A MAN'S HONOUR INTERRUPTED

CHAPTER 5

A great roar resounded through the forest once more.

It is starting to become a repetitive occurrence today. Soft tinkling of the wind chimes could be heard halfheartedly like a lullaby all the way across the not-so-barren land. The crystalised sound gently echoed, even in the midst of heated engagement between adventurers and the Goliath—in between the bloodcurdling cries of approval coming from the fighters and a full, deep, prolonged howl of pain and anger from the Goliath. The flying slash technique Zoro had flourishingly sent out, launched straight ahead and ploughed through its enormous build, successful cleaving its right shoulder. The slash continued downwards until it fully cut through the whole right side of its physique and separated it from the rest of its body.

The Goliath leaned back to balance itself on one leg and roared toward the ceiling as it fell on its back. The crushing impact on the earthen ground was powerful enough to throw the bodies of the adventurers surrounding it into the air—as if they weighted like nothing. Its roar was a much higher pitch than before as well, summoning all monsters still alive in an instant. The sound carried to the far corners of the floor—and the monsters responded accordingly to its wish. Another wave of monsters arrived, surrounding the Goliath in a protective circle while growling at their prey, as if to buy time so it can regenerate its missing limbs. The Goliath seemed to have realised a threat had appeared and summoned more monsters to its cause. A rank of the adventurers and monsters collided once more in a fierce fight for survival. The floor boss couldn't pinpoint from where the assault had arrived from and was content to just restore its body back to its original form.

"I'm over here, you ugly mug! Stop causing trouble for people. Even from here, I can see that you're about just as ugly as that stupid love-cook," A low grunt could be heard from a range, hiding inside a whirl of dust. Zoro gritted his sword in between his teeth while staring right ahead. The crisp sound of footfalls, the friction between the bottom of someone's footwear scraping against the ground could be heard.

The Goliath swerved its head to the side, facing toward the voice. It deliberately moved forward at the sound of it. Its red glare now a few shades lighter, the beast set its sights solely on the man standing in the southern plain.

"The Goliath...!"

"Has it recognised him as its enemy?"

"Who is he?!"

Numerous shouts for answers repeatedly resounded through the air by Mord's group. The area around the man had become a widespread brawl between Mord's adventurers and the surviving monsters and the giant was heading right for it with widely opened eyes.

The blue-haired girl, Asfi Al Andromedo, that had been progressively holding back the Goliath with the Elven girl, who is called Ryu Lion, watched in shock as the Goliath completely ignored her and Ryu's attacks. Meanwhile, the elf was in hot pursuit, doing her best to avoid the small quakes the monster was making as it ran. Her eyes locked onto her target.

"We must help. He can't possibly take down a floor boss by himself. The Goliath has been rampaging enough!" Ryu yelled out to her blue-eyed companion with no waver in her voice. The Goliath paid her no attention as it quickly galloped along on its short, stubby legs.

Even from a distance, Welf and Mord's group could feel the impact of its might everytime the dark hulking figure stomped its feet on the ground trying to reach its new destination, as the frame of the figure that managed to hurt it started to surface from the heavy cloud of debris. Anything and anyone that is stupid enough to stand in its path were swatted aside like a fly or propelled skyward with each swing of its monolithic fists. Self-preservation instincts had taken over as all of them desperately scurried away for safety, trying to widen the gap as much as possible between them and the black giant in a futile attempt to escape. Through it all, the giant's pair of red hateful eyes followed Zoro's figure that had emerged from the wreckage with malicious gaze.

Zoro returned the unrelenting glare with comparable ferocity while continuing his march before he lowered his gaze to properly inspect the physical structure of his opponent. Its enormous size is a match for a certain race in Grandline. Though it has a rather stout figure compared to actual giants that have the appearance of enlarged humans, with about the same proportions and features. Its short but thick legs made up about 60 percent of its total height. Its wide muscular chest looked as hard as granite. It is constantly slouching forward and like a curtain, long white hair covers about halfway down to its back. After finishing his analysis, Zoro focused back his eye to its two blood-coloured eyes.

