Chapter 31
“Alex, no! You have to get out while you can. He’ll kill you!”
Linnea’s words jolted through Alex’s skull. He ignored them as he made his way to his objective, passing countless crimson-kitted soldiers who stared at him with odd mixtures of awe, disgust, fear, and fury.
Only twice did a hot-eyed warrior try and stab him in the back as he quietly passed.
And the look of horror on countless other men’s faces when Alex spun around so fast that the would-be aggressors didn’t even have time to blink before his fist slammed into skulls that exploded in a crack and boom much like thunder, erupting in sprays of bone, brain, and blood-spattered steel fragments of shattered helms showering over their startled brethren.
By the time the headless corpses had collapsed, Alex had already turned around and continued his journey, his would-be killers executed like the trash they were, not even worthy of a second glance.
The rumors spread through the men even faster than his measured stride might have given rise to the briefest flicker of a cold smile, Alex unapologetically glad that these bastards who had thought nothing of terrorizing this city were now the ones to feel fear.
“Did you hear? That blond-haired monster dared to challenge the commander himself!”
“My money’s on the big guy.”
“Sure, but if our lord’s right, that Ruidian’s actually a fallen god’s disciple!”
“That’s just absurd.”
“Did you see what he did to the last fool who thought he was an easy mark? Ha. As if that idiot would have survived Xien Tang’s retribution, making him look like a fool after all that buildup, even if he had been able to kill the Ruidian boy with a lucky strike!”
The seconds seemed to stretch for an eternity as Alex calmly approached the plaza outside the main palatial entrance, graced with shade thanks to massive date trees, thick succulents, and beds of night blossoms adjoining every palm that were perfuming the air with rich floral perfume so at odds with the stink of smoke, ash, and the coppery tang of blood in the air.
The restless wind whispered secrets through the rustling leaves overhead as Alex took in what was no doubt supposed to be the de facto arena where the fate of the city would be decided.
To one side he saw a coolly grinning Xien Su wearing the same courtier’s clothes as he had while capturing Linnea and the others. Beside him were his coterie of courtier assassins dressed in silk and spirit beast hide, all of them with sharp steel blades at their hips.
Xien Su’s features abruptly lit up with Alex’s presence. “To think he actually showed!” The air rang with the man’s honeyed chuckle. “You never fail to impress me, brother,” he said while bowing his head to the smirking titan who seemed to fill the entire courtyard with his imposing presence.
Even the oily-looking Lord Guo, still wearing his crimson-spattered wujen robes, gave a little clap. “Truly, this will be a performance worthy of the storybooks.”
Artificer skill check made!
Alex stared pointedly at the little man. “Yet you would dishonor your master and our duel by planting flag formations in each of the four cardinal directions?”
Lord Guo had the gall to look shocked, glaring at Alex with feigned offense. “How dare you accuse me of such things, you mongrel cur!”
“Guo!” roared the imposing giant that Alex was about to face. “Remove them.”
All protests and feigned offense immediately melted away. “Yes, Dread Lord.”
Alex couldn’t quite hold back his glare when the scurrying rat of a man tore free not one but a full quartet of buried formation flags at each corner.
Alex was no expert on flags, but to actually bury them implied either desperation or true mastery.
Either way, he was glad he had sensed the twisted currents so like those he had once honed himself against while battling elites at Rising Phoenix Academy, what now felt like a lifetime ago.
What truly was a lifetime ago.
The cool night air was broken by a whimper, and Alex was forced to register horrors he had done his best to put out of mind, to focus only on the battle to come.
Of course the three wujen effectively holding Linnea, Sunlay, and Nili captive were there, their no longer severely wounded charges still wise enough to feign devastating injuries.
Yet Alex understood all too well the agonized looks on both Sunlay’s and Nili’s faces.
For both Sunlay’s beloved and father had been lashed to crosses, spikes inserted cruelly at multiple meridian points, and Nili’s husband as well.
To see Quing Da’s rough countenance so weary and broken…
The cheerful idealist Lao Tie who had been so warm and welcoming, so reminiscent of Alex’s old friends Yingpei Lin and Cheng Lei, had suffered grievous mutilation as well. His idealist’s mien had been replaced with the hardships of agony and bitter defeat.
And the king himself. He who had once possessed such a noble, gracious mien, was now a broken man stripped of all prestige and attire, covered in burns and bleeding wounds.
