The Alien-like Monster was sprinting toward its target when the ground under its feet suddenly gave way.
But with its swift reaction time, it was able to switch forms and jump over the sinkhole that appeared out of nowhere.
Before it could land, a flaming tail emerged from the ground and smashed against its body, sending it flying in the opposite direction.
The Alien righted itself mid-air before skidding on the ground for several meters.
When it finally came to a stop, it gazed at the place where it had been sneak attacked earlier.
The flaming tail was nowhere to be seen, and his surroundings seemed to be at a standstill.
Although he was hit by the attack, it was able to cross its arms over its chest and mitigate the damage it received from Rocky's tail attack.
The burn in its arms regenerated at a rapid pace until its injuries disappeared completely.
Although it was a newborn, it had inherited the memories and knowledge of its predecessors who had died in the experiments of the Kingdom of Artem, which was located on the moon above the skies of Solterra.
Despite only being a few minutes old, it was already as smart as a human, making it recognize the threat that appeared out of nowhere.
For a brief moment, the creature hesitated. However, its desire to breed and increase the population of its kind made capturing its target the top priority.
Once again, it ran in a sprint. But this time, it paid more attention to its surroundings.
As if waiting for it to make that kind of move, another sinkhole appeared in front of it.
However, instead of jumping over it, the Alien-like Monster moved to its right side, circling the hole that appeared.
Suddenly, the ground under its feet gave way, catching it by surprise. As its guard was raised, it was able to jump backward to safety.
At least, that was what it thought.
Another sinkhole appeared behind it, making the Alien-like monster fall at what seemed to be a well-coordinated trap catered to its thinking process.
Not panicking in the slightest, the creature extended and embedded its tail on the wall, propelling itself upward. It even sneered internally, thinking that its opponent was silly to think that it would be defeated in such a manner.
But before it could even feel good about itself, a flaming tail jutted out of the ground near the exit of the sinkhole and smashed against the monster, sending it downward.
This time, the monster screamed in pain and frustration. The attack came when it least expected it, right before it thought it finally regained its freedom.
With a hate-filled gaze, the monster once again stabbed its tail on the wall, hurling itself on the other side of the wall.
It repeated this process, zigzagging upward at a rapid pace, paying close attention to its surroundings as it made its fast climb.
At that moment, several monsters jumped out of the sides of the pit and threw themselves at the monster without fear of death.
The Alien-like monster slashed the ambushers with its claws, cutting their bodies in half.
These bodies then exploded into purple mist, covering the monster from head to foot with the poison that had felled strong monsters in the past.
Perhaps understanding that some foreign substance was invading its body, the Alien-like monster started to molt, shedding its skin within seconds.
It was built to be the perfect killing machine, equipped with many survival abilities that would make it extremely hard to kill.
Zion was carefully observing his enemy, mentally calculating at high speed to assist Rocky in dealing with the monster. He couldn't help but be impressed by its fast reaction time.
As the minutes passed, the intelligence of the monster matured at a rapid pace as it dealt with the sneak attacks that were coming from every direction.
Thirteen, Rocky, and the Parade of the Hundred Demons, whom Thirteen had summoned, did their best to contain the monster inside the sinkhole.
However, it didn't take long for them to realize that this was a very monumental task.
'Even if Cranky were here, he would not be able to hit this monster due to how fast it moved,' Thirteen thought. The Honey Badger was strong and cunning.
Although he wasn't as fast as the Alien-like Monster, Cranky's speed was still decent.
But Cranky would not be able to contain this enemy due to its bizarre abilities.
Rocky, who admitted that Cranky was stronger than him, still believed that he could defeat anyone, except for the Honey Badger, even if the opponent was a Rank higher than him.
Unfortunately, it now realized that it had been too arrogant in its thinking after fighting alongside its Master and winning many battles with his help.
"Rocky, our goal is to keep him tied up for as long as we can," Thirteen stated. "You are not a match against it, so we will focus on hit-and-run tactics."
The Magma Bal-Boa growled, agreeing to his Master's strategy.
Only ten minutes had passed since they clashed against the Alien-like Monster, yet Thirteen was already in a state of absolute focus.
In this state, he forced his brain to be six to eight steps ahead of his opponent, taking the upper hand in their exchanges.
If he were still a System, he could have played with the Alien-like Monster until it rage-quitted.
Unfortunately, he was no longer a system but a living, breathing, human.
His intelligence was a force to reckon with. His willpower was stronger than anyone.
However, his heart and body had limitations.
He could only stay in his Hyper-Focused State for a period of time. When the Alien-like Monster was only dozens of meters away from the exit, Rocky appeared and opened his mouth. "Daisy, Go!" Thirteen ordered.
Immediately, the newest member of his team unleashed her Daisy Destroyer.
A combination of flames, acid, and stench that would make the models of Victoria's Secret scream like little girls bombarded the Alien-like Monster, covering its body completely.
After unleashing that strike, Rocky closed its mouth and tackled its opponent, using that small window of opportunity to send it back to the deepest layer of his sinkhole, where molten lava was waiting for its arrival.
"You finally showed yourself!" the Alien-like Monster said hoarsely through telepathy.
It was waiting patiently for its enemy to show itself, so it could deal with it more effectively.
However, Thirteen had other plans.
The moment Rocky head-butted its opponent, the two Ogres, O1 and O2, were suddenly ejected from his body.
Both Ogres had already initiated a strike with their steel-spiked clubs before they were even thrown out to battle.
Because of this, their follow-up attack to Rocky's tackle hit their target's head and chest without even half a second of a delay.
This made the Alien-like Monster scream in anger and frustration because its counter-attack was repelled before it could even initiate it.
Summoning the two Ogres back to its body, Rocky's head dove toward the wall of the earth, merging with it completely.
The Alien might have been hit repeatedly, but its regeneration and recovery rate were insane.
It could even be described to be unmatched among monsters of the same Rank and possibly even among Rank 9 Sovereigns that roamed the lands of Solterra.
Tiona watched as a single drop of blood streamed down her Master's nose.
Thirteen was now reaching his limit, and yet, the most they managed to achieve was annoy and infuriate the Alien-like monster, who remained unscathed from their combination attacks due to its incredible regeneration and recovery abilities.
The Trolls inside Rocky's Mobile Fortress were using their abilities to heal Zion.
Unfortunately, the young man was very resistant to any form of positive buffs due to the restrictions that were placed on his body.
On the bright side, he was also able to resist negative buffs like poison, weakness, and paralysis to a certain extent.
However, destructive spells like Fireballs and the like would seriously injure him if they landed a direct hit on his body.
"Rocky, do it!" Thirteen ordered as he exited his Hyper-Focused State and panted for breath.
Blood streamed down from his nose, and he felt as if all the strength was leaving his body.
This was the backlash of this ability, which he had also used against the Goblin King that he had fought in the past.
But unlike last time, Thirteen held back, having promised his loved ones that he would not do anything reckless that could potentially end his life.
Although he was severely weakened, it wasn't to the point that he would lose consciousness for a few days.
Rocky, who already knew what his Master wanted from him, thrashed his body, destroying the ground around him and closing the sinkhole that he had created through brute force.
They knew that this wouldn't hold back the Alien-like Monster for long, but they had already done their best to buy as much time as possible.
Now, they could only retreat and catch up to Sherry, laying down traps along the way to further delay their enemy, who was currently screaming as it tried to dig itself out of the pit that Zion had created specially for it.