If willpower wasn't the key, then it had to be the magic power reserve.
Horned Basilisk's lumen was way higher than Alex's, so it made sense that this shield was tied to that.
Just as he pieced this together, horned basilisk finished casting his spell.
"Open!" horned basilisk shouted.
Suddenly, the massive stone house perched above him exploded into thousands of pieces that drifted slowly like a meteor shower.
Among the wreckage were finely crafted furniture and decorations, all floating in the air like a belt of space debris.
With a powerful wave of his wand, horned basilisk sent this 'meteor shower' hurtling toward Alex at incredible speed.
Alex didn't have time to think.
He quickly activated his flying cloak and dodged, narrowly avoiding the flying debris as it smashed down.
The fragments were fast and relentless, but fortunately, Alex was quick enough to stay out of harm's way.
Still, with the continuous onslaught, he couldn't afford to stop moving for even a second.
After Alex dodged swiftly, the wreckage didn't fall to the ground as expected.
Instead, it hovered in the air and began circling around him.
Before long, he realized he was surrounded by large pieces of debris, as if he had wandered into a strange lake filled with broken building parts.
He heard, "Serpens Occulta!"
After blocking most of Alex's escape routes with the rubble, horned basilisk started casting spells at him frantically.
Soon, dozens of cyan-colored energy snakes twisted through the air toward him like swarms of plankton.
Alex frowned, wondering if they were trying to overwhelm him with sheer numbers of spells.
But horned basilisk should have known that tactic wouldn't work on him.
Still, there was no time to overthink it.
Despite being caught between the floating wreckage and the magical snakes, Alex moved freely through this strange "sea of meteorites."
He used his long sword and shield to smash or deflect incoming spells and even took advantage of the debris as cover, letting the rubble block attacks for him.
Though the situation looked tricky for a moment, Alex wasn't truly threatened.
As Alex spent most of his energy dodging and defending against the relentless attacks, horned basilisk made its next move.
After releasing nearly a hundred [Secret Snakes] that automatically sought out and attacked him, horned basilisk pointed its wand directly at Alex's position.
At its command, the debris from nearby ruined buildings, hovering slowly in mid-air as if obeying some unseen order, began closing in on Alex from all directions.
Faced with this overwhelming assault, Alex realized horned basilisk's plan was to crush him to death.
Without hesitation, he activated his [Overload] form and quickly flew to one side, attempting to break free from the incoming "sea of meteorites."
However, the gaps between the floating wreckage were too narrow to speed up, forcing Alex to carefully navigate through the tight spaces.
Meanwhile, the countless mysterious snakes surrounding him continued to disrupt his actions, forcing him to spend precious moments parrying their powerful spells.
Even now, Alex felt a strong gravitational pull centered on him, a spell cast by horned basilisk to slow him down further.
Dragged back by the force, he watched as the wreckage rapidly closed in, blocking every escape route.
The space around him shrank steadily, and tangled by the relentless snakes, he couldn't even draw his sword or cast a spell to clear a path.
Soon, the debris formed a tight sphere around him, ready to crush him into pieces with even the slightest pressure.
Triumphantly, horned basilisk laughed loudly.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Like a trapped little bug, let's see where you can run now! I'll turn you to dust!" he mocked.
After laughing, horned basilisk ramped up its magic power once more, increasing the crushing pressure on the slowly closing wreckage.
It wished Alex would die instantly, body and all.
Just as horned basilisk thought Alex was done for, two clear birdcalls suddenly echoed from above.
Then, through the rock sphere in front of him, horned basilisk caught a glimpse of a crimson figure flashing by.
Inside the wreckage, Alex had less than two meters of space left to move and was on the brink of being crushed beyond recognition.
Suddenly, flames ignited out of nowhere beside him, and from the fire, a graceful phoenix emerged!
Without hesitation, Alex turned, swung his sword to cut away the mysterious snakes coiling around him, and reached out to grasp the phoenix's sharp claws.
Instantly, his entire body seemed to catch fire, transforming into a ball of flames that vanished into the tiny space.
The moment Alex escaped, the rock sphere sealed shut completely, continuing to shrink and crush with such force that even the remaining magical snakes in the center were crushed into strands of pure magic power.
Outside, horned basilisk continued casting spells, carefully sensing everything happening inside the stone ball.
After a moment, a grim expression crossed his face as he turned coldly to look behind him.
About a hundred meters away, outside horned basilisk's line of sight, a massive thunderbird, much larger than a lion, hovered in the sky.
A figure sat astride its back.
It was Alex, who had just escaped the wreckage, with a phoenix perched on his shoulder.
As soon as he landed on his thunderbird, Alex released his overload, then pulled out a bottle of phoenix tears and drank them down.
After finishing, he sighed in relief.
"Saul, Irene, I'm so glad you two showed up just in time. Otherwise, I might not have made it, especially you, Irene."
At Alex's words, the little phoenix let out a sharp cry and excitedly stretched its wings.
Thor looked up at Alex with a slightly puzzled expression.
"Hey, Alex, when did you name the little Phoenix?" he asked.
Alex shrugged, as he'd just randomly decided the name.
Just then, Shalltear's voice buzzed through the communicator by Alex's ear.
"Master! How are you holding up? As soon as I got your message, I rushed over following the coordinates, but the magical pressure in the sky is so intense I can't get close. I had to send the two others instead to provide support."
"Good work, Shalltear," Alex said with a nod.
"This fight isn't something you can jump into. Your priority is to keep yourself safe. Also, make sure to deploy the anti-apparition wards and anti-key jammers around this valley."
"Yes, master," Shalltear replied.
"Are you really okay? That huge glowing orb up there looks terrifying. If things get worse, maybe we should retreat."
Alex remained calm.
"Don't worry. I don't engage in fights I'm unsure about. Horned Basilisk is at its weakest right now. If I don't deal with it now, I won't get another chance."
He focused his gaze back on the distant, runic serpent.
Even with backup arriving, breaking through horned basilisk's near-impenetrable magical defense was a huge challenge.