Gacha Sovereign

A few minutes later, Alex was still flying around while avoiding the attacks from the ground. Luckily, the golem had no intelligence, so Alex had no trouble for the time being. However, he really needed to solve this riddle quickly.

"What should I do?" Alex tapped his head a few times with his finger while looking at the ground. Suddenly, he remembered a certain matter. "Wait! If there is no water on the surface, can't I just get one from the underground? It's called groundwater! It is the water found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand, and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through geologic formations.

"That's right. Even if I evaporate all of the water on the surface, whether it's the sea, river, or lake, there is still groundwater. The riddle doesn't tell me that I need pure water, so groundwater is the answer. I can purify them with my Pure Fire if it's not enough." Alex had gotten his answer but met another problem. "Still, how can I dig the ground like this? The golems will surely aim at me."

Alex thought for a moment and muttered to himself. "Can I kill all of them except one? Will they multiply? I should kill one first to test."

He pointed his finger toward one of the golems as Fire appeared around his finger. "Flame of Extinction."

It wasn't a powerful fire attack but still contained enough power to destroy one of the unintelligent golems that couldn't avoid any attack.

"Done!" Alex nodded to himself before waiting to see what would happen. And he could only click his teeth in the next minute as he saw four golems come out of the ground."

"I see. I can't use this tactic, I guess…" He started thinking of another strategy to dig the ground under the attack of those golems. Alex shook his head and started searching if he could find or create a terrain to his advantage.

It was after another few minutes, he suddenly found something interesting. Underneath a vast barren ground was actually energy. This blue colored energy was masked well by the ground's green energy. If the golems that were distracting him were actually stronger, he might not find this spot.

"Still, the water is too deep. I need to dig around a few hundred meters while being rained by the attacks from the golems." He thought for a moment before grinning. "I almost forgot what I came here for. I have been practicing Space Element for a year, isn't it for this?"

Realizing what he needed to do, Alex flew down to the ground. The golems looked down and aimed at him again, but Alex simply smiled as he already started digging the hole.

Without Alex in their vision, the golems could only start walking toward the hole and aimed to the bottom. Many Earth Spikes flew down toward him, but a circle, perfectly sized to the shape of the hole, appeared above him.

"Spatial Gate!" Alex smiled while digging. Of course, this place still couldn't be connected to the Blue Layered Realm, but Alex had the solution for that. He didn't create a Portal toward the realm. Instead, there was another portal on the surface, aiming at the ground. This way, the golems couldn't hurt him until he finished his job.

"Keep digging!" Alex scooped the rocks as if they were butter, gradually closing his distance toward the water. It was only after another three minutes that he finally arrived right above the water. "I should make a small hole first to test. I don't want all the water to burst out of the ground… Well, groundwater normally doesn't have high pressure, so I don't need to worry."

Alex took a deep breath and pierced the ground gently and made a hole.

The brown-colored water slowly flowed out of the hole.

"Objective has been completed." Alex smiled before he suddenly heard a weird sound.

*Crack!*

"What is that?" Alex couldn't see the crack on the floor beneath him because of this muddy water. Suddenly, the ground crumbled, and the water burst out of the hole.

"What-blurb!" He couldn't finish his words before he was pushed back by the water. It continued until Alex reached the surface. However, he found a troubling matter. "This is not good. There are still many golems on the surface. I need to be ready to fight them as soon as I arrive at the surface."

Yet when he arrived at the surface, he couldn't find a single golem around the hole before he was launched to the sky by the water. Not long after, he sensed Space Element behind him and turned around, only to find a Spatial Gate behind him.

"!!!" Alex realized that it must be the gate to the fifth floor. He entered there, and the scenery changed.

"Where is this?" Alex asked himself while still floating in the air. The surrounding was filled with grass. Looking around the area, he didn't find a single structure or a tree. Not long after, the golden words appeared again.

"The answer is in the sky."

"That's it?" Alex was stupefied when he read the golden words. He still searched for some clues with his Spirit Eyes before Spiritual Energy seemed to start flowing out of the ground, flying to the air as if something was absorbing it. Suddenly, the Spiritual Energy formed a layer far above the sky.

"What is that?" He furrowed his eyebrows before looking around, only to find that his path was blocked by another layer of energy. He took a deep breath and slashed his sword toward the side.

"Blade of Conquest."

A sword wave flew toward the energy layer and exploded as if it hit something hard.

"Boom!"

After taking the full brunt of that explosion, the layer of energy seemed to have no change as if nothing hit it. Alex took his sword once again and slashed it with his strongest attack.

"Triple Draws! Mythical Fire Slash! Space Cut!"

