"Are you telling me to leave the city?" Alex asked the leader of the group.
"I am ordering you to leave!" The leader boldly replied to Alex who then turned to Emilia.
"Why aren't you ready? I told you things will get bloody tonight," he said to her.
"Master, you mean..." She said and paused as Alex in reply, nodded his head.
'He wants me to fight? Then I'll try my best to impress him' she thought and summoned a whip.
The whip was made out of powerful demon bones, and it was indestructible.
Seeing the whip as it glowed, the men backed away immediately, only the leader remained standing still.
"Do you think your little slave can win against me?" The leader asked and showed them his large blade. "With this, I'll cut her into shreds and feed her to you!" He claimed confidently.
"Are you sure about that?" Alex asked him.
"Do you think I am playing here?" The leader fearlessly asked back and took a fighting stance.
"Hold on, before anything else, how about we make a deal?" Alex asked him. He was least bothered by the demon's boldness and words.
"Say whatever you want to say, I am all ears," the leader replied.
"Since this is all about power, how about we both battle it out outside, certainly not here because I would not want my things destroyed. The winner will be determined by the first person to land an attack on his opponent and he will ask anything in return, how do you see it?"
The leader thought for a while, the condition was too easy for him, at least that was how he felt.
"Fine! Let's do it, I'll show you what I've got," he agreed and marched out of the hall, followed by his demons. Alex glanced at Emilia and smirked before following after them.
Outside the hall, they gathered in the open field and stood on opposite sides. Though it was night, seeing wasn't difficult for them as they were all creatures of the night.
"What are you waiting for? Let's begin!" The leader said impatiently.
"Let me have the whip," Alex said to Emilia.
"Can I fight in your place?" Emilia asked him but he shook his head and collected the whip from her.
"Just watch and learn," he said to her and then faced the leader of the group. "Let's begin," he said to him and that instant, the leader of the demons sprang forward with his blade clasped firmly.
He rushed toward Alex and swung his blade, a wave of dust rose into the air and danced toward Alex who dodged by jumping into the air and landing back.
"That was quick," he commented but the leader scoffed and continued to swing his blade at Alex who continued to dodge the attacks without fighting back. "What do you take me for? Fight me!" Yelled the frustrated leader as he continuously launched his attacks.
It angered him to see Alex effortlessly dodging his attacks, it made him feel inferior to him. Unlike him, Alex was yet to lift his whip at him which made him pissed off.
"Hahaha, are you giving up already?" Taunted Alex to the leader who grunted and added more strength to his attacks. Seeing that the demon was getting more serious, Alex grinned in excitement and responded by also getting serious but that didn't make him do anything significant.
"Quit playing around and come at me!" The demon yelled and furiously went after Alex.
"You are asking for too much, you won't like what I'll do to you," Alex said to him.
"I don't care! I want to see what you can do!" The demon yelled.
"Since you are the one asking for it, I'll give it to you," Alex replied and stopped running around. His abrupt halt made the demon also stop in his tracks and the two of them faced each other in the opposite directions.
He closed his eyes and slowly raised his right arm, the demon focused his attention on him, watching his every move and waiting to see what happens next but before he realized that that would be the biggest mistake in his life, it was too late.
Alex's attack was smooth and swift, barely noticeable — no one saw when he moved the whip, the only thing they saw was the whip sending the demon miles away from his original position.
Everyone was taken by surprise, they did not expect him to do something like that, and even Emilia was shocked. She couldn't help but admit that he was a better user of her weapon than her.
"Go and get him," Alex ordered her.
"Yes!" She replied and went off to where the demon had fallen. When she got there, she saw him lying on the ground with a cut that ran from his left shoulder down to his right side. He was still breathing though weakly, and his eyes were still open so she picked him up and dragged him back to Alex.
"What was our deal again?" Alex asked the demon, not expecting to get any reply from him, he continued. "I hold the power, what else can you do? Since I am the winner, I am ordering you and your servants to leave this place. Tomorrow at noon, I will be addressing the entire city so help me pass the news across to them. Do you understand?"
The demon didn't reply but he was not stupid, he signaled to his servants to help him up. Thanks to his power, he could heal himself though he still felt the pain there.
"Let us go!" He said to his servants and walked away. After they had left, Emilia sighed in relief before going back into the house with Alex.
"How was my performance just now?" Alex asked her as soon as they went into his chamber.
"It was superb but you didn't have to act all proud and all that," Emilia replied and rolled her eyes.
"I don't usually play so I do it using the slightest opportunity I have," Alex replied and beamed.
This was the first time Emilia had seen Alex smile genuinely and for that, she felt that he was more charming than before. Unknown to her, her glares and sneak glances were noticed by Alex and she didn't know that she was indirectly asking for trouble.
He approached her without her even realizing it and before she could react, she was pushed to the bed. Lying there, she stared at him in surprise, she was both anxious and excited at the same time.
"You keep staring at me like you want to devour me but right now, you look like a mouse who has been soaked in water for a long time. Where is that bold side of you?" He questioned her.
"I— I—"
"You what?" He asked her but she couldn't say anything. "Very well then, I'll take your silence as a go-ahead order to do whatever I want," he said to her.
"Wh—what do you mean?" She asked him.
"Tomorrow is going to be very hectic for me and I'll bearly have time for you. Let's do something tonight so you won't get to miss me," Alex replied and smirked. "I know you won't say no, right?" He asked her.
"I—"
"Where should I start from?" Alex wondered and lowered himself above her, she was putting on a handless gown so it was easy for him to pull the dress down her arms, revealing more of her bare neck-line and the upper part of her cherries.
"Alex—" She began but her words were cut short by him as he placed a finger on her lips, signaling her to be quiet.
He had wanted to continue but at a time, he suddenly stopped and stood up. "I don't do things against someone's wish, go out!" He said to her. It was more like an order from him because his tone also changed.
"Alex, I—"
"Don't make me repeat my words. When you are ready, you let me know but don't keep me waiting for long or you are going to regret it," he said, not allowing her to finish what she had wanted to say.
Biting her lower lips, she saddened her face and then left the chambers quietly. The moment she was gone, Alex heaved a sigh and sat down leg-crossed on the floor.
"I need to concentrate and place my mind on the things far more important than sex," he said to himself and remembered the excuse he gave.
Thankfully, he stopped himself from going astray with the excuse of not doing things against anyone's wish or he would have regretted his actions a little bit.
'Who hates doing things against someone's wish? You've got to be kidding me,' he thought to himself and scoffed. His thoughts soon wandered off to Emilia again and he shook his head and closed his eyes to refocus his mind again.
Meanwhile, outside the hallway, Emilia immediately ran back to her room after she was sent out by Alex and as she sat down on her bed, she thought back to what had happened between them, and she felt dissatisfied with the outcome. As if suddenly placed under a spell, she rose to her feet and left the room once again.