In the next instant, the Goliath leaned toward the ground and set off an explosion from its maw. A sonic boom erupted from between its gaping mouth before the blast launched everything in its path into the air along with huge grassy chunks of the floor. All Zoro could do was watch as bodies of the people caught in the storm rained down and hit the ground in front of him. His one eye enlarged in a silent outrage as it darkens considerably and Zoro dashed forward with impressive agility to meet the blow of its swinging fist head on.


Her voice reached him. The voice of the goddess whom he loved and respected more than anyone else reached Bell Cranel's consciousness in the deepest, and darkest corner of his mind. He couldn't feel his body, and yet there was a powerful warmth surrounding a right hand that didn't exist.

Bell could feel his "teeth" grinding in response to the goddess's repeated, tearful cries. They carved their way through the darkness, drawing him out. His soul ignited. Hestia's flame, one more time. His body came back into existence, twitching. He could see the light at the end of the darkness. All that was left was to stand. Out of the darkness, to the other side of the light. To the place where the goddess's voice was calling him. His body still would not move on command, so Bell focused on the warmth enveloping him. Despite his best efforts, his body would not move or even quiver in the direction of the light.

'Dammit!'

The boy screamed at his body, fully knowing that it was at its physical limit—and then.

"If...if you have what it takes to be called a hero—" Another voice cut through the darkness.


A tiny figure tries to stop the Goliath's advance, Ryu fought her way through the blasts of wind that erupted whenever its enormous feet hit the ground before she lined herself up beside it and hit one of its knees with all of her strength. The beast quickly lost its balance—a low center of gravity and high speed were not a good combination. The wide-eyed Goliath fell forward and hit the great plain with a thunderous bang. The ground cracked on impact, sending a thick cloud of dirt into the air. The Goliath's face morphed into an expression of disbelief as all of its limbs were on the ground for the second time.

At the same time, the sound of someone gracefully landing on land came from behind her. Zoro had just taken a great leap off the the ground to receive the blow from the giant when two figures shortly arrived and had attacked the monster from its defenceless behind, managing to catch it off guard. Turning her head slightly aside, she caught the figure of the mysterious swordsman that had offered to fight off the Goliath before subsequently disappearing and leaving the task of holding it down to the two beautiful women—though with much struggle—then showing up again from out of nowhere and displaying such a clear dominance over the giant monster. She narrowed her eyes in suspicions toward Zoro's disturbed expression.

"Oi. What do you think you're doing interrupting me like that, woman?" Zoro already sheathed his Meito: Shusui and Sandai Kitetsu into their respective scabbards. He then grabbed the white hilt of his other Meito: Wado Ichimonji and removed it from in between his teeth. He performed a simple chiburui, which is an act of swiftly cutting the air motion as to make sure all unwanted gunk will fly off the blade before resting the back of his blade on his left shoulder. His eyebrows raised in a challenging manner, and a harmless glare was directed at her. Zoro's green hair was slightly tousled and his other hand is hidden beneath his green haramaki.

"Did that actually happen...?!" A voice interrupted their competitive glaring contest and successfully cutting off any reply the Elven girl was about to give.

Asfi had finally caught up and gotten close enough to see that they have an extra company. Shaking off a sense of awe at what she'd just seen, Asfi moved in to start her own attack. The floor boss was already starting to raise itself off the ground. However, the two women showed their opponent no mercy. Face, hands, shoulders, thighs, and back—Ryu's wooden sword and Asfi's daggers struck every possible target with blinding speed. The Goliath's rage increased as it roared out in pain. Forgetting its original target for the moment, the Goliath swung all of its limbs around as if trying to swat the world's strongest mosquitoes out of the sky. It even used its howls in an attempt to keep them at bay. Seeing the giant thrashing around in desperation, Ryu started to cast a spell.

"—Distant sky above the forest. Limitless stars set into an eternal night."

"This is why all women are annoying. They never know when not to butt in on other people's business. Tch." He gave out a loud sigh, an image of a certain nosy Navy Captain floated around in his mind, souring his mood because her image is starting to get tangled up with his memory of Kuina. Throughly annoyed with the whole situation, he tightened his grip on the handle of his sword and Zoro let out a tiny fraction of his killing intent into the air.

