Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 390: One shot

Chapter 390: One shot

"Iron fist!... Iron Fist!... Iron Fist!"

The battleground of Aragon, located at the center of the marketplace and commonly used by the Beastmen to settle disputes was once again in use today with several Beastmen in attendance as they sought to watch what was to be a most interesting matchup.

"You don’t plan on stopping this?" Alex casually asked with his hands in his pocket as he stood before Alejandro who was having the time of his life as he guffawed.

"Why should I?... Andre is right. I agreed to let Douglas learn the art of Entropy, so to ask for our weapons for such a matter, you must prove deserving of them."

Alex sighed but ultimately nodded. "Alright then."

Turning, he glanced at the sand pit where Amelio, otherwise known as Iron Fist, was waiting to receive him.

The Beastman was large, almost on par with his father, and his fists, covered in metal, gave testament to his nickname and why he had it.

Alex pursed his lips, considering how a Beastman’s punch was already the same as getting kicked by a horse yet that horse was now wearing metal gloves.

Sighing yet again, he made his way down the pedestal Alejandro was on and through the crowd of Beasts to find himself a few meters away from instant death.

Meanwhile, Joan, Alejandro’s regent, stepped forward and remarked. "You should already know my stance on the matter."

"Antagonizing the Great Families won’t be good. However, if the Relic he wishes to obtain is destroyed, we could use that as part of our argument."

"But still..."

"The Eastern Highlands are almost upon us. I doubt the Great Families would be so free as to come seeking reparations during this period and taking too long would make it wrong to come afterwards."

"Hah, if you say so."

"I do. Now let’s wait for a bit, I’d like to see what Alex has in store for Andre’s boy."

***

Andre stood at the top of a building overlooking the sand pit where the duel was to happen.

He watched as Alex stepped into the sand pit fearlessly, locking eyes with Amelio while contemplating possible attack strategies.

He’d expected more fear from the human but now was only met with courage, more than what he’d ever thought the man would muster.

It got him curious, wondering what underhanded methods the human had considered to make him so fearless.

Just then, he heard footsteps and then a voice.

"What would you do if Amelio killed Alex?... Would it be worth all this?"

Andre scoffed as he muttered. "I do not plan on bending the ways of my people for a human, especially one that can’t even have a single name."

"That..."

"Douglas, you seem even more terrified of things than the one you called leader. A simple look tells me that he may not be as defenseless as you think him to be."

"But that is because I know the truth. I have fought Amelio and he is someone with extreme prejudice against humans. He won’t pull back his punches."

"And that would be fine. If your leader loses here, then he stands no chance of entering and leaving the Archives alive. Those that dwell within that Catacomb have long since abandoned their humanity. Only one who can defeat one of our own would have a chance in there."

"So you are helping him?"

"Don’t delude yourself. I just don’t want to give my hard-earned work to some weak deceiver."

With those words, Andre no longer paid heed to Douglas as he watched the duel begin.

***

Amelio charged forward like a raging bull, throwing away all inhibitions as he sort to end Alex with one move.

It was understandable considering humans were never a threat.

If not for their muskets and cannons, humans wouldn’t even have a piece of technology capable of damaging a Beastman.

Now that the human before him was bare arm, with no armor nor weapons to speak of, what more could he ask for?

It would be more of an insult if the battle was to end in anything more than 30 seconds so he moved with reckless abandon, not once considering that Alex would have anything up his sleeves, unless they happened to be underhanded means and if he did have that, that would be damning for his record.

Four steps and he was upon Alex, looking like a giant before swooping down with one fist aimed squarely at the head.

Then Alex bent and slipped through his wide gaps, moving to another corner while keeping his eye on Amelio.

Amelio frowned as he turned to face the human.

Thus began the game of cat and rat.

Amelio chased and Alex ran, nimbly dodging attacks while putting distance between himself and Amelio.

It sounded easy but when the enemy was fast, had good reflexes, and was quite good at adapting, it became even more difficult to run as one saw fit.

It didn’t take long before Alex suffered his first blow though it was more of a shave to his shoulder but even that was enough to cause Alex severe pain as he gritted his teeth and powered through.

"How long do you plan to run?... Face me you coward!" Amelio bellowed in annoyance as he glared at Alex a few meters away.

Alex let out a chuckle as he massaged his damaged shoulder before taking a combat stance. "Fine then, have it your way."

Amelio snorted as he took the initiative to rush, each step pulling him closer to victory.

Then he swung, a direct path to Alex’s face drawn by the trajectory of the punch.

But Alex sidestepped and Amelio immediately moved to block his escape, unfortunately, he had reacted wrongly.

Instead of running, Alex merely shifted enough to land a blow of his own, throwing a fist while causing the aether about them to ripple.

’He wishes to use an Ability!’ Amelio thought to himself but it was already too late to defend as the punch landed but the Ability never came.

Instead, a powerful force sent Amelio reeling, and taking a few steps back, he dropped to the ground unceremoniously, knocked unconscious by one strike from Alex’s aether-covered fist.

Silence permeated the entire market as everyone stared in utter disbelief with Alejandro jumping to his feet and Andre frowning deeply.

They all watched as Alex took yet another step forward before he let out an ungodly scream after which he dropped to his knees and passed out as well.

At the same time, his hand slowly began to turn to stone.

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