"No matter," Theo said. "I can still beat you." He slowly moved toward Alex, his movements graceful and confident, like a tiger stalking its prey.
Alex was impressed by the restrained power contained within his opponent. Theo was clearly much more dangerous than he had expected. Alex's eyes were drawn to Theo's hands, noting the small grenade the other man had pulled out from somewhere. The room was large, but an explosion would still do a lot of damage, risking the lives of everyone inside.
"Let's do this!" Theo yelled, pulling the pin of the grenade and rushing at Alex, keen to do battle.
"Bring it!" Alex shouted back, surging forward to meet the attack.
When he got closer, Alex leaped at Theo, kicking out and connecting with his abdomen, sending the man toppling backward. As he fell, Theo tossed the grenade, and Alex dodged, letting it fly past him. The grenade crossed the huge room, hitting the back wall and exploding on impact. The entire house shook, and Alex's ears rang with the noise of the blast.
Windows blew out and cracks appeared on the walls. The sturdy villa collapsed in on itself, unable to withstand the damage. Dust billowed as the walls and roof caved in, the house groaning as it fell into ruin.
All the senior executives of DominiCorp were buried in the rubble, apart from Dominic, who was trapped with his leg under a large stone. He wiped the dust from his face and coughed, struggling to breathe.
At the moment of the explosion, Theo had rushed to cover him, saving his life.
"Alex, let's take this outside," Theo said, chuckling. Then, he turned and crawled through a hole in the debris. Alex picked up his knife, frowned, and followed him out.
Theo was clearly a martial arts master and not just a simple fighter, and Alex knew he would have to kill the man. Otherwise, he might retaliate someday, and Alex couldn't risk him going after Debbie or the Ambrose family.
I was too soft before, and I almost lost my mother, he thought. I won't make that mistake again.
As for Dominic, Alex didn't even spare him a second glance. Once he had dealt with Theo, he could go back and kill Dominic. It wasn't as though the man could go anywhere with that rock pinning him down.
Theo was waiting for him, his hair fluttering in the breeze. "I guess it comes down to you and me," he said. "You know, there was a great master who trained up in the frozen north. I fought with him for a long time, and it ended in a stalemate. He was truly skilled." He shook his head. "I haven't seen him for over ten years, but I'm sure he must have achieved the highest level of martial arts by now. You're not much weaker than he was, but I doubt you'll ever be able to defeat him."
"The frozen north?" Alex asked, frowning. "Are you talking about Tyson Slade? I killed him a while ago. Didn't you hear about it?"
"What did you say?" Theo asked, his jaw dropping.
**
Not far away, several important people sat in a house, drinking and talking.
Oscar Steadman had finally come home, and everyone had gathered to celebrate his return.
"Father, I'm sure you'll have reached the level of master this time," Edward said, holding up his glass.
"Ha! Do you really think it's that easy to become a master?" Oscar asked, laughing. He looked fit and healthy, and his eyes burned with ambition. "Masters are rare. In this entire country, there are only a few masters, such as Ash Thornton, whose martial arts skills are legendary. If I reach his level, then no one will be able to stop me."
He paused for a moment and then continued. "Even if I haven't succeeded in becoming a master this time, I'm still much more powerful than I was. If ordinary martial artists dare to fight me, it wouldn't take me long to defeat them. No one should underestimate me. Not even Ash."
"Ash is currently out of action," Edward said. "Apparently, someone broke his leg, and now Ash is recuperating at home."
"Oh? What happened?" Oscar asked, shocked. "Although Ash's martial arts skills are exaggerated, he is still a master. Who could have defeated him? I haven't been gone that long, so how could someone so powerful have just appeared?"
"Everyone is talking about it, but no one knows any details," Edward said. "The Thornton family has been staying out of sight recently, and they don't seem to be planning revenge. Apparently, they just want to let it go, and they're not talking about it."
"What are they afraid of?" Oscar asked, his eyes wide. "It's such a shame that all the strong families seem to have disappeared now."
"How about the Mitchell family?" Oscar asked. "Dominic has already launched an attack on the Ambrose family, and his subsequent attacks will be even fiercer. The Mitchells have enlisted several other families, such as the Robinsons and the Palmers. He also sent someone to us while you weren't here, but I didn't accept his offer. I thought it was in our best interests to remain neutral. We can wait and see who will be victorious before we choose sides."
Edward cared nothing about morality and justice, and he could always be depended upon to act in his own interest.
"That's true," Oscar said thoughtfully. "We're close enough to watch the Mitchell house and can keep an eye on what happens." He was very interested in the fight between the Mitchell and Ambrose families.
The sound of an explosion interrupted their conversation.
Edward grabbed a pair of binoculars and rushed to the window, looking out to find the source of the blast. His mouth hung open, and he slowly lowered his hands.
"You have to see this," he said.
Oscar stepped forward and took the binoculars from Edward. The explosion had clearly come from the Mitchell house.
He watched as two figures battled, fighting so furiously that they were practically a blur.
"Is this a fight between masters?" he muttered incredulously.