The Innkeeper

Yet despite all that, at this particular moment, most people who were still watching the games had their attention turned towards Alexander. The first time he was smashed into the ground, he became completely disoriented, the golden aura around him vanishing and the air knocked completely out of him. But that was only the beginning.

Pramod did not slow his movements, and started smashing Alexander around like a rag-doll. With a grip tight enough to crumple steel clamping onto the teenager’s leg, he swung him over his own head and smashed him into the ground. Once. Twice. Thrice.

As he was about to smash Alexander into the ground the fourth time without any resistance, people had begun to suspect him already dead, but that is when the six blades that had fallen onto the ground flew into the air, aiming to pierce through Pramods hand.

Originally, the giant demon meant to ignore the blades, as he had every confidence in his scaly armor, but when the first blade cut into his forearm, the demon had no choice but to release Alexander and retreat._.

The demon stared at his bleeding arm with a mix of pain and fascination, giving the beaten teenager some time to pick himself up. Even as Alexander wobbled to his feet, his head was spinning and he could not think straight. For the first time in a long, long time, Alexander had been taken completely by surprise and was disoriented. Before his infinite physical stamina helped him completely recover, Pramod decided to attack him once again.

But things did not go according to plan. Even without the ability of coherent thought, this was not Alexander’s first time in battle. His instincts were honed through hours of endless combat and expert training.

His six blades, still as sharp and lethal as ever, immediately attacked Pramod the moment he moved towards Alexander. The few seconds they delayed him were enough for Alexander to barely recover.

He no longer looked like a handsome youth, straight out from the cover of a magazine. Messy hair and a layer of dirt on his face were the least of his worries. He was suffering from a broken nose, several hairline fractures in his ribs and probably a severely messed up leg. Whether the bone was crushed or not could still be debated, but his muscles and tendons were surely ruptured.

But even as he raised his hands towards his face to pop his nose back into place, Alexander wore a messy grin. What had he cultivated his body for if not to be able to handle such injuries, if not worse ones? This was not even taking into consideration how quickly he would be able to heal with his endless spirit energy.

“Dat wash goodsh,” he said, before frowning. After wiggling his tongue around in his mouth for a second and discovering the problem, he spit out a few broken teeth.

“That was a good surprise you gave me there,” he said once again, his accent only slightly changed due to his missing teeth. “I don’t even remember the last time I suffered a concussion.”

“It was not aimed towards you specifically,” Pramod said, his voice surprisingly mild and sweet, as if he was a kid. “But I’m glad I came across you. With your annoying stoic face and attitude that says the whole world revolves around you, you were really beginning to annoy me. I’ll thoroughly enjoy taking you down.”

Alexander grinning, and looked at the massive demon in front of him. The teenager himself had not yet reached six feet in height, so he had to turn his head upwards, but his demeanor screamed as if he was still looking down at Pramod.

For a moment, he considered exchanging a few more lines with his opponent, then decided to directly get on with it.

The golden aura around Alexander returned, and he charged towards the demon. The six blades flew into the air, distancing themselves from the two, but kept their aim directed towards Pramod. Even without doing anything, the threat of being attacked from six different directions was very real, even for Pramod, but the most pressing threat was the sword in Alexander’s hand.

But the demon did not shy away. A purple aura wrapped itself around the demon’s hands as it directly slapped the sword away, directly pushing Alexander aside. Pramod’s massive brute strength was already dangerous enough, but the purple aura had a corrosive effect on the sword as well. Alexander had to quickly use his own spirit energy to wash away the lingering purple aura, only to find his sword had dulled slightly from the middle.

Alexander ducked, still looking at his sword, just in time to dodge a massive palm, and stepped closer towards the demon’s body. Using both his arms, he swung his sword upward, slashing at the demon’s neck. The demon dodged nimbly, its speed not at all affected by its hulking body.

The two exchanged moves, each more lethal than the next, doing their best to kill one another. Yet despite their speed and impressive skill, so far all their techniques had been limited to simple augmentation types. Alexander augmented his sword’s lethality, while the demon did so for his hands.

The human teenager was the first to break the pattern, a golden bolt of energy escaping from the tip of his sword just as it passed Pramod’s face after a dodge. Alexander was already readying his next move for when the demon dodged but, unexpectedly, the bolt hit it directly in the face.

Pramod yelled as he fell backwards. Immediately, Alexander took advantage of the moment and directly attacked. Unable to deflect the attack skillfully, as he had been doing before, Pramod released a massive burst of purple energy from his palm, blasting the sword out of Alexander’s hand. For a moment, it seemed the demon had managed to protect himself.

Then, one of Alexander’s blades that had long been forgotten pierced through the demon’s neck from the back. Through the helmet that the massive demon wore, Alexander could only see its eyes showing surprise mixed with horror. Then another one of his blades cut through the demon’s neck, and another, until the head was cut clean off from the body.

Back at the Inn, everyone sat frozen at the sudden conclusion of the fight. It had only just begun. Where was the desperate battle? Where were the hidden techniques? How could it end so quickly? Was that all there really was to the demon commander? Either his end was extremely anticlimactic, or this Alexander was much stronger than he seemed.

The kids from Troy academy burst into cheers, waking up the rest from their reverie. In her room, Loretta continued to watch the screen with a placid look. It did not appear as if she cared about Pramod’s demise.

“To be honest, I was expecting more,” Alexander said, as he looked down at the demon’s detached head. There were still things he held in reserve. He was just getting warmed up. But this was a good reminder to him. Life wasn’t always like a movie. You wouldn’t always get a long, drawn out battle. A moment’s carelessness could prematurely decide even an expert’s fate.

Using all his physical and spiritual strength, Alexander suddenly moved to the side as dread suddenly filled his heart, but it was barely enough.

A sword – his discarded sword – pierced through Alexander’s back and through his chest, puncturing his left lung.

The crowds at the Inn, humans and beast alike, froze as they saw the scene. Behind Alexander stood a headless body.

“To be honest, I expected more,” Alexander heard a sweet voice. His eyes bent downwards at the head to see its eyes staring back at the body. His expression did not need to be seen, just from the look in his eyes, one could tell he was grinning.