Chapter 256: The Quick Kill
This sudden, strange turn of events made Quilinguame, who had intended to use the giant as a threat to make the Archangel Pirates hand over the Mermaid Princess, feel a chill run down his spine. At this moment, he was enveloped by an unprecedented sense of crisis. His mind went almost completely blank, and his body, in the face of mortal danger, moved on its own.
His leg muscles tensed and, in an instant, he exerted his strength, leaving a shattered patch of ground as he leaped high, quickly distancing himself from the fallen giant. At this moment, he no longer cared about the giant as a hostage. He roughly guessed who the hand that had crushed his weapon belonged to, and he understood that to stay there would be to die.
Not far away, the group who had been participating in the siege of Quilinguame saw this and instantly breathed a sigh of relief. If that giraffe-like guy had really taken Goldberg hostage, they would have been in a difficult situation.
"Louis... he came too?"
"The three from the God's Knights are very strong. Plus, with Akainu and that guy who looks like Shanks here... it's not strange that he would come."
"Let's chat after the war! Let's stop that guy from the God's Knights first!"
To this, Quilinguame shifted back and forth, dodging several weapons that were chopping at him. Then, without looking back, he quickly moved away.
Just then, the hand that had repelled him continued to extend. Immediately after, Louis's figure slowly appeared on the battlefield of Fish-Man Island. Louis stepped onto the shattered earth, his gaze stern, his wings slightly spread.
Beside him, Goldberg sat up, leaning on his Homie shield, and said to Louis, panting, "I'm sorry, Captain! I was a disgrace!" As he spoke, Goldberg's round and furry face was filled with shame. As a warrior of Elbaf, he did not fear death. But to be defeated and captured, and to cause his comrades to be in a difficult situation because of him... this was something that no giant of Elbaf could tolerate.
To this, Louis, his gaze locked on Quilinguame, said comfortingly, "There's no need to apologize, Goldberg. The God's Knights are one of the ultimate trump cards of the Celestial Dragons. Their strength is considerable, and they possess immortal bodies. There's no need to be ashamed of losing to them."
Goldberg heard him, and a thousand thoughts raced through his mind. In the end, all he could say was, "I understand."
Just then, Gerd and Road, who were also in their hybrid-beast forms, rushed over and helped Goldberg up. "Goldberg! Are you okay!"
Goldberg heard them and shook his head. Then, after calming his breathing, he picked up the half of his kanabō and his shield and stared intently at the continuously fleeing Quilinguame.
Quilinguame leaped again from a giant rock, heading straight for Junko. "Junko! Somazu! Shamrock! Be careful! The Sea Emperor himself has come!!"
Ever since his plan to use the giant as a threat to exchange for the Mermaid Princess had been blocked by Louis, an ominous premonition had been lingering in Quilinguame's heart. Although he was now a considerable distance from the Archangel, the sense of crisis he felt from his Observation Haki had not weakened in the slightest, as if Louis were following right behind him. Therefore, he had very decisively warned the others.
At these words, Somazu, who was in a fierce battle with Hajrudin, was startled. "The Sea Emperor himself has come?"
He first glanced at the Snow-Fiend, who had sent the giant, three-headed dog flying with a single hammer blow and was now rushing straight for Shamrock. Then, he looked in the direction behind Quilinguame. His already grim face, due to the various situations, became as black as the bottom of a pot.
The Snow-Fiend who had arrived had already displayed an astonishing strength that was in no way inferior to Shamrock's. And Somazu had originally thought that with the three from the God's Knights, they would be more than enough to wipe out all the pirates except for the Snow-Fiend. And with Akainu and Shamrock teaming up, they could easily take down the Archangel Pirates' second-in-command. In this way, although the mission to capture the Mermaid Princess was fraught with twists and turns, it could still be completed.
But now, the arrival of the Archangel had turned all this into a pipe dream.
Somazu's face couldn't help but become anxious. He began to maintain a defensive posture, quickly thinking of how to break the stalemate.
On the other side, Junko, while manipulating her arrows to guide one attack after another, frowned and glanced into the distance. After a brief thought, she once again repelled the pirates in front of her, and then decisively extended her hand and activated her special ability.
"..."
On the other side, Louis did not go to pursue Quilinguame, who was leading him away. Instead, he stood where he was and drew his Seven Star Sword.
A golden light rose, and black and red arcs of electricity jumped and coiled around the gloomy green blade. Behind him, the starry-sky-like portal rapidly collapsed, turning into one after another of shining crystals that floated and then spun, coming directly before him. The next second, the shining crystals landed on his empty hand, turning into a diamond-like gauntlet that covered his slender palm.
