Rage Demon

A second later, the demon kicked Alexander squarely in the stomach, forcing him to roll across the floor. Alexander struggled to breathe as his lungs burned. He spat out a few drops of blood, coughing repeatedly to clear his throat. But his opponent wasn't done yet.

Another kick slammed into his midsection, doubling him over. And then a third followed shortly thereafter, pushing him further back. Finally, a fourth boot connected with his ribs, knocking him sideways.

'Ouch... This petty bastard!'

But Alexander refused to give up. Using his momentum, he pushed himself upright and faced the demon once more. It grinned viciously and rushed at him again.

They traded strikes and blocks continuously, neither party gaining much advantage. Each time Alexander attacked, he always ended up landing on the receiving end of the attack. Thankfully, now that the demon only had one arm operational, he was able to dodge its sharp claws.

The demon was growing more irate with each second. It started attacking faster and harder, trying to land a killing blow on Alexander before he had the opportunity to retaliate. Alexander was forced to defend constantly while taking hits from the demon's limbs. Every time he blocked one, he suffered excruciating pain, but he continued fighting regardless.

'I need to either finish it fast, or run!'

This fight dragged on for a long time already. Any longer, and more monsters could arrive here. Plus, his stamina was slowly running dry. Soon enough, he wouldn't be able to keep this pace up anymore.

'Right! I still have Growth Points from the last level up!'

He waited until he had an opportunity and checked his stats panel. Indeed, it showed seven free growth points.

'Should I put them towards my vitality? No, it will just let me to drag on a bit more...' He had to think quickly as he kept dodging and blocking.

'Agility? Good choice, but the way the demon crossed the distance to start the fight tells me that the increase will not be enough for me to run away...' He considered putting all seven points into agility, but the possibility that the monster might catch up to him soon dissuaded him from doing that.

'I have no magic spells... Then strength it is! I'll try finishing it off first!' He issued a mental command and instantly felt the familiar warmth spreading through his body. Almost instantly, he felt that blocking the strikes from the demon was not as hard as before. After all, now he had the strength of four people.

But by no means it made his battle easier. The demon seemed to become even madder and if before there seemed to be a clear intent behind its attacks, now it completely devolved into mindless lashing left and right. It even began to try attacking with its broken arm.

Even so, Alexander couldn't afford to stop defending against those assaults. He needed to conserve his energy for when he finally decided to attack. As such, he used most of his newfound power to merely endure the barrage.

'I just need an opportunity!'

And the opportunity has presented itself. But not the kind Alexander expected. Instead of misstepping or making some other mistake in rage, the demon suddenly lunged forward trying to take a bite out of Alexander's neck!

With a cry of shock, Alexander instinctively ducked under the attack and turned it into a backhanded chop at its head. He heard the satisfying crunching sound of bone breaking upon contact. Instantly, the demon froze in place and dropped to the ground motionless.

[Rage Demon Level 9 Defeated]

[Accumulated Soul Force + 1549]

[Level Up Available]

"Whew..." He exhaled deeply. "That was close."

After defeating the demon, Alexander quickly picked up the crystal from its chest and staggered back to where the group was waiting for him. He couldn't afford to lose time since he felt several strong auras approach the site of the pyramid. Instead of taking any chances, he retreated while he could do so.

When he arrived near the place students were supposed to be, he was greeted by a grim picture. There were no students here, but the paving was covered in blood and corpses. He immediately recognized that the vast majority of them were demons, but there were several students as well.

One of the bodies was that of a young boy wearing glasses. His eyes were wide open and staring vacuously ahead.

"What the hell happened here?" Alexander muttered angrily as he knelt beside the corpse.

It was clear that he fell victim to the demon's assault. Most likely, the boy died protecting someone else from the same fate.

He touched the body gently and confirmed that it indeed was dead. Alexander closed his eyelids with a finger, then rose to survey what lay beyond him. To his horror, the area around the pyramid was swarmed with demons. They appeared to be looking for something among the ruins.

There was a small crowd of people gathered outside the entrance to the pyramid. It was the same students that he saved a while ago. Though now the group was reduced by almost half. What was more surprising, the pyramid had actually become corporeal. And for some reason, the demons were afraid of approaching. What was also of note, the freezing cold seemed to disappear, since the students seemed completely normal.

'Do I have to go back there now? Feels like I'm running in circles.' Alexander sighed and shook his head sadly.

He looked at the demon bodies behind him. There were just over half a dozen of them, and after checking them, he found one small crystal. He looked towards the nearby buildings and chose one three-story building that seemed to have a convenience store on its first floor.

'Before going back there I need to check the crystals and recuperate a bit. Since the demons are afraid of the pyramid the students should be relatively safe for the time being.' Alexander walked past the bodies and headed toward the shop.