Alex no longer hesitates—he desperately rushes toward Andrei, who appears to be frozen in time, unable to move.
He's strong... this doesn't hold long... just a few seconds! I need to finish this now! I can't fully predict when it ends... I need to count on my LUK. I need to take a gamble, if I fuck up the timing, I'm screwed and probably receive a counter... fuck it!
With the last remaining seconds of his enhanced state—his AGI and STR about to drop back to their standard values—Alex performs another Blizzara Sword, slipping behind him and driving his sword into his enemy's skull from the back, landing the stab right as the Stasis effect vanishes, giving his opponent no time to react.
You have dealt 191 x 3 = 573 damage to Player Andrei
Player Andrei has lost 5% of his maximum resources
You have killed Player Andrei
With his [Draining Meteor Sword] now glowing with power, Alex casts Tear, healing himself, not even pausing to recover.
I can't screw around! I need to help the others. Fast, manage my items. Recover and then move on!
You have recovered 135 HP
He then uses the effect of his [Draining Meteor Sword] to absorb the drained power, pulling it back into his own body.
As the power enters his body, Alex feels a kind of pleasure he has only experienced a few times.
This reminds me of... the system healing me, inside the Realm!
Instantly, he feels a tremendous amount of Energy entering his body.
You have recovered 91 HP, MP, AURA, BP
"Nice!" Alex yells, smiling.
He quickly spots a red chest appearing from his slain opponent's corpse. Without hesitation, he picks up the [Bloody Chest] and puts it away.
Quickly, Alex eats [Superior Dish (Fried Squid Balls)] to restore his Stamina, along with a [Superior Dish: (Energizing Shake)] and an [Infused Exceptional Dish (Dragon Skewer)], restoring his HP, MP, and Stamina.
You have recovered Stamina
You have recovered 15 MP
Recovering 25 MP over 10 minutes
You have recovered 50 HP
Recovering 50 HP over 10 minutes
Alex hits his neck, in serious danger of choking, as he gulps down the food and drink within seconds.
Damn... can't even enjoy the stuff!
With his resources now significantly recovered, only his MP and AURA are not topped off, his HP and BP are back at 100%.
Alex Kerber: Lvl 7
HP: 444/444, MP: 343/414, AURA: 251/304, BP: 125/125
I feel a little tired, because I used [Uzin's Rage] twice, but apart from that, I feel great! Surprisingly, my Stamina also got partially replenished after using my blade's effect! This must be a hidden effect, since Stamina is not a full resource. Along with the food, I'm still fine, even after using my Black Quality item twice. This is great to know.
Anyway, I need to quickly go back inside... that took longer than I expected. I guess the seekers are no pushovers after all. That guy was competent.
As Alex quickly approaches the more and more devastated Franky House, which is barely hanging on at this point, he decides to use Zetsu to hide his presence.
As he approaches, he sees the Franky Family escaping. The Kairiki Destroyers, looking beat up, are carrying the unconscious men of the family. A few others are also dragging people outside.
So they made it... good.
He ignores them and quickly enters the building through the same hole he was thrown out of.
As he enters, he sees parts of the building burning, smoke making it hard to see.
He hears another explosion, close by.
Jewel... I'm getting worried.
As he rushes through the smoke, his foot hits something.
He stares down and sees the vague outline of a corpse.
Is that one of the Franky Family? No... they were all knocked out at the entrance... and they are rescuing each other. This guy is large... one of the destroyers?
Alex uses Gyo for a second and recognizes the person. A large, burly man in a black suit... without a head.
That's... Blueno...!
Worried now, Alex rushes forward. He hears fighting sounds ahead, but he also sees that the ground has a large hole in it, and fighting is going on underneath as well.
En!
With fighting going on all around him, Alex has a hard time focusing and keeping track of everything at once.
He finally recognizes Lucci fighting with one of the enemy players in the basement, with another person lying behind him—either dead or unconscious. He also spots someone else tied to a chair, slumped in the far corner of the basement.
Iceburg!
Anyway, the one fighting Lucci is the leader of this Seeker team, I think! Looks like one of his teammates died as well. So that makes two players and Blueno. It's already a pretty deadly battle....
Part of the roof suddenly collapses, Alex barely manages to dodge, rushing to the side to dodge the heavy wooden planks, only succeeding in doing so easily thanks to his En.
Ignoring the ruined house for the moment, he looks forward, focusing his attention on the other battle he noticed. He doesn't spot Jewel, but he sees Kalifa and Kaku fighting against three other players—two women and one man. He also sees Benezia and Tereza backing them up, not directly engaged, but still firing off spells and biotic abilities whenever they get an opening. The female player from earlier is doing her best to block them with her Shield spell, barely able to protect her teammates.
