In the face of god

Alex walked out of the adventure guild in his Dark leather armor and was greeted by the hustle and bustle of the market area.

Demi-humans from the surrounding tribes come here to sell their specialties while buying food, medicine, and magic equipment. Among these demi-humans, most were honest folk, while others were vagabonds and criminals.

Alex pulled his hood, tidied his backpack, and walked towards his next destination. After walking through a few streets, he heard from Varis.

[Two people are following you,] said Varis sitting on top of a three-story building.

[Got it,] said Alex while not making any abrupt reactions.

After some time, he entered a deserted alley. He unsheathed the machete and touched his Glock-19, holstered in the back. After few seconds, two hooded figures, one bulky and one thin figure, entered the alley.

"Hehe, look, he is waiting for us," said the bulky man in a raspy irritating voice.

"A gutsy human for sure," said the thin man in a high-pitched voice, similarly irritating.

Alex frowned. From their conversation, they were demi-humans. But he was not sure why they were following him. Did Rusten Rufek or Simon Black put them up to this? Or they were just common criminals who were after his money.

"What do you want?" asked Alex.

"It's the gold, of course. Give it to us, and you can live for another day, human," said the stout man.

"I don't have any gold left on me. All my savings are spent on this outfit," said Alex showing his new outfit.

"Hehe, you can't fool my nose boy, I can smell the gold on you from a mile away. You must carry at least 1000 gold coins on you," said the thin man removing his hood.

Alex's eyes widened when he saw the face. The thin man had the face of the rat with grey fur and long whiskers.

'A humanoid rat.' This was the first time Alex seeing a demi-human who was completely a beast.

Alex was a little stumped for words, and his expression became weird. The sensitive rat was quickly offended.

"This guy is looking down us Beast men, Liard. He must be tired of living."

"You dare look down on the beautiful form the ancient god bestowed upon us?" said Liard, showing his lizard face.

The lizard's face was red blood color, and a weird symbol of the eye was drawn on his forehead.

Alex adjusted his mind before saying.

"Well, I don't know who your ancient god is, but I hope you are not his best work," said Alex inciting them.

"How dare you blaspheme our god," roared the lizard man rushing towards him.

Alex jumped back to avoid the four-inch claws swiping at him. Just as he landed, the lizard man rotated. Alex raised his blade to protect his chest, but what greeted him was the lizard's tail whipping his legs.

'Damn it,' thought Alex. It was too late to dodge the attack, and he could only protect his legs with mana. The tail whipped his legs, and Alex fell sideways.

However, the lizard man did not give Alex any time to breathe, as he used his claw as a blade and pierced Alex in the chest.

The protective mana cover erected by Alex in the last second was pierced as a sheet of paper. The claw then proceeded to his new leather armor and finally stopped. But the impact hurled Alex to the dumpsters.

"We Beast men may not be pretty like those demi-humans, but we are chosen by Ancient god and are stronger than other races. Ha ha ha," laughed the lizardmen in a raspy voice.

Alex estimated the lizard men's strength to be 1200 kg. More than Alex's base strength. What caught him off guard was the unconventional moves. The tail attacks combined with the claw attacks had thrown him off. As he came from a military background, Alex was accustomed to certain fighting techniques. Now he had to relearn all of it.

Alex stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Enough talk, get the gold first," said the rat-man.

"Oh, look, the human got up for more," said the lizard man before running towards him.

Alex raised his sword to meet the incoming claw. A spark went off as the claw met the blade. Alex took a step back. As he fended off the claw, the tail came sweeping from below. Alex jumped slightly like a skipping rope.

The lizard attacked crazily. With every attack, Alex either defended or dodged. His agility played a major role in dodging the unconventional attacks of the lizard man.

Just as Alex got the hang of the new fighting style and was about to counterattack, his back hit the wall.

"Hehe, you have to pay your life for disrespecting the Beast men and the Ancient god boy," said the lizardmen, while Alex stood unflustered.

"If you finished talking, you can go to hell," said Alex entering the burst state.

A blue aura covered his whole body while increasing all his attributes by three times. Alex brandished his blade and slashed at the lizard's neck. The lizard man quickly blocked it with his claw but was appalled to find that he cannot stop it.

The blue blade passed through the sharp claws and cut off two of his fingers. An unearthly growl escaped the beast men's throat, his eyes filled with hatred. The lizard quickly attacked Alex with his tail while trying to back off.

Alex easily dodged the clumsy attack and rushed forward. His blade once again slashing towards the lizard man's neck again.

A trace of fear appeared in the eyes of the lizard man this time, just as the blade touched the lizard's neck. A sharp dagger blocked the attack. The rat-man entered the fray. With his left hand, Alex took out the gun from his back.

"Boy, you are talented. I give you that, but how long can you maintain the state," said the rat-man with a flash of cunning.

"You will never find out," said Alex raising his gun. As the two beast-men looked puzzled, Alex aimed at the rat's head and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet pierced the rat man's skull as he fell back feebly. The lizard's eyes widened, but Alex did not give him time to react and swiped at the lizard's neck.

The lizard clutched his neck with one hand as the blood leaked. As he understood his demise, his eyes filled with a mix of reverence and hatred.

"Ancient god, accept your servant's soul and punish the blasphemer!" roared the lizard into the sky.

Alex looked into the sky and saw Varis gracefully flying around. He sniggered at this guy's stupidity. These cultists would not open their eyes until the last second.

Without any mercy, Alex cut off the lizard's head. The beast men were way stronger and attacked unconventionally. If he had enough battle experience, he would not be in this situation.

Just as he was about to relax, a baleful wind passed around him, making him shiver. He quickly found the anomaly. A red gas was pouring out from the lizard's body and formed into a complex vertical eye. The distant noise of the market disappeared as Alex became petrified with fear.

He felt a pressure far greater than the magic suppression of the Alpha. Alex's body started to crackle under pressure, and his knees began to buckle. He quickly remembered the lizard man's final sentence.

"A god, seriously? There are gods in this world?.... I can't brea... Is this how I... "Alex's mind was slowing down as if dragged into deep water.

Just then, a bird chirp sounded in his mind, waking Alex from his stupor. Alex, who was about to kneel, slowly got up, feeling humiliated and angry.

"What if you are a god? I am not going down without a fight..." said Alex, a blue aura once again covered his body. The vertical red eye looked at him like an ant.

Suddenly a blue light pierced the dark alley. Alex glanced at the sky to find Varis falling like a blue meteor onto the eye. Varis pierced the eye and dispersed the red gas. The suppression on him dispersed, and he could hear the outside bustle again.

Alex lost his remaining strength and leaned against the wall. His mana was close to being depleted. He had to get out of here.

[Are you alright?]

"A little tired, but fine. Let's remove our traces and get out of here."

He observed at the scene and soon found the bullet shell on the ground and the bullet inside the rat's head. Alex quickly removed both. After applying some scent masking powder, he quickly got away from the alley.

Alex's mood was down as he walked into the market. For the first time after coming to this world, he realized he was all alone in this cruel magic world, facing terrible magic beasts and cult gods. For the first time, he began to miss his family.

Varis, who perceived the depressing atmosphere, did not know how to comfort Alex. So Varis followed him quietly in the sky.