72

72
Third person POV

The fight was getting more and more intense. When it came to speed, neither Lord Noah nor Artemis were faring really well against the super twins.

Not even Artemis, who no longer depended on his size to win a battle, was doing much good. Muriel was moving around so fast that all Artemis could sense was a simple flash. As time passed, he began getting more and more frustrated because each and every time he tried to make an attack, he would leave himself open, and Muriel would strike.

"Well, well. You don't have the earlier confidence in your heart about this battle. As soon as Raphael and myself got split, you probably thought that the fight was definitely yours, but unfortunately, you were wrong. Not even when we are alone can we be considered weak. It's too unfortunate for you that you didn't find yourself weaker opponents in this pack. You had to run into the both of us, and you are going to die. Be happy though, because you are an old man and probably don't have anything to go back to. Now, how about you get up and make this a bit more entertaining for me?" Muriel said, jumping from side to side, waiting for Artemis to attack.

"Most of the opponents I fought that were strong usually didn't talk so much. You're one of the few who possessed true strength and yet liked talking. I've heard before that twins are usually opposites of each other. So I'm guessing that since you like talking so much, there's a good chance that your brother, who Noah is unfortunately fighting, probably isn't as chatty as you are," Artemis said as he got up and wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Actually, quite the contrary. Myself and Raphael are very outgoing people. Although we can't be extroverted with anyone here, we do have fun occasionally. You may not believe it, but the both of us take a special liking in beautiful women, and that has been one of the few reasons we have ever quarreled before. We only maintain this stern and serious law when we are surrounded by subordinates. We are feared around here for our feats in battle. But that doesn't mean we don't have a life outside the battlefield. You know what? After I kill you, I'll go help my brother murder that friend of yours. The both of us are probably going to drown in alcohol. As a special honor and acknowledgment for how strong the both of you were, maybe we will bury you somewhere near our houses so that we can see you occasionally. We do this as a special ritual to strong people we encounter in fights," Muriel said.

"Oh really? Just how many graves have you dug for the people you consider to be really strong?" Artemis asked curiously.

"Well, we have encountered many strong enemies, but that is only by the world's standards. So please, as you have to be really strong, you and your friend over there could be considered strong. The total number of graves we have ever dug is 19. And we consider that to be a rather large number. But many of the people who occupy those graves are alphas, and those are tough to deal with," Muriel said excitedly.

Artemis, as soon as he heard those words, was shocked. He could not believe that these two had actually been taking on and murdering Alphas.

The most common knowledge to everyone was that an alpha was superior to every other werewolf. An alpha had superior strength, speed, reflexes, and vision. They were basically different beings, and anyone that wasn't an alpha who attempted to take them on would simply die.

"These alphas. Only you two keep track of killing them? You are telling me that you have murdered alphas in the past?" Artemis asked as he began to grow nervous.

"No, no, I am not that strong. You see, alphas are really troublesome because of how fast, strong, and reflexive they are. If I were to fight an alpha all on my own, I would most likely die. That's why I have to use Raphael's assistance when fighting an alpha. Once we don our heavy gear and combine strength and speed with teamwork, we are basically invincible. We're able to take on nearly all alphas. But we have met some alphas who are just too strong and quick in such a way that no one really won the fight. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that you are not an alpha, and I'm more than enough to take you on. You are going to die by my hand. All you need to do is make this more interesting for me," Muriel said.

"It seems your weakness is alphas. I don't know if it's luck or maybe the moon goddess is smiling on me. What's interesting is that I happen to have trained an alpha and watched him grow. Not only that, I also grew up with a friend who was also an alpha, and I know just how alphas work. If your weakness is alphas, then maybe this skill might balance things between us. Either way, I know too much about alphas for you to understand me," Artemis said as he began to approach Muriel menacingly.

"Oh really? Okay, so you are that experienced with alphas. What about your little friend over in the other room? Do you think he knows as much about alphas as you do? You know, the one that will take Raphael on?" Muriel asked.

"You don't need to worry about Noah. Maybe I know more, but he has fought way more alphas to be killed so easily," Artemis said and attacked Muriel.

He threw out a direct kick with his right leg, and as soon as Muriel bent down to dodge, he turned around once more and changed it into a roundhouse kick as he launched at Muriel's bent head with his left leg.

His leg came down forcefully, and Muriel had to dodge in order to get to safety. Artemis's leg fell down violently and crashed into the ground, creating a giant depression. Immediately after throwing the kick, Artemis did not waste any time and attacked Muriel continuously.

Even from mere continuous barrage of attacks, Artemis managed to get lucky, and he struck gold.

He launched a continuous barrage of roundhouse kicks until he managed to corner Muriel into a wall. It was true that Muriel was strong, but if he were to take too many of Artemis's roundhouse kicks, which were very powerful, he would eventually lose function of his arm. As soon as he was backed up to a wall, a worried expression came up on his face.

Artemis was not wasting his time, bringing down his powerful leg on him. The kick was so powerful that it completely divided the defensive cross that Muriel made with his hands. The cross was broken, and immediately after that, Artemis threw a violent punch at Muriel. The punch was so forceful that it smashed Muriel's face into the wall and burst through another wall.

This move left Muriel wounded, and Artemis began to have the upper hand. Muriel soon regained his bearings and shook his head, trying to clear away the dust and blood.

"You are far stronger than you let on. I must say, anyone who even dreams of underestimating you may well be making the most foolish decision of their lives. You are definitely going into one of the graves where we bury very strong enemies," Muriel said, and that evil smile came on his face.

"Well, I am an experienced war veteran. The second you underestimate me is the second you die," Artemis said and attacked Muriel again.

He was giving Muriel hardly any chance to attack, keeping Muriel on the defensive. And more attacks landed, and the battle was looking up for him.

In the other room, Lord Noah was having a similar experience. The battle was beginning to tip in his favor, and he was glad about it. Initially, he was beginning to lose hope because Raphael seemed to be faster and stronger than him. But after giving it his all, he began to overwhelm Raphael slowly.

"Well, you may be terribly strong, I will give you that. But it seems as though without your little twin over there, you are nothing but blown-up air," Lord Noah said with a big, conceited smile on his face.

Raphael stared at him a long while, and then he laughed. "Many times in this fight, you have told me that you are an experienced war veteran and the second I underestimate you is the second I lose. You should know that the same goes for me."

"You don't need to tell me that. From your skill in battle, I already know that if I let you hit any of my vital points, you are probably going to rip them out. But thanks to my experience, I will not let you hit any of them, and since I do not want to, it will be basically impossible for you to hit them. I may not be as strong as an alpha, but I have killed more than one alpha in my life. Do you want to know how I do it? I use my superior wit and intelligence, which when combined with experience is simply unfathomable," Lord Noah said.

"And can you say the same thing for your friend fighting Muriel? I could only sense that he has great strength and speed. But what can you say about his experience with alphas?" Raphael asked.

"Well, you see, while I may be strong, Artemis over there is far more skillful and tactical than myself in battle. He knows how to transform low chances into high chances. And I myself am a master at the same thing. Derrick's father was a particularly powerful alpha, and Artemis over there actually managed to beat Derrick's father in sparring matches many times," Lord Noah explained.

"You should know that there is a solid difference between sparring matches and real-life battle. If that friend of yours thinks he can take down Muriel simply because he has defeated an alpha in sparring matches, then he is grossly mistaken," Raphael said.

"Actually, you're mistaken if you think Artemis is not experienced enough to kill him. Because Artemis himself has killed his share of alphas."