Haa… haa… haa…
With heavy, drawn-out breaths, Kuro crouched atop a stone statue carved in the shape of a hawk. He spread his arms wide, the shadows of his claws swaying and stretching under the occasional flashes of lightning spilling through the palace's gaping holes—like a horde of demons dancing wildly.
He carefully adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand, his eyes narrowing into cat-like vertical slits as he stared intently at the two figures inside the study with its wide-open doors.
The close-cropped-haired Daz Bonez had already stripped off his shirt, revealing his muscular, steel-like upper body.
His partner, Sara, stood with hands on her hips, striking a pose like a magazine cover model.
Both of them were formidable opponents.
Daz Bonez's Paramecia-type Dice-Dice Fruit allowed blades to spring from any part of his body. His muscles were like forged steel, nearly impossible to penetrate.
Sara's Paramecia-type Thorn-Thorn Fruit let her sprout countless sharp spikes from her body. Though not quite as hard as Daz Bonez's steel muscles, they were still enough to pierce walls with ease.
Together, they put Kuro under immense pressure. Against either one alone, he could manage—but against both at once, victory was far from certain.
Even while at a disadvantage, the cunning Kuro knew how to preserve himself.
He had been weaving nimbly between their coordinated attacks, taking only one injury—a gash on his arm from when Daz Bonez had caught him off guard at the start. After that, no further hits had landed.
This in itself surprised the two assassins—Kuro's Silent Step footwork had caused many of their killing blows to miss entirely.
Kuro cast a quick glance around. Not seeing the person he was expecting, he sighed inwardly.
His original plan, the safest one, was to keep using Silent Step to dance around and tie up both enemies here, preventing them from disengaging—until Buggy, Alvida, and the others could arrive.
But they still hadn't shown up. Instead, Kuro had already expended a lot of stamina, while Daz Bonez and Sara, fighting two-on-one, still had plenty of energy to spare.
If this dragged on, his focus would inevitably waver as his strength declined, and his judgment would slip.
One mistake against assassins like these meant certain death.
At that moment, Kuro decided to take a risk—switch to offense in order to seize the advantage.
Back during the Reverse Mountain War, he had witnessed Captain Tashigi's display of Rokushiki, the Navy's Six Powers. The techniques Soru, Geppo, and Rankyaku had left a deep impression on him, and he had managed to gain some insight.
The speed of Soru was not much different from his own Silent Step – Shakushi, but Tashigi's advantage lay in being able to control her position precisely.
With the foundation of Silent Step – Shakushi, Kuro had been practicing almost daily to mimic Tashigi's footwork, and before arriving in Arabasta, he had finally mastered it.
As for Geppo, Rankyaku, and the other Rokushiki techniques, he had yet to grasp their secrets.
He had been sticking with Silent Step this whole time precisely to mislead Daz Bonez and Sara—making them think his maximum speed was what they'd already seen, lulling them into adapting to that rhythm.
Now, with his decision made, he would accelerate—switching from Silent Step to Soru!
Kuro paused in place, leaning forward slightly, then suddenly charged toward Daz Bonez and Sara, still keeping his feet in Silent Step.
The pair braced themselves. In their minds, they were already counting down the seconds until he appeared within striking distance, anticipating exactly how fast he could dart and dodge.
Habit breeds expectation.
But when there were still about a hundred meters between them, both of their expressions changed sharply—Kuro broke the rhythm!
He was faster!
Realizing this, Daz Bonez was the first to move—pouncing like a panther, arms turned into blades, slashing at Kuro!
Whoosh!
Kuro accelerated again—this time, truly using Soru.
In an instant, he vanished from in front of Daz Bonez, whose blades sliced nothing but air.
Sara's view ahead was blocked by Daz Bonez's body, but her hearing was unnaturally sharp. The faint sound behind her made her instincts flare—she immediately sprouted spikes from every part of her body like a hedgehog!
But Kuro's claws avoided her hair, limbs, and torso spikes with surgical precision—driving straight into her face!
He showed no mercy. In a battle like this, it was kill or be killed—hesitation meant death.
His claws sank in, and Sara collapsed limply, the spikes receding.
That brief moment, however, was enough for Daz Bonez to recover. He lunged at Kuro from barely an arm's length away, his right arm a deadly blade coming down from above!
Kuro spun to face him just in time to see the fierce strike incoming.
He dodged fast—fast enough to save his life—but they were too close. The blade still carved across his chest.
Blood gushed like a waterfall, splattering on the floor. The only fortunate part was that his evasion kept the wound from reaching his vital organs.
At that instant, he noticed the shell stuck to the old wound on his left chest fall away, clattering to the ground and splitting in two. He blinked in surprise.
That shell had come from David Jones, salvaged from the Terror Ghost. He had stuck it to Kuro's chest after impaling him there and causing massive blood loss.
It had later grown mycelium, gradually healing the wound while clinging to him like a parasite—he had felt it with every breath.
Kuro had long believed it was a threat—a hidden safeguard. If he ever disobeyed David Jones, the shell would fall away, taking his heart with it.
But now, Daz Bonez had simply cut it in half, and nothing happened.
Only a healed scar and a few broken fungal threads remained on his chest.
Silently, Kuro realized the truth.
If David Jones had wanted to kill him—or prevent betrayal—he wouldn't have needed such a device at all.
The thing that had kept him anxious and sleepless for so many nights… had just dissolved away.
Daz Bonez glanced at the fallen Sara, frowned, and then lunged at Kuro again.
He had good reason—he knew Kuro's claws couldn't cut through his steel body.
But Kuro had his own advantage.
He retreated instantly, using Soru to open up distance. Daz Bonez couldn't keep up.
They darted between the study's tall bookshelves, playing cat and mouse.
Shff—
Where blades clashed, old books were sliced into pieces, scattering to the ground.
"Stop running!" Daz Bonez roared. "Fight me head-on like a man!"
His blade-arms slashed the floor, cutting it clean in half and causing it to collapse.
Kuro lost his footing and began to fall.
"This time you won't escape!" Daz Bonez shot toward him like an arrow, every finger turned into a razor edge, closing the distance in a blink!
Kuro, unhurried, flicked a glance past Daz Bonez's shoulder—then crossed his claws in defense.
Daz Bonez's strike sheared through them—
—but he suddenly felt a chill down his back.
Of course… Kuro had been stalling this whole time. But for what?
Daz Bonez spun around—
—and was met with the grotesque grin of a hideous clown, the split smile looming like a nightmare.
The golden round shield in the clown's hand snapped open with a clack, revealing a hole in the center. But this time, it didn't fire a cannonball—purple gas spewed out instead!
The cloud hit Daz Bonez full in the face, numbing his skin with needle-like tingles. Inhaling just once made the world tilt and blur.
Where Krieg had used poison gas shells, Buggy had gone a step further—modifying it into a direct gas jet, with devastating effect.
Midair, Daz Bonez's eyes and nostrils bled as he bit down and swung at Buggy—only for the Clown-Clown Fruit user to split apart and evade.
Kuro, who had already covered his mouth and nose, kicked off Daz Bonez's back and sprang aside.
Boom!
Daz Bonez crashed into the ground, eyes wide and bloodshot, mouth gaping soundlessly.
He glared up at Buggy in a silent snarl, as if accusing the clown of his despicable treachery.
Buggy, utterly pleased with himself, just laughed and laughed—until Kuro came over to demand the antidote.
Even with his quick precaution, Kuro had still inhaled some of the gas. He didn't know if it would prove fatal, but with the antidote in hand, he could be certain.
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