The Thorntons kept coming after Alex, determined to get revenge. Alex was provoked and getting angrier and angrier at the onslaught. They thought that they could bully him, and he would be easy to defeat. If he didn't put an end to this now, they would never stop pestering him.
Several of the men hit the ground, dropping so heavily that the road was covered in cracks.
"This man is terrible," they wailed. "Let's go."
They hadn't expected Alex to be so strong. They were all brave men that had been carefully selected for their superb martial arts skills. They had been sure that they would succeed in defeating Alex but had been proven wrong. These elite martial artists, each worth millions of dollars, had been reduced to nothing. Their legs shook, and their faces were covered in dirt and blood.
Alex was defeating them, and he wasn't using any special tricks or moves to do so. With one kick, one punch and one slap, he defeated several warriors in an instant.
"Hey! Look at me." A voice came from behind Alex, and his voice was gravelly and angry.
Paulie limped from the dark roadside. Even with his injuries, he still had a fierce spirit. In fact, he looked like he had grown a few more inches and towered over Alex as he raised his hand to reach for Alex's shoulder.
This martial art move, called the Thornton Tie, was like a move used by the Black Orchids priests. It targeted the clavicle bone and could instantly make the victim vulnerable and unable to fight back.
Levi watched in anticipation, excited to see Alex fall, but Alex ignored the hand coming toward him and ran after another warrior. They fought for a few seconds, Alex allowing the warrior to swing a few punches before he casually got him back. The warrior flew in the air and landed far away from the battle ground.
The only people that remained now were Levi, Paulie and Conrad, who was afraid to run away.
"I'm gonna kill you, Alex!" Paulie roared. He sped toward Alex.
Every step he took left deep footprints on the hard concrete. He was a master of combat in the Thornton family, and Alex's hard-hitting style suited his appetite.
"It's up to you, Paulie!" Levi yelled. He gritted his teeth. The Thornton Tie was the only thing that could stop Alex now. Or so he thought.
Alex lifted Paulie's huge body with one hand, holding him high above his head. He spun around, throwing Paulie like a baseball. His body soared far away, over the streetlamps and the tops of some of the trees before landing in one of them. His long clothes wrapped around branches, and he hung, upside down and tangled in pain.
Levi's heart sank and he stood there, shivering. In the blink of an eye, everything had changed. Conrad ran to hide behind a tree, but Levi stayed put. He knew he should get away before Alex turned his wrath on him, but his body wasn't listening to the commands ringing in his head. He couldn't move.
The silence was deafening. Even Celia and Ethan, who were also martial arts fighters, were shocked by such a battlefield. They felt like they were in a dream.
"Levi Thornton, you have been beaten. If it wasn't for Master Alex, Ethan and I would have never survived such a fight," Celia said.
"You have met a tremendous warrior," Ethan chimed in. "You should not have provoked him!"
Levi fell to his knees and repeatedly begged, "Master Alex. Please, Master Alex. I know I was wrong, and that I was disrespectful, and you will have to punish me. But please let me live. I may be of some use to you in the future. I will be indebted to you for the rest of your life. Please spare me, Master Alex. Please."
Levi knelt so low that his head hit the ground. He bowed repeatedly and show no sign of stopping.
He heard a few footsteps beside him, and saw Alex get closer to him.
"I told you before that if you left immediately, there would be no disasters tonight," Alex said quietly. He stood above Levi, dignified and serious. "Yet, you still attacked me and disrespected my friends. Do you expect me to believe you have learned your lesson?"
"Master Alex, I know what I have done wrong. I'm very sorry," Levi replied. He continued to bow, even though it was painful.
"Well, your apology does seem genuine, although it is not enough." The tone of Alex's voice changed, and he slowly stepped in front of Levi.
Levi felt the surge of hope flood through his veins and Alex's change. Even Celia and Ethan thought that Alex intended to let Levi go and relaxed a little.
Neither of them could have anticipated what Alex said next. "You have offended me. You offended my friends. Then you tried to kill me. For that, you must use pay with your life."
"What?" Levi was stunned. Suddenly, his entire body was lifted off the ground and he flew down the road. His body flipped and tumbled on the rough tarmac, and he rolled roughly to a stop, far away from where Alex was standing. His breath rasped out of his lungs as the pain spread through his limbs until he lost consciousness, succumbing to his injuries.
A cold wind blew through the street, making Celia and Ethan shiver. They rubbed their hands up and down their arms to try and warm them, but even as their bodies slightly warmed up, they couldn't get rid of the lingering chill in their hearts. The scene before them left them scared and numb.
"Remind me to never insult him," Ethan mumbled to Celia. She nodded in agreement.
Alex stood under the streetlamp. The light made him look fearsome and powerful. The only sound on the street was the leaves rustling in the breeze, making the silence even more tense. He had been brutal, but it was necessary to warn other gangs who dared to fight against him.
Conrad, weak and terrified, waited silently for Alex and the others to leave. After everything he had seen, he just wanted to get as far away from this murderous brute as possible.
It's so terrible, he thought. How can there be such a terrible killer in the world?
His heart pounded in his chest. The Thornton family was full of elite martial artists, with skills and moves that were unknown to anyone outside of the family. Yet, this man had managed to defeat all of them. He shivered from the gruesome images whirling in his head.
It had been incredibly stupid of the Thorntons to confront a cruel man like this. Conrad sighed. Alex didn't seem to be looking for him. He just needed them all to leave, and then he could return home. He suddenly realized he had a long life ahead of him and that he wanted to live it.