For the past month, I've been thinking about two things: the celestial dragon's plan and the small voice of Boa Hancock that night.
No matter what I do, my mind always returns to those two topics. It's bothering me, no matter if I'm working at the construction site or fighting for my life in the colosseum—those thoughts keep coming back again and again.
And then today arrived—the day I was supposed to be fighting one of the Celestial Dragon's slaves. But it wasn't me who was in the arena, it was Darius.
Standing in the center of the arena with shaky legs, covered in blood from head to toe, it was a scene I could never have dreamed would happen, and his ragged breathing made it clear that he was no longer in control of the fight.
Darius had been trying to find a way out of the fight, from pretending to be unconscious, to spraining his legs and arms to show he couldn't continue the battle, to deliberately getting stabbed in the stomach. However, the tricks that usually worked were completely useless.
And standing before Darius is his opponent, a former New World pirate who has mastered Haki with a bounty of more than four hundred million berries, a slave who shouldn't be fighting in a place like this, a slave who is supposed to just stand by his master's side and protect anyone who holds the end of the chain with his whole body.
Yet here he was, mercilessly destroying Darius with his massive body and Haki-coated sword in hand. And for the record, there was not fighter a single fighter in this colosseum who could defeat him, not even the strongest fighter I knew, Draven, would win against him, and even Draven didn't fight in the colosseum because he was too strong.
And I know how this all came to be. It's all my fault, because of me dolome arranged this fight and also because of me Darius become its victim.
At that moment, Darius' opponent ran towards him with a sword coated in black in his hand. Of course, Darius didn't just stand there. He was experienced in fights like this, where his opponent was stronger than him. Usually, he would quickly dodge and pretend that his leg or arm was sprained, then the organizers would stop the fight and Darius would leave the arena without any serious injuries.
But this time was different. The organizers ignored all of Darius' attempts to exit the fight, and Darius had already lost a lot of blood.
Darius could only slightly tilt his body to avoid the sword hitting his vital parts.
*Stab*
The black sword pierced Darius' chest, missing his heart, but still penetrated his weak body.
*BAM*
Darius' opponent kicked Darius' body to release his sword, causing Darius to fly in my direction.
From behind this wooden gate, I could see Darius' body lying not far away.
"DAAARRIIIUUUUSSS." I shouted for the first time in this battle, and Darius turned toward me, looked at me, and smiled.
Tears streamed down my face. This old man who had accompanied me for the past two years was lying in front of me, and I could do nothing but watch his weak body grow weaker.
*thud*
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and when I turned my head to my side, I saw Zyanya staring intently at Darius's body in the middle of the arena, though her trembling lips exposed her true feelings.
Darius' opponent now charged at Darius again. With his body still sprawled on the ground, Darius couldn't do much, causing him to be knocked back once more when the pirate kicked Darius' body again.
*BANG*
This time Darius was thrown all the way to the gate where I was standing, and the only thing separating me and Darius now was this wooden gate.
"Darius, are you okay? You're still alive, right, Darius?" My words came out very quickly, as if I were racing against time—and maybe I was racing against time.
I held Darius's hand from behind this wooden gate, not to assure Darius that he would be okay, but to assure myself that this old man would be okay.
"Hey, kid, listen." Darius's voice was so small, whispering into my ear, which had been destroyed since last month, but Darius's voice was still crystal clear to me.
"What's wrong, old man? Don't tell me you're going to die? Please delay your death, I'm not ready—"
"Listen." Darius cut me off with a firm tone, even though he looked very weak.
"Whatever happens..." *cough* *cough* Darius coughed up blood from his mouth, which made me even more worried.
"Old man, old man, please—" "SHUT UP!"
This time he shouted through his throat, which was filled with blood.
"Whatever happens, you must be free, okay? I want you to be free and maybe marry your little girlfriend, then have one or two children and live without regrets, okay?" Darius smiled at me, this time not the annoying smile he usually showed, no, this time a sincere smile came from his blood-stained face.
"What are you saying, old man? You have to get out too. If not, then who will be the annoying grandpa who plays with my kids in the future? You know every kid needs someone like that, right?" My tears flowed freely. I tried to smile and make small jokes that felt so pointless right now.
"Zyanya could be that person, right, Zyanya?" Darius turned his gaze toward Zyanya.
"Mm-hmm." With tears welling up in her eyes, Zyanya nodded slightly.
Zyanya wasn't the person closest to me because we rarely saw each other; we only met once a week. Compared to some of the others, Zyanya wasn't the closest to me.
But for Zyanya and Darius, they are very close to each other, perhaps because their shared tendency to tease me brings them together. I often find them chatting and laughing together like good friends, so it's no surprise that Zyanya is deeply affected by this situation.
"Hngg, I should stretch my old bones once more." Darius tried to stand up, and even though his legs were shaking uncontrollably, he still managed to stand on both feet.
Seeing Darius standing, his enemies began to run again, and I had a feeling this would be the last battle.
"You have spirit, old man. I will use all my strength now." The former pirate roared like a wild lion and prepared his final move to finish off Darius.
In his final moments, Darius turned toward me and smiled with his usual annoying grin.
"By the way, when I was little, my mother called me Mandel." Then silence. Darius's final words, and also his final joke, were the last thing I heard.
Darius' head floating in the air slowly dropped down as blood flowed out of his severed neck.
Then cheers echoed all around, the spectators sitting up there like kings watching a jester perform for them, their cheers sounding like laughter and it made me feel disgusted.
Without a word, the guards on either side of the gate raised the wooden gate separating the waiting room from the arena.
Without a word, I walked towards what was left of Darius and lifted his head.
I brought my lips close to his ear and whispered my words as if Darius could still hear me.
"So you're Mandel, huh? No wonder your gaze towards me is sometimes inappropriate, you damn old man." After taking a deep breath, I continued. "Rest in peace, old man."
Then I placed Darius's head on his body and lifted his body along with his head back up. For some reason, no one stopped me, but I paid no mind and just walked straight toward Zyanya.
"Please bury the old man and give him flowers." My voice sounded small and hoarse as I held back my tears.
"Mhm," Zyanya just nodded and took Darius' body from my arms.
Then I turned around and looked at the former pirate who was still standing in the middle of the arena with his black-coated sword in his hand.
Of course he was strong, much stronger than me. I hadn't even been able to defeat Darius, and Darius had lost to him, so my chances of defeating him were definitely very slim, or perhaps even zero.
But I didn't care. No matter how strong he was, no matter how fast he was, I would avenge Darius.
Even if it's just a single blow, I will definitely avenge him, no matter how insignificant it may be.
I stepped forward, and the wooden gate behind me closed tightly, isolating me inside the arena with this former pirate.
"Tell me your name." I asked, even though my voice wasn't that loud, he could still hear me.
"My name is Jobim. Who's asking?" He smiled as he rested his sword on his shoulder. He looked very relaxed and was clearly underestimating me.
"My name's V. Just V."
[Jobim – Age: 48 | Male]
Strength: A+
Speed: B
Stamina: B+
Devil Fruit: N/A
Armament Haki: A
Observation Haki: B+
Conqueror's Haki: N/A
Intelligence: B
Charisma: D+
Leadership: F
Combat Skill: A+