The moment Alex raised his head, Marjun's punch landed on his face, the impact whipped his head to the other side, making Alex spat a mouthful of blood.
His clear vision turned hazy, which bought back the memories when the dragon beat him up.
Anger rose in him, when he saw Marjun's mocking gaze. He let his anger take over him, forgetting his pain.
Marjun threw another punch at him but Alex caught it, shocking Marjun. Gasps echoed amidst of the villagers, which clearly showed everyone were surprised. Alex's signature smirk made it's way on his face.
Alex's face was bruised and swollen all over, a trail of blood flowing at the corner of his lips, his white hair stuck to his face which was mixed with his blood and sweat. Not only his face but also his body was full of red and purple bruises with cuts here and there.
Slowly, Alex pulled Marjun's stiffened palm with his right and threw a punch with his left. Marjun staggered back but Alex pulled him forward by his arm smashed his face with his arm midway, making Marjun grunt in pain, which made Alex feel satisfied.
Alex let go of Marjun's arm, as the man's stamina plummeted. Exhausted from their back-and-forth punches, Marjun stumbled towards Alex in a drunken manner, attempting to strike again. Alex quickly dodged, then leapt into the air, delivering a powerful kick to Marjun's back, sending him flying several feet. Alex wasted no time and pounced on him, unleashing a flurry of relentless punches.
Neron was getting angrier with every passing second. He wanted to scream and say, 'it was enough,' but he was scared of consequences.
Turning his father's heart into a stone, he could only watch his son getting brutally battered by a nobody.
Fraco, his father, and the rest of the villagers, were enjoying the battle. They always loved a bloody battle. Since they did not have a favorite among the two, whoever won would be accepted as winner.
Alex continued to rain punches until the referee tapped him. He turned to growl at the man but the man moved back a little taken aback by Alex's reaction. Alex's vision began to clear a bit before he realized what he was doing. Alex stood up and saw Marjun remained on the ground, not daring to get up.
"Alex is the winner of this round! Marjun seems to be too beaten to refute so do we accept Alex as the winner of this duel?"
The whole village cheered with excitement as Alex smirked at Neron. The Referee seemed to asking Alex to hide his smug expression.
Neron was furious that his son had not only embarrassed him, but also brought shame upon him. He wondered how he could regain favor with the king now.
"I proclaim Alex as the winner of this duel and the official mediator between the dragon and the people."
The villagers cheered.
"Stop!" A weak voice interrupted. Everyone quietened. Marjun had managed to get up again. "He.. he cheated."
There were low gasps around. Alex scoffed.
Just how shameless was Marjun?
"Alex, he cheated! Alex is a thief and a cheat! Everything he had ever done before now was to cheat and steal! Alex has been a pickpocket and he only took the job for two reasons, one is to steal from the king and the villagers, two is because he is in love with the dragon."
Murmurs spread around the villagers. "What nonsense are you spitting?!" Someone yelled. "Alex clearly beat you up!"
"Yeah! I'm sure Alex has knocked out his sense of reasoning."
Fraco turned to his father in mild surprise. "What nonsense is he spouting? How can a man love a dragon? A beast?!"
Guido chuckled. "It is just like they said, he has lost some nuts in his brain. Thanks to Alex we can fully know what kind of son Neron had raised."
Neron anger rose further.
Marjun heard the conversation between Guido and Fraco. "The dragon is a female! Alex is in love with her! Let me tell you all, that dragon can-"
Alex sent a hot punch to his mouth, bursting his lips. For a second, Marjun was stunned silent. He forgot what he was about to say.
"I don't know but all I know is that Alex cheated! He allowed himself to be cut by my sword in the first round." Marjun exclaimed. "And if you do not announce me as winner, I shall awake the dragon!"
Everyone trembled at his words. They couldn't announce Marjun as winner but also didn't want to be killed by an angry dragon!
When Marjun noticed the fear among them, he quickly ran upto Krystal's cave and started screaming at the dragon.
"Dragon!!" Marjun screamed at the top of his voice. Krystal growled as she turned in her deep sleep. Marjun began to hit her body. "Wake up you ugly monster!"
Marjun's action only garnered villagers complaints and fear. They lookdc up to Alex, hoping that since he would do something to save them.
Krystal's angry growl echoed from the cave, and soon Marjun emerged, laughing like a maniac. Alex appeared unfazed, as he wanted the villagers to believe in him despite being troubled deeply. Krystal came out of the cave, and the villagers screamed in fear upon seeing her up close.
"Don't make a noise, you will only annoy her further." Alex ordered.
Despite their fear, the villagers remained silent as Alex's voice echoed around them. Alex bravely approached Krystal's angry figure, knowing that she was about to unleash her fury, when he heard her angry growl as she emitted smoke from her mouth. He knew she despised being woken up so abruptly.
"K!" He yelled. "Over here, K! Look, I'm here. It's me, Alex!" Alex called out. Krystal grunted, releasing the thick smoke around the surroundings. Alex walked over to her before he placed his hand on her scales. Despite his hand burning hot, he endured the pain, still resting his hand over her until it cooled down.
Once he noticed her scales started cooling, he relaxed. Krystal also began to calm down. Staring at Alex, she blinked twice and returned into the cave to resume her slumber.
The villagers cheered at Alex for his actions. They looked around, Marjun was nowhere to be found.
Did he realize he dug his own grave?