through his neck and jawline.

The destruction energy in his body surged wildly, merging within him as his bloodline roared to life.

This was the chance he needed.

The Manticore, oblivious to its mistake, rushed downward, its golden eyes locked onto its prey. Its claws were suspended to rip through Alex's battered frame.

But then—it hesitated.

'Something's wrong.' Its humanoid face frowned as it saw the mana around Alex moving wildly before he caught sight of the ominous purple light covering his throat.

Before it could process the danger, Alex unleashed his attack.

BOOM!

A sonic boom was heard, sending ripples through the air as a massive beam of destruction energy erupted from Alex's mouth, tearing through the air with a deafening roar.

The sheer size and force of the attack were terrifying. It started as a focused beam but rapidly expanded, growing larger and larger the farther it traveled.

The searing energy distorted space around it, leaving trails of annihilation in its wake. It was so bad that the air in its surroundings had disappeared, leaving nothing but void.

The Manticore's instincts screamed at it to move, but it was too late. The breath attack had grown too large to dodge entirely.

"Tch!" The beast clicked its tongue. In the very last moment, golden energy shimmered around its body.

BOOM!

The beam struck—but not the real Manticore.

Instead, its clone was obliterated in an instant, reduced to dust before it could even react. The real Manticore had teleported several meters away, escaping by the slimmest margin.

But Alex had expected this.

He had already observed the pattern. Whenever the beast uses its cloning ability, its real body is teleported some distance from the clone, usually a blind spot of its target.

So before his breath attack could dissipate, he twisted his neck, redirecting the destruction beam toward the Manticore's new location.

"You're not getting away!"

His roar echoed louder as his attack moved toward every corner he could see.

The Manticore's eyes widened. It was strong but not strong enough to withstand destruction energy—the very essence of destruction.

The beast was sure if it was hit by the attack, it would be left in terrible shape.

With a growl, it rushed away from its spot, its speed too fast for Alex to keep up. No matter how fast his head moved—much to his frustration—he couldn't catch the beast with his breath attack.

Soon, he ran out of air, making him stop his breath attack.

"Hah... Hah... Hah..."

He gasped for air, trying to stabilize his breathing, and the beast finally stopped, relaxing as it realized that Alex was spent.

"Out of mana?" It grinned, walking closer to Alex, fully aware of how much mana a breath attack took.

Even the dragons can't use it continuously, much less Alex, who was a human.

"The fact that you could use a breath attack is already astounding—" The beast wanted to go on, but its words caught in its throat as its eyes widened to the extreme.

'What the hell?!'

It saw another breath of destruction moving toward it, as Alex, with his jaw wide apart, had shot another attack.

"What the hell are you?!" The Manticore yelled, unaware of Alex's unlimited mana reserve.

However, it also knew that it couldn't simply avoid the attack coming toward it this time. Not when it was right in front of the beast.

In a hurry, it decided to use its strongest attack.

Snarling, it inhaled sharply, its chest expanding before spewing out a dark, toxic mist—a concentrated poison breath attack capable of corroding anything it touched.

The two attacks collided in midair.

BOOM!

A loud explosion, enough to shake the surroundings, was heard, and for a split second, it seemed like the battle could go either way.

But then—

The poison breath buckled.

It sizzled violently, disintegrating before the sheer might of Alex's destruction breath.

The two energies weren't even close in power. Alex's attack devoured the poison like a raging inferno consuming dry leaves.

"Impossible—!" The Manticore snarled seeing this. It had never faced anything that could overpower its strongest attack so easily.

Alex, still spewing destruction energy, moved his breath attack to cover every angle, making it impossible for the Manticore to retreat further.

"You talk too much for a beast," Alex growled between breaths. His throat burned, his lungs screaming for air, but he wasn't done yet. If he could just keep up the attack a little longer—

The Manticore, however, was not so easily cornered.

The blast from the clash of breaths had sent it skidding some distance away from the destruction breath, giving it a chance to make a move.

Right before the destruction energy could fully engulf it, the beast flickered out of existence again, vanishing into thin air.

Alex's breath attack finally ran dry, his body heaving as he gasped for air.

'Damn it…' he thought, his chest rising and falling rapidly. 'That was my best shot, and it still didn't land.'

"You're persistent," the Manticore's voice echoed from above.

Alex barely had time to lift his head before something slammed into him at breakneck speed.

BAAAM!

His body rocketed across the battlefield like a broken ragdoll, bouncing off the ground before coming to a skidding halt. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.

But before he could recover, the Manticore appeared right before him.

It wasn't going to let Alex have any rest now.

WHAM!

A heavy paw smashed into his gut, driving him deeper into the earth. Alex's vision blurred. His body screamed, demanding rest, but he forced himself to stay awake.

WHAM! WHAM!

Two more hits followed. The Manticore was relentless, raining blow after blow onto him.

"For all that power," the beast said, its voice dripping with amusement, "you still can't keep up."

Alex coughed, struggling to push himself up, but before he could react—

CRACK!

A clawed paw clamped around his head, pressing his skull into the ground.

The Manticore loomed over him, its golden eyes gleaming with victory. "It's over, human."

Yet, despite his predicament, Alex... smiled.

He smiled because he could see something the beast couldn't.

The Manticore, however, frowned. "Why are you smiling?" He growled.

Alex exhaled slowly, blood trailing down his lip. His grin widened.

"To stall for a few seconds, duh."

A sudden realization hit the Manticore, but it was too late.

The ground beneath Alex began to glow—an ominous purple light surging outward.

The beast's eyes widened. "You—!"

It rushed to back away, only to realize something...

'I was tricked!'

The light it saw earlier wasn't from destruction energy; it was simply a purple light, something anyone with light affinity could summon.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

It roared as it realized it had been fooled, rushing toward Alex at breakneck speed, only to see Alex's body slowly disintegrating into particles.

"I just had to survive for a minute, you ugly son of a bitch..."

That was the last thing that left Alex's lips before he vanished, leaving the raging beast alone on the top floor of the dungeon.