Ann vaguely remembers her dream. She dreams of darkness engulfing her, tearing her apart, and dragging her to an endless pit. She can feel herself giving up, to succumb to the unknown force.
So this is how it feels to die… She told herself.
She almost gave up, but at that moment, she hears someone calling her name, begging her to live. The voice is familiar to her, even in her other dreams, she hears the baritone voice of this person.
Ann is stuck between wanting to rest – to just fade away – and to adhere to the voice of someone calling her.
"Ann…" the voice calls out to her once again. It was Marco, but why is she hearing his voice? The last time she saw him was when she and her sisters are in Raftel. Why is he here now? Or could it be that Marco's voice is just a hallucination?
She contemplated. If she dies, what will happen to her sisters? What will happen to her people? They are depending on her to take back their kingdom, and here she is on death's door, one step away from succumbing to death.
She cannot afford to die. She has not apologized to her sisters for being rude when they wake her up in the morning, she has not pulled pranks against Sab's soldiers, she has not explored Raftel or find out the secrets that their parents might be keeping, she has not avenged the death of their soldiers and most importantly, she has not said a proper goodbye to Marco. There are a lot of things she must do. She can't achieve them if she dies.
Bracing her mind, she told herself she wants to live. With such determination, she suddenly feels a surge of energy in her veins. It hurts, she feels the pain inside her, the wounds that she must have suffered. Even if it hurts, it is a relief for she knows these pains meant she is alive.
After gaining a little bit of her consciousness, she willed her eyes to open, to see who was around her. She can't tell where she is or who is around her, everything is blurry, but she can feel people calling for her name… and Marco's voice.
She tried to open her eyes once again, she sees the familiar exotic blond hair, but she is not certain if it is Marco.
"M-uhhgh" She means to call his name but what came from her mouth is just moans of pain and that was the last thing she did before falling back to her unconscious state.
She does not know how long she has been unconscious. Her eyes slowly open, adjusting to the light of the room. Ann looks around, her head turning to her right side. Her eyes caught the sight of Marco lying on the room's couch. She blinks several times, not believing that he is here. He shouldn't be. Ann observed the room and she is not mistaken. This is Thousand Sunny's room. Why is Marco here? Did he come here for her? Does this mean that the other residents of Raftel are here too? Are they here for the three of them?
The sudden thought of her sisters brought memories of how they were attacked. The last thing she remembered is how she was beaten by that Dark Magician and how his subordinates are attacking her sisters. Her heart aches at the possibilities of what might have happened to her siblings. She needs to know.
Without thinking of her injuries, she tried to get out of the bed, only to fall back in, groaning in pain. The noises she made woke Marco up from his slumber. He is quick to respond in assisting her.
"Ann, you shouldn't get up. Your injuries have yet to heal itself."
"Marco... You're here."
Their eyes met. Seeing his blue eyes this close, for a second, Ann forgets all her worries, allowing herself to be at ease by his mere presence. She has so many questions, but those are forgotten, set aside for the meantime.
"Yes, I am. You are still weak due to your injuries. Lay down and I will call Chopper."
"No!" Her hands are quick to grab Marco's arm, preventing him from leaving. His presence puts her mind at ease... and the idea of him leaving and not coming back sounds scary to her right now.
"He needs to check on your wounds."
"No, before that. Why are you here? You shouldn't be here. We made sure to - " She stopped mid-sentence when she looked in front of her chest, realizing that the stone is no longer on her body.
"Do I need a reason to go after my mate who is in danger?" Ann flinches at Marco's tone. Even without looking at him, she knows that he is frowning. His tone is unlike she had heard before, almost as if he is mad. "I will call Chopper. Stay here." His words feel like she has no say in the matter.
He took his arm back and walked away, leaving her in the room. She does not have time to process what exactly she is feeling because not long after he left, Chopper walked inside with Nami not far behind.
Chopper's voice cracked while he was asking how she is feeling and checking on her wounds.
"I am so glad that you are doing well now, Ann. I thought that you will not make it." Chopper tried to contain his emotions but failed to do so. He sobs as he waits for Ann's response.
"We thought you will die Ann. You were barely breathing when they arrived. Thank goodness for Marco's blood." Nami's words caught Ann's attention.
"Blood? What about blood?"
"You might not be aware of this but most of our blood can heal wounds, but only to our mates. Marco's healing magic is the best in Raftel, if we are a second too late, we might not have saved you." Ann fell silent for a moment, trying to digest all the information. She is at death's door, but Marco saved her. Her chest swells in happiness at that thought, but she tried to suppress it. She has far more important matters to deal with.
