Ch 462 - Never Underestimate Your Opponent

Ep462: Never Underestimate Your Opponent

"Young man, if you leave here now, I might let you live," Theo said.

"Oh?" Alex asked, continuing to walk forward. "If you kneel and beg for mercy, I might leave your body in one piece."

The bodyguard who was protecting Dominic rushed at Alex, striking out. Alex twisted out of the way and blocked him. Then, Alex punched him hard in the face, knocking him out and sending him sprawling at Dominic's feet.

Theo scowled at Alex, and then he suddenly launched into action, clenching his fists, and attempting to box Alex's ears. He was exceptionally thin, and it seemed unlikely that he would have the strength to cause any damage, but he had a lot of power behind his hits, and he was much faster than anyone realized. Several gasps could be heard around the room as Theo's fist approached Alex's face.

As soon as Theo had begun to attack, Alex had realized that the man was more skilled than the famous Ash Thornton. Theo must have been an expert martial artist.

"Not expert enough," Alex muttered, blocking the hit. Then he fought back, striking out and meeting Theo's attack head on. For a moment, they seemed evenly matched, neither giving ground.

But then Theo started to pull back, adopting a more defensive posture. He seemed shocked by Alex's abilities.

"You've reached the level of master?" Theo asked, his confidence fading as he realized his opponent had the upper hand in terms of courage and fighting ability. He recognized Alex's style of fighting and could tell that Alex had achieved a high rank.

Martial arts training could be very complicated. Practitioners started from nothing and gradually grew in strength, leading to increasing levels of success. If they nurtured their talent properly and worked hard, then they could become masters, but few people reached that level. The most recent had been Tyson Slade of the Blood Brothers gang.

Theo dodged Alex's attack, leaving Alex to punch the wall, sending little bits of plaster raining down. Alex shook out his hand, seemingly unconcerned.

"I wouldn't have expected a master to be so young," Theo said, his expression thoughtful. Hardly anyone reached the level of master, and those who did were usually in their eighties or nineties. It was unusual enough for Tyson to have reached that level in his fifties, but Alex seemed even younger than that.

Theo couldn't hide his confusion. "How did you get so powerful when you're still in your twenties?" he asked.

He continued to move, coming to stand in front of Dominic in a defensive posture. He couldn't afford to underestimate Alex. If Theo made a mistake, then the Mitchell family could be destroyed.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Alex said.

Theo snorted. He straightened up, seeming to grow in size and strength. With his determined attitude, he almost looked like a different person, and he even appeared younger than Alex had previously thought.

"Theo?" Dominic asked, stunned by Theo's transformation.

Dominic had never seen Theo look so powerful, and nobody else could believe their eyes. They would never have guessed Theo wasn't just a frail old man. 

"I have served this family for many years," Theo said, his voice much firmer than before. "And I have thwarted many assassination attempts. I may be fifty years old, but I'm still as tough as ever, and I am more than capable of repaying the Mitchell family for their kindness over the years. Once I have dealt with this attempt, it will be time to say goodbye and move on."

He turned his sharp gaze on Alex.

"Young man, you should have had a bright future," he said. "In time, you could have achieved the highest rank possible." He shook his head. "But you shouldn't have come here and provoked me. Now I'll have to kill you for the good of the Mitchell family."

"You talk too much," Alex said, lashing out at him.

Alex hadn't known that the Mitchell family had their own martial arts master. Most masters spent their time protecting the entire world, but Theo had chosen to serve Dominic instead. Dominic had been involved in many questionable things, so he had made a lot of enemies who wished to kill him. Theo had made it his mission to defend Dominic from any such attacks.

Few people would be able to defeat Theo, possibly not even Tyson.

Alex wasn't afraid.

He tossed a knife, but Theo evaded it, and the blade flew through the air, traveling between two senior executives and embedding itself in the wall.

"Nice throw," Theo said, stepping forward to pull out the knife. He tested its weight, transferring it from one hand to the other.

Then he tossed it away, narrowly missing one of the executives. Clearly, Theo didn't care who got hurt, as long as he protected those he was sworn to defend. Other lives didn't matter at all. 

He produced his own blade and circled Alex, who had pulled out another knife. They attacked simultaneously in a frenzy of feet, fists, and blades, crashing through the room and destroying everything in its path. Paintings were knocked off walls, vases were smashed on the floor, and several people, including Basil and Austin, were merely collateral damage.

More than one person was screaming, desperate to escape, but there was no safe path through the furious fighting.

Many people had been knocked to the ground, their condition unknown, and neither Alex nor Theo seemed to care.

"You're stronger than I thought," Theo said, pausing to look at Alex and noting that he didn't appear hurt at all.

Is he actually stronger than me? he wondered. Is he already the highest level of master?

Theo's eyes grew wide. How was that possible?