The moment Varkoth's 'transformation' was fully complete, he made his move.
'He's using the same stances as he did before.'
Alex noticed immediately that Varkoth hadn't really changed anything too drastic about his methods, so he was wondering just how useful this new method would really be for him.
But he got his answer soon enough.
Varkoth's feet dug into the ground, with his back slightly bending like he was about to launch off the ground like a spring.
Alex was ready to dodge the moment he saw him come near.
But that's where the problem lay.
He never saw him...
The moment Varkoth's foot even slightly left the ground, he completely disappeared.
Like he was never even there.
'Impossible!'
But Alex could sense something with his spatial perception.
Varkoth had just broken the spatial barrier.
He realised just what Varkoth had been preparing for in that moment.
It seemed Varkoth had covered himself fully in his penetration energy to be able to penetrate through something that some still believed was just a concept.
Space.
He had penetrated through space directly, slipping through the cracks he had created to find himself in between dimensions.
Or more specifically, in the Void dimension.
But unlike Mira who had a talent to go back and forth when she liked, Varkoth wasn't as blessed.
His body couldn't withstand the forces of that place for more than a few seconds, as only A- ranks or higher, or unique characters like Mira, could do that.
But a few seconds was enough for him to achieve his goal.
Alex looked around himself frantically, desperately trying to figure out where Varkoth had disappeared to.
But he had completely vanished.
He was not in his range of perception at all.
But with Alex's mind practically on the back burner, with his body's own instincts taking over control, his attacks were about to get much more wild.
And the first thing he did was use something that Alex had been meaning to keep as a trump card for times like this.
Soul fire.
It was an unpredictable force that Alex had hardly used in battle before, tied directly to his own spirit, his very existence.
But Varkoth had pushed him to his limits, so Alex felt like he had no choice.
With a deep, guttural growl, Alex's flames shifted.
The crimson hue of the Phoenix flames darkened, deepening into blood red, then black, until there was literally no colour to them at all.
Varkoth sensed the change in Alex and narrowed his eyes.
But instead of feeling intimidated, it only spurred him on.
"Finally, you show me what you're really made of." Varkoth sneered.
"But it won't save you."
Alex didn't answer as he literally wasn't able to.
With that, Varkoth launched himself forward, his form disappearing once more into the void dimension.
Alex closed his eyes, focusing not on the physical world, but on the energy around him.
He could feel the disturbance in space Varkoth had made.
And knowing that Varkoth would attempt the same move he had made previously, Alex spread out his own energy into his general surroundings.
His soul fire expanded outwards, covering a 10 metre radius around him.
And with its invisible nature, Varkoth hadn't even noticed.
A few seconds later, he reappeared in the physical world once again, aiming to slice through Alex's heart from his back this time.
But the moment he stepped into the physical realm and entered the radius around Alex, his mind went blank for a split second.
"GARGHHH!"
Until he screamed.
Alex's soul fire all compressed on Varkoth the moment he reappeared, with all of the latent energy in the 10 metres radius converging on Varkoth at once.
The pain was so unbearable for Varkoth that he was forced into his own soul space, where he was confronted by all sorts of horrors that were attacking his soul.