Upon hearing Haku's instruction, this… seemed to be telling it to hit someone? Tom's heart immediately tightened, and it was incredibly flustered internally.
But it couldn't disobey Haku. It had just pulled off a wild stunt that smashed him into the ground. If it chose to escape now, let alone getting its little cake as a reward, it might even have to pack its bags and leave!
This wouldn't do, absolutely not!
After making up its mind, Tom's body stiffened, becoming as rigid as a club, swaying a few times left and right. It rigidly turned to face Alexander, who was prepared for battle.
However, upon seeing that its opponent seemed to be this short person, Tom suddenly paused, then instantly became completely unfazed, thinking, "This is my opponent? That's it? So short?"
If it hadn't misjudged, this shorty in front of it was quite a bit shorter than the person it had beaten up yesterday?
This kind of opponent, it seemed it could take down?
'I thought about it, I can beat up that shorty.' With this thought, Tom's confidence immediately soared. Suddenly, its back didn't hurt, and its legs weren't stiff.
Fighting tough opponents, I, Tom, might not be good at it, but bullying the weak and fearing the strong, I, Tom, am excellent at it!
Tom looked back at Haku with a mischievous grin, extending its right thumb to point backwards at Alexander. As it pointed, everyone seemed to hear a 'ding-ding' sound effect. Then, Tom placed its left hand on Haku's thigh, dramatically extending its right hand to pat its own abdomen, and with exaggerated movements, began to mock Alexander wildly.
"Ah hahahahahahaha!!!"
Alexander, who was originally full of fighting spirit, saw Tom's posture, and his surging emotions were immediately tinged with displeasure. Even if he didn't fully understand, he could now comprehend that he seemed to have… been humiliated by a cat?
For Alexander, no… for any Heroic Spirit, this was unbearable!
Arcs of blue electricity began to coil around Alexander's body; he was somewhat provoked by Tom's attitude.
"If you are also a Heroic Spirit whose name is recorded in human history, then let us fight a fair battle! I swear by my father's honor!" With that, Alexander was ready to attack, his eyes fixed on Tom and Haku.
Although he said that on the surface, Alexander also began to ponder. It was clear that the arrogant cat would be fighting him next.
But he had never heard of any hero being a cat. In Greek mythology, the closest were Hippomenes and Atalanta, who were turned into lions. Perhaps this cat came from Egypt, a descendant of the cat goddess Bastet?
Haku's throat couldn't help but move, thinking that Tom was stirring up trouble. Wasn't the aggro it had already pulled enough? If Tom continued to perform, they might end up capsizing in a small ditch!
So Haku quickly patted Tom's shoulder, trying to make him stop mocking. Perhaps Tom's taunt skill was useful as a tank in raid dungeons, but the problem was that this was a one-on-one fight. Not only was it useless, but it might even give the enemy an attack bonus from enrage.
Seeing that Haku was already urging him, Tom calmly walked in Alexander's direction.
As he walked towards Alexander, at some unknown point, perhaps in the interim of a perspective shift, Tom had already changed into a French fencer's outfit, holding a magnificent rapier in his right hand, similar to those used in fencing competitions.
'When?!' Alexander, who was fully focused on preparing for battle, suddenly noticed that even though Tom was walking directly towards him, he had no idea when he had armed himself!
"Aha!" Arriving at the front, Tom stood spread-eagled, grinning confidently with a crooked smile, and faced Alexander with the right side of his body, holding his rapier ready for tata kai!
A gust of wind blew, and as a leaf fell between them, both moved simultaneously!
In a flash of lightning, Alexander, empowered by Zeus's lightning, swung his sword at Tom with a speed almost impossible to perceive with the naked eye.
"Clang!!!"
However... Tom effortlessly thrust his longsword, precisely hitting Alexander's blade with its tip. This swordsmanship, far superior to his own, startled Alexander.
Alexander quickly deflected his blade, slashing at Tom from an angle, but it was futile. Tom, maintaining a combat stance that looked nothing like actual fighting, casually thrust his sword and once again neutralized Alexander's attack, appearing extremely at ease.
Alexander, refusing to believe it, swung several more times, all easily parried by Tom. At the same time, the initiative in the battle seemed to gradually shift into Tom's hands.
Under Tom's fierce offensive, Alexander, who should have been the aggressor, was constantly forced to retreat by the relentless swordplay.
This made Alexander increasingly passive. Although he knew from his previous fall that Tom might be strong, he never expected to be completely overwhelmed, unable to even resist!
Outwardly, Tom seemed to be nothing but flaws, but only when one tried to attack would they realize that no matter how tricky the attack angle, Tom could resolve it with a simple "Aha" and a casual forward thrust.
Even though his every thrust was almost identical, he just couldn't break the move.
The most absurd thing was that, at some point, Tom had started to hold his head high and close his eyes, yet he could accurately block every one of his attacks without even seeing!
He could defeat him at any moment, but Tom just played around, refusing to end the battle.
Facing Tom's silent mockery, Alexander's ears turned red with anger.
"You... just what kind of Servant are you?!" Gradually shifting from the joy of battle to humiliation, Alexander said with a difficult expression, "I've never heard of a cat with such strong swordsmanship!"
Hearing this, Tom initially didn't want to bother, but suddenly thought of an idea. He stopped his attack, and even a glowing light bulb appeared above his head.
Seeing the light bulb appear before him, Alexander was visibly stunned.
Tom pointed behind Alexander. Although Alexander didn't know why Tom was pointing there, he still looked behind him.
Seeing that Alexander had fallen for it, Tom grinned wickedly, his tongue lolling out. He casually tossed his rapier aside, pulled out a large hammer from behind his back, and slammed it onto the back of Alexander's head.
Alexander immediately stiffened, then collapsed weakly onto the ground.
After taking care of Alexander, Tom clapped his hands, as if dusting off nonexistent dirt, then looked back to his left in Haku's direction and gave a thumbs-up.
It was as if he was saying to Haku, 'It's done, boss!'