Where is Jewel? Didn't she use the explosives? Maybe she is still hidden?
Suddenly, Alex hears that same female yelling, "Moonbeam!"
A ray of moonlight crashes through the already damaged building, not hitting anyone, however, causing the whole structure to finally give in, beginning to collapse with a loud, ugly roar.
Ken!
As Alex gets hit by debris, he shields himself with his arms and forces his way outside through the chaos.
You have received 3 damage
You have received 1 damage
You have received 2 damage
Alex runs outside, the debris thankfully not able to cause real damage thanks to his Nen Prowess and high PHY stat.
In the middle of the chaos, he hears a desperate male voice shout, "Plan D! Now, this is an order!"
Now outside, he sees Benezia, Tereza, Kalifa, and Kaku chasing after the three players, everyone looking beat up, wounds covering their bodies.
Suddenly, Lucci shoots through the air, using Geppo to escape the collapsed building. He's holding a now-unconscious Iceburg in his arms as he stays in the air, jumping every few seconds to keep his height, looking down on the others.
The leader of the Seekers—bleeding all over, holes punched through his body—desperately crawls out of the ruined building. He finally gets up, staggers forward, and runs toward his allies. "Back me up!" he commands.
"Icestorm!" the female player desperately yells, apparently squeezing out the last of her MP, her legs almost giving out.
Suddenly, a large, lethal storm of hail descends onto Kalifa, Kaku, Benezia, and Tereza.
Alex sees Tereza casting Protego with her wand, while Benezia uses Barrier.
Kaku and Kalifa use Tekkai, but the ice is still hitting them hard, freezing them and causing bleeding all over, their bodies taking the punishment even through the defence.
Despite no one getting seriously hurt, the chase stops, and the leader of the seekers manages to group up with the others.
"Good job, Lucille!" the leader of the Seekers yells as he rejoins his three remaining group members and glares at Lucci, still hovering above them.
"Get us out now!" the other female yells, looking panicked. "I don't want to die."
"No!" Lucille says, shaking her head. "Where is Andrei?! Not without him."
Jewel... this is your chance! You need to strike!
"He's dead!" the other woman says, pointing back toward the corpse of Andrei Alex left behind.
No, I can't just listen to this small talk like a moron. I need to stop them.
"You're staying, you fuckers," Alex says, beginning to cast the AoE version of Blizzara onto them.
However, before he can finish, the other woman yells, "Counterspell!" and Alex feels his gathered magic vanishing instantly, snuffed out like it never existed.
What the?!
"Now!" the woman roars, grabbing onto their leader.
"You will pay for this..." the leader finally says, grabbing a card resembling a normal trading card.
"Accompany On! Shinji!" Suddenly, a bright yellow light envelopes them, and they fly off into the distance with such extreme speed that even Tereza can't even dream of giving chase.
"Fuck!" Alex curses loudly.
Jewel, what were you doing? This was your job!
"Whatever..." Alex finally mutters, letting out a sigh of relief.
Benezia and Tereza swiftly rush over to Alex, their faces looking worn.
As they arrive, Tereza immediately starts casting a few healing spells on herself and Benezia, while Alex leans in and whispers, "What the fuck is happening? Is Jewel okay?"
"Episkey, Episkey, Episkey," Tereza mutters, using her basic healing spell over and over as she stabilizes herself and Benezia, while Benezia steps in front of Alex.
"The little one briefly helped us with a few well-timed grenades, but I lost sight of her in the chaos. I believe one of the players targeted her with some kind of item," Benezia says, her tone controlled, but strained underneath. "They went all out and fought without holding anything back. They used so many different items, I'm somewhat astonished. These fights have grown unpredictable. A completely unknown and random selection of skills from multiple different worlds, and powerful items. I am sorry, Alex, even I can't control such a battle."
"Yeah... they used drugs... from Warhammer, and now this guy pulled out an Accompany from Hunter x Hunter? He said Shinji, so he targeted a player... not a city," Alex says, remembering the words clearly.
"Alubarna lies in that direction," Benezia states, without a hint of doubt in her voice.
However, before they can continue talking, Kaku, Kalifa, and Lucci walk toward them—wounded, their clothes torn, all of them bruised up and battered, but still in reasonable condition.
Alex stares at them. Their eyes are ice cold, without a shred of humanity in them.
Don't tell me.
"These assholes!" Tereza mutters, gnawing her teeth, her hand shaking with rage as she clenches it hard.
"Their eyes… I've seen them countless times. I've worn them hundreds of times myself," Benezia says. "I'll try to reason with them, but brace yourself, these are the eyes of someone who has killed off their emotions. The eyes of murderers."
"You've got some explaining to do," Lucci says in an ice-cold voice.
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