And all of them were staring at Alex with haunted eyes filled with despair, agony, and tiny flickers of hope as well.
And that, more than anything else, filled Alex with fury.
More desperate hope to crush his soul. Already so heavy with losses that none should ever have to bear.
The giant of a Gold flashed a satisfied smile, revealing granite-hued teeth. “Shall we begin, Disciple of the Fox?”
Alex’s heart raced with fury as the world slowed to a crawl. The tiniest of nods was all it took for their contest to begin in earnest.
You have successfully dodged Ridge Hand Strike!
Piercing Blade Strike slices your forearm. You have suffered 1 Minor Wound!
Shin Check successfully counters Angle Kick. Contest of Strength: Failed!
Divine-tier Prismatic Bones resists Gold-tier bone-shattering technique.
Draconic Resilience and A Path Cloaked in Mist reduce Medium Muscle Tear to Light Bruising.
You have been sent flying!
The crowd surrounding their thirty-pace-wide dueling circle roared and cheered as Alex was sent hurtling out of the ring, only to stop himself midair before racing down to his smirking opponent once more.
“Impressive move, for vermin!” Xien Tang declared. “And that your shin hasn’t shattered like glass tells me already that this will be a worthy fight. Excellent. Now die!” The titan’s bemused smirk became a blood-curdling roar once more as he charged forth, hands now splayed to grab and rend.
Alarm bells rang in Alex’s head. His instincts screamed sudden warning, but he didn’t need any supernatural sense of his place in the story of his own life to sense that his opponent was toying with him no longer.
If those hands managed to grab ahold of him, that bastard would do all he could to break and shatter him.
You have successfully dodged Deadly Grasp!
Low Kick sends you flying!
Alex ignored the gasps and jeers as he was once more sent flying out of the ring, snarling against the flair of agonizingly sharp pain after his opponent had managed to angle kick the outside of his knee just as he was darting under those vicious hands.
You have taken 1 Medium Wound.
Power Healing engaged!
Alex forced a grim smile even as he regained his feet, slow enough to give himself a few precious seconds to power heal, a gift that was aided immeasurably by the Dark Qi–infused beast cores he had gladly claimed that others would have tossed as toxic trash.
Yet he didn’t delay so long that his now hard-eyed opponent might take it as the perfect time to rush toward him and kick-stomp him to tenderized meat.
“This is all he has, brother? Best make a show of it!” Xien Su declared with a snort, crossing his arms while looking Alex’s way with jaded eyes and a cocky smile.
Alex paid the man no mind at all, all his focus on the coldly smiling giant lumbering forward once more.
Radiating such deadly pressure and well versed on how to use his massive size and power to best effect, which made it so hard for the average man to get in a single blow before Tang’s longer reach sent his opponents flying.
Alex spat blood and honed in on his foe, finding weaving past Xien Tang just as challenging as a mortal trying to maneuver himself on a ship’s rigging while riding stormy seas.
His eyes widened, realizing his flaw even as Tang seized upon his epiphany, determined to crush Alex as fast and furiously as he could.
You have successfully weaved past Hammer Fist.
Left hook countered by Storm Wing!
Yet not even his foe’s sudden furious onslaught could catch Alex this time.
Not now. Not when Alex had finally begun embracing arts he should have used in tandem, long ago.
His growing mastery of Wind Qi was nothing short of profound.
And even if the storm was the path he would now master, Wind Crane Kung Fu still held so many tantalizing secrets he had only just begun to explore.
Now he no longer resisted using the wind itself to weave past his opponent’s follow-up knee bomb just as he used the storm to counter brutal fists that themselves could smash any mortal vessel to kindling within seconds.
The shift was subtle, as it so often was, when cocky captains who so effortlessly mastered life’s most perilous waters slowly found themselves losing control…
Find Weakness skill check made!
Overcompensating as their sails slackened…
Enhanced Water Strike critically strikes jugular! Note! Opponent’s affinity mitigates damage!
You have weaved past Crushing Blow!
Eyes widening in surprise when the hulls of their ships were pounded by the whipping waves of furious tropical storms that risk capsizing their vessels completely.
Yet their sudden furious manning of the tillers fails to produce desperately fought for results.
Their struggles availed them nothing until they finally righted themselves, prows facing the storm, fists holding tight to the tillers, ready to crush the storm itself.
“This ends here, Fox!”