Alex quickly stepped away from Rhyssa, widening the distance between them as if that alone could make him feel safer.
Rhyssa watched him with a puzzled look.
"What is wrong?" she asked.
"Why are you asking me that kind of question?" Alex shot back.
"Because we had a deal," Rhyssa replied calmly.
"You agreed to answer one question before we started."
Alex frowned.
"Couldn't you have asked a different question instead?"
"Nope," Rhyssa answered bluntly.
Alex's face immediately paled.
'I was expecting her to ask something more personal... like whether I had a girlfriend.'
'Not something completely unrelated like this.'
"We already made a deal," Rhyssa reminded him.
"So answer me."
Alex stood there in silence for a moment.
His mind raced, searching for a way around the question.
Seeing his hesitation, Rhyssa spoke again.
"And don't bother lying."
Her tone remained calm, but there wasn't the slightest hint of doubt in it.
"I don't automatically know the truth."
"But I can instantly tell when someone is lying."
"So you'd better tell me the truth."
Alex bit the inside of his cheek and slowly drew in a deep breath.
'She has to understand... right?'
'I didn't kill him.'
The thought echoed through his mind as he struggled to decide what to say next.
"It was your brother," Alex said.
Rhyssa fell silent for a moment.
"Hmm..."
She lowered her head slightly as she thought about it.
"That makes sense."
"He should be the only one stupid enough to do something like that," she muttered.
Then she looked back at Alex.
"Let me guess."
"Since you're still here, and the last time I checked my brother had already been eliminated, that means you somehow managed to defeat someone like him."
She narrowed her eyes.
"So tell me..."
"How were you able to do it?"
Alex remained silent.
He had no intention of answering that question.
"Forget it," Alex said at last.
"Your one-question offer is over."
"Now let's move on to your part of the deal and get me out of this tournament."
Rhyssa smiled.
"You're right."
"Let's start looking for the exit door."
The two began preparing to leave.
At the same time, a series of operations was already taking place inside Rhyssa's mind.
[Confirmation: The target was truthful about losing the tournament wristwatch to Eric.]
The system notification flashed before her eyes.
Without changing her expression, Rhyssa issued another command to her system.
'Calculate the probability that he is the reason Eric was eliminated from the tournament,' she ordered mentally.
The system immediately went to work.
A loading interface appeared before Rhyssa's eyes.
It remained on the screen for only a brief moment before disappearing.
The result quickly replaced it.
[Based on his current condition, I detect no probable outcome in which he could have defeated Eric in a direct fight.]
Another message followed.
[To determine what truly happened, access to Eric's suit is required for further analysis.]
A third notification appeared almost instantly.
[Connection to Eric's suit failed.]
Rhyssa wasn't disappointed by the outcome.
Instead, her curiosity only grew stronger.
'Now I want to know even more,' she thought.
The deal had already been made.
Rhyssa would guide Alex to the exit door.
In return, Alex would answer all of her questions afterward.
Without another word, the two began walking toward the warehouse exit.
Their footsteps echoed softly through the damaged building.
However, just before they could step outside—
Crack!
A single bolt of lightning slammed into the ground outside the warehouse.
The blinding flash lit up the entrance for an instant.
"I thought that would've been enough to send you away for good," Rhyssa said, her voice calm as she looked ahead without the slightest change in expression.
Alex immediately shifted into a fighting stance.
His muscles tensed.
His eyes locked onto the figure standing outside.
Blocking the exit.
The person waiting for them was none other than Prayzen.
Lightning danced across his body like countless living snakes.
The massive hammer in his hand crackled with violent lightning energy, its head glowing brighter with every passing second.
However, despite how intimidating Prayzen looked, he still hadn't attacked.
"Look," Rhyssa said.
"We're long past the stage of fighting each other."
She kept her eyes on him.
"The beasts are coming out. Large numbers of them. This isn't the time for this."
She pointed toward the distance.
"So suck it up and go find your clan members before you end up getting yourself injured out here alone."
Hearing that, Alex wasn't sure whether Rhyssa was genuinely trying to convince Prayzen to leave...
Or deliberately provoking him into attacking.
