The passage to the surface was a spiral staircase so narrow it could barely fit a person at a time. Alex assumed it was built that way as a security measure, but as he was forced to duck, or mash his forehead on the ceiling with every step, he was certain it had been made just to inconvenience anyone taller than a dwarf. A few skull to stone collisions later, more due to inattention than anything else, he was elated to turn the bend and finally see the exit. Over the last day, Alex had spent a significant amount of time at this very door, floating around in his soul form as he imagined his escape. To finally be standing here in the flesh felt very much like the accomplishment it was.
From his position below the hatch, it looked to be nothing more than a simple, if well-made, trapdoor, though Alex knew there was more to the structure than initially appeared. Rather than the uniform slab of metal Alex saw from below, above ground it appeared to be a larger rock like any other a person might find in the forest. He had been worried there was an actual rock he’d need to lift to escape, but a quick look with Sixth Sense ruled that out. Alex learning of the skill’s ability to see through illusions as it replaced what appeared to be a physical object with swirls of magical energy.
Switching the sensory skill’s focus back to his final opponent, he found the man to be seated again, still facing the facility’s exit. Alex felt he was missing something, a signal or the like that would send the man away as he, and the now dead healer, continued on with her plan. He just needed a distraction, something to handicap his opponent in the opening attack and even the odds some. Alex considered trying the body trick again, but knew that was the nerves talking. The morbid puppeteering had only worked because Trevor had been so absorbed in his role, the man hadn’t actually looked at him. Greyson was staring directly at the spot he was going to exit from.
Taking a few breaths to psych himself up, Alex came to terms with the fact that this was happening, and it was happening now. Pulling out a throwing axe in one hand, he put the other to the unbolted door. With new-found ease, he activated three more skills at once, the minor temporal and emotional effects of Battle Trance engaging first. It was quickly followed by the enhanced speed of Silent Strike and the pearlescent red sheen Thorn’s Touch imbued any blade he held with. How the touch based skill would work with a thrown weapon was unknown, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to try. With one final check to verify his opponent's positioning, Alex swung the door open, jumped, and threw.
From here, a few things happened at once. His Sixth Sense guided aim had been spot on, and Alex immediately summoned his short sword and new knife as he followed the axe’s trajectory. Before he could cover even half of the twenty foot distance that separated them, the blade reached its target. However, rather than biting deep into the man’s skull, the magically enhanced weapon continued to spin as it flew past; the fighter's dodge immediate and effortless. Now aware he was being attacked, Greyson sprung to his feet, body loose as he readied to ward off another throw.
Alex, realizing how poorly this fight would go if he let the man get his bearings, doubled down, crushing branches and leaves under his feet as he aimed to land a critical blow. Greyson was having none of it, the man whipping out a fist with the power to shatter stone, forcing Alex to dodge, or die. His opening salvo over before it could truly begin, he found himself already on the back foot, the evasion costing him nearly half his stamina pool in a bid to keep himself alive.
Alex tried to retaliate, even with the risk of a counter-attack, he knew getting pulled into the stronger man’s pace would only accelerate his loss, but Greyson offered no openings. His punches were like lightning, and each strike moved like water, uninterrupted and ever flowing. The attacks might have looked beautiful to someone not being threatened by them, but to Alex they looked like death.
It only took him dodging a few more of the man’s strikes to realize Greyson wasn’t even going all out, a fact that became scarier as another punch missed his biceps by mere millimeters. One that was sure to snap his arm at the very least. Alex was just about to back out of range, maybe try a few more throwing weapons, when he saw an opening, his Dagger Mastery skill screaming he needed to take advantage of.
For the last two cycles Greyson had been throwing out the super soldier version of a simple three strike combo. If Alex just dodged this next strike as the man reset, he’d be able to land a hit on the man’s lower abdomen. From there he’d just need to run, after a blow to such a vital area as long as the man had no way to heal himself Thorn’s Touch would do the rest. His stamina running ever lower, Alex lunged forward with skill enhanced power, ducking low under the man’s shifting guard as he relished being on the attack for once. It only took a minute shift in Greyson’s stance for Alex to realize how much of a mistake it had been, the proof coming as he was sent flying back a moment later.
