Alex and Jewel press forward, leaving Tereza and Iceburg behind to go after Benezia and Kaku.

Faster Soulmate!

“... I can’t!” Alex says. “How about you carry me instead, huh?!”

Soulmate shouldn’t joke at this time.

“...”

It doesn’t take long for him to enter a small area of houses built outside of Shipbuilding Island, just below the main city, outside their walls. A stream of water from the canals inside the city, pouring down below.

Despite the fact that the houses are separated by more canals, making it impossible for Alex to keep running in a straight line, he presses on, almost reaching the water.

“Shit!” Alex curses, deciding to jump onto the nearest building, focusing all of his Aura onto his feet again.

Then, up on the roof, he does his best to jump from roof to roof, each jump scaring the shit out of him, the moonlight barely visible because of thick clouds covering it up, making every jump risky.

Despite that, he presses on, his worry for Benezia stronger than his fear of crashing down into the canals below. He relies on his SNS to accurately judge the distance and manages to smoothly move further ahead.

Finally, Alex reaches the outer city, seeing the tall walls of the city. Climbing up by focusing his Aura onto his hands and using uneven surfaces on the wall, he slowly but surely makes it to the top of the wall.

“Where could she be?!” Alex asks, looking around using Gyo.

Princess Jewel doesn’t see her!

No choice then. Alex grabs his [Destiny Watch (Orbment) R2] and uses the active effect. Immediately, a sparkling Butterfly appears descending down the walls and flying into the city. Alex and Jewel pay close attention. Finally, it disappears in the far distance. As Alex concentrates really hard and watches carefully, he hears more sounds and notices movement in the distance.

“There they are! They have moved so far ahead! Is that coward Kaku running away using Geppo and Benezia blinking after him?!” Alex asks, clenching his fist.

Jewel suddenly jumps on top of his head, seemingly having found their target already.

Soulmate! Princess Jewel sees Benezia in the distance! On the bottom right, that small plaza to the right, near the canal. She has seen Benezia! She would recognize that traitorous Blue woman anywhere!

Just drop that already!

“I could use Sealion’s Icewing Embrace to glide down there... but I’m almost out of Aura...” Alex reasons, unsure of the fastest and safest way to descend.

Trust Princess Jewel, just jump! She will take care of the rest.

What?! I... fine... I trust you, Jewel.

Gulping, Alex stares down into the dark pit below him, the water looking like the entrance to the realm of the dead, the sheer height making the jump deadly for any normal human, even if they end up falling into the water.

Stepping back, Alex takes a running approach and jumps down.

Jewel... your turn!

Jewel begins to spin a lot of web, securing herself to Alex’s shoulder.

As they descend deeper and deeper, picking up more and more speed, Jewel focuses her Aura into her web and shoots a thick line of web toward a nearby building.

This?!

Exactly like Spiderman, Alex—webbed together with Jewel—swings, the line stretching slightly as they catch momentum and use it to fling themselves forward.

However, as he presses on, the web suddenly snaps, causing him and Jewel to plunge down.

Fuck!

Soulmate is too heavy!

Damn you... I am wearing thick armor, what the fuck do you expect?! Do something!

Appearing desperate, Jewel shoots more and more webs, barely managing to slow them down and stop them from crashing into the ground.

As they swing forward, Alex finally sees Benezia engaged in battle. Kaku is standing injured on one end, his right arm cleanly cut off. He’s protected by numerous Galley-La Company employees, forming a barrier between him and Benezia and keeping her from finishing him.

They are armed with various weapons, including rifles, pressuring Benezia, who is seeking cover behind a nearby statue.

Benezia herself looks tired and has a few wounds on her body, but she still seems to be in decent condition.

We need to end this soon, or we’ll be swarming with flies trying to take us down! The entire Galley-La Company is too much to handle for us; they are also not our enemies.

As he drops the last distance, Alex draws his [Executioner’s Blade R2], smoothly cutting off the web in a single stroke.

“Help!” Kaku yells as he turns around, pointing toward Alex. “More criminals! This guy is responsible for kidnapping our mayor. I need help!”

Alex lands, barely able to avoid crashing down, instead skillfully sliding onto the even pavement.

“Help?” Alex asks, glaring at him. “You are beyond help, Pinocchio! I’ll show you the true might of Uzin!”

I’ll end this in a flash!

Alex roars, activating both effects of [Uzin’s Rage].

Avatar of Vengeance activated

Unstoppable for 30 seconds

STR and AGI doubled for 30 seconds

Release Rage activated

You have lost 100 HP

STR and AGI + 20 for 10 seconds

With his stats boosted to an absurd degree, Alex uses Thunder Sword, one of the only magic abilities he can still afford—his MP barely recovered enough to perform it—pushing his movement speed even higher.

