Having made his decision about his reward at the last possible second, Alex smiles completely elated as he sees the system note confirming his choice.
You received Hlökk's Divine Gloves (Remnant)
Also, Alex can't help but immediately perk up as Jason's body transforms into [Bloody Chest], which he also quickly pockets.
Slowly, he notes that the stage he's standing on is slowly descending, growing weaker and more translucent with each passing second, until Alex suddenly finds himself standing in the same half-destroyed house he was in earlier.
[Death Duel concluded]
"Damn... that's my new favorite item... I want more of them... things could be so easy," Alex can't help but mutter, as his rage, fear, and frustration have all faded away, replaced by clarity and satisfaction, not only from killing the man aiming for his life, but also from winning the bet.
Still... I need to focus on the damn mission; let's not waste time and look for Jewel and Menchi.
Alex rushes outside the house and sees multiple armed police officers moving around, some shouting orders, while a few people are still cowering on the ground, some of them badly hurt and struggling to move.
In the distance, Alex notices explosions and immediately decides to rush towards that direction.
From the sounds of it... he didn't perish. I mean, it makes sense, only when the player who owns the Supporter dies will he vanish, but shouldn't he get kicked out of the mission at least? Perhaps... there are exceptions... the Realm constantly offers items and ways to bypass its own rules, and you can't fully trust anything it provides. I wonder... who did Jason really work for? Not for the Seekers, that much I know....
Seeing a car explode in the distance, Alex presses on, but a few police officers step in front of him and stop him.
"STOP! There are terrorists ahead. You can't go there!" a male officer yells loudly, looking more worried than angry.
I can show him my license to pass... no wait, no time for that shit!
"I'm a Hunter, don't worry," Alex yells, jumping over him without slowing down.
This is a nice way to avoid peasants... wait... I'm beginning to talk like Jewel. I need to stop that.
Finally, Alex sees the Jaffa wearing full-on armor, even his head covered by a large helmet resembling a cobra, worn by the Serpent Guard, belonging to the Goa'uld Apophis. Holding his staff-weapon, he is firing at cars, while Menchi hides behind them and darts around to the next one before it explodes to avoid getting hit.
On the other side, he sees Jewel bombarding the Jaffa with Black Namtaru Poison and Namtaru Web, which slows him down but doesn't seem to deal any damage, the armor perfectly protecting him from the poison.
Biting, piercing, and throwing poison at metal... no... alien armor... of course, it's not very effective; is this one of Jewel's weaknesses? She has no real effective weapons against an enemy like that... but what about the Grenades I gave her?
He then sees Jewel sling a grenade with her web, the grenade flying forward before exploding right beside Teal'c, who barely manages to raise his arm in defense.
Jewel has dealt 14 damage to Teal'c
Jewel has dealt 2 damage to Teal'c
Jewel has dealt no damage to Teal'c
...
Jewel has dealt no damage to Teal'c
Alex then sees that only the explosion and fire actually dealt a bit of damage, while the shrapnel turns out to be completely useless against the heavily armored Jaffa.
Teal'c counters swiftly, not by firing his Staff-Weapon at the agile Jewel who keeps darting around him, but by drawing a Zat'nik'tel and firing blue beams of energy at Jewel, who barely manages to escape by hiding behind a car. Notably, the blue beam is not destructive at all and behaves similarly to electricity, compared to those of the Staff-Weapon, which can easily blow up cars with one shot.
Alex, still undiscovered, smiles deviously, planning his favorite thing in the world.
Ambushing and backstabbing people... hehe! That's my style! Thankfully I'm called the Butcher and not Cheap-shot Alex.
I've given Jewel some grenades, but I kept a few myself... how about this?
Alex takes off his [Gauntlets of Pluto], losing 5% attack speed and 1 STR, as well as the Set bonus, which grants him 5 SPR, 5 CHA, and 5 LUK.
Feeling the loss of his attributes immediately, the loss makes him feel rather weak all of a sudden. Still, pressing forward without question, he puts on the [Hlökk's Divine Gloves (Remnant)], looking a little silly as his heavy gauntlets are replaced by mere short gloves, which are a stark contrast with his other heavily-armored gear.
This feels... off, but... without a doubt, these things are incredibly powerful.
Alex then grabs, lights up, and throws all three Annihilation Grenades he kept for himself, making sure to concentrate on them and giving his gloves enough of a chance to work.
Did that do anything? Doesn't feel like much has changed!
Using Zetsu to sneakily approach his busy foe who's still bombarding both Menchi and Jewel with his two weapons, he sets the trigger as short as possible, then throws the grenades right in front of Teal'c, who barely manages to notice him but can't protect himself aside from guarding with his staff and taking on a generally defensive stance.
"Your pathetic toys do not work against the armor of a loyal soldier, faithfully serving his goddess!" Teal'c yells, recognizing the object by now.
You have dealt 41 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 15 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 3 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 2 damage to Teal'c
...
You have dealt 4 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 31 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 12 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 4 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 6 damage to Teal'c
...
You have dealt 1 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 44 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 17 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 7 damage to Teal'c
You have dealt 5 damage to Teal'c
...