Rather than a clean strike, or at the very least trading blows, the only thing Alex received for his effort was a burst kidney. He’d literally felt the organ explode while others around it were crushed, the force the man delivered in that single strike leaving Alex slumped on the side of a tree ten-feet away. Coughing up blood as he leaned heavily on a combination of Pain Resistance and Battle Trance, Alex used every ounce of self-control he had to throw himself onto his stomach. The pain in his abdomen and the broken shoulder the tree’s catch had gifted him with, were nearly enough to force him into unconsciousness as he’d landed, but Alex powered through.
Using his own body and the cover of night, Alex withdrew a healing potion from his inventory and slowly began to suck the lifesaving nectar, hoping against hope Greyson wouldn’t rush forward to end him there. Luckily for everything but his ears, it seemed the fighter had no plans to do that. He hadn’t even spotted the potion from what Alex could tell, instead the man began to speak. Or more accurately, monologue.
“Did you really think this little plan of yours would work? Or that the knife would really hit me? I was staring directly at it, you idiot.” Alex felt as the tissue of his organs began to repair while Sixth Sense showed him the self-satisfied amusement on the man’s face, it looked so out of place.
“You know this is the first time one of her plans have gone awry. Guess the little demon’s perfect streak has finally come to an end. The boss is not going to be happy with how it happened. I suppose I should be thanking you for that, though after all the trouble you’ve caused me, I just can’t bring myself to do it. Still, I am curious how you managed to get this far.”
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Between the pain and the constant drum of his heartbeat, Greyson’s voice was fuzzy to his ears, but Alex hoped the man never stopped speaking. Every second the man wasted, prolonged his own life by another minute.
“The two of them were more than enough to defeat you, so I’m guessing it happened right after the restraints came off. What was it, an illusion? Maybe a body double skill or no,” he said, dragging the last word out conspiratorially. “Don’t tell me you have a mind reading or mental manipulation skill. What did you leave them drooling in a trance somewhere down there? Want to give it a try on me?”
With every word, Greyson abandoned the facade of stability Alex had begun to spot cracks in days prior, more and more of the man’s true colors shining through.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that worked on the oaf, but not Eric’s precious little healer; no she would have broken through it. So what happened that you were even able to get this far? If you don’t want to tell me, I could always beat it out of you.”
Alex groaned at the words, partly because of the threat, and partly because of how unfunny his humerus desplintering had been. The now empty potion bottle back in his inventory, Alex got to one knee then the other, his movement spurring Greyson to do the same. The man crossing the distance as slowly as Alex rose, his words never stopping.
“Oh my is this the part where you climb to your feet and defeat me with a broken body and sheer might.” Alex swayed in place slightly, at the words, Acting initiating with little thought as Alex hunched to play weaker than he was. Even before the system, he’d seen Greyson’s kind, if less murderous. Bullies who liked to see the pain their actions caused others. The man began laughing then, his handsome features contorting as he watched Alex cough up an entirely real wad of bruised blood. Stopping about five feet away, further than Alex had hoped, he continued, his mirth having been reigned in some.
“So, tell me, where are they?”
Alex muttered, trying the same strategy he had on the healer, but it failed, the fighter going as far as to call out his obvious bait directly. Mentally sighing, he opted for plan B. All the man’s talk of the others had given him an idea. Greyson was assuming Alex had escaped by tricking the other two sudo-guards, rather than killing them. It was a reasonable assumption, considering how he’d actually managed to get this far, but also presented an opportunity he could capitalize on.
“The truth is,” Alex wheezed, before immediately dropping his sickly act. He began to spin like Jamie had the week prior, hoping Greyson wouldn’t immediately strike him down. Based on what he’d seen of the man’s ego, he figured it was a safe bet. Substituting the hammer with the body of a healer, and barely managing to avoid cracking the dead woman’s skull on a tree like a coconut, Alex threw every kilo of momentum he had into hitting Greyson with his fleshy club.
