Moriyan wasn't exactly pleased either. His real target had been Alex's head. This attack had not come without a cost. In exchange for severing Alex's arm, Moriyan himself was struck by Vlad, who shattered his armor and left his insides exposed through the breaks.
Now, both Moriyan and Alex fought with nothing but sheer willpower. Whichever of them faltered first would fall. Moriyan wished he could have kept his puppets at his side, but he knew that his transformation had consumed most of his energy, leaving him unable to sustain them in battle.
After exchanging dozens of blows, the two warriors were utterly exhausted. Moriyan's massive frame was bleeding profusely, and the wounds inflicted by Vlad were healing only with the greatest of difficulty. On the other hand, Alex, having lost his dominant hand, struggled with balance and was under intense pressure; if not for Vlad saving him several times, he would already have been defeated.
Moriyan looked at Alex—the man who had ruined all his plans—with deep hatred and envy.
"With your talent, you had your own path to greatness," Moriyan sneered. "Why did you choose to fight to the death here? Walk away now, and I'll allow you and your friends to leave."
Moriyan knew his own power hadn't fully matured. A fight to the death now would be the worst possible choice. If he spared Alex and the others, he could kill them at any time once his ability was complete.
"We're enemies now," Alex replied. "One of us has to die. So let's end it here."
Alex had no intention of running or letting Moriyan escape. He knew that Moriyan was weakened for several reasons, and leaving him alive could only make him stronger. From the beginning, Alex had noticed something—that his opponent's powers seemed somehow impaired, and he would exploit this weakness with every ounce of his strength.
"You're arrogant and stubborn. Do you think you'll win just because you have one strong puppet?" Moriyan growled. "I'll kill you and every last one of your friends in front of you!"
Blinded by rage, Moriyan lunged forward at full speed, swinging his colossal sword at Alex. Alex ducked and quickly moved to the right, narrowly evading the strike.
As he dodged, Alex transformed his sword into a two-meter spear of blood, holding it in his left hand. He hurled the spear with all his might, aiming directly for Moriyan's heart.
Moriyan saw the spear coming and raised his sword to block it. To his surprise, the spear didn't collide with his sword. Instead, it altered its path, veering toward Vlad.
Vlad seized the spear and charged toward Moriyan. Simultaneously, Alex dashed at Moriyan without any weapon, closing the distance rapidly. The two of them were closing in on him from both sides.
Moriyan felt a strange sense that something was wrong. Alex attacking him unarmed seemed like a disastrous mistake, but he wasn't about to let this golden opportunity slip by.
As the two closed in, a blood-red light radiated from Moriyan's right-hand sword, transforming into chains of blood-forged metal that shot toward Vlad in an instant. They were so close that Vlad barely had time to react.
Using his primary sword in his left hand, Moriyan lunged toward the unarmed Alex. He knew the chains wouldn't hold for long, so he had only seconds to strike down the defenseless Alex before Vlad broke free and attempted whatever trick the two of them had planned.