Alex laughed and mockingly said to the Antagonist, "What, are you afraid?"
The Antagonist rose from the darkness, his burning eyes locked onto Alex. "It doesn't matter anymore, Alex. Even if you have the Protagonist's power, you still can't defeat me."
Alex grinned with complete confidence. In the next instant, the Antagonist stumbled and collapsed, his eyes widening as he looked down. Half of his body was gone—disintegrated as if it had never existed.
"How?!" the Antagonist gasped, disbelief clouding his voice. His remaining form hovered, barely holding its shape.
Alex stepped forward, his voice calm yet resolute. "I can't hurt you? Who decided that? I can't defeat you? Who decided that? I will defeat you. Do you know why? Just because I can."
In that moment, something unprecedented occurred.
The Antagonist, the embodiment of negativity and evil, felt an unfamiliar emotion rising inside him. Confusion washed over his face as he tried to identify it. His essence, forged in chaos, had never once faltered. Yet now, in the presence of Alex's defiance, something began to crack.
"What is this... feeling?" he asked himself in silence. Then it struck him.
"Is this... fear?"
His entire conceptual form began to tremble. He had never known this feeling before. It was something only the fragments of his existence had experienced through stories—never him. Fear was alien, but it took root quickly, unsettling every fiber of his being.
He had been the predator in every tale, the unstoppable force. Now, he felt like prey.
Back in Alex's house, both Plot Armor and Extra were watching the situation unfold. The air in the room was thick with anticipation, both their expressions solemn.
Then, a new voice echoed through the room.
"He finally accepted it."
A portal swirled open in the middle of the house, light bending around its frame, and a figure stepped out from it—elegant, glowing with an indescribable aura.
Plot Armor looked up. "It's what you wanted... Protagonist."
The figure, the Protagonist, tilted his head and replied childishly, "What are you saying? I don't understand a thing."
Extra narrowed his eyes, voice tinged with frustration. "Drop the act. We all know you wanted this. You wanted Alex to become the Protagonist. The one who was most hurt when Alex abandoned his role... was you."
Still feigning innocence, the Protagonist gave Extra a playful pinch. "You're just assuming things."
Extra's patience snapped. He grabbed the Protagonist by the collar, dragging him forward. "Act all childish as you want. But in the end, you're nothing but a coward. When Alex rejected being the Protagonist of this novel, it shattered your ego."
The Protagonist's smile faded. Though his voice retained a childish lilt, it darkened with intensity as he grabbed both of Extra's arms. A strange, heavy tension filled the room. The playful mask was cracking, and something much older, much deeper, stirred behind his glowing eyes.