For a moment, everyone there paused as if time had frozen. That included the other four Lycanthropes as well.
They didn't expect the other party would dare to make a move against them even after being aware of making the 7th ranked Trial Zone Team as their enemy.
What stunned the other Lycanthropes the most was how the strongest one among them, Raul, was incapacitated with a simple palm choke.
They soon got out of the daze and rushed to free their fellow team member from Jay's grasp.
They didn't launch any ranged attacks fearing those would land on Raul, and instead closed in on Jay to attack him in close quarters.
As for Jay, he didn't move an inch from the spot. Although Raul's body was obstructing Jay's line of vision, he could clearly sense every movement of those Lycanthropes through the Rare Grade skill, .
Rather than preparing himself to face them head-on, Jay adjusted the fingers of his left palm that held on to Raul's neck in such a way that every finger except his thumb pointed at the incoming Lycanthropes.
When they saw dark-violet flames that were concentrated to the size of a small marble ball appear on four of Jay's fingers that were pointed at them, they sensed danger and tried to dodge.
But before they could do that, those concentrated violet flame marbles hit them like bullets, justifying the name of the self-created skill that Jay used, .
The two Tier-3 ones among them had a small chunk of either of their arms missing due to the explosive impact of the Thunder Flame bullets.
As for the remaining two Tier-2 Lycanthropes, they were far worse since one had its right arm blasted apart and the other had its left kneecap shattered, and the lower half of the left leg got separated from its body.
Jay intentionally didn't aim for their head or heart so that they didn't die.
He already sensed Felarial hovering behind the clouds, 500 meters above their position, and observed the whole thing from there.
Jay didn't kill the Lycanthropes not because he was afraid of dealing with Felarial but due to the Tournament's Rule not to kill fellow Alpha Chosen.
If Jay kills any of them, he will be automatically disqualified from participating in the Tournament without Felarial having to do anything.
Actually, Jay has a way not to be disqualified even after killing another Alpha Chosen, but that needs his to be at least at Stage-5 so that he could alter the Rules set by the System for the Tournament.
But his was only at the peak of Stage-3 and reached a bottleneck due to the 1st Universe Limit.
With no other way around the situation, Jay didn't kill and only warned them, "For every step any of you make, you will be losing a chunk of your body. By the time any of you could reach me, you would still be alive but will become something that doesn't have arms and legs. Step ahead with that in mind."
Despite their bodies shaking fervently from the pain inflicted on them, Jay's words sent shivers down their spine and trembled further with fear.
Those Lycanthropes didn't doubt his words in the least and stayed put in their spots, barely suppressing their groans while applying pressure on their injuries.
As for the barely conscious Raul, whose body turned limp from the palm choke, looked at Jay with terror, "J..Just…whuu…..arrr…..you?"
Jay's irises turned golden while replying, "Someone you couldn't afford to provoke."
Jay used the ability of to dive deep into Raul's memories in order to learn how they obtained a Contract Scroll.
In just a matter of seconds, Jay went through all of Raul's important memories.
Through those memories, he learned Raul was only the second most powerful one among their Trial Zone Team and their Team leader; Rex was the strongest one out of them all.
That didn't come as a surprise to Jay since he remembered watching an Alpha Chosen with the appearance of a Lycanthrope that stood out in the 6th Batch.
Although Rex couldn't clear the 9th difficulty level, he still managed to hold his ground for some time against a Peak Tier-3 Monster.
His performance in Round-1 was by no means inferior to Sergei and Brandon. In fact, he was ranked 192nd in the , just two spots below Sergei's rank and a spot above Brandon's rank.
In Raul's memories, Rex was painted as quite a cruel individual. That impression was justifiable since Rex killed three of his own planet's Alpha Chosen for not being willing to obey him.
But to Jay, it seemed like a foolish move on Rex's part because that left their Trial Zone Team with just eight members.
With Rex at Tier-3 Mid-Phase, three others at Tier-3 Low-Phase and the rest of them at Tier-2 High-Phase, they scored around 17,000 Points.
If the rest of their Planet's Alpha Chosen were alive, their Trial Zone team would have been at a higher position in the Round-1 rankings and would have received corresponding rewards later on.
