The [Hatred Demon] crashed into a nearby building after Alex’s powerful kick, but it immediately got back up, its crimson eyes locked on the human before it.
It didn’t say anything as it stretched its claws, flexing its four arms.
There was no need for words.
Alex was already at a huge disadvantage, missing his right arm, and the [Hatred Demon] knew its victory was all but guaranteed.
“…You should have just continued attacking me,” Alex said, his voice calm but filled with a devilish grin.
His smile was so intense, so filled with hatred, that it seemed to radiate the same crimson aura as the [Hatred Demon] itself.
“…Sure,” the [Hatred Demon] replied, its voice cold and dismissive.
It was the last word it spoke before vanishing from its spot, leaving behind an afterimage.
It had activated its [Full Assault] again, moving at blinding speed to finish Alex off once and for all.
There was no holding back now.
The [Hatred Demon] was using its full strength and speed, determined to end the fight.
0.1 seconds passed, and the [Hatred Demon] was already in front of Alex, its claws poised to strike.
“Yes,” Alex grinned, his voice filled with a strange confidence, “Attack me again!”
The [Hatred Demon] hesitated for a split second, its instincts warning it of something.
Alex’s confidence was unnerving, and the creature remembered that the human had somehow used its attacks to revive himself.
But the hesitation didn’t last long.
“Your bluff won’t work on me,” the [Hatred Demon] said, its voice filled with malice, “I’ll just kill you once more. I can sense that your thread of life is weakening.”
“If that’s what you think…” Alex replied, his grin never fading.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
The [Hatred Demon] swung its four arms at Alex, each claw aiming to tear him apart.
But Alex, using everything he had, heightened his senses to the max with his [Cursed Eyes of Truth].
He made a single, precise movement: he stepped back, narrowly avoiding the attack.
The [Hatred Demon] was ready to continue its assault, to unleash a devastating combo, but Alex’s next words stopped it in its tracks.
“You shouldn’t have done it,” Alex said, shaking his head as he held his right shoulder with his left arm.
He pointed his severed right arm at the [Hatred Demon], as if aiming a weapon.
Blood dripped from the stump, pooling on the ground.
And then, Alex unleashed his next move.
“BLOOD MIST!”
He shouted, his voice echoing through the battlefield as he activated one of his [Blood Art] abilities.
The blood he had lost during the fight was now being used as a weapon.
[Blood Arts Perk #4: Blood Mist; Use your own blood to create a massive wall of mist where you can see better than anyone else inside of it.
It uses a terrifying amount of blood, though.]
“MY HATRED FOR YOU FAR SURPASSES YOURS!” Alex roared, his voice filled with raw emotion.
The blood from his severed arm and the ground around him began to glow, transforming into a thick, crimson mist that exploded outward, engulfing the entire battlefield.
BOOM!
The mist spread rapidly, surrounding the [Hatred Demon] and cutting off its vision.
The creature shielded its eyes, its pupils darting around as it tried to see through the dense fog.
But the mist was too thick, too overwhelming.
Even the [Hatred Demon] couldn’t see through it.
“Do you really think such useless attempts will lead to anything?” the [Hatred Demon] growled, its voice filled with frustration.
“Just let it end already.”
It activated [Full Assault] again, its legs moving at incredible speed as it dashed around the battlefield, trying to disperse the mist and find Alex.
But no matter how fast it moved, it found nothing.
The mist seemed endless, and Alex was nowhere to be seen.
“What the fuck?” the [Hatred Demon] muttered, its voice filled with confusion.
They were in [Dragon City], in an already established battlefield with crumbled buildings nearby.
Yet, somehow, the mist had created an entirely new environment, one where the [Hatred Demon] couldn’t find anything.
It repeated the process, dashing in a straight line at full speed, not caring if it crashed into rocks or walls.
But again, it found nothing.
The mist seemed to stretch on forever, and the [Hatred Demon] began to realize that something was wrong.
It couldn’t find Alex or anything else in the battlefield.
How was that even possible?
And why had Alex screamed the name of his ability?
Was it a trick?
‘He screamed [Blood Mist], even though there was no need to… Was it to trick me…?’ the [Hatred Demon] thought, its mind racing as it tried to make sense of the situation.
But before it could dwell on it further, it sensed an intense aura behind it.
A smile spread across its face as it realized it had found Alex.
‘Found you,’ it thought, pretending not to notice as Alex closed in.
Right as the human was about to attack, the [Hatred Demon] turned around, its claws slashing through the air.
Fwish! Slash!
Its claws tore through Alex’s body, the sound of flesh being ripped apart echoing through the mist.
“All of that setup, just for a surprise attack,” the [Hatred Demon] said, shaking its head in disappointment.
“It might have worked under normal circumstances, but not against me.”
But then, something strange happened.
The figure it had just attacked began to fade, dissolving into the mist.
“A clone…?!” the [Hatred Demon] realized, its eyes widening in shock.
It immediately backed away, expecting the clone to explode, but nothing happened.
Instead, the clone turned into crimson mist, joining the rest of the fog.
Before the [Hatred Demon] could react, it sensed another aura.
Turning around, it saw another Alex rushing at it.
“Seriously…?” it groaned, swinging its claws at the figure.
But just like before, the clone faded away, leaving nothing behind.
More and more figures began to appear from the mist, each one rushing at the [Hatred Demon] as if trying to overwhelm it.
But the creature didn’t let its guard down.
It slashed at every clone, its four arms moving in a blur as it destroyed each one.
‘Am I in another dimension?’ the [Hatred Demon] wondered as it continued to attack, ‘But how? That human didn’t seem strong enough to do that…’
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The clones kept coming, one after another, for what felt like an eternity.
Ten seconds passed, then twenty, then thirty.
A full minute of endless clones.
Eventually, the [Hatred Demon] grew tired of the charade.
It decided to see what would happen if it allowed one of the clones to actually hit it.
It stopped defending itself, letting one of the clones jump forward and slash at it.
But… nothing happened.
The clone’s attack did no damage.
It was as if the figure was nothing more than an illusion.
[Blood Clones; Summon clones of yourself made out of blood to distract enemies and help with other things.
Note that the clones only copy your agility and cannot attack.]
The clones couldn’t harm the [Hatred Demon].
They were nothing more than distractions.
‘So his plan was to tire me out?’ the [Hatred Demon] thought, its frustration growing.
‘Idiotic.’
But just as it gave up trying to defend itself against the clones, something unexpected happened.
Fwish! Slash!
One of the “clones” attacked, and this time, it actually hurt.
The claws tore through the [Hatred Demon]’s flesh, causing it to let out a roar of pain.
“Argh?!” it shouted, its eyes widening in shock as it realized the truth.
The figure that had attacked it wasn’t a clone, it was the real Alex.
“So stupid,” Alex laughed, his voice filled with triumph as he dashed back into the mist, disappearing from sight.
The [Hatred Demon] instantly understood what Alex was trying to do.
He was using the clones as distractions, hiding among them to land a surprise attack.
But the creature wasn’t about to let him get away with it.