A plasma-like mercury began to flow over the blade's surface, coating it with a shimmering layer of blue and silver.
Then, without hesitation, he swung the thunder sword in a series of swift, graceful moves, almost like a dance, spinning a ring of slashes around his body.
His feet moved just as quickly, charging straight toward the Sludge Fountain.
The "Guardians of the Nether" who tried to block his path were cut down by Alex's enchanted sword in a flurry of powerful strikes.
Though these undead wore armor and wielded weapons, the sword, charged with wild, high-energy thunder magic, sliced through them like a hot knife through butter, fragile and vulnerable with every blow.
The "Guardians" roared as they lunged at Alex, only to be torn apart into piles of shattered limbs.
On top of that, the [Eye of the Storm] above his head kept unleashing continuous bolts of lightning, bombarding the enemies.
With this relentless double assault, Alex surged forward several meters in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, the phoenix trapped in the sludge seemed to sense Alex's movements, clearly surprised by his fierce and efficient attack.
Suddenly, the portal formed by the sludge fountain surged with energy.
The once slow-moving sludge began to churn faster, and the number of ghostly guards emerging from it rapidly increased.
Where before only a few Nether Guardians appeared at a time, now a dozen or more burst out all at once.
These undead didn't seem to leap out actively anymore; instead, they were almost forcibly expelled, some flying out sideways as if blasted by a powerful water jet, spraying the undead directly toward Alex.
Naturally, Alex, who was steadily advancing toward the phoenix, became the target of this sudden surge.
The sheer number of undead overwhelmed him, forming a solid wall of flesh and shadow that pushed him back despite his quick kills.
Though Alex moved close to just a few meters from his target, the relentless wave of ghost guards forced him to retreat several steps.
It was like trying to break through a wall that kept repairing itself.
Alex realized the phoenix must be growing desperate.
Attacking such a dense horde of undead was like chopping down a wall that rebuilt itself.
It was a waste of time to continue like this.
He considered changing tactics, thinking about unleashing Fiendfyre.
But then he hesitated.
Fiendfyre was hard to control, especially in this urban environment.
If it spread, innocent bystanders could be seriously hurt.
Moreover, the black sludge covering these Nether Guardians seemed to grant them high resistance to flames and heat.
Even thundris tempest struggled to burn them, and many of these undead had abilities that tore through and destroyed anything in their path.
It seemed likely they had some kind of fire protection.
Alex nodded to himself.
The phoenix must have prepared for spear attacks, especially since Thunderbird was known for Fiendfyre.
It made sense that the phoenix would take measures to counter her, the expert at controlling undead.
He doubted these Nether Guardians would fall quickly to fire.
They were probably built to endure it for some time.
As Alex was considering how to respond, he
Suddenly heard footsteps landing behind him.
It wasn't long before his brothers, Edmund and another, arrived to back him up.
Although Alex and Phoenix had already exchanged several quick, decisive moves in just about a minute, the arrival of reinforcements was timely.
The three newcomers were visibly shocked by the scene in the basement.
"What on earth is going on? Why are there so many undead packed into this small space? It's like a nightmare come to life."
One of them stared at the figure covered in electric sparks and wondered, "Is that Alex? Why didn't he transform into a Super Saiyan like before?"
Among the three, the Schmidt brothers were the most stunned.
They had never witnessed such a grim battlefield.
The floor was littered with the bodies of dead spirits, and the air was thick with the stench of decay.
Alex moved swiftly with his longsword, cutting down undead after undead, leaving barely any room to stand.
The bloody scene made the Schmidt brothers shudder in disgust.
Meanwhile, Andrexia remained calm.
Having worked as an Auror in the wizarding world for decades, he had seen it all.
To him, these were just undead creatures, nothing new.
As soon as Alex landed, Andrexia quickly conjured a few "blazing flames" to try to break the undead siege.
But Alex's earlier suspicion was confirmed: his powerful fire curses barely affected these undead, who should have been vulnerable to flames.
Instead, the fire only made a faint sizzling sound.
"These undead aren't ordinary, they're special living corpses summoned by Phoenix," Alex explained.
"They're extremely resistant to fire and heat. We'll need a different strategy to get rid of them. Phoenix herself is trapped behind these undead, and I know how to close the portal, but someone will have to get close to her!"
Still fighting through the swarm, Alex noticed Andrexia's attempt and quickly warned him, urging caution.
Watching Alex skillfully block the "wall of the dead" with his fierce swordsmanship and crackling lightning magic, and even keep pushing forward despite the relentless attack, Andre nodded thoughtfully.
"I'm not worried about the flames, but I'm not sure how tough they are against cutting attacks."
After a moment of consideration, Andre raised his hand and launched two wind blades made from compressed air, one large and one small.
Although the ghostly guards were focused on Alex at that moment, they instinctively raised their weapons to defend against the incoming assault.
The smaller wind blade sliced through the weapon held by one of the undead, but the force behind it wasn't enough to harm the enemy directly.
In contrast, the larger wind blade cut steadily into an undead's body, almost slicing it in half.
"So this is the level of their defense," Andre said seriously.
"Got it."
He then called out to Alex, "Give me ten seconds, and I'll carve a path for you!"
"No problem!" Alex replied confidently, trusting in his teammate's abilities.
Since Andre promised to open a way, it was clear he had a plan.
Without wasting time, Andre folded his arms neatly, then pulled out a pair of blades from the interspatial bag strapped to his side.
Each blade was nearly [-] centimeters long, shaped like a slender, curved "S," as if two curved knives had been fused into one.
After pulling out his blades, Andre raised his wand and flicked it lightly.
Instantly, the blades lifted off the ground, swirling in the air like autumn leaves caught in a gust of wind.
They quickly lined up in a neat row, circling around Andre for a moment before settling about half a meter in front of him.
There, they spun clockwise nonstop, resembling the tumbling inside a front-loading washing machine.
The sound of metal clashing against metal filled the air.
Gradually, the blades sped up until they formed a razor-sharp whirlwind.
Within seconds, the spinning blades blurred into a deadly storm, the force of the air making Andre's clothes flap wildly.