Alex and Rhyssa had left the ruined warehouses. After getting rid of Prayzen, Alex didn't bother explaining how he had survived the lightning attack. He already had a feeling Rhyssa would save that question for later. It would simply become one more item on the list he had promised to answer.
The two had made a deal.
In exchange for Rhyssa's assistance in leading Alex to the tournament's exit door, Alex would answer every question she had when the time came.
For now, they moved through the streets, with Rhyssa naturally taking the lead.
She walked with calm confidence, her eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. Alex stayed close behind, silently watching her movements while keeping his senses alert for danger.
As they crossed one deserted street after another, they encountered several groups of werewolves.
Some appeared alone.
Others came in packs.
The creatures charged without hesitation, their snarls echoing between the abandoned buildings.
Before Alex could even raise a hand to help, Rhyssa was already moving.
Bang.
A precise strike.
Another.
Every movement flowed into the next with practiced ease. Her attacks were clean, efficient, and completely without hesitation.
One after another, the werewolves collapsed before they could even land a proper hit.
Watching her fight, Alex quickly figured something out.
With her System, Rhyssa seemed to possess a way of identifying the exact weak points on a werewolf's body. Every attack landed with surgical precision, ending the fight almost instantly.
It wasn't brute strength.
It was knowledge.
Knowledge backed by flawless execution.
Alex didn't interrupt her rhythm. Instead, he simply followed, conserving his energy while remaining prepared in case something unexpected happened.
Fortunately, none of the strange four-armed mutated werewolves had crossed their path.
That alone was good news.
Those monsters were on an entirely different level from the ordinary werewolves roaming the city.
For a while, their journey remained surprisingly smooth.
Then everything changed.
While Alex and Rhyssa were moving through another deserted street—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion thundered through the city.
The sound rolled across the streets, shaking broken windows and sending loose debris rattling across the cracked pavement.
Both of them stopped instantly.
Their heads snapped toward the source of the blast.
Something shot into the sky.
Alex narrowed his eyes.
Rhyssa did the same.
A body was flying through the air above the distant rooftops.
As it rose higher, the moonlight revealed its form.
It was a werewolf.
No...
Not anymore.
Its massive frame was already shrinking as it tumbled helplessly through the air, bones cracking while thick fur rapidly receded.
The creature was in the middle of transforming back into a human as it flew above them.
"Gavalich?!" Alex called out.
The moment the name left his mouth, he dashed after the flying body without a second thought.
"What the heck?! What are you doing?!" Rhyssa shouted after Alex.
But Alex had already moved.
Gavalich had flown past them at incredible speed, his battered body hurtling through the air like a projectile.
Alex sprinted after him.
His feet pounded against the cracked pavement as he pushed himself forward, quickly closing the distance.
He caught up just in time.
A split second later, Gavalich's body crashed straight through the window of a nearby building.
Crash!
Glass exploded in every direction.
Without slowing down, Alex charged through the shattered opening after him.
He landed inside the house and immediately searched the room.
There.
Gavalich lay sprawled across the floor amid broken glass and scattered debris.
His condition was terrible.
His entire body was covered in bruises.
Both of his legs were mangled beyond recognition, bent at unnatural angles.
One side of his body had swollen grotesquely, bulging like a massive boil beneath his skin.
As Alex watched, the last traces of Gavalich's werewolf transformation faded away.
The thick fur receded.
His claws shrank.
The beast disappeared completely, leaving Gavalich lying motionless on the floor.
He wasn't dead.
But he was severely injured.
Alex immediately rushed to his side and dropped to one knee.
Gavalich's breathing was ragged.
Each breath sounded painful, as though every inhale strained his battered body.
His eyelids trembled, struggling to remain open.
Then his gaze finally focused.
His eyes landed on Alex.
"A... Alex?" he called weakly.
A faint light appeared in his eyes.
Hope.
Even through the pain written across his face, that small spark remained.
"How... how did you end up like this?" Alex asked, his expression tightening as he looked over Gavalich's injuries.
He already knew whoever had done this was terrifyingly strong.
Still, another question weighed more heavily on his mind.
"Are the others still in the tournament?" he continued.
Rhyssa eventually entered the house as well.
The shattered window crunched beneath her boots as she stepped inside and quickly took in the scene before her.
Her gaze swept across the room before settling on Gavalich's battered body.
"Wow..." she muttered.
"A clan member. It seems like they ran into another problem."
Alex didn't respond.
His attention never left Gavalich.
He simply waited.
The truth was, Rhyssa was right.
Alex didn't care about the affairs of the Wyndhams.
He didn't care about the tournament itself, either.
But he did know one thing.
Not every member of the Wyndham family had treated him badly.
Not everyone had looked down on him.
And one of those people was Gavalich.
That alone was enough.
As Alex waited for Gavalich's response, none came.
Gavalich remained where he was, breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling in uneven rhythm.
His eyes were barely open.
His injuries had drained nearly all of his strength.
