After the two reporters had left the battlefield, Nad and Thalassa quickly headed back in the direction they had come from. Fortunately, this area had remained untouched by the desert sands and the chaos of the ongoing battle. As they entered the alleyway, Nad and Thalassa spotted a circular device lying on the ground.
The device's function was straightforward. When placed on the ground, a thin line would spread from it, rising up the walls of the alleyway. Crossing this line allowed access to the Paragon Realm, and stepping back through would bring them out of it.
Without wasting any time, Nad and Thalassa crossed the line and started heading toward their vehicles. Just then, Nad noticed something odd.
"My connection? I've lost contact with the drones—both the footage and control!" Nad said, sounding a bit panicked.
Acting quickly, Nad dashed back toward the alleyway, with Thalassa following close behind. They crossed the line again, re-entering the alleyway and heading toward the entrance at the other end. Suddenly, a figure stepped into their path, blocking the way.
"It's certainly brave of you two to come back here after you managed to get out," the figure said. He was a tall, muscular man wearing a black overcoat.
As soon as Nad crossed the line, he noticed something—the connection to his drones had returned. He looked down at the device in his hand, a joystick with a small display screen at its center, and felt a rush of relief.
But before he could even celebrate, the stranger snatched the device out of Nad's hand, now holding it firmly in his own.
"Hey… Give that back… That's not yours…" Nad began, but his words trailed off. The stranger fixed him with an intense stare, instantly silencing him. The force of the man's gaze made Nad and Thalassa take a few steps backward.
"Don't worry, I won't break your toys. I just need it for a moment," the stranger said, calmly plugging a USB drive into the device he'd just taken from Nad.
Meanwhile, in another location, Stan and Peter were sitting in Peter's office, waiting for an update. Suddenly, something popped up on their screen.
"I believe you two might want to see what's happening right now," Tharon reported back to them.
Because of this, at that very moment, Stan and Peter were able to watch the battle unfolding between Alex and Horrik, the stage 3 Mage.
"Do you think Alex can beat him?" Stan asked, his tone tense.
"You're his teacher, for crying out loud—you should know better than I do," Peter replied, raising an eyebrow. Stan didn't respond, choosing instead to keep a close eye on the intense battle playing out before them.
At that moment, Horrik unleashed a familiar attack on Alex, one that had already managed to land a hit on him earlier in the fight. But this time, the attack seemed even stronger, fiercer.
With no time to swap positions with his Astral Body, as they were both aligned at the same angle, Alex had only one option: his death axe.
He didn't have time to strategize or think of a complex plan. He simply did what he had seen the axe do before. Gripping it tightly, he spun it with all his strength and threw it at the powerful wind attack that was speeding toward him.
The axe cut through the wind, not stopping it completely, but creating a path wide enough to split the wind. This made sure that none of the forceful gusts hitting Alex were strong enough to send him flying.
Seeing that he had somehow managed to avoid the full impact of the wind strike, Alex felt a surge of relief.
"Astral Body, move!" he shouted.
The Astral Body immediately rushed toward Horrik, who had now fallen to the ground after crashing down and releasing his wind attack at Alex.
Realizing that Alex had somehow bypassed his attack, Horrik was enraged. Still lying on the ground, he began to fire numerous air blasts at the Astral Body, but each blast went straight through, not causing any harm at all.
Seeing this, Horrik wrapped himself in his spherical barrier and launched directly at the Astral Body. Passing right through it, Horrik aimed straight for Alex and slammed his barrier into him.
Using the barrier's force, Horrik lifted Alex into the air, heading toward a nearby building with full speed.
"I will crush you!" Horrik shouted, his voice echoing with rage.
But Alex didn't panic. He quickly used his swapping technique again, switching positions with the Astral Body just in time.
The barrier slammed into the building, smashing deep into the wall, but Horrik noticed that Alex's body had phased through him moments before they reached the building. Now Alex was falling to the ground instead.
As Alex landed, debris from the building rained down, but the Astral Body moved out of the area unharmed, slipping past all obstacles with ease as Horrik pulled himself out of the building's wreckage.
"How… how can a simple stage one warrior be so annoying?!" Horrik growled, his frustration growing. He rose higher into the air, gaining a bird's-eye view over Alex below.
'One of them has to be fake,' Horrik thought. 'But I've attacked both of them, and they both seem untouchable. There has to be a way.'
Horrik pointed his hand at the Astral Body and aimed his wand at Alex. "Phase through this!" he shouted.
At his command, two air balls shot out from the barrier around Horrik, each one heading toward Alex and the Astral Body.
As usual, the Astral Body phased through the attack. But Alex, on the other hand, swung his axe and sliced through the incoming air ball.