Even having recovered back to full health, Alex had no doubt he’s have missed the strike had Greyson decided to move. Instead, he’d been surprised enough to default to blocking, a forearm coming up to protect his face and torso. The strike did nothing to move the fighter. In fact, the way his block split the weight caused a few ribs to crack, the body dropping to the ground more disfigured than it had been, but it’d served its purpose well enough.
Jumping back another five feet, Alex watched as Greyson looked from his newly blood covered clothes, to the dead healer, and finally up to him. He’d been hoping to garner a bit of frustration, anger if he was lucky, but rather than a milder reaction, the previously calm and collected man began to bellow with a rage that echoed into the silent forest night. Then he charged. Alex hadn’t a clue what caused such fury, especially after the way Greyson had seemed to dislike the woman the night prior, but Alex didn't try to examine it.
In a close quarters fight like this, the heavily wooded forest had played little part in the pair’s battle, mainly due to the grounds near the facilities entrance being a bit tamer than the surroundings. Greyson’s last blow had compounded the damage with the tree, but now Alex had a way for their minor interference to benefit him.
Ducking behind what looked to be a massive oak, Alex watched through Sixth Sense as Greyson change directions to oust him from his hiding spot. Using the portal and infusion of mana, Alex dropped Trevor’s body upright, directly on a collision course with the fighter's fist. Greyson, whose strike had been aimed for his upper chest, connected squarely with Trevor’s lifeless face, literally. The forceful expulsion of half the man’s skull splattered Alex, Greyson, and a good bit of the surrounding forest with brain matter and bits of bone. Not letting it distract him from his opening, he launched an attack of his own, the exposed armpit of the taller man acting as the perfect target. Using the woman’s lightning bolt like knife, Alex threw every useful skill and stat point he had into the blow, avoiding the ribs as it pierced straight into Greyson’s heart.
The man’s eyes widened as the blow landed, a moment of incomprehension visible before he recovered. As fatal as the strike appeared to Alex, it didn’t seem to slow Greyson’s next attack in the slightest, the man throwing a cross aimed for Alex’s own heart. A clumsy last minute maneuver that involved him using the impaled dagger to pull himself closer to the man prevented immediate death. But Alex was forced to release the blade a moment later as the strike pulped every muscle in his shoulder.
Flashbacks to his last fight with two dead arms hit him as Alex was spun like a top, but he managed to remain on his feet. Immediately reactivating Silent Strike, he dashed away as the man freed himself from Trevor’s skull and laid chase a moment later. Assuming he didn’t have a potion by the fact he hadn’t tried to start drinking, Alex pushed on for another few feet, head pounding as he tried to focus on remaining upright, the pain violent in its need to be heard. Slowing as Greyson tripped over a gnarled root, the man screaming out in anguish as the impact jostled the blade in his chest. Taking his moment of reprieve, Alex pulled out another potion and downed it, the relief only an undercurrent to the agony.
Greyson started to his feet and Alex began to pull items from his inventory, first more axes, then hammers, but when the man seemed still strong enough to fend those off, he began throwing the beasts. The jarkit did little, but the second panther he threw connected with the man center mass, sprawling him out on the ground under it.
Over five minutes had passed since Alex had landed his supposedly fatal strike, but the man managed to push the body off nonetheless. This time, however, Greyson didn’t move to get to his feet. Turning over to his stomach, the cruel man began to drag himself across the dirt, skin pale and his once handsome features twisted in a mask of pain.
“Please,” Greyson whispered weakly, “I can’t die, I don’t want too. Potion. Please.”
He continued to push himself, blood draining from his wound with every movement. Alex just stared, not feeling as sure as he’d hoped about this, even as memories of all the agony that had been caused by the man in such a short time filled him. Unable to move as Greyson got closer, the eeriness of the situation freezing him when he knew he should back away, he listened as the man begged for relief that would never come. He watched as the man that had been tasked with tormenting him for the last week died, hand extended and face down in the dirt.