"That's exactly why I didn't want to come back to the West Blue," Capone Bege muttered. "There's no challenge here."
Bege was ambitious—dangerously so.
Ruling a backwater sea like the West Blue had never been his endgame.
"Please don't worry, Uncle Rorchart," Karina said confidently. "These are elites personally dispatched by that person. That so-called 'werewolf' won't stand a chance."
"That person?" Rorchart echoed, confused.
Karina's eyes shone with near-religious fervor.
"If gods truly exist in this world… then he is the only true god."
Rorchart couldn't help but worry.
Had the princess been brainwashed?
"And… what is this great man called?"
Karina shook her head reverently.
"Until I restore my kingdom, I am unworthy of speaking his name."
"If I fail, I will not allow my disgrace to stain him."
"But I won't fail."
"He saved me when I had fallen into the deepest abyss."
"Now it's my turn to prove my worth."
She had experienced utter despair.
She had seen, with her own eyes in Water 7, what true prosperity looked like under the Holy Spirit Empire—wealth, peace, order.
She had seen warriors like Yoruichi who could shake heaven and earth with a flick of their fingers.
That was the moment she realized how vast the world truly was.
If there were gods in this world—
Then Sith Oguro was one of them.
Powerful yet benevolent.
Just yet commanding.
With such backing—
How could she possibly lose to a cowardly usurper like Red Treia?
"No time to waste," Karina declared, rising to her feet. "We move tonight."
—
Her plan was brutally simple.
Kill Red.
That was it.
No drawn-out rebellion.
No political maneuvering.
Just a decapitation strike.
The dozens behind her weren't ordinary soldiers.
They were probationary members of the Shadow Dragon Guard—each proficient in Rokushiki, some even capable of using Haki.
Rob Lucci's standards were stricter than even CP9's.
After all, Oguro's subordinates were Shinigami captains and lieutenants.
The weakest among them was still officer-class.
Lucci had no intention of letting the Shadow Dragon Guard fall short.
—
Midnight.
The group advanced toward the palace like phantoms.
Bege's underworld contacts had already cleared the surrounding streets.
No witnesses.
No alarms.
"Stop! Identify yourselves!"
The palace guards stepped forward, blocking the gate.
Karina pulled back her hood, revealing her face.
"I am Karina Itel!"
"Red Treia is a traitor who seized the throne through rebellion!"
"Lay down your weapons and you will be spared!"
"Persist—and you will die!"
As her final words fell, killing intent radiated from her.
A heavy, invisible pressure rippled outward.
Bege's cigar dropped from his mouth.
"…Is that… the embryonic form of Haoshoku Haki?!"
"What the hell?! Since when does the West Blue produce monsters like this?!"
Who would've thought?
The princess who had once been powerless—nearly reduced to slavery—possessed the rarest kingly disposition in the world.
One in a million.
Bege swallowed.
The West Blue was about to change.
—
The guard captain snapped out of his shock.
"The former royal family is dead!" he shouted. "How dare you impersonate the princess?! Kill them!"
Of course the palace guards had long been replaced with Red's loyalists.
Karina had expected that.
She only needed a justification.
With a single wave of her hand, the Shadow Dragon probationaries surged forward like hunting tigers.
Boom!
The guard captain was sent flying with a single punch.
What followed wasn't a battle.
It was a massacre.
These guards were barely above average men.
When the Shadow Dragon members activated Tekkai, blades couldn't even scratch them.
Within seconds, the hundred-man gate squad lay unconscious.
Karina did not order their execution.
Not out of mercy.
She wanted a public trial.
A grand judgment.
The return of the Kingdom of Itel would be declared properly.
And her authority cemented in the process.
—
The disturbance drew reinforcements from deeper within the palace.
It made no difference.
Against Rokushiki-trained elites, the guards fell instantly.
Then—
BOOM.
A figure dropped from above, slamming a kick toward the lead Shadow Dragon soldier.
"Tekkai!"
The soldier reacted instantly, muscles hardening like iron.
CRASH!
He skidded backward, gouging deep trenches into the stone floor—
But he remained standing.
"Damn… you're tough," the newcomer drawled.
Cheers erupted from the surrounding guards.
"It's Commander Kara!"
"The legendary warrior!"
"Kara! Kara!"
Karina's eyes sharpened.
So this was the so-called divine champion.
Kara basked in the praise, pointing arrogantly at them.
"Alright, rebellion's over."
"With Lord Kara here, surrender now and maybe I'll let you live."
"Otherwise… the mass grave outside the city will be your final destination."
Bege rolled his eyes.
"You eat one Devil Fruit and suddenly think you're a god."
Before Karina could even give the order, the Shadow Dragon members had already reformed their formation and charged.
"Shigan!"
"Rankyaku!"
They didn't hold back.
Against a Devil Fruit user, hesitation meant death.
A storm of attacks descended.
Kara's expression changed.
These people weren't ordinary.
With a roar, his body expanded.
He dropped to all fours.
Dark fur burst across his skin.
A massive black wolf emerged.
Thud—thud—thud!
Shigan and Rankyaku tore into him, carving multiple wounds across his hide.
"Bastards!"
"You dare wound the great Lord Kara?!"
"I'll rip you apart!"
He lunged forward, claws sweeping like a gale.
The Shadow Dragon members vanished with Soru.
Only two near the front were slightly too slow—sent flying by the impact.
Minor injuries.
Nothing fatal.
The battle had officially begun.
And for the first time—
The so-called "legendary warrior" realized…
He might not be the strongest monster on the battlefield.