As Alex walks through the dark, yet familiar streets, he comes across a scene of pure chaos. A few lone people scream in terror, their voices filled with terror, echoing through the night, while muffled movement echoes from somewhere deeper in the city. The once kind and hospitable bounty hunters have revealed their true faces.
They are hunting down every single last Pirate!
To conserve his Aura, Alex ends the Conjuration of Mustrano and quickly moves on.
Moving swiftly through the streets, he notices a few stragglers from the pirate crew, stumbling drunkenly as they try to escape. Each one is chased down by bounty hunters who waste no time in violently cutting them down.
One pirate, of course, unable to shake off his pursuers, collapses after being stabbed in the back, his drunken state preventing him from putting up any meaningful form of resistance.
Another one sprints desperately through the street—only for an old man, pretending to be a beggar, to suddenly thrust a wooden cane out in front of him. The pirate trips, crashes to the ground, and the hunters chasing him immediately pounce, stabbing him to death as he writhes on the floor, hopelessly struggling and screaming in horror.
Alex ignores the carnage and pushes on, until he stumbles upon an even gorier sight.
The Blood-claw Pirates' helmsman—the massive human he spotted earlier—stands in the middle of the street, wildly swinging a heavy club, hitting nothing but hair. His left arm is gone, blood pouring from the torn stump, and his entire body is covered in wounds. Alex studies him carefully: they're not life-threatening, but they're crippling enough to leave permanent scars.
Also, not all of the injuries are from explosions. Some are deep, nasty bite marks, obviously left behind by someone with terrifyingly sharp teeth. Other parts of his body are covered in a gooey, toxic-looking green substance, tangled with sticky white threads across his body.
Jewel…
"Come out, you filthy demon! I'll kill you! I WILL KILL YOU!" the helmsman roars, his face twisted in desperation, blood streaming from his ruined arm.
"Are you playing around…?" Alex mutters, clearly annoyed.
"Who are you?! I'll kill you too!" the man screams as he notices and stumbles toward Alex.
But Alex doesn't even look at him. "Finish him already. I'm not sure I enjoy watching you play with your prey."
Suddenly, a strand of web shoots out, wrapping tightly around the helmsman. Three grenades dangle from the sticky thread, their fuses burning with bright purple sparks.
"NO!" the trapped man howls in horror as the sparks shorten, inch by inch.
Moments later, the grenades detonate in rapid succession, the street erupting with three deafening booms. Dust and smoke choke the air. When it clears, the helmsman is still alive, his massive form twitching weakly on the ground.
Jewel finally reveals herself, leaping down from a nearby roof. She crawls nimbly up Alex's body and settles on his head like nothing happened.
Alex feels a pulse of energy building in her. Jewel glows brilliantly for an instant, the light quickly turning pitch-dark before a surge of power bursts forth. The black wave slams into the helmsman, ending him instantly where he lies.
Jewel has dealt 79 damage to helmsman Oboll
Jewel has killed helmsman Oboll
She's strong… from beginning to end, that man never stood a chance. He couldn't even see her coming. It was completely hopeless for him. Jewel might actually have stood a chance fighting them all. I don't see them ever catching her. That guy, despite his relatively high bounty, couldn't even see Jewel!
Soulmate, please pick up the spoils!
A White Chest materializes where the body lies. Alex bends down and grabs it, not cheering, but also not being too disappointed, before gently patting his terrifying pet.
Better than nothing, I guess? With my LUK, there might be something good inside.
"That's the new skill, right?" Alex asks, glancing at the slain enemy. "It's pretty good. It seems surprisingly effective—at least against people who run around half-naked like this guy. Since it's a special move, his muscles don't protect him all that well in the first place. The full potential damage of 90 only got reduced by 11 points, so this ability is highly effective, which it frankly does not deserve to be."
He takes special note of the area where Jewel's new ability hit her opponent: "Hidden Power has a surprisingly long range, more than decent size, and is almost instant. This ability makes you even more terrifying. Your ranged damage options are now incredibly dangerous. It also uses MP, and aside from your new ability, only your special Spearmanship that allows you to imbue your legs with Mana also uses MP. This is exactly what you needed."
❤️ Princess Jewel wanted to test out a few new strategies with Soulmate's divine Grenades! She also likes her new ability; it's a little bit simple, but Princess Jewel is still satisfied with the results.
"Well… I think it suits you just fine, for now. Anyway, we might as well take the head of that guy. Maybe we can turn it in for Belly!" Alex suggests, before noticing the dozens of onlookers nearby.
"Or not…" Alex mutters in frustration. "Damn it, let's just go."
Princess Jewel is sorry. Perhaps she shouldn't have toyed with her enemy and should have been stealthier.
