Tsander had worried about Tujitou, but his sole focus at that moment had been on saving Moraña, so he had rushed toward her. Before he could reach her, Lazerus had intercepted him and sent him flying.

“Debt repaid,” Lazerus had cheekily replied.

Before Tsander could recover from the hit, he had noticed he was surrounded by smoke. Trapped in the smokescreen, he had tried to escape, but soon realized he couldn’t move properly. The smoke had turned into a thin layer of ash that restricted his movements.

Tsander had released a wave of energy throughout his body to expel the ash.

“You seem desperate for this one, old man,” Lazerus taunted.

“One last time, Lazerus—hand over the girl!” Tsander demanded.

“Sure you don’t want to catch up for old times’ sake?” Lazerus sneered.

Lazerus had rushed at Tsander, but Tsander had stopped him by grabbing his head.

“Fine then. Last lesson: how to handle business.”

Tsander had slammed Lazerus’ skull into the ground, creating a small cloud of smoke.

Without wasting time, Tsander had pursued the real Lazerus over a hill and spotted him in the distance heading toward Brague with Moraña.

Meanwhile, Alexander had been running away, carrying Tujitou, who was trapped in a cocoon.

‘Luckily, he’s still alive,’ Alexander had thought. ‘I don’t know why he’s trapped in this black substance, but I can feel his heart beating through it, so he should be fine for now. I need to get us somewhere safe, but chaos is everywhere.’

Looking around, Alexander had noticed people rushing toward Brague—ordinary civilians and merchants alike. He had leaped through the trees to avoid prying eyes.

‘I’m nearing the open fields. I’ve avoided detection so far, but once I leave the trees, everyone on the main roads will see me carrying Tujitou like this. If Phapha weren’t fighting in the Roshigi Forest, I would’ve hidden there. But since there’s no militia here yet, I should be able to make a clean getaway.’

“Hold on, Tuj. Time to go,” Alexander had muttered.

Just as he had been about to move, his skin started burning where it touched the cocoon. The intense heat had burned part of his face and arm, forcing him to drop Tujitou. The cocoon had hit the ground, setting the forest ablaze.

Despite the pain, Alexander had looked down from the trees, trying to locate Tujitou. The cocoon had been radiating so much heat that the surrounding trees had quickly caught fire.

‘This isn’t good. Anyone nearby will see the smoke. I need to get us out of here fast, but I can’t carry him for long with this heat. I need water—something big enough to cool him down without evaporating too quickly and hard for others to reach.’

“Sorry, Phapha, but this is an emergency,” Alexander had said grimly.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Lazerus had dodged Tsander’s relentless attacks, carrying Moraña in his arms as boulders had hurtled toward him.

‘I can’t let him reach Brague. Their militia will be waiting for me, and I won’t make this harder than it has to be,’ Tsander had thought.

He had hurled a massive boulder directly at Lazerus.

“Still as cold-blooded as ever,” Lazerus had smirked.

Before Lazerus could react, Tsander had appeared in front of him. However, another Lazerus clone had materialized, smashing the boulder to pieces. Smoke had engulfed them all.

‘I’m tired of these smokescreens,’ Tsander had thought, releasing another burst of energy to clear the air.

What he had found shocked him: seven Lazerus clones, each holding a version of Moraña. Tsander had grabbed one Lazerus by the leg, only for the clone to swing Moraña at him. The false Moraña had exploded into smoke, blinding Tsander.

“You’re wasting my time,” Tsander grunted, throwing an energy ball into the air.

“One of my latest inventions,” he had explained. “I call it a star. It pulls anything containing Aqua toward its center.”

Several clones had been drawn toward the star, while others had struggled against its pull. This brief moment had been all Tsander needed to leap around, destroying the clones and hunting down the real Lazerus.

Lazerus had thrown Moraña toward the star when he had finally cornered him. For a moment, Tsander had hesitated, unsure if it was the real Moraña. But he couldn’t take the risk. Deactivating the star, he caught her just as Lazerus regained his footing.

To his relief, Moraña had been the real one. She was unconscious but alive.

‘Now I just need to get out of here,’ Tsander had thought.

“Not so fast, old man,” Lazerus had taunted. “You got the girl, but now you’re surrounded.”

Tsander had looked around and seen Brague’s militia closing in—armed vehicles and soldiers, both leveled and unleveled. Among them, he had noticed young, inexperienced recruits.

“I’ll reconsider your surrender if you just tell me where that kid ran off with my experiment,” Lazerus had offered.

“I’ll kill you all before I let you touch my kids!” Tsander had roared in fury.