"Then what about my sisters? Are they all safe?"
Chopper and Nami remained silent. Ann looked back and forth to the two, her hands shaking in fear.
"Why are you not saying anything?"
"Ann, I want you to calm down and hear me out."
"I am calm, Nami. Now, tell me. Where are my sisters?"
Nami began telling her about the whole situation, that the enemies took Sab and Luffia.
"I know what you are thinking Ann. We understand that you and your sisters want us to stay out of this war, but that is impossible, you know this very well. There is no way for the High Princes to not get involved especially if their mates' lives are on the line. It took a lot of effort to stop His Highness, Kidd from flying in search of Sab." Ann has no words to argue Chopper's. "You did not see how worried Marco is when he saw you almost die. You were dying Ann. You were dying in his arms, and there is nothing more painful for our kind than to see the mate we have been waiting for get hurt much less lie on death's door."
Ann remains silent, solemnly guilty at what happened. She also feels frustrated to be weak. The feeling of being powerless looms like a shadow in her heart, crushing it to pieces.
"Just rest, for now, Ann. We will let you know once we receive any news about them."
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
It hurts... It fucking hurts... Sab feels too much pain in being dragged away from their cell towards Cresta's execution grounds. The chains around her wrists rub against her skin, tearing it apart.
"Get away from my sister, you monsters!" Luffia's voice echoes through the walls of Cresta's dungeon. She knows this place well, she remembers how this place lack of prisoners, free for the three young princesses to explore. Criminals of Cresta are sent to one of their islands to repent.
Their parents never liked to imprison anyone for they all value freedom more than anything else. It has been years since someone used the dungeon, decades even. Who would have thought that they will be the first ones to use it in decades?
In the dungeon's exit, she sees two soldiers whom she does not recognize. Akainu must have replaced the soldiers here when he captured the Royal City.
What about the citizens?
Her question was answered when they arrived in front of the execution grounds. Just like the dungeons, this ground remains as a historic symbol for Cresta. No one has been executed here since their father sat on the throne. What irony. It seems that she will make another history in Cresta.
Her eyes travel to observe her surroundings. The execution grounds are situated at the heart of the Royal City, accessible for the public. It has always been that way even with other kingdoms. As she is dragged, she saw the faces of Cresta's citizens, working as slaves for Akainu. It hurts seeing their eyes lose hope when they saw their princess - their hope - chained, beaten, and about to die.
Everyone stopped, Akainu's soldiers let the slaves gather around the elevated execution platform to witness the death of their beloved princess. Burgess kicks Sab, forcing her to kneel while her hands are tied to the posts, arms spread almost as if she will be crucified.
"Do not hurt Her Highness!" One of the citizens dared to protest. Two soldiers subdued the man who is still begging to spare the princesses.
"I will kill you all! Mark my words! I will kill you with my bare hands!" Luffia shouted and the next second, she finds herself pinned to the ground, by Devon. The impact sends another wave of pain throughout her body. She can hear something crack inside her, but she paid no mind to such details. Right now, all she wants to do is to rescue Sab from this predicament.
"Citizens of Cresta! Behold! I am certain that you know who these two that are in front of you." Burgess began to speak, as loud as he can, presenting the chained princesses to the crowd as if they were presents.
Presents to crush their hopes. Sab bitterly thought. She knows what these people want. They all wanted to see the citizens' hopes crushed to pieces. They all want the people of Cresta to crumble in despair. Such cruelty!
No citizen spoke, their eyes are on Sab. When Sab looked at them, their eyes shine with lingering hopes, as if they are still waiting for them to do something to get out of this situation. They have not lost all their hope and this makes it even painful to watch. What can she do in this situation?
She does not want to give up but there is nothing that can be done.
Sab pulled her arms in a small attempt to free herself, chains shaking, but it did nothing but cause entertainment for Akainu's men. A woman in despair is what she is right now, a failure.
"Your parents refused to talk and give us what we want even until their last breath." Just the mention of their parents sends the two captured princesses into fits of anger. Chains swaying back and forth while they try to free themselves.
"We know your kind, you scoundrel! Even if they talked, you will kill them anyway! If you're going to kill us, be done with it!" Sab glares at Burgess and his soldiers
Burgess kneels in front of her, his hand grabbing her blond hair and he whispers:
"Your parents protected the secrets of the creatures of that Dark Forest. And they died. And so will you." Sab glares at Burgess. "Hmm, maybe you know of something, after all, you stayed inside that place, did you not?"
