Alexander arrived at the Lake of Life with Tujitou and gently lowered him into the water, still sealed within the cocoon. He remained by his side, his concern for Tujitou outweighing everything else. The pain of the second-degree burns on his arms never registered. The surrounding water started to boil from the heat Tujitou emitted. Alexander backed off but stayed near, keeping a close eye on Tujitou. The water boiled furiously, killing the nearby fish in the lake and producing blinding steam.
Alexander didn’t know what else to do except to wait and hope for the best.

“Thanks for making it easy for me to find you.”

Alexander looked behind him to see Lazerus approaching them from a distance.

“You…”, Alexander responded with fury in his eyes.

“Here I thought you were smart enough to go as far away as possible, so you could keep that vermin safe from me. But maybe that’s me giving you humans too much credit.”

Alexander launched at Lazerus, knowing he couldn’t allow him to come any closer. The shame of not having been there for Tujitou, combined with his duty to protect him now, only fueled his anger toward Lazerus. But Tsander had taught him well how to harness that anger. It sharpened his focus, driving him to protect Tujitou from Lazerus.

“What do you hope to achieve by challenging a god? You haven’t even become a leveled and you think of stopping me?”, Lazerus shouted as he dodged his punches.

“This rotten piece of shit planet sure has made my day. Everyone seems to be looking down on me. Unfortunately for you, I’m done playing nice!”

Lazerus created a clone and sent it to retrieve Tujitou. Alexander glanced back and that moment allowed Lazerus to grab him by the throat. Alexander dropped a pebble he kept in his pocket, causing an explosion that freed him from Lazerus’s grip. He then rushed toward the clone, throwing another pebble, knowing he wouldn’t be able to catch up to it.

“Now I see where our old man got that idea from. Seems he used your gift as inspiration.”

“Our father?”

“Seems he hasn’t changed much, huh. Still keeping secrets from his kids.”

“You’re no son of his. We’re all he’s got!”

“Oh no, little brother. That’s where you’re mistaken. He has a whole family in the Lygis, which he abandoned.”

“That’s a lie! He told us that he lost his family after fighting a boss monster.”

“Now that’s not entirely a lie. He left us in the middle of that fight to die. If it weren’t for Nadeem, we all would’ve died.”

“Keep lying all you want. I won’t lose faith in my father because of some mutt.”

“Mutt?”

Lazerus enveloped him in smoke. Making sure he can’t escape his grasp anymore and removing all the pebbles he had on him.

“They’re heavier than they look. But now that I’ve taken your ammunition, you won’t be able to use that explosion of yours anymore.”, Lazerus smirked as he played with the pebbles.

“Now, what was that about calling me a mutt?”, Lazerus tightened his grip on him.

“I wish he were here to watch how I murder his new sons, but I am on a tight schedule. So I’ll just have to tell him how I did it later.”, Lazarus tightened his grip even more.

“But I’m not in such a hurry that I can’t torture you. Michele always tells me to relieve the stress from all the work I do. So let’s see. You seem like the tough, heroic type who doesn’t mind a little pain. How about I make you watch as I take your little brother away– unable to do anything, even though they both trusted you to protect him?”

A sudden burst of energy erupted from Alexander, tearing him free from Lazerus’s grasp.

“What’s the saying again? Like father, like son, huh.”

Tsander arrived, launching Lazerus away with a single, brutal strike.

“Good job holding out, son. Now let me take care of the rest.”

“That’s the second time you sucker-punched me today, you old fuck. I’ll have to kill you for that one.”