(Months ago)

As the flames subsided, the intruder stood exposed amid the smoke, his identity revealed.

The moment she saw him, however, Lilith’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at the face before her.

"N-no..." Everything within her seemed to shatter as she looked at the face presented before her.

"Y-you are...?!"

"Yes, I am Jeremy, good to see that you haven’t forgotten,"

"I...I thought you were dead,"

"As you can see, I’m not. I have a job for you here that entails you being my eyes and ears in this place."

Her shoulders slumped in defeat and resignation as she recognized the power he held over her because of their shared past.

"Okay, what do I do?"

***

(Present day)

"She’s acting on her own. You already lost to me a long time ago. She has been my mole ever since I attacked your Headquarters a while back, she has just been biding her time and waiting for my orders."

The words danced around Paul’s head so much that he thought he would go mad.

The thought that Lilith had been working for Jeremy stung him more than he thought he would because he had never for once thought that she was capable of anything more than goodness. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He saw her standing next to Paul with an indifferent expression on her face as usual as though she hadn’t watched Jeremy slaughter all the team leaders.

The blood and gore around was still sickening to look at and he wanted nothing more than to leave the place.

In his peripheral vision, he saw the last three seconds tick away indicating that the countdown had come to an end.

It meant that the challenge was over.

He wasn’t the first to get to the location neither had he succeeded in killing Jeremy, which meant that Jeremy had won the round.

He realized that he was in a pitiful state, he had been backstabbed by his partner, lost everything and everyone, and had been weakened beyond anything,

Suddenly, he saw a lady in a casual outfit appear out of nowhere and walk towards Jeremy.

He couldn’t see her features well but he could tell that she was very beautiful. There was a lightness in her steps that made it seem like she was floating and he couldn’t shake off the feeling that she was otherworldly.

Without realizing why, his instincts told him that she was very powerful and not someone to mess with.

She stopped besides Jeremy and stood by his side in deference. Now he was flanked by two powerful ladies. Lillith didn’t bat an eye at the appearance of the newcomer as she continues staring coldly in the distance.

There was a familiarity between Jeremy and the lady that made Paul realize that they had been working together for a while.

He remembered all the times he had asked if Jeremy was omnipresent because of his doings in different places around the same time and it now made sense to him. She had executed some of his evil plans.

It only made him have a newfound awe at how much of a strategist Jeremy was and the way he had handled everything for a long time.

He had truly lost long ago as he had been weighed down by many times like his Alignment, followers and moral restraint.

He couldn’t bring himself to admit to Jeremy that he won, but he had no choice than to do so.

"Okay, you win. Happy now?" He said, struggling to his feet, the paralyzing effects of the stab now gone.

"No I’m not. It can’t end this way. I have a proposal. Since we are tied 2-2 and I had random people win one round, let there be a bonus stage set to determine the victor."

Paul had a sudden mistrust at the idea. Why would Jeremy still suggest another round when he could just easily accept the win.

"I don’t see how that will work, what exactly do you have in mind, Jeremy?"

"One moment," Jeremy said as he stretched out his right hand and snapped his fingers.

A rectangular stage suddenly shot out from the ground near where they all stood. It was similar to a boxing ring only that it was almost three times larger. As they watched, strong ropes suddenly laced itself around the stage as a finishing touch.

Paul looked at everything in surprise as he was pretty sure that this was a new skill that Jeremy didn’t have the last time they met. It made him wonder yet again how much the Hoarder had grown in that period.

Meanwhile, Jeremy went on talking as though he hadn’t done something mind blowing.

"The stage is all set so we can proceed shortly. The Bonus Stage involves both of us choosing a representative to fight for us in a match. The winner is determined by whoever wins first. I think that’s fair."

Paul nodded at his words which showed that he had no problem with it and Jeremy went on with what he was saying.

"You can go ahead and select your representative. I’m giving you the privilege of choosing first."

Paul couldn’t believe his ears as it seemed incredibly foolish to him that Jeremy was allowing him choose first. Fortunately he had seen a loophole in the whole thing and was determined to exploit it.

"I choose you as my representative!" He said pointing at Jeremy.

He saw Lillith and the other lady perk up at his words. He smiled inwardly as he knew that they hadn’t expected or thought that he would make the choice he made.

He had chosen Jeremy as his representative since the rules did not state that he was an exception. As his representative, Jeremy had to do everything he could to win.

He had thought that it was over for him but the gods had smiled on him by making Jeremy dig his own grace by suggesting a bonus round. The problem was that Jeremy had underestimated him and he was now going to suffer for it.

His choice was astute as Jeremy was the strongest gifted on earth and he was the second strongest so he couldn’t see Jeremy pulling out any surprises.

"What would you do now, Jeremy?"