You have dealt 4 damage to Teal'c
Causing massive damage, the grenades explode with such force that even Alex is surprised. Teal'c is overwhelmed by the explosion, the flames, and even the shrapnel, piercing into his armor like bullets, blood being blasted through the air.
"Heh, which warrior just face-tanks grenades? Arrogant fool! Throw your ass on the ground, idiot!" Alex taunts him.
Everything about them looks different: their explosion radius is increased, the fire is far more mysterious, and even the shrapnel is far more powerful.
These damn things were ripping apart Teal'c's armor, appearing almost like shots from a rifle instead of metal fragments... damn!
After the three explosions, Teal'c's helmet is completely destroyed, and his armor is full of holes.
At the same time, Menchi uses her chance and stabs Teal'c in the back, her knives now able to easily pierce through the damaged armor.
She then activates her Hatsu Dismantling Blade and swiftly cuts Teal'c's remaining armor to pieces using just her knives. Of course, his body doesn't remain unscathed either and is full of bloody cuts.
Finally, Jewel's Namtaru Poison and Namtaru Web, which she keeps throwing at him, take effect, causing Teal'c to collapse onto his knees.
"Poor guy," Alex says, smirking, as he, Menchi, and Jewel approach the fallen Jaffa, surrounding him from all sides.
As he does, Alex tightly clenches his fist on its own. He walks by a fallen piece of glass from one of the wrecked cars and picks it up. He briefly focuses on it, applies a layer of Aura via Shu, before flicking it toward the fallen Jaffa as fast as he can, aiming for one of the last layers of armor.
The piece of glass flies forward and penetrates into the Jaffa's body, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.
You have dealt 11 damage to Teal'c.
This power...!! These gloves are insane!
"I guess three vs one wasn't quite fair to you..." Alex says, as Teal'c tries to get up, one knee on the concrete, as his blood colors it red.
"I actually take no pleasure in doing this... you are a brainwashed victim," Alex adds solemnly. "I deeply respect the true version of you. It's a shame I didn't get to meet the real you. However, I am sure that the true Teal'c would approve of what we're about to do. Just killing another servant of a false 'god' hehe."
I need some information. I need to taunt him....
"With a pathetic so-called goddess, who, it turns out, is just a pathetic, incompetent nobody, you are nothing more than a brainwashed tool... how sad."
"Shut up, your blasphemer!! My Queen will kill you..." Teal'c yells, his eyes full of rage.
"Ah, the nameless Queen of the Realm brothel, or who are you talking about?" Alex wonders. "How much does she charge for a night?"
Teal'c glares at Alex with full rage before stopping. "I see... It won't work, I won't betray my goddess." He then grabs his Zat'nik'tel and aims it at Alex, but Jewel's legs pierce through his exposed neck, ending his life.
Jewel has dealt 61 x 3 = 183 damage to Teal'c
Jewel has killed Teal'c
Alex ignores the messages and shakes his head.
However, as Teal'c, his destroyed armor, and his weapons suddenly vanish, a Purple-colored chest stays behind, greatly confusing Alex.
"Is that... supposed to be normal?" Alex wonders as he picks it up.
You received Supporter Chest (Teal'c)
"I... am not sure," Menchi admits. "We didn't really kill someone with a Supporter yet. I wonder what's inside? Is it... over? Did you get rid of that Jason creep?"
"Yes... it's over... we actually did it. However, it's strange that Teal'c didn't vanish with that guy at the same time. Anyway... a Supporter Chest? I mean... they told me that Supporters could potentially receive a downrank in Weapon- or Armor-rank or even skills due to losing rarity... of course only when they die. This isn't completely unexpected. To the victor go the spoils. Maybe it's actually a smart idea to hunt Supporters?"
"Hey... I resent that," Menchi says, crossing her arms.
Princess Jewel really disliked this snake soldier. He was surprisingly tough... why did Soulmate's grenades do so much damage? Princess Jewel demands an explanation, as she's the king of the sacred Super Spider Secret technique and accepts no rival!
"Brainwashed as he was," Alex mutters, ignoring Jewel. "I kinda feel sorry for him."
Alex then kneels down next to him and closes his half-open eyes, the body vanishing into nothing just a second later.
"Anyway, as tough as he was, his strength is of no use. Three on one, no Supporter can do a thing against that. If he hadn't been brainwashed and arrogant, he would have been truly strong. I wonder how the player who owns him got him... probably through a special item or a rare scenario."
Anyway, Soulmate... those Grenades! Why didn't Soulmate share them with Princess Jewel?! They were so effective and beautiful. Princess Jewel wants them. No, she deserves them!
Seeing the burning cars around him, Alex sighs. "Let's quickly bail before people show up... wait, the knife... we forgot the knife."
Princess Jewel got it in time. Soulmate! Tell Princess Jewel already!
"Nice... let's leave then," Alex says as the group runs away, leaving the warzone, the half-destroyed market district, behind.
-------------------------------------------------
A/N: Always thankful for Power Stones, Comments, and Reviews. Thank you for reading!
If you are interested, then please support me at patreon.com/FRWriter
90+ Early chapters available - I will still release on WN daily!! Thank you!
New Chapters every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday!
Bored? Complains? Demands? Check out the Discord: https://discord.gg/puVqWsf3y9
Thank you for supporting the story with Power Stones! Every bit of help is appreciated.