He chose to use these three techniques so early because he wanted to see whether the barrier could be affected by power, element, or another realm attack.

"Boom boom boom!"

A series of explosions echoed across the region. Alex used his Spirit Eyes and got disappointed once again because there was no change in the barrier. He looked up and found that the layer of energy started moving down.

"Is the sky falling or something? I will be crushed by the sky that falls down? It's ridiculous." Alex shook his head and laughed. "The answer lies in the sky, huh…"

Although he didn't want to admit it, the answer should truly be in the sky. He slashed his sword three times again, sending the same attack.

The six Sword Waves flew to the sky and cut through the layer of energy, creating a small hole that soon got plugged.

Alex took a deep breath and muttered to himself. "If I want to pass the layer, it seems I can create a hole and slip past this layer. After that, I might reach the highest point. Is it the riddle this time?"

The layer of energy kept coming down, reducing his time to think. He had no choice other than to test his hypothesis. Using both his sword and spear at this moment, Alex flew to the green layer before slashing it with all his might.

A hole appeared in front of him and already started regenerating at speed visible with naked eyes. He narrowed his eyes and halted right in front of the layer of energy as the hole was already too small for him to pass.

He tried to touch the energy with his barrier and felt as if there was a translucent metal in front of him.

"The barrier is not that strong, but the regeneration is too powerful. I need to be right in front of it first before creating a hole in this barrier." Alex crossed his arms while observing it for a little longer.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any other clues, so he decided to use this existing plan and reached the sky.

He slashed the barrier again with all of his might, creating quite a large hole on it and passed the barrier.

"Is that all?" Alex narrowed his eyes and looked at the barrier that continued moving down. He shook his head and flew upward before he saw another barrier coming down. "What?"

This barrier was the same as the previous one, so Alex kept going by slashing and going through the barrier without any trouble. However, he suddenly met the same layer of energy that had been trapping him from four directions. "Is this the highest height?"

Alex thought for a moment and tried to attack it. Sadly, nothing did damage this energy, like how he tested on the surface. "What now?"

While questioning himself, the barrier appeared again and started pushing downward.

"!!!" Alex was alarmed and made a distance before slashing the barrier again. "What do I lack to solve this problem? I have reached the sky, and there is no other clue. My Spirit Eyes also don't give me any hidden clues like always… I thought I only needed to continue until I reached the space, albeit it's only stupid thinking of mine—! Wait, Space? Not outer space but Space Element!"

While he was thinking about the exit, he remembered that he just used Space Cut out of reflex despite knowing it couldn't be used due to the lack of connection to the Blue Layered Realm.

"Why would I… No, I have certainly felt the Space Energy around and created a portal to that place. In other words, there is a Space Realm in this place, albeit only a replica. However, it still means the answer lies in the sky. The reason there is no secret entrance or any other clues is that the clue is already enough." Alex's expression turned serious.

He raised his hand and gathered the Space Element around him to create a single portal. Yet, he found another surprise. The portal was toward a Red Colored Realm instead of a blue one. There was also a certain kind of energy blocking the entrance as if it was trying to stop Alex from entering.

"I only need to destroy it then!" Alex raised his sword and sent another Sword Wave toward the Red Realm. But…

"Boom!"

The same thing as the barrier on his four directions occurred again. This layer of energy didn't take single damage or whatsoever. Alex contemplated for a moment. "There are two possibilities. I need a stronger power to destroy this barrier, or I don't meet all the criteria. And I feel it's the latter.

"The problem is, what are the criteria?" Alex glanced at the vertical barrier and flew toward it. He created another portal right on the barrier, but to no success. There was still that layer of energy preventing him from entering. Yet, Alex didn't give up because he needed to test the portal to another barrier.

He looked up and came closer to the barrier and opened the gate right in front of it. Surprisingly, the layer of energy suddenly disappeared as if it was not there in the first place. "This—"

Before he could finish his words, Alex saw that the translucent barrier had gone through the portal and the layer of energy appeared again. Alex smiled. "I can understand the riddle now. The barrier is the sky, so if I want to come out of this place, I need to go through this barrier with my Spatial Gate. The problem is the time limit. I can't move my barrier, so I only have a split second to go through the barrier. I wonder if the Great Elder can move her Spatial Gate at will?"

Alex shook the question off his head and focused on the barrier. He waited for a moment until another barrier appeared. When it made its appearance, he quickly made a portal even from afar, allowing him to make his own preparation.

"3…"

"2…"

"1…"

"Go!" When the barrier started closing in, he began counting before using his Sky Movement to step in the air to increase his speed for even a little bit, and he finally passed the gate.