"There you are," Horrik muttered, his eyes narrowing as he locked onto Alex. Instantly, he sent several more air balls flying toward him.
'Holy shit!' Alex thought, panic surging through him. Before he could even gather himself to swap positions with the Astral Body, several air balls hit him, sending him flying backward.
Midway through the air, more air balls came slamming into Alex from all angles, hitting him relentlessly. The force pushed him back until his body eventually collided with something solid and hard behind him.
'Damn it… I've fractured a lot of bones… I need to swap…' Alex thought, wincing in pain. Looking up, he realized he had slammed into a large tree that stood in the middle of the road.
But there was no time to focus on the tree, as Horrik was already charging toward him. Gritting his teeth and enduring the pain of his injuries, Alex quickly swapped positions with the Astral Body.
Horrik crashed into the tree with full force, aiming for where Alex had been standing just a moment before. If Alex hadn't moved, he would have been crushed on impact.
However, as Horrik collided with the tree, he was suddenly thrown backward, breaking out of his barrier in the process.
'This tree… is it another trick from him?' Horrik wondered, puzzled.
Meanwhile, Alex's Astral Body remained unharmed, as usual, even after Horrik's fierce attack.
While Horrik was still regaining his balance and thinking about the strange tree, he heard a sharp whistling sound as if something was slicing through the air. Quickly reacting, Horrik used his air powers to spin himself out of the way. In that split-second move, he saw an axe pass by him, missing him by a hair's breadth.
Turning his gaze to Alex, Horrik began spinning his wand, pointing it directly at him. A powerful vortex began to form, swirling quickly and heading straight toward Alex.
"Death!" Alex called out, extending his hand toward the axe.
The axe came flying back toward him, but on its way, it struck Horrik—not with its blade but with enough speed and force to knock him to the ground. The axe then returned to Alex's hand.
Without wasting a moment, Alex threw the axe again, aiming it straight at Horrik.
This time, Horrik pointed his wand at the axe, stopping it mid-air. Alex noticed the axe had been frozen in place by Horrik's telekinetic grip.
Realizing this, Alex attempted to call the axe back to his hand, but it remained stuck, suspended in the air.
"Let's see how you perform without that axe in your hands," Horrik taunted, gathering a ball of compressed air in his other hand. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled the air blast directly at Alex.
Alex smirked as the air ball passed harmlessly through his body.
"Thanks for leaving your guard down," a voice called from behind Horrik, followed by several loud gunshots.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The Qi bullets didn't kill Horrik, but they certainly made him flinch in pain. Horrik spun around, aiming his wand directly at Alex.
"Down!" Horrik shouted.
Suddenly, a strong force, like invisible gravity, pushed Alex down to the ground. While Alex stayed pinned, the telekinesis that was holding the axe mid-air disappeared. The axe shot forward and plunged into Horrik's right shoulder, hitting the arm that held his wand.
With the pain overwhelming him, Horrik lost focus, and the force pressing Alex down vanished as well. Alex got to his feet as Horrik groaned, his face twisted in agony. Horrik reached for the axe buried in his shoulder, trying to pull it out, but it felt like trying to lift a mountain.
"You're unworthy to hold that axe," Alex said firmly, calling the axe back to his hand.
The axe pulled free from Horrik's shoulder, causing a gush of blood to pour from the wound. Horrik's arm hung loosely, nearly useless, as blood dripped down his side.
"Aaagh!" Horrik roared in fury and pain. With a wild look, he swung his remaining arm, sending powerful air blasts in all directions. But before the blasts could reach him, Alex had already swapped places with his Astral Body.
[Your Qi is low. Any further use of your Qi will consume your life force.]
'I figured it was only a matter of time. I' ve done a lot of swapping in this fight,' Alex thought, feeling the toll on his energy.
Horrik, still in pain, turned to face Alex, rage burning in his eyes.
"You call yourself Horrik, right?" Alex said, his voice calm but firm. "This fight is over. Don't drag it out any longer. I don't want to kill you."
Horrik let out a laugh, almost choking on his words. "Kill me? You think you can kill me? I'm a Stage 3 Mage with a Stage 5 enchanted wand! You're only Stage 1. You might have a few tricks, but this fight is far from-"
Horrik's words were cut off as he suddenly began to cough up blood.
Blood poured from his mouth and nose, his eyes turning an intense, bloodshot red. He looked horrified, struggling to breathe, and then something began to tighten around his neck.
Alex stepped back, eyes wide, not sure what was happening.
Then, something horrifying appeared, bursting from Horrik's stomach-a thick, twisting root. It tore through his body, covering everything in blood as it burst out.
'That root... it's from the tree!' Alex realized, his heart pounding.
[A Walk Tree Beast has been spotted.]
[Beast Stage: 3]