"Even if I know something, I will never tell you. Kill me if you want, but it does not change the fact that all of you will get nothing from us. And if you dare to attack the Dark Forest now, you will face your doom. You don't know what kind of beasts that are in that place. You are just courting death!"
"Wiihahahah. Such a brave and feisty princess. We will see what kind of bravery you will show us when your time of death is upon you."
Burgess stands up then walks to where Luffia is currently pinned down, struggling to get away from Devon.
"Do not worry, youngest princess. You will follow your sister shortly. It won't take long..."
The clock ticks... getting closer to their impending death.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Anxiety builds steadily in his heart as they set sail to East Blue, an island near the Royal city of Cresta. They have yet to receive anything about the location of the captive princesses. As seconds pass by, Kidd's worry grows. He can't help but think of the worst situation she might be in. It does not help that he cannot sense her at all as if she drifted away from him.
And whose fault do you think that is? He mocks himself. Memories flood his mind, those moments when she is still within reach, but he defiantly pushed her away. This is his fault. Everything is his fault.
"Stop thinking of unnecessary things. You are making everyone on edge by releasing your aura." Zoro scolded him.
The red-haired High Prince surveyed the people around him, they all look at him in fear.
"Tch!" He ignored Zoro, but he acknowledges what he said. Even if he does not want to release his aura, he cannot help it. Everything is complicated. It feels like his whole being is being torn apart, piece by piece.
It will take at least 6 hours to get to East Blue Island and while time flows, they are just there, waiting for any news to come. It does not sit well with Kidd at all. He wants to go out there, do something, and not just sit here and do nothing while she is in danger.
His mind flashes back to the memories of her, Achilles' words to him is a painful reminder of how he is a failure, helpless and useless. What he can hope now is for their magicians to track the princesses.
Sounds of someone hastily walking on the deck caught Kidd's attention. It is Izou, eyes roaming in search of their comrades. Her eyes stopped to look at Kidd and in instinct, he knows she has something to tell her.
"I received traces of where they might be." In an instant, everyone followed her to the ship's navigation room, waiting for more information. "It is very faint, almost nonexistent, but I am sure they are somewhere near the Dark Forest. There's only one place they could be if these traces provide us the truth."
"The Royal Palace." Koala muttered. "Who did you trace?"
Izou starts muttering incantations until the smoke above them shows blurry images of what seems to be a city. They can't see the princesses at all for the image disappears then reappears only to be nothing but a blurry mess.
"I can feel Luffia, her vague presence is there. I am guessing that the stone on her might have cracked, but not fully destroyed. In any case, we have a lead as to where they might be."
"And what are we waiting for here? Shouldn't we change our course and sail as fast as we can?"
"It will take at least 7 or 8 hours to arrive in the Royal City port, even with our fastest speed, that is all we can do."
Before any of them can utter a response, another cloud of smoke appeared right before them. It is Whitebeard. It has been days since the last time they contacted Whitebeard. If he decided to contact them now, it might have something to do with the news Izou conveyed.
"Our scouts received news from Cresta." Everyone waited anxiously for his next words. "I do not know the details of what happened before such events occurred, regardless, the other two princesses are in Cresta."
"Ann is with us, but they took Sab and Luffia before we arrived." Marco said.
"I am glad Ann is with you, safe and sound. I can't say the same for the other two. You must go to Cresta immediately. They are planning to execute them in two hours."
It did not take a minute before everyone heard someone slamming the table, hard enough for it to crack.
"They dare! I will kill them all." If the red-haired High Prince is scary before, he is far scarier now. His eyes turned almost blood red, resembling someone from hell.
"Then we will fly to Cresta to save them." Zoro spoke calmly. Don't let his calm voice fool anyone, his feelings contained, ready to burst at a moment's notice.
"That will alert the enemies of our presence, giving them time to prepare something against us. What we can do is to sail as fast as we can." Thatch commented. He, too, wanted to rescue them, but they must be cautious. They cannot afford mistakes, not when the lives of the princesses are at stake.
"Summon Jinbei and the warriors of the sea. We need his help in these matters."
"Wait, what do you intend to do?" Nami asked Marco. He is the calmest amongst the three High Princes and unlikely to snap her neck.
"You will see." That was all they said and walked out of the room. Shanks is left there, pondering what these men mean at all. Everything seems to be happening too fast for them to have time to think of it, yet, they have no choice but to follow them. They have seen their desires to help the princesses, this is enough reason for Shanks to let them lead the rescue, even if it means witnessing another out of the world events.
He spoke too soon. No one prepared Shanks for this. He did not expect to see a merman – no, he is not exactly a merman, a Fishman.
