《The Bartender at the End of the Universe》Ch 201: The Struggle for the Crown
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The hollow king sliced through several body parts as he slammed his massive sword into the ground. His spectral form floating just above his body with its typical grimace. The eyes on his right arm all looked up, and he raised up his sword into the air.
His sword clashed with a giant spear whose tip looked like a massive sword and was almost as big as the hollow king's own blade. His body bent slightly as he absorbed the blow, and he hissed slightly as he looked up at his attacker.
"Well, well, well, seems you have some skill besides blindly attacking," Abraham said with a wild grin.
The wild man with torn clothes was the one who had brought down the fauchard towards the hollow king. He flexed his muscles as he strained to lift the massive weapon up once again. It was almost four times his size, but he managed to keep ahold of it and stay standing.
The two of them stared at each other. Ghostly glares on one side, and wild fury on the other. The hollow king lowered his sword down to the ground behind it. Slowly he began to walk forward as the blade dragged on the ground behind him. With each step he seemed to pick up his pace until he was sprinting towards Abraham.
Meanwhile, Abraham squatted down as he lowered the long spear behind his back, but still off of the ground. With both hands together on the shaft he stared right at his opponent's face.
When the hollow king got within range, Abraham swung his weapon around. It sliced through the air vertically as it rapidly approached the emaciated man.
Just before it hit him, the hollow king flipped forward into the air, but he left his sword on the ground as he tucked his legs. However, he tilted his blade to the side so that the back of it was facing towards the oncoming glaive.
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The weapon passed under his body, but as it hit his sword, the force helped him raise the giant weapon up into the air. The hollow king used the extra momentum to arc towards Abraham with his weapon aimed straight for his head.
Abraham smirked as his attack was avoided. He kept the spear spinning around but put both of his hands higher up on the handle. As the blade passed behind him, he raised the flat end of the fauchard up and the bladed end down.
WHAM!
While in the air, the hollow king was hit square in his side by the blunt end of Abraham's weapon. But momentum kept his sword swinging forward. Its arc had changed drastically, but even while having a heavy wooden pole slammed into his flesh, he managed to adjust it just enough.
SCHWING!
His massive sword caught the corner of Abraham's head and sliced off a chunk just above his right eye. All before the force of the hit on his side caused him to drop his sword and get knocked away.
With part of his head missing, Abraham spun around with his weapon, until he along with it crashed into the ground.
"Now this is far more interesting," the smiling man cooed from atop his perch.
"Ha! You really think you can...URK!"
The smiling man looked over to his side. A woman made out of teeth more than anything else collapsed off of the side of the scaffolding nearby. Her body squished down almost like she had no solid bones left inside her.
"All this violence. All these people so full of themselves. I'm ashamed to say I used to be a lot like them," Azrail said as he watched the woman fall to the ground while he wiped the blood off of his knuckles. "But you? Siting above them. Soaking in the sights like a Roman emperor. Isn't that worse in its own way?"
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"Can't a guy enjoy a good show?" the smiling man asked. "I know you do."
Azrail's eye twitched, ever so subtly. "Of course I do. A proper tragedy is a great thing to see come alive on the stage. In fact, I'd say there's a lot of good to be had in the theatre."
The smiling man grinned cruelly before he let out a condescending laugh. "Really? A pathetic worm like you? I don't know why I'm surprised you're too stupid to understand absolute truth. Even when it's handed to you so plainly. Like a toddler given money who immediately eats it. Though at least they get some insignificant nutritional benefit, but you can't seem to grasp even a sliver of a benefit."
Azrail walked along the scaffolding closer to the smiling man as he mocked him. "You know, I worked for this prince once. He had a vast kingdom in the dessert. Sold a lot of vital resources to larger countries. No one would dare rise against him. Everyone feared him. Why, he even brutally killed citizens from other countries with no repercussions."
The noise from the fight below grabbed Azrail's attention for a moment as he looked down remorsefully. "No matter what horrors he did, it was overlooked because of what he offered." he continued. "Then, one late night, a servant of his crept into his bedchambers and stabbed him over two hundred times."
Azrail looked up at the smiling man. He seemed to be trying to stare into his eyes, but with only his smile truly being visible, it was at best a rough guess.
"Let me guess," The smiling man mocked. "That servant was you, and you killed him to get revenge for those who couldn't stand up for themselves?"
Azrail shrugged. "Honestly, I could care less about them. All I cared about was doing my job for him. No, it was a servant upset because the prince would throw any food he didn't finish onto the ground. This servant was the one who had to clean that up, and eventually it became too much."
The smiling man laughed. "For spilling food? Now that is funny!"
Azrail smiled cunningly. "Quite right. Slowly it chipped away at him, until such a small, yet neglected cog in the prince's kingdom broke down the entire thing and toppled his empire.
Azrail kept trying to find the smiling man's eyes. "Overlooking something small is never a good idea when you rule a kingdom full of abuse."
"Oh? Is that a..."
The smiling man was cut off as Azrail thrust his open palm out towards his obscured neck. But his hand passed through nothing but air and ended on the other side.
The smiling man's grin grew wider and wider as it spread across his entire face. His teeth shone white as he bared them more and more. "Do you really think you're as notable to me as a slave? or even a slave's slave? Hah! So presumptuous."
The smiling man flicked his hand towards Azrail, but the frail man ducked around it before he reached out for the smiling man's throat yet again.
This time, the man stepped to the side and out of the way before he casually struck back.
Azrail dodged again, and blow by blow their fight went on, without either of them landing a single strike.
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