"You killed the young master of the Kozuki Family, and you struck down a parade of ten thousand people! You devil, you will not die a happy death!"
"Those who fell today will remember you. They will carry on the will of the Kozuki Family and seek revenge on you for the rest of their lives! With nearly ten thousand enemies coming for you, you will never know peace!"
Kin'emon coughed up blood as he glared at Caelan with resentment.
The worst had come to pass. Caelan did not yield and chose to deal with everyone with cold-blooded ruthlessness.
The young master, Momonosuke, was dead. His brothers Kikunojo and Denjiro were dead. The parade of tens of thousands was crushed.
"Tsk, what nonsense are you spouting?"
"You didn't really think I'd let these traitors go, did you?"
Caelan walked over to the barely alive Ashura Doji and casually stabbed him to death.
Then he slowly approached Raizo and struck him down with another slash.
"Why… are you going to kill all ten thousand people here?"
Kin'emon's eyes widened in shock as he watched his brother fall.
From Caelan's words, it sounded like he intended to slaughter ten thousand people!
Among them, six thousand were ordinary civilians who still believed in Kozuki Oden. Could he really kill so many common folk?
"That's about right. I've been thinking of eradicating the Kozuki Family for some time. And I should thank you for gathering everyone together and giving me the chance to do it."
"Kill the four thousand Kozuki samurai, and I'll give the remaining six thousand a chance."
Caelan stood over Kin'emon as he laid out his plan.
"You devil! Executioner!"
Kin'emon glared at Caelan's side profile. The corners of Caelan's mouth curled into a devilish smile.
Sixteen hours of mining each day, then released after ten years. What kind of chance was that?
Most of the civilians who believed in Kozuki Oden were already in their thirties or forties. They would not survive even a week of such work.
"Why do you think you can say that? I'm obviously an ally of justice!"
Caelan said mockingly.
Aside from being a little willful in Wano Country, he believed he had been fair in every other nation.
If you excluded Wano, he was a superhero. If you included Wano, then he was an anti-hero.
"Still putting up that hypocritical front? If you kill these ten thousand people, the whole of Wano will see your true face. Countless samurai will draw their swords against you!"
Kin'emon spat at his words.
What ally of justice? It was nothing but a lie.
If he were truly just, he would have returned Wano Country to them, not slaughtered more than ten thousand of their people.
"Kill the ones who resist. Kill the ones who draw their swords. Kill however many come. It's that simple."
Caelan shrugged indifferently.
Did resistance matter to him? Not in the slightest.
In Wano Country, he only knew one truth: "If you don't accept me, then fight until you do."
Kin'emon wanted to speak again, but Caelan no longer cared to listen.
There was only one last thing to ask before Kin'emon's death.
Caelan stepped on him and asked, "Kin'emon, I'm curious about one thing. You shouldn't even be here at this time. What made you change the time of your journey?"
"You… how do you know where we came from!?"
Kin'emon's pupils shrank in shock.
Only a handful of people knew of their time travel, and Caelan was not one of them.
The traitor Kanjuro had already been executed, and no one else was permitted to reveal the secret. How did Caelan know?
"You don't need to be curious. Just answer my question."
Caelan pressed the sheathed Shusui against Kin'emon's throat and slowly increased the pressure.
"Uh… ugh…"
Kin'emon struggled under the suffocating weight of the scabbard. He gave a bitter smile and said, "It was fate's choice. Fate has never favored us, so it cast us into this era ahead of time."
He glared at Caelan with hatred. "Don't think you've won. In two years, a hero who will change the world will defeat you. You will die miserably."
At this point, he believed it was simply that their time travel had gone awry, and Lady Toki's prediction was still correct.
In two years, Caelan, who had seized Wano, would be defeated by the hero.
Hearing this, Caelan pressed Shusui down, suffocating Kin'emon, who had been a thorn in his side, until he died.
But Kin'emon's words left Caelan unsettled.
From what he revealed, it was clear Kin'emon himself didn't know why their time travel had shifted forward.
Caelan found himself interested in why Kozuki Toki had made such a mistake.
As for the so-called hero that Kin'emon said would appear in two years, Caelan didn't pay it much mind.
Two years later, in the year 1522 of the Sea Circle Calendar, according to the original story, was when Luffy was supposed to come to Wano to face Kaido.
But given how things had changed, it was uncertain whether Luffy could even survive Marineford.
The Five Elder Stars were present. The Three Admirals stood guard. And countless Marine elites were deployed.
Even Gear 5, Nika Luffy, would find it impossible to escape against that kind of force. Let alone the current Gear 2 Luffy.
Setting aside the so-called hero, Caelan reached out and pulled Momonosuke's corpse into the Reality Marble.
Since he could no longer get answers from Kin'emon and the others, he would hear it directly from Kozuki Toki herself.
(To be continued.)