Nimbus Cloak effect activated - Increasing Evasion by 5%, and Movement speed by 40%

Like a flash of lightning, Alex rushes forward, slashing his mighty [Executioner’s Blade R2] at the confused, wounded, and most importantly, exhausted Kaku. He closes the distance so fast it almost looks like he’s using Soru.

Alex's body shakes under the pressure, but he still manages to execute a perfectly clean, textbook diagonal slash—starting from above, cutting through Kaku’s right shoulder, and cleaving through him in a single motion without slowing down, the blade exiting from the lower left.

You have dealt 317 x 3 = 951 damage to Kaku

You have killed Kaku

At the same time, still feeling empowered, Alex rushes forward and starts forcing the Galley-La employees back with his flat hand, doing his best to avoid killing them while still incapacitating them.

You have dealt 37 damage to Galley-La Worker

You have dealt 45 damage to Galley-La Secretary

You have dealt 27 damage to Galley-La Shipwright

Seeing their comrades easily pushed aside and Kaku cleaved in half right in front of their eyes, the remaining employees flee, completely taken over by fear.

Alex then quickly looks at Kaku’s corpse and spots a large Blue Chest.

That’s a large chest! Nice.

Alex quickly picks it up, seeing the system recognize it as [Large Blue Chest].

He then rushes over to Benezia, who also walks toward him.

“You said you were going to help me... I’m disappointed,” Alex jokes.

“I was intending to...,” Benezia replies. “I didn’t think my luck would be this horrendous. Multiple Galley-La workers were backing him up. Isn’t this ironic? Defending the true kidnappers of Mayor Iceburg, while attempting to kill one of his saviors.”

“Let’s quickly get out of here,” Alex says, looking around, his eyes stopping at the sight of a canal. “I’m afraid you’re going to get wet.”

With Jewel still perched on his head, he jumps into the nearby canal and activates Sea King’s Giant Plate Swimfin, his lower body transforming yet again into the familiar black Swimfin.

Alex then floats on top of the water, staring at Benezia. “Hurry it up, will you? That’s the only way to get back down there. Tereza and the unconscious mayor are waiting.”

Looking more than a little displeased, Benezia reluctantly jumps on top of him.

“This is rather uncomfortable,” she comments, her legs submerged in water.

Princess Jewel likes the water! Princess Jewel might be a Water Spider.

“I’m too tired for this shit,” Alex curses, beginning to make his way through the canals, aiming for the general direction of Franky House.

Despite being uncomfortable, he makes sure to only swim on the surface, so Benezia has an easier time.

As he swims through the canal, both Jewel and Benezia hold tight onto him, allowing him to swim as fast as his conjuration allows him to.

“I’m rather surprised you managed to arrive in front of me that quickly,” Benezia comments. “According to my view, it would have been extremely difficult to beat their leader, Lucci.”

Alex sighs. “Almost died... could have been incredibly close. Thankfully, Jewel managed to arrive in time, so we took down Lucci using our cheap... our effective tactics. Tereza also managed to take out Kalifa... barely. She is wounded and can neither fly nor walk. The mayor was still unconscious when I left. Anyway, we better hurry up—hold on tight.”

“I see,” Benezia says, holding on even tighter as Alex presses on, using Primal Sprint, doubling his swimming speed.

Finally, after just a minute or two, he reaches the outer edge of the city, a large stream of water flowing outside and crashing into the sea, where the outer city is located. “Hold on tight!” he yells.

He swims down, dropping a large distance before reaching the surface of the water. For a moment, he’s fully submerged, then he swims back towards the surface again and keeps going, speeding up and finally jumping out of the water.

Benezia skillfully jumps off at the exact time and lands on the ground. Alex himself ceases his conjuration and lands as well, his body aching from the exhaustion of the night.

“Follow me,” he says, sprinting toward Tereza’s location.

A few minutes later, he sees her in the distance, waving at them.

“I’m so glad you made it,” she says, looking relieved.

“No time to waste,” Alex says. “Galley-La is after us... That damn Kaku got beaten up by Benezia, so he cried and ran away. They got spotted by the Galley-La workers. They think we’re the ones at fault.”

He then lifts Tereza, holding her in his arms as he sprints back toward the general location of Franky House, which is now fully destroyed.

As he approaches, he sees Iceburg walking toward them, looking shaken up, but otherwise in decent condition.

“You... what happened?” he asks, looking exhausted.

Alex sighs. “Benezia, why don’t you explain? Tell him everything.”

“I suppose an explanation is warranted indeed,” Benezia replies, beginning to accurately explain to the mayor what happened.

As she explains the situation, Alex, meanwhile, gently lowers Tereza onto a nearby rock and opens his [Large Blue Chest], his additional +6 stats from [Drakul’s Vitality R2] about to expire.

Princess Jewel has a good feeling, Soulmate.

“Let’s just do it...” he whispers.

You received 15,000 FC

You received Skillbook: Soru

You received Skillbook: Rankyaku

You received Skillbook: Dual Sword Proficiency