Fighting for One's Survival

Alexander immediately dashed forward to gain some distance. His instincts told him that whatever was lurking behind him wanted nothing more than to rip him apart. Moreover, the feeling he was getting from that entity was way more dangerous than the demons he fought before.

As soon as he felt he gained enough distance, he turned around. What he saw was only a blurry shadow before feeling a terrifyingly strong impact square on his chest.

It felt like every single bone in his body was rumbling with enough force to almost break them. His vision blurred and blacked out for a few seconds, then returned. The strike sent him flying right into the pile of half-eaten corpses in the middle of the hall.

Thankfully, the pile seemed to absorb a lot of force of the impact, so Alexander did not suffer a serious injury. In front of him was another demonized person, it looked more or less the same as others, with black eyes and black veins covering its body. But there was also a demonic air surrounding it as if some kind of a black half-existing mist was around it.

"Hahaha... Hahahaha..." The demon laughed maniacally.

He noticed Alexander looking at him and pointed at himself, "Look, it is me!" Then he pointed at Alexander. "See! Look! Me!"

In reply, Alexander simply stared back at the creature while trying to rack his brains on how can he get out of this predicament. He needed to defeat the demon or to run away somehow. That was all there was to it.

However, as he pondered, the demon suddenly charged at him again. He barely managed to dodge this time, but it still hurt.

"Fuck!" He could only curse.

But the demon didn't seem to care. Instead, it continued laughing hysterically.

"Ha hahaha! Ha hahahaha! Ah ah ah ah! How dare you laugh at me!"

This one seemed different from other demons. The ones Alexander encountered before never spoke, at most, they would release grunting sounds, but this one, even though it was nonsense, still retained the ability to speak.

Not that it mattered anyway. It was clear that this thing was insane and wanted to kill him. Whatever happened to it was beyond his comprehension, but it definitely posed a threat to Alexander's well-being.

Alexander rolled away and jumped up on his legs. A sudden feeling of pain appeared in his chest, but he had no choice other than to endure.

'This thing is way faster than me. Running away is not an option! I'll have to fight it!'

He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. The demon tried to get up from the pile of corpses but slipped on the blood.

'It is faster than me, but nowhere near the speed of my father. It is also stronger than me, but I already fought a stronger opponent when I sparred against uncle Nikolai. The demon's body is stronger than that of a human, at least the pain tolerance is.'

Thoughts raced through his mind at lightspeed.

'The only weak spot I know is the neck bones, but since this demon is stronger than others, its bones may be stronger as well. I need to somehow secure a hit with a large force on either its legs or preferably neck if I want to get out alive.'

He quickly looked over his surroundings. Kitchen! There must be a meat tenderizer mallet there! Or at least a knife. If he was armed, he could have a chance of actually inflicting damage on the demon.

He had gotten a wooden bat before, but after fighting several times, it was in such bad condition he had to throw it away. He couldn't really trust a weapon that was about to break in half with his life.

At this point, even though just a couple of seconds have passed, the adrenalin in his blood had already begun to numb the feeling of pain significantly. Not waiting for the demon to get up, he rushed to the kitchen.

"Kitchen mallet, I need a kitchen mallet!" He muttered as he started to go through the drawers. There was none. Damn it! Where are these damn cooks hiding their stuff?!

"AAAAAAAAGH!" Alexander heard the demon screech at top of it's lungs as it rushed in the direction of the kitchen. It only took it a moment to reach the entrance.

Alexander cursed under his breath as he grabbed a knife from the table and threw it towards the demon.

"Ahhh!" It screamed in agony as it felt the blade piercing its skin.

However, from the looks of it, it only served to enrage it instead of causing any damage.

'Maybe if I inflict enough cuts it will just bleed out and die?' Alexander threw another one, but this time the demon dodged it nimbly. It did not dodge the pot that flew directly afterward though. The pot hit it right in the head and seemed to disorient the demon for a split second.

"AHHHHHH!" The demon screeched and lunged toward Alexander once again, but now he was prepared for it. He ducked under the table and moved through the empty space beneath it like a nimble monkey, ending up on another side.

Crash!

The demon slammed its arms right upon the stove that was behind Alexander, completely obliterating it by creating a big gash right in the middle of it. Cold sweat appeared on Alexander's forehead the moment he saw that.

'Good thing I dodged that, otherwise...' He gulped nervously.

Suddenly, Alexander felt the entire building tremble. What's happening? Is an earthquake coming? The trembling only grew stronger. Dust particles fell down everywhere as cracks formed on the walls and ceiling. Pieces of concrete started to fall here and there. Alexander could barely stand on his two legs with all the shaking.

Boom!

Some noise was heard from the upper floors. It seemed that they have begun to collapse.

'Great. Just great! Now I am stuck in a collapsing building with a demon!' He sighed deeply.

Before he could attempt anything, a crack appeared right between Alexander and the demon. What was more alarming is that it began to grow wider with a disturbing speed!