Celebrate! The Sinful Traitor Is Dead!

The Other was dumbfounded.

As one of the few highly intelligent lifeforms in the Chitauri race, he had experienced at least dozens of wars, large and small. Naturally, he was no stranger to "decapitation operations." But someone who carried one out like Beckett... The Other had truly never seen anything like it before.

When others infiltrated, they were as cautious as possible, terrified of alerting the target. But Beckett had no awareness whatsoever that he was supposed to be an assassin.

He slaughtered everyone he saw, leaving corpses strewn beneath his feet.

The road leading to the royal palace was gradually soaked in blood. Following behind Beckett step by step, The Other's expression went from shock to numbness in just five minutes—and over a hundred corpses of Chitauri Royal Palace guards.

Beckett's savage record completely overturned The Other's understanding of the word "assassin." "Killing everyone who sees you makes for a perfect infiltration." The Other found that very reasonable.

As expected of a child taught by Lord Thanos. His understanding of "infiltration" was truly profound!

However, just as the palace where the Chitauri King lived came into view, The Other stepped forward and stopped Beckett.

"Hm?"

Beckett's icy gaze made The Other instinctively want to retreat. Enduring immense pressure, The Other bowed before Beckett and said respectfully, "His Highness Beckett, leave the next stretch of the way to me."

"I did not have the authority to safely bring you through the previous section because of the secret checkpoints. But things are different here. As one of the higher-ups, I have the authority to enter the palace and meet the Chitauri King."

Having felt like he had been useless throughout the entire journey, The Other desperately wanted to show his value before Beckett and leave this powerful subordinate of Thanos with the good impression that he had not been slacking off and was actually useful.

"Is there a difference?"

Beckett rotated his right wrist without even looking at The Other. His gaze remained fixed on the palace in the distance. In Beckett's eyes, the Chitauri were simply too weak. Whether The Other had authorization or not did not matter to him at all.

Either way, he would crush everything in his path.

"..."

"As far as I know, there are at least three mechanical behemoths with extremely high combat power hidden inside the Chitauri King's palace. Once they are alerted, the Chitauri King will escape through an emergency passage known only to himself as quickly as possible. So, to ensure nothing goes wrong, I think it would be better for me to lead you through the next stretch of the way." The Other lowered his stance completely. He knew his place well.

"Go ahead and lead the way." Beckett swished his tail and flung The Other in front of him. The sudden loss of balance made the latter stagger, nearly falling to the ground.

"Please follow me, His Highness Beckett." The Other barely steadied himself, but showed not the slightest dissatisfaction. After respectfully bowing to Beckett, he turned and led the way.

The Other had not lied. Until they entered the palace, Beckett was not questioned by a single Chitauri guard. With The Other's authority to enter and leave the royal palace, he brazenly led an assassin straight before the Chitauri King under the noses of the semi-mechanical guards who obeyed orders to the death.

At that moment, the Chitauri King was inside the grand hall, directing his army and the Planetary Defense System against the legion led by Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight.

"Your Majesty." The Other raised his head after approaching the Chitauri King. Looking at the figure seated upon the throne and commanding troops into battle, the fanaticism and delight in his eyes could no longer be concealed. The sight made the Chitauri King frown.

The Other's burning gaze, coveting the throne, no longer held even the slightest concealment. If the Chitauri King still failed to notice something was wrong, he would not deserve to be king.

"Is that him? Your Chitauri King."

An unfamiliar voice sounded from behind The Other. Beckett, his face cold and stern, removed his black robe, revealing silver armor that gleamed with a frigid light. The Chitauri King's expression changed drastically. "Beckett, Son of Thanos?!"

"How is that possible?! How did you—" The Chitauri King's questioning voice abruptly stopped as he turned his gaze toward The Other, who had once been so respectful to him.

"Why?"

"The Other?!"

The Chitauri King's voice was hoarse. He could not understand why, at this crucial moment when he was expanding territory for the Chitauri race and creating a better future, the subordinate he had trusted most would betray him.

"You are old, Your Majesty. Lord Thanos's power is simply not something we can resist, yet you insisted on provoking him."

"So you pledged allegiance to Thanos?"

"I am doing this for the continuation of our race."

The plan had reached its final step, and The Other no longer hid his true feelings. He turned toward Beckett and dropped to one knee, declaring his stance.

The Chitauri King's expression darkened. At his command, the entire mechanical palace instantly disassembled. After a deafening roar, three floating mechanical behemoths appeared before Beckett beneath the gray sky.

They were enormous enough to blot out the sky, with giant teeth gleaming sharply and roars that burst from their mouths.

These were the Chitauri King's hidden trump cards against attacks on his palace. In his eyes, three specially made floating behemoths were enough to devour the two isolated figures before him, not to mention the guards outside the palace. The Other's expression instantly froze.

He could not understand why Beckett had not struck first, why he had insisted on waiting until the Chitauri King released the three behemoths. He had clearly warned Beckett earlier.

"Attack targets: Beckett and The Other!"

With a wave of the Chitauri King's hand, dense firepower surged forward, exploding into brilliant fireworks against Beckett's armor. The floating behemoths roared, swinging their steering tails as they flew toward Beckett. Traces of blood could still be seen on the fangs in their gaping jaws.

"His Highness Beckett?!"

The Other kicked away a guard charging at him. When he turned around, he saw Beckett swallowed whole by one of the behemoths, and his eyes nearly split with fury.

It was over. Everything was over.

The Other panted heavily. In his moment of distraction, the Chitauri King seized the opportunity and struck him to the ground with his scepter.

"The Other," the Chitauri King said, gripping The Other's jaw with one hand. The cruel smile at the corner of his mouth seemed to announce The Other's death. The Azure Scepter pressed against The Other's chest as endless streams of data poured from it, altering the data structure within The Other's body at the Chitauri King's command.

"You have los—"

BOOM!!!

The Chitauri King's vicious grin had only just appeared before it froze. A thunderous explosion, followed by a roaring shockwave, sent the unprepared Chitauri King flying to the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, The Other instantly rose and withdrew from the battlefield. Before leaving, he did not forget to snatch up the scepter the Chitauri King had dropped near his feet.

When he looked back, Beckett, clad in silver armor, came into view.

The three mechanical behemoths that had seemed so terrifying to The Other had each had their enormous heads crushed by Beckett's hands. Scattered mechanical parts rained down amid the roaring shockwave...

"How is that possible?!"

Looking at the figure strolling through the sea of flames, the fallen Chitauri King's eyes were filled with disbelief.

"You are too weak."

Beckett emerged from the flames and strolled to the Chitauri King's side. Shaking his head disdainfully, he drove his red tail straight through the King's heart.

"Celebrate! The sinful traitor is dead!"

The Other, holding the Azure Scepter, immediately altered the previous Chitauri King's order for the army to fight to the death. Then, under the gaze of the other Chitauri high-ranking officials who had arrived late, he dropped to both knees and prostrated himself at Beckett's feet, crying out his oath of allegiance:

"I, The Other, New King of the Chitauri race, hereby swear allegiance to the great Beckett, Son of Thanos!"

I said I would update twice a day, but something came up these past two days and delayed me... (_)

I am guilty. The double updates will have to wait another two days. (òó)