His face resembles that of a shark, his body may take the shape of a human, but the features carry that of a shark. Around them, several sharks and whale sharks are swimming, as if waiting for someone to fall as their food.
Shanks' men looked terrified at the sight. No one can blame them. Years of sailing under Shanks, they have never seen anything like this. Never.
"Jinbei, it has been a while." The three High Princes greeted the person on board. "We do not have time to provide you all the information you might want, but we need your help."
"Aye. Old Man Whitebeard gave me at least an explanation of what is going on. It's been decades since our kind has interacted with humans." His eyes wander to the humans surrounding them. "I brought my companions, but all of us can only help carry one ship."
"Then we will take our ship. We have no time, we must depart at once." Kidd's impatience is still visible.
Zoro looked at Nami and the rest of Luffia's human friends.
"You can come with us to our ship. Bring your best soldiers, although I do not think we need any of them at all."
Sanji feels irritated hearing what the green-haired man said. He feels insulted. Had it not been for Nami holding him back, he would have attacked the arrogant man.
Marco took this chance to approach Nami.
"Can you inform Ann of our plans?"
"If she will know this, she will no doubt insist on coming along."
"Do not worry. I plan to bring her along anyway. She is stubborn, someone who won't sit still even if you tell her to. No doubt, she will swim if she has to, just to get what she wants." There is a small sigh, exasperation, but Nami can see fondness in his eyes.
"Alright."
They decided who will go with the High Princes and who will stay. Thousand Sunny is still heavily damaged, so Franky decided to stay along with Usopp. Shanks, Benn, and Yasopp will go along with Nami, Sanji, and Koala. The rest of the ships will continue to sail at their best speed to catch up.
As soon as Nami entered the room, she immediately saw Ann trying to get up from her bed. She must have been woken up due to their noises.
"What are you doing?"
"I just can't stay in bed while - "
"Staying in bed is something you should do. You have not fully recovered from those injuries. Besides, they are helping us find your sisters. We already have the information on where they took them." Ann's face instantly brightens. "They are in Cresta. I don't know what is currently happening there, but we only have less than two hours before they will be executed."
"What?! We - "
"The people from Raftel already have a plan to get there before the execution time. Apparently, they asked some merfolk to carry their ship to Cresta."
"Then I am coming along with you! I know I am injured and I will be useless in battle, but I can't stay here knowing nothing about the situation, so please - "
"No need to beg me!" Nami cut Ann's sentence off. "Marco already predicted you will be stubborn about coming along, but if you ask me, I'd rather you stay here. In any case, we have to leave now."
As if on cue, they heard a knock on the door. When it opened, Marco stepped inside, as if telling them that they must go now.
He did not say anything, only nodding to Nami's direction then walks to the bedside. Without a word, he lifted Ann off the bed causing her to yelp in surprise.
"What - " He said nothing, not even looking at her as if she does not exist at all. His blue eyes refused to glance at her. Despite this, it does not escape Ann to feel his warmth, the security to be in his arms. To think she was at death's door not long ago, almost dead and never to see him.
It is scary, now that she thinks about it. She has never been scared of death especially if it is for the cause she believes in and for the people she loves.
The sunlight makes Ann close her eyes, adjusting her sight. On deck, she sees a lot of familiar faces looking at them. Embarrassment hit her like the waves crashing on their ship when she realized what kind of position they are in – Marco carrying her on his arms.
"Hi, Ann! Glad you are doing fine now." It's Thatch's cheerful voice. His brown gleams, making Ann feel embarrassed, cheeks flushed in red. She knows that beneath the innocent greeting, Thatch means more than he lets on, so as the others looking at them.
Before she has the chance to answer, Marco jumps in the air towards the other ship – a jump that is impossible for a human, not that he is a human, to begin with. The sudden jump caused Ann to hold on his shoulders tighter in surprise, yet the blond man remained calm. This irked Ann for one reason or another.
None of them said a word even when they arrived below deck in a big room that seems to belong to Marco. It is a room fit for a High Prince. She wonders why he brought her here but that seems to be a stupid question on her part. She already knows why.
Marco settles her in his bed, and it smells like him just as she remembered. The smell of fire mixed with the coolness of spring and cool water, it is unexplainable, but she knows this smell all too well.
"Settle here. The sail will not be smooth at all." There's the cold voice again – the coldness makes her heart clench but more than his cold tone, it is the disinterest in his eyes that bothers her.
Without waiting for her reply, he walked out of the room leaving her wanting more of his warmth and presence.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Clock ticks, closer to the designated