Seeing that, Alex knew exactly what was coming next.
If Gavalich stayed in this condition much longer, he wouldn't even be able to answer a single question.
Just then, Rhyssa stepped forward.
Without saying a word, she knelt beside Gavalich.
From within her suit, she produced a small syringe.
Before Alex could ask what she was doing—or give his approval—she inserted the needle into Gavalich's body.
The liquid disappeared into him within seconds.
A moment later—
Gavalich suddenly drew in a deep, desperate breath.
It sounded like someone who had been holding their breath for an impossibly long time.
He exhaled slowly.
His rigid body relaxed.
The color gradually returned to his face, replacing the pale complexion from moments earlier.
His breathing steadied, becoming calmer and more controlled than before.
The wounds were still there.
The injuries hadn't disappeared.
But he looked far more stable than he had just moments ago.
Alex turned toward Rhyssa with a strange look on his face.
"Don't look at me like that. If he had stayed in that condition for a few more seconds, the tournament would have eliminated him. I did you a favor by using my adrenaline injection on him," she said.
Before Alex could respond—
"It's the Khyphon Clan," Gavalich said, cutting through the tense silence between Alex and Rhyssa.
His voice was still weak, but at least he could speak now.
"You remember the clan we fought over the invite card. It's one of them," Gavalich continued, breathing heavily between sentences.
"He was strong... a water user... and..." He paused to catch his breath before forcing out the rest. "He's looking for you, Alex."
A deep frown appeared on Alex's face.
The same expression surfaced on Rhyssa's.
Neither of them spoke immediately.
"Do you know him?" Gavalich asked.
Alex remained silent for a moment.
Of course he remembered the Khyphon Clan.
There was a reason he couldn't forget them.
At the start of the tournament, his System had informed him that one of the Khyphon Clan's members was actually part of Dragon Roar.
A secret agent.
Someone participating in the tournament under the Khyphon Clan's name while secretly belonging to Dragon Roar.
That information had stayed in Alex's mind ever since.
"I... sort of do. But I'm not so sure," Alex finally said.
His gaze drifted to the side as he fell into thought.
'What could a member want with me? Why would he be looking for me?'
The questions lingered in his mind, but no answers came.
"Alright, it doesn't matter," Rhyssa said, breaking the silence.
"If he's looking for you, then he's up to no good. I have to get you out of here," Rhyssa said.
"No..." Alex replied, shaking his head.
"If whoever that was is looking for me, then I have to go and meet him."
"What?!" Gavalich blurted out.
"Do you not get it? He's strong. If the others haven't already exited the tournament by now, they're probably dead," Gavalich continued, his voice rising despite his injuries.
"Yeah, and I don't want you to die right now," Rhyssa added.
She folded her arms before letting out a quiet sigh.
"At least not until you've fulfilled your end of the deal."
"Deal?" Gavalich looked at Rhyssa before turning back to Alex, confusion written across his face.
"It's a personal deal. It has nothing to do with the Wyndhams," Alex responded calmly.
Even after hearing that, Gavalich wasn't convinced.
His eyes moved between the two of them.
'Come to think of it... why are they together? Shouldn't she have done something bad to him?'
The thought lingered in his mind.
Nothing about the situation made sense.
Meanwhile, Alex had no idea what was going through Gavalich's head.
His attention remained fixed on Rhyssa.
"I need to meet him," Alex said firmly.
"And if you think it'll be dangerous..." He paused for a brief moment before meeting her eyes. "Then I'll have you there to protect me, won't I?"
Rhyssa opened her mouth to argue.
The words reached her throat—
Then stopped.
For the first time since meeting Alex, she found herself unable to come up with a response.
"Fine," she said.
Meanwhile, Alex turned back to Gavalich and stretched out a hand, intending to help him to his feet.
Gavalich looked at the offered hand for a moment.
Then he gently pushed it aside.
"I won't be continuing this tournament," he said.
"This is where it ends for me."
"What do you mean?" Alex asked.
"The injection," Gavalich replied.
"I can tell it's only a temporary boost. I can already feel myself getting weaker again."
Alex shifted his gaze toward Rhyssa.
"He's right," she answered with a small nod.
"The injection only buys him a little time."
Gavalich let out a slow breath.
"We should have left this tournament a long time ago," he said quietly.
Then he reached toward one of his fingers.
He pulled off the ring he had been wearing.
"You don't have your watch," Gavalich said as he looked at Alex.
"And I have a feeling you're going to need every bit of power you can get if you want to make it out of this tournament."
Without wasting another second, Gavalich tossed the ring toward him.
Alex caught it cleanly in one hand.
The very next moment, Gavalich's body began to fade.
His outline blurred.
Particles of light rose from his skin before his entire figure slowly dissolved.
He had been eliminated from the tournament.
Silence settled inside the damaged house.
Alex lowered his gaze to the ring resting in his palm.
A System notification immediately appeared before his eyes.
[Shape-Shifting Ring: This...]