“Hello!” I looked at Champion Michael standing inside the tower. Right at the point where he could trigger the door. It was a one-way trip once a person entered.

I was not going to get trapped inside of the tower. If I moved forward, he would attack while closing the doors. I would not be able to easily dodge. If I took the attack and entered, I would be heavily wounded and unable to heal myself. I would be forced to kill him.

If I didn’t enter, then he would escape me. No one escaped me. I came to a stop a distance from the door and considered the situation carefully. It was not a simple decision. He was trying to force my hand. Well if he wanted to talk, then I would try and get some information out of him.

“So this is where the Astrologer is hiding? He put something inside of you as well. Now you are running to him.” My voice was raspy and hurt. That annoyed me, but there was no time to fix my condition. I needed to correct my energy and that would take time unfortunately.

“Yes, anything, you want me to tell him?” He confirmed both my guesses at least. Not that they were secret after interrupting the middle of his surgery. I hesitated a moment before speaking again.

“Tell me where my son is and I will let you go. I swear this upon my grandfather’s tomb.” I would let him go, get my son, and then come back for him.

“I honestly don’t know. He is tucked away safely somewhere, but even if you did catch me, I couldn’t tell you.” I frowned at this. That was annoying. But it also wasn’t a surprise. That meant Clarissa knew. I needed to find her. That would take a lot of time and hunting, but I would get her in the end.

He had been foolish to tell me that. Now, there was no reason to keep him alive. Time to unsettle him a bit. “Why didn’t you hide?” I asked.

“I didn’t think it would work after you picked up my trail. Even if I did hide in the city in a building, with my number of stats, I wasn’t sure I could avoid your Sense stat.” He was perceptive. I had to give him that. He was no idiot, even for a dog.

“Thinking if it is worth the risk?” That was a very good question. Did I think he would die in the tower? No. He had stopped in the city to purchase supplies. So he wouldn’t starve to death inside or die of thirst. Time to put on more pressure and hopes he makes a mistake.

“Yes. I am taking you seriously now Champion Michael. Very seriously. Only the Astrologer has put me in such a spot before and I am considering how to move forward.” Let’s see how he responds to this.

“So, you planning to stand there all day?” A question back, and a good one. He was trying to make me screw up again, but he was not going to land another attack.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Yes. You clearly mean to trap me or crush me with the doors, but you also don’t want to go into the tower yourself. Going to shut the doors now?” I had taken a step forward, curious to see how he would react. But he didn’t. He was trying to bait me. That was a huge mistake.

“Come a bit closer and find out. The Avatar. I have to ask, what did she do to you to piss you off so much?” I considered not responding, but I there was nothing valuable about the Avatar and I could use this to intimidate him some more.

“She wouldn’t surrender. Even when defeated. Then she even dared to think she could order me. I taught her a lesson. Did she take my son?”

“No. I did But she did arrange things and asked me to take him.” I began to nod and then went still when I heard the rest of what he said. She was going to die no matter what. I was not going to let one trace of her survive.

“She did? Your arrival? She contacted you?”

“No, but she planned her own escape and was sitting on your throne when I arrived. She asked me to take your child from your palace.” Interesting, so that was the confirmation of what I had already known. The Avatar had set everything up. This Michael may be many things, but he was no master schemer.

“How willful, but you aren’t going to escape me Champion Michael. You might have beaten me back twice, but you don’t think you can seriously escape?” I asked and took another step forward. He couldn’t tell me to stop advancing. There was no threat he could make. Each step forward that he allowed me was another mistake. The closer I got, the closer he got to death, since I no longer needed him.

“Maybe, maybe not. Won’t know unless I try. Sorry about your city by the way. But I enjoyed the treasury.”

“I try to be a good host for my guests. I just have so few. And then you ran away before I got back. I have a deal for you. Submit. Kowtow before me and swear your eternal loyalty. I will spare you and help you deal with that bomb inside of you.” If he did that, I would turn him into an actual dog that could only bark. It would be amusing.

“I am not sure about that. After seeing what happens to your people, I don’t want to get motivated.” A shame, but not a surprise.

“A shame,” I said and took another step forward. I could see him tense up slightly. He wouldn’t let me get any closer. Now we were in a true standoff. Neither of us willing to make the first move. I was content to wait. I could see the pressure getting to him, slowly but surely.

I was curious if he would break. It was always so amusing when people revealed their weak mentality right before I crushed them utterly. I was also using the time to think about what I would do and if I really wanted to risk entering the tower.

“Why are you so evil?” What? That was a stupid question. There was no good or evil. Only power, those with power and those too weak to resist.

“Evil? I believe vengeance is the correct word for everything I have done. You claim to be better with your hybrids?” I could see him wince at that. I knew what they were doing, I was no idiot. “Also having people eat hybrids? How are you any better?”

He could tell that the conversation was going nowhere and moved his hand back. I acted, by kicking off the ground, stressing my leg. He launched his skills to try and take me out, but I had already come to a stop using my skills and punched out. I was not going to get caught again.

My energy dispersed the annihilation attack and took out his left hand. He had tried to dodge, but I had seen my attack connect right before the doors slammed shut in front of me. I smiled at that. Still, I would make sure he wasn’t coming out of this tower no matter what. I couldn’t take the risk of him rescuing the Astrologer and teaming up against me.

I stared up at the massive square gray building, that towered above me.