Ch 7: Stygian

"Heh…"

The woman with the gray hair had never thought of Ali as a threat. Even when she sensed a strong animosity coming from Ali, she still showed no intention of backing down at all. Seeing this, Ali chuckled softly but then he felt something wasn't right.

Ali saw a figure holding a bow, as he was about to fire an arrow from the rooftop of a building. Ali's body stiffened and he failed to move on time. The bowman fired the arrow and he panicked. The arrow was fired from a distance. He could see the arrow from afar because his eyes are more efficient than normal people without magic.

But the arrow missed its target, by a huge margin. Ali sighed in relief.

"A bunch of amateurs!"

People started to panic and were bursting out in tears and screams. Ali and the three ambushers' began fighting. Their fighting did a lot of damage to the surroundings.

Ali started to prepare for a long fight. He is a magic user so he can at least defend himself. He just needs to make use of any opportunities if any presents.

Among the two women, the gray one seems to like talking. She harassed Ali with sneak attacks. The other one tried to take advantage of the gray women's attack and finish off Ali. But Ali did not try to retaliate. He just defended himself with a magic barrier and tried running away. However the women attacked him relentlessly.

Ali kept his eye on the bowman as he fought the women. The archer was a short man, with a little round belly, and when he moved he seemed to favor his left leg more. Ali glanced warily behind him. Two of the City Watch were standing at the mouth of an alley.

Because of the festival, city watch tightens the security. Ali prayed so that he can get an opportunity to fight back.

And then, the opportunity came. He moved towards the city watch men. His plan is to involve them in this fight and reduce some of the pressure on him.

The minute city watch's men saw Ali being pursued by dangerous looking women, they came forward with swords drawn.

Ali let the city watch's men deal with the women. He got time to breathe a little now so he focused on taking out the inexperienced archer.

He ran after the archer like a goat. The archer shot some arrows which missed again. Ali chanted a magic spell that sounded gibberish and created a strong smoke like wind. It hit the archer in the leg and he fell through a small gap between the buildings.

Ali chased down the archer and finally he caught up with him as he tried to flee. The archer had broken his hand from the fall so he can't use a bow now, not that his skill with bow and arrow helped.

He prepared to finish the archer. But then, he sighed with disappointment.

"What a pity."

The pursuers finally arrived and surrounded Ali with drawn weapons.

"Fake Alchemist!" They saw the old man and pointed their knives covered in blood at him, thinking that he was cornered.

The old man wasn't relieved since they weren't a bunch of alleyway thugs, but also not the enemies he thought. He calculated his enemy and divided them into two categories. Firstly the two women who were trained killers. They are real threats to him. Next is the fat archer who always misses. He is only a threat if his arrow ever hits him.

Now the archer can't use a bow so he is useless.

"let him go"

Ali smiled hideously. He stepped on the fat archer and kicked him in the face.

"YOU!! Damn it! UUUGGGHHH…" the archer coughed blood as he turned blue. His face also looked hideous.

"No.." Alas, he was losing control. He pointed his shaking finger at Ali and mustered his last breath,"You!Piece!Of!Shit!"

"Haha! You shouldn't attack an older citizen just because he is old, you know. He might have something up his sleeve. "

The archer died. Ali killed him.

"You!"

The two of them shouted at the same time.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing"

"like hell he can die from a kick"

But Ali only shrugged his shoulders in response.

"It's poison. In his shoes"

Hearing a sound behind him, Ali turned around and came upon an Alixqes, he seems to be in his 30s with dark brown and yellow hair, two short and thick curving horns extending from his head while a short tail followed suit from his back. He wore nothing above his waist.

Because of that Ali noticed a tattoo of an owl on his right upper chest. It was ancient and embedded with inscrutable runes only seen through the eyes of a mage.

"Stygian!" Ali's eyes were on this figure. His eyes grew vigilant and felt inexplicably horrified as he fell down abruptly. His buttocks slammed heavily onto the paved ground.

"That is correct"

The newcomer began making his way toward Ali. Ali didn't even realize when he got behind him.

"Haa!" Ali sighed dejectedly. He knew he was out of luck today.

After a pause, the Alixqes spoke again.

"This day was bound to come, Fake Alchemist. You are already very lucky to be alive all this time after you left us."

"Yeah. From a strong young man to an old feeble man, I escaped from you guy's for a whole sixty years. Right now, I don't fear death anymore, Youngman."Ali clenched his fists. His face showed the determination of someone who hasn't given up at all. It was a strange sight.

"I am Berus. An executor of Stygian. I have heard many stories about you, Fake Alchemists. You are a Legend on your own. But it's time to end your legends."

"Let's just not talk anymore then." Ali reignited his fighting spirit. He casted a spell.

Boom!

Lightning crackles in the sky.

Crack!

Thunder strikes down from above and hit the ground. A large area gets destroyed. The two women could be seen spasming on the ground. But they were alive.

On the other hand, Berus stood there motionless without any scratches.

Berus quickly helped the two women to maintain their life. He gave both of them healing concoctions and their life was only out of danger.

With a roar of fury, Berus lunged at the old alchemist like a fierce lion.

After dealing with the small frys, Ali gazed at the Alixqes that was standing unscathed. But then Berus pounced on him and he got scared.

Bam!

Berus knocked him out with his head. It was vicious.

Ali faltered and he clutched onto his chest where a hole that was leaking with blood formed.

What was once a perfectly tailored shirt is now a dirty, tattered mess of fibers and fabric, only barely able to hang from his shoulders. Both of the sides are torn out and bloodstained, leaving much of him exposed to the environment.

"Today shall be your last day in this world, Fake Alchemist and it shall be a long day!" The executor became livid.