Louis lightly raised his hand, opening and closing it, getting used to this new gauntlet. After a moment, he once again locked his gaze on the rapidly fleeing Quilinguam. He lightly raised his hand toward his back, and a faint ripple appeared in his calm eyes.
"Sky Shift..."
An invisible wave extended, instantly crossing several thousand meters and landing on Quilinguame, causing his landing motion to be half a beat slower. Almost at the next instant, the scenery in his vision changed. Everything seemed so familiar.
When his feet landed on the ground and he felt the crack-filled deep pit, the scene of him leaping up flashed in his mind, and his eyes widened. The bizarre scene made him shiver.
"This... is—"
His scalp tingled. He had no time to think and leaped up again, fleeing for his life once more.
As he moved rapidly, his pupils trembled violently, and a thousand thoughts raced through his mind. If my judgment is not wrong, I've already escaped several thousand meters. So why am I back in my original position?
Gradually, Quilinguame once again realized something was wrong. He abruptly looked up and found that his two companions, and even the pirates, were all looking at him with shocked faces. He subconsciously looked around. Although his speed was not hindered at all and had already reached its maximum, after running for a long time, the surrounding scenery had not changed in the slightest, and he had only moved about half a meter away.
"Is this... the Space-Space Fru—"
Just as he realized what was happening, a blade wreathed in Conqueror's Haki and a golden holy light burst into his field of vision and swept across his neck. Immediately after, his vision rapidly lowered, and the world spun. When it was parallel with the ground, he saw a familiar headless body.
His eyes widened abruptly, but his vision gradually shrank and finally fell into a piece of darkness. In just an instant, he had been decapitated. His body shriveled at a visible rate and finally fell to the ground as a dried corpse.
Behind him, Louis lightly flicked the blood from his Seven Star Sword and turned his gaze to his next target.
With his death, the one after another giant dream demons that had been scattered across Fish-Man Island gradually dissipated, leaving the Lunarians, Flügel, and Buccaneers looking around in confusion.
"..."
In the distance, Somazu saw this, and his expression became abnormally ugly. "Quilinguame—"
"The God's Knights... another has died in battle—"
On the other side, Junko looked at the withered corpse at Louis's feet, her eyes becoming even colder. A second dark five-pointed star flashed before her.
Beside Louis, Gerd, Goldberg, and the others saw this and were also horrified.
"What was that...?"
"How did he do it?!"
To this, Louis, while locking onto his second target, answered, "Space transfer, space compression, and life absorption. It's that simple—"
He had used his space ability to first transfer the distant Quilinguame back to his original point, then compressed the several-thousand-meter space to one meter to prevent him from getting away again, and then ended the battle with a single slash.
As his words fell, Louis once again raised his hand, which was wearing the dazzling, diamond-like gauntlet. This action instantly put Somazu and Junko on high alert, even making them ignore the one after another sharp blades that were falling around them.
Just as Louis was about to transfer one of them to him, a corner of the future suddenly appeared in his eyes, making him raise an eyebrow slightly. The next moment, the Conqueror's Haki lightning on his blade became even more violent, making the Seven Star Sword bloom like a greatsword spewing black and red flames.
Immediately after, Louis made a grasping motion with his hand, and in a short-distance teleport, disappeared from everyone's sight. When he reappeared, he had already instantly arrived beside Junko, who was tense and on guard.
The Seven Star Sword, wreathed in a violent Conqueror's Haki, swept straight toward the black flames that had appeared at some unknown point. Just as the blade was about to fall, the clear sound of a blade being drawn was heard from within the black flames. Immediately after, a rapier, also wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, was drawn from the black flames and met the Seven Star Sword head-on.
BOOM!
The two blades, wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, clashed from a distance. Black and red lightning and the resulting shockwave instantly sent everyone and everything around them flying. A destructive aftershock, far more terrifying than the last clash of Conqueror's Haki, burst forth. The already broken ground successively collapsed, and the seawater, from who knows where, gradually surged up. The membrane that separated the sea and Fish-Man Island trembled violently, on the verge of collapse.
At the source of the collision, Louis's gaze passed over the crossed blades and landed on the white-haired old man in front of him, who had a handlebar mustache.
"Figarland Garling—"
Garling, in casual home clothes, was clearly unprepared. His expression was extremely serious. Unlike Louis's nonchalance, his eyes were filled with surprise. He had never thought that this last remnant, in such a short time, could give him the same terrifying pressure as a peak-period Roger or Whitebeard.
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