Busted.
The word screamed through Alex's mind as his eyes fixed on the man standing at the far end of the hallway.
The figure wore Asian-style traditional robes, his tall and thin frame draped in the flowing cloth. His head was nearly bald, giving him the look of a monk—though Alex knew better.
Of course, he recognized him. Eddie. The same man who had once nearly strangled the life out of him. Eddie wasn't just a servant of the Triple J's—he was one of their Paragons, dangerous and loyal.
The smug smile on Eddie's face slowly melted away, replaced by a sharp seriousness that turned his gaze into a blade.
He began to walk forward, his steps slow and deliberate. Each footfall echoed faintly through the hallway, the sound carrying more weight than it should. His hands were clasped behind his back, fingers constantly weaving and unwinding, as though he were spinning invisible threads of malice.
Alex's chest tightened. With every step Eddie took, the air seemed to grow colder. A chill crawled up Alex's spine, his skin prickling as though the very hallway had turned against him.
Eddie's eyes never left him, dark and unblinking, like a predator savoring the moment before the strike.
'He wouldn't attack me outright… would he?' Alex thought, his pulse thundering in his ears.
'No… he won't,' Alex thought, forcing himself to steady his breathing. .'We're in the open, I doubt he'd suddenly attack me here. If he did, he'd b—.' His mind stuttered mid-sentence. .'Heck, what am I even going to say to him?.'
A hundred possible responses raced through his head, none of them good enough.
Eddie didn't close the distance fully. Instead, he stopped halfway down the hall and fixed Alex with a hard stare.
"Now tell me," Eddie said, his voice cutting through the silence like steel scraping stone. "What on earth were you planning to do in there? Kill someone again?"
Alex blinked, his throat tightening. "Arh… hey, look, I'm only here to see my grandfather, nothing else. I don't know what you're talking about—this whole killing thing…" He forced a calm tone, though his words faltered.
Eddie tilted his head, the corners of his mouth twitching into something between a sneer and a grin.
"Well…" he said, his voice deepening into a growl, "you shouldn't be here at all. If you really wanted to reach out, you should've found another way—not intruding into this space, rat."
The last word cracked like a whip.
And then Eddie moved.
With a sudden swing of his arm, he struck the golden wall beside him. The sound reverberated down the hallway, a sharp, jarring BOOM that rattled the floor under Alex's feet.
At first, Alex frowned, confused. .What the hell was that supposed to mean?.
But then—something shifted.
His body jerked as if invisible strings had latched onto him. His vision swirled, the ornate hallway distorting like a reflection on disturbed water. Cold energy rushed through him, seeping into his bones.
A glowing text, not written but felt, blazed across his mind:
[ Host has been forced into the Paragon Realm. ]
Alex staggered back, gasping as reality itself seemed to peel away.
Seeing the message, Alex looked up at Eddie, and their gazes met.
Alex's eyes held worry for what was about to come next, while Eddie's face showed pure shock. He looked at Alex again.
"You…!" Eddie shouted.
"You shouldn't be standing!" he exclaimed.
"I knew it… It was you… You're a Paragon," Eddie said further.
It was at that moment Alex realized what had just happened. Eddie had somehow managed to force him into the Paragon Realm.
The Paragon Realm—only Paragons could actually exist there. It was said that if a normal human entered without even the most basic qi training, they would end up dead, suffocated by an environment their body could not endure.
Eddie had been expecting the same fate for Alex. But it wasn't happening. Alex stood there, unaffected by the crushing atmosphere.
And soon, Alex caught on to what Eddie was trying to do.
"Look, wait... I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not the one who killed anybody," Alex said.
"If you do anything to me, the entire mansion will know it was you," Alex added, taking a step back from Eddie.
"Oh... about that — it's handled. Whatever I do here won't even leave this place. They won't know I did this because I turned off every security camera and the alerts before I came. It's just you and me now," Eddie said.
Hearing that, for some reason Alex felt relief.
"Now tell me... What stage are you at? Who taught you this, and why did you kill one of my boys?" Eddie asked, stepping forward.
"Ooh... I just remembered... I don't care. I just want you dead," Eddie said.
Right then Alex heard a bang. It sounded like a gunshot, but it wasn't — it was simply Eddie moving.
In an instant, Eddie closed the distance between them.
"Who are you working for...?" Eddie snapped. He grabbed Alex by the neck and slammed him into the side wall.
From there he lifted Alex, pinning and strangling him against the wall.
Alex fought to break free, hammering at Eddie's hand, but it wouldn't budge.
His face flushed red, then drained pale. He forced his hands up, channeling qi into them, and used the strongest skill he could summon.
Alex's hand vibrated as he slammed it down onto Eddie's. Eddie released him immediately, and Alex collapsed to the floor.
"Wow… you've got tricks up your sleeve," Eddie said, rubbing the spot Alex had struck.
Alex used the moment to suck in deep, ragged breaths. He glanced at one of the security cameras.
"Don't look at that. It won't save you. It's useless. Just tell me—who are you working for?" Eddie demanded as he moved in toward Alex again.
A bang rang out, and Eddie shot forward like a cannon.
Seeing this, Alex understood he stood no chance against Eddie in his current state.
"Quick… equip me, equip me!" Alex shouted in his mind.
Bang!
Unlike before, Eddie did not go soft. His attack was real this time, heavy and direct. His fist crashed into Alex's ribs with brutal force, sending him flying backward until his body slammed against the end of the hallway.
"Well now, look at that… the knight in shining armor," Eddie said with a mocking smile. "Seems like you've joined quite a faction."
Alex knew he could never take a direct blow from someone like Eddie and still live to tell the tale. If not for his quick decision, he would have already been dead—or at best unconscious.
In that instant, he had called forth the battle cloth given to him by the faction. The cloth wrapped around him like a second skin, tough as armor, and absorbed most of the damage from Eddie's strike.
Even so, Alex could still feel the dull ache spreading across his ribs, a sharp reminder of how dangerous his opponent truly was.
"Shit… this hurts," Alex grunted, clutching his side. His gaze fixed on Eddie, who seemed more surprised than he expected by Alex's sudden change in appearance.
'He's figured it out. He'll tell the others, no doubt about it,' Alex thought, his jaw tightening. 'I can't let that happen. I have to stop him… no matter what.'
"Alright… break time's over," Eddie said coldly as he began to walk toward him, each step slow and deliberate.
"Don't think that wearing some new armor means you're getting out of this alive," he continued.
"I can see through you. Your stage… it's weak. But so you understand the danger you're in—" his lips curled into a grin, "—I'm a Stage Four Warrior. And I'm already at the end of that stage."
His words cut through the air like a blade, heavy and merciless.
"I can't wait to see the shame on that old man's face when I drag you back in chains. I'll prove them all wrong," Eddie spat, his body already brimming with energy as he charged up.
On the other side of the hall, Alex planted his feet firmly. His breathing slowed. His hand reached out, ready to summon his weapon. He wasn't going to back down.
Bang!
With a thunderous sound, Eddie shot forward like a cannonball, the air splitting around him. At the very same moment, Alex called forth his axe, its dark edge flashing into his grip. He swung it with all the force he could muster.
The two forces—Eddie's strike and the axe's deadly arc—raced toward one another, ready to collide in a violent crash that would shake the hall itself.