"You arrogant bitch!" Prayzen screamed.
He immediately pointed his hammer at Rhyssa.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning burst from the hammer without any warning.
There was no buildup.
No charge.
Just an instant flash.
The lightning crossed the distance in the blink of an eye and slammed into Rhyssa.
It continued pouring over her body, dancing wildly across her suit as bright arcs crackled around her.
The warehouse lit up with flashes of blue-white light.
When Prayzen finally stopped, the lightning faded.
Rhyssa was still standing exactly where she had been.
Unhurt.
Completely unscathed.
She glanced down at herself before looking back at Prayzen.
"You and your people already tried this before."
She smiled.
"Your lightning doesn't affect me."
"If anything..."
"It only charges me up."
"It makes me stronger."
The moment those words left her mouth, a metallic arm suddenly flew in from behind.
It shot through the air and locked itself onto her exposed arm with a sharp metallic click.
Without the slightest warning—
Multiple blasts of laser fire erupted from the mechanical arm and streaked straight toward Prayzen.
Prayzen reacted instantly.
As a lightning user, speed was one of his greatest natural strengths.
The moment the lasers reached him, he was already moving.
He moved from side to side, narrowly avoiding each incoming energy blast.
His movements were quick.
Precise.
Every laser barely missed him as it tore through the air.
From the side, Alex watched everything unfold.
Two things stood out to him immediately.
The first was how Rhyssa had absorbed the lightning attack.
'That was a perfect absorption,' Alex analyzed.
'There wasn't even any leftover energy to cause damage. She absorbed all of it cleanly.'
But what impressed him even more was Prayzen's speed.
The lasers fired from Rhyssa's mechanical arm weren't any slower than the lightning Prayzen had launched at her.
Yet Prayzen was still moving fast enough to dodge every single shot.
Even so, Alex quickly noticed a problem.
Prayzen was doing well for now.
But he wasn't gaining any ground.
He was only avoiding the attacks.
At that rate, it would only be a matter of time before one of the lasers finally caught him.
Just as Alex reached that conclusion, it happened.
Two laser blasts shot toward Prayzen at the same time.
Prayzen immediately leaped into the air, avoiding both attacks in one smooth movement.
However—
A third laser fired even faster than the previous two.
It came almost instantly.
Prayzen was still airborne.
With nowhere to dodge and no solid footing beneath him, he had only one option.
Instead of avoiding the attack...
He chose to meet it head-on.
He swung his massive hammer forward with all his strength, smashing it directly toward the incoming laser.
Boom!
Prayzen's hammer was knocked out of his hand.
The explosion hurled him backward through the air.
Even so, he survived the impact.
He landed hard, dropping into a crouched kneel with one knee on the ground as he breathed heavily.
"You can leave now," Rhyssa said, lowering her arm.
"I have no reason to kill you."
Prayzen slowly lifted his head.
A twisted smile spread across his face.
"Fine..." he muttered.
"If you can handle my attacks... let's see how he handles them."
The next instant, he charged toward Rhyssa.
However, he didn't get far.
His discarded hammer suddenly transformed into a bolt of lightning before reappearing in his hand.
Without slowing down, Prayzen spun his body and hurled the massive sledgehammer at Rhyssa with tremendous force.
Boom!
Lightning erupted from the spinning hammer as it tore through the air toward her.
'Fool,' Rhyssa thought.
Her exposed arm instantly transformed into a shield.
She met the attack head-on.
The hammer slammed into the metallic shield with a deafening crash.
Instead of being pushed back, Rhyssa planted her feet firmly.
She forced the hammer away with brute strength until it was knocked off course and sent flying to the side.
Then her eyes narrowed.
She immediately realized something was wrong.
The hammer had never been the real attack.
It had only been a distraction to pull her attention away.
By the time she looked back—
Prayzen wasn't facing her anymore.
He was facing Alex.
Bright blue lightning gathered around both of Prayzen's hands, crackling violently as the energy condensed.
Then he thrust both palms forward.
The lightning shot out at incredible speed.
It crossed the distance in an instant.
Alex had no time to react.
Boom!