The Bloody Blade had almost touched Alex's forehead, but he was completely unfazed.
Is he really that powerful, or is there something wrong with this thing? Drew thought as he examined the blade in his hands. Did Jacob give me a fake?
Noticing that Drew was distracted, Alex quickly slapped him in the face, his elbow adjusting in order to strike at the perfect angle to leave Drew with no chance to dodge.
With a deafening crack, Drew flew through the air. Alex flashed behind him so quickly that no one could see him move, planting another loud slap on Drew's face while he was still midair.
Drew's body dropped to the floor and rolled a few times before stopping, and blood began to trickle out of his mouth.
"I can't believe you have the audacity to call yourself a master swordsman when you're so weak," Alex said. "Jacob must be ashamed of you. I should take that blade and kill you with it, but I wouldn't want the blood of such a coward to stain a perfectly good sword even more."
Drew flushed red with embarrassment as he struggled to move. He wished he could sink through the floor and disappear from sight.
A brisk wind flung the doors of the reception hall open and flowed through the crowd, snapping everyone out of their daze.
Marie held her face in horror as she saw her brother lying in pain on the floor with the Bloody Blade lying beside him like a worthless steel scrap.
She knew that Alex had to be incredibly powerful if he could take her brother out so easily while he was wielding the Bloody Blade. She and the other Ghosts realized that they didn't have a prayer of destroying him that day. They would have to go home with their tails between their legs.
I know Drew's always been careless, but this is just embarrassing, Marie thought. All it took was a couple of slaps to finish him, and he's killed thousands of people before. This Alex really must be something else.
The Ghosts were frightened and angry as they tried to figure out what to do next.
Drew felt his head spin as he tried to get up, and he choked out a few words as his anger started to boil over. "I'll make you pay for slapping me," he said.
Back home in California, he was revered and respected in the martial arts community, but in Baltimore, he was a nobody, and Alex had made a fool out of him in front of everyone.
Alex wasn't finished with him yet. He pounced onto Drew and grabbed Drew's arm, forcefully yanking it forward and slapping Drew with his own hand multiple times.
"Stop hitting yourself," Alex said with a childish grin as Drew tried and failed to dodge the blows.
Drew's body went limp as he realized how helpless he was to stop Alex.
I'll never be able to go home after this, he thought. I'll be the laughingstock of the whole martial arts community, and my father will never let me hear the end of it. My life is ruined.
Alex stood up and stepped on Drew's face, pushing his cheek into the floor, and then stepped back. "I'll give you a chance to fight back," he said. "It's just bullying you if I don't, and I don't want to look bad."
Drew wiped the blood from his mouth and sprang to his feet. He roared like a wounded beast, gathered all of his strength, and then snatched the Bloody Blade off of the floor, slashing it at Alex with a swift chop.
The wind began to howl outside, and another strong gust rushed through the hall. The lights flickered off as a booming clap of thunder shook the building, and as they flashed back on, they revealed Alex and Drew locked in battle.
Alex's eyes simmered with excitement as he caught the Bloody Blade between the palms of his hands, stopping Drew mid-slash. With a sharp jolt of his arms, he flung the blade aside, and then lifted his leg above Drew before slamming it down on top of him.
Drew instantly crumpled to the floor as Alex's kick knocked the wind out of him, and the tiles of the floor cracked from the sheer impact of the attack.
Everyone gasped as they watched Alex take out Drew so easily, and they knew that he had only shown a fraction of his true power. If he hadn't held back, he could have smashed Drew through the floor and into the basement.
"What a disappointment," Alex said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked down at Drew. "I was hoping for a good fight, but you let me down. Oh well."
He stepped on Drew's face and kneaded it gently with his shoe.
"I can't believe you thought you could take out the entire Baltimore Martial Arts Association," he said with a laugh. "You couldn't even touch me."
"Stop rubbing it in, and let's get this over with," Drew said, frustrated to the point of tears. "You won, and I was wrong. I'm ready to face the consequences."
He gasped for air on the ground, and more blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Alex pulled his foot away from Drew's face and sighed.
"Jacob won't let you get away with this," Drew muttered. "He'll make sure to kill every last one of you. So please, just go ahead and kill me. I'd rather die a martyr than live with the shame of losing to a punk like you."
"You really want to die, don't you?" Alex said. "Do you seriously not value your life at all?"
"If my death will help push the other Ghosts to destroy the Baltimore Martial Arts Association, I can die happy," Drew replied.
"Well, we can't have that now, can we?" Alex said as he picked up the Bloody Blade and casually slashed it in four quick cuts.
Drew whimpered and rolled around on the floor while blood spurted from fresh wounds on his arms and legs.