Yes, Rewards will be given to each Trial Zone team corresponding to the System's Evaluation on each Trial Zone Team at the end of all three rounds of the Tournament.
Jay's aim behind trying to achieve the highest possible Evaluation Scores in each Round was related to the Achievement Titles among those ample Rewards that would be pretty useful in the later stages of the Trial Program.
Within Raul's memories, Jay found that Rex was the one who gave them the contract scrolls and actually had a bunch of those in his possession.
But there was nothing about how Rex got his hands on them.
It seemed Rex kept a tight lid on his source of Contract Scrolls, so much so that other than himself, no one else in his team knew about it.
The only thing Rex revealed to his fellow Trial Zone team members was his ambition to gain control over as many Trial Zone Teams as possible using the contract scrolls.
Before Raul and four others approached Halbor, they had already grasped control over five Trial Zone Teams.
Among those, three teams agreed upon the contract conditions despite having to unconditionally follow Rex's orders and offer half of any resources they find in exchange for protection from the Ragath Trial Zone Team.
As for the other two trial zone teams that disagreed to sign the contract, they were forced into submission.
Jay didn't find that as injustice since he was well aware of how the power structure of the Universe works. Only the strong have the right to make rules, and the weak could only bow their heads.
After going through Raul's memories, Jay loosened his grip and dropped the barely conscious Lycanthrope to the ground.
While lying on the ground, Raul inhaled large gulps of air after almost dying from suffocation. He then stammered upon standing up, and two other Tier-3 Lycanthropes quickly supported Raul from both sides.
The terror in Raul's eyes didn't diminish but instead grew as he continued to look at Jay. Whether it be the raw strength or the Thunder Flame Jay used, it became clear to Raul that even their team leader, Rex, couldn't hold a candle against the terrifying individual in front of him.
At that moment, Raul knew that the only reason he was still alive was because of the Tournament Rules that prohibit Alpha Chosen from killing each other.
Raul then noticed Jay's gaze fall on the space ring on his right hand and immediately realised what the other party was aiming for in the first place.
Raul then brought out the pair of teleportation devices and two Tier-3 Vitality Fruits from his space ring and offered them to Jay, "Oh Mighty Warrior, Please accept these as compensation for our rude actions."
Jay raised his eyebrows, "Those teleportation devices were not yours to offer and as for the Tier-3 Vitality Fruits, I will be taking them along with your ring as my spoils even if you haven't offered them to me. Hand me your space ring and you all can leave."
Raul's eyes twitched hearing that. He didn't worry much about losing the Spirit Items in his space ring or even the Tier-3 Spiritual Fruits, but the contract scrolls given to him by Rex.
He would be in huge trouble later when Rex finds out about it if he loses the contract scrolls.
Raul really hoped Jay would accept them and leave them alone but then understood that was just his wishful thinking.
Looking at the hesitation on Raul's face, Jay added with a straight face, "If you break the bond yourself, it will be just the space ring, but if I have to do it, that will be along with your arm. Although the tournament rules mentioned not to kill each other, there wasn't any restriction on ripping off an arm or two."
Raul couldn't help but gulp as he didn't doubt Jay's words at all. Soon after handing over the space ring to Jay, the Lycanthropes hurriedly left the scene, fearing Jay would change his mind.
Jay didn't bother with the Lycanthropes and placed that space ring in his overcoat pocket. Anyway, he would later go to meet their team leader, Rex, to find out about their contract scrolls' source.
So, he pushed those thoughts aside and walked to Halbor, who was staring wide-eyed at Jay.
Note: The '1st FIFTEEN PEOPLE' to comment for every new chapter release will get '1 ADVANCED CHAPTER' for free in Earth Alpha Prime's Discord server.
In the discord server, I opened private channels for those Top 15 candidates, where I post the respective Advanced Chapter.
Also, you could find the link for Advanced Chapters in the Earth Alpha Prime's Discord Server. (within the 'ADVANCED CHAPTERS!' Category.)
Discord Link for 'Earth's Alpha Prime' :
https://discord.gg/maQC7xDBYZ