It's fine, Jewel… I think there were always people around observing him. A potential bounty isn't worth falling out with Baroque works at this point. It's okay. We've gotten enough money. Let's move on and look for Benezia. Any idea where she is?
❤️ When Princess Jewel scouted for her target, she spotted her near the ship. Princess Jewel suspects the swordsman is still onboard.
Hearing Jewel's report, Alex dashes toward the port, activating Ren, releasing his Aura from his body. To save time, he briefly channels his Aura into his legs, boosting his jumping power, and vaults onto the nearest rooftop.
Leaping from one small building to the next, he races across the city until the port finally comes into view, less than a minute later.
There, the pirate ship of the Blood-claw crew lies surrounded by dozens of bounty hunters. Many of the pirates are already sprawled dead across the docks.
Alex quickly jumps down and approaches the pier where their ship is docked.
"Mr. 6!" a voice calls out. Alex turns to see Mr. 8 waving to him.
"What's the status, Mr. 8?" Alex asks.
"Ma—ma—ma...Miss Judgement Day is engaged in battle with the Vice-Captain. However…ma—ma—ma, she seems to be toying with him. She's only using her sword and not pressing her advantage. Even the Vice-Captain himself has realized it, and his frustration keeps growing. The rest of the pirates have been dealt with. And good job, by the way, for taking care of the Captain. Quite impressive, you really helped us out."
Relaxed now, Alex's attention shifts toward the deck, where Benezia faces the Vice-Captain. Exactly as Mr. 8 described, she duels him with her personal Asari Sword, sleek and elegant in her hand, showing no signs of aggression or struggle. Her opponent, who's sweating and looking visibly stressed, wields an equally fine-looking weapon, a beautiful katana, reflecting the moonlight, appearing to be quite special. Despite that, compared to Benezia's Asari sword, it clearly falls short by quite a bit.
Benezia keeps staring at him, and surprisingly doesn't unleash her Biotics, nor does she press the attack. She merely holds her ground, one hand resting easily on her blade, parrying his desperate strikes with calculated movements.
With each failed attack, the Vice-Captain looks more and more miserable, the futility of his situation gnawing at him, slowly realizing his fate.
Why are we all toying with our targets? That can't be a good habit. I only tested my abilities, so I had a good reason. Jewel clearly messed around, and now Benezia's doing the same... or is she? I guess she is using this swordsman to evaluate her own abilities. Okay, I guess her behaviour is similar to mine, so she gets a pass. I just wonder if she realizes that it's a little dangerous. She should know that desperate people take desperate measures. The most dangerous opponents are those who have nothing to lose. It's never a good idea to give them a chance to drag you down with them.
Seeing the shock in the Vice-Captain's eyes, noticing that his earlier skillful technique is now seemingly completely forgotten, Alex sees him now swing his blade wildly and desperately, while Benezia watches him with apparent disappointment.
"I suppose I should still thank you," she says evenly. "At least now I know where I stand. That will be all... goodbye."
The Vice-Captain, angered by her words, spins around in a desperate frenzy, slashing with everything he has. His final swing carries tremendous power, a strike born of pure desperation, as he spins in a circle before slashing towards Benezia.
Benezia, however, does not get hit and vanishes in an instant; a subtle Biotic blink flares up, moving her out of danger. She reappears behind him, perfectly mimicking his own attack, only much faster and smoother. Her blade strikes true, severing his head in a swift, beautiful motion, biotic traces shimmering faintly in the air around her.
"Incredible!"
"She's terrifyingly strong…"
"No wonder she's the new top-ranked Frontier Agent! She's stronger than some of the officers!"
"I'm glad she's on our side!"
"Her Devil Fruit is terrifying!"
The Baroque Works bounty hunters can only stare at her, completely awestruck. Alex can't help but agree with some of their comments, sharing their amazement.
He leaps aboard the ship, Jewel still perched on his head, and approaches Benezia. "Good job… looks like you got the chance to test out your swordplay."
"That is sadly not the case. I couldn't remotely test out my limits. It would have been preferable if my opponent could have at least challenged me a little more, so I could truly display all of my skills," Benezia replies, pointing at the slain Vice-Captain. "But it seems I've been infected by your luck—and the little one's as well. Just look at what's happening."
Hmm?
Alex watches as a glow shimmers over the Vice-Captain's corpse. Something seems to materialize, yet to his surprise, nothing appears in the air. Instead, his katana itself glows brightly, the system acknowledging it.
"That's a rather rare event that happens, and instead of a chest, a specific, unique item appears," Benezia explains.
"I've noticed before that it's possible to steal your opponents' weapons, at least in some cases. We also managed to take Zabuza's blade, so this is actually similar."
Alex picks up the glowing sword and inspects it.
[Chimamire]
Another Grade Sword!!
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