Though ineffective on the two prominent figure and the giant Goliath, seeing as they were not his actual target. The lower tier monsters surrounding the area started to froze on their feet and gradually losing the will to fight. Making it easy for other adventurers to dispatch quite a number of them. Meanwhile, she continued her assault on the Goliath as the spell came from her lips. A bewildered Asfi watched as the elf continued to attack the beast even faster than she could while focusing on her Magic. Simultaneous high-speed combat and Magic: "Concurrent Casting."

"Listen to my feeble voice and grant the protection of starlight. Bestow the light of mercy upon those who have abandoned you."

It would not be an overstatement to say that magic required a tremendous amount of concentration and verbal enunciation to trigger. High output—a magic's power was rated by the length of the spell. The longer the spell, the more powerful the magic. Therefore, all magic users needed to stand in one place and focus all of their attention into reciting their spell. However, Ryu was reciting a spell and attacking at the same time. The slightest slip of the tongue could result in Ignis Fatuus, and yet here she was attacking, moving, dodging, and casting at a blistering pace. Even to a top-class adventurer such as Asfi, it was extremely impressive. The amount of mental stamina and courage required to pull this off was enormous, not to mention knowledge of close-quarters combat and rhetorical expertise. Executing a combat style that even the Sword Princess wouldn't dare attempt, Ryu kept up a strong physical assault while continuing to cast her magic.


"Hermes?!" A twinge of surprise could be detected in the goddess's sweet voice that appeared along with the voice of another deity being. Bell knew that voice, those words, that echo—he remembered them.

"It's not someone able to draw a sword, or someone willing to raise a shield, or someone who heals others." Those were words he'd heard long ago. Back when he was very young. Words that shaped who he would become. Words from a divine messenger, a voice from his past—his grandfather's.

"Only someone who's willing to risk it all can be called a hero." The voice of the god wavered until slowly it dissipated and became that of his grandfather's.

"Protect your allies. Rescue the ladies. Put yourself on the line." A new light rose through the darkness, taking the form of his grandfather, his important figure from the past.

"It's okay to break, to lose heart, to cry out in pain. The one to claim victory in the end always emerges from the defeated."

The boy remembered. He remembered it all. Bell remembered the words that those smiling lips said next.

"Follow through on your dream, shout it out for everyone to hear. The one who does—"

'That's the one who—'

"—the one who does becomes a glorious hero."

and he awakened.


A/N: THERE YOU GO, SHORT CHAPTER BUT THE SECOND ONE THIS WEEK. IDK I FEEL LIKE IM DRAGGING THE DAMN FIGHT BETWEEN THE GOLIATH AND ZORO WHEN HE COULD EASILY ONE SHOT THE BOSS AND BLITZ THROUGH ALL THE FLOOR MONSTERS BUT THEN AGAIN, WHERE IS THE FUN IN THAT? IM BUILDING UP THE DRAMA FIRST. BTW NO SANJI HATE, I LOVE THE RIVALRY BETWEEN THE TWO AND SO THATS WHY I ADDED THAT LITTLE COMMENT ABOUT SANJI. I MISS HAVING BOTH ZORO AND SANJI TOGETHER IN THE SAME ROOM AGAIN SO MUCH. PLEASE GODA, GRANT MY WISH. DO LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE REVIEW, I ACCEPT ANY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AS IT WILL HELP ME IMPROVE MY WRITING FOR THE BETTER, AS WELL AS ANY SPECIFIC REQUEST ON HOW YOU WANT THE STORY TO PROGRESS. THANK YOU FOR READING! BTW, DO PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT A PAIRING FOR ZORO? I DONT WRITE ROMANCE WELL BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE FUN TBH.

Choppah: I agree, hence why I said I will not make Zoro join any familia but he will most likely be joining a party because, as we all know, he cant depend on his geographical knowledge. Thank you for your time!

Hashirama 1710: Well said, I couldn't have said it better. I completely agree! Thank you for reading and leaving a review!

SuperSaiyanDemon: Thank you for your wait and for your response. I hope this new chapter will be a smooth read for you as well!

TomahawkESP: Tempting, but I cant make him an actual God. Maybe a fake one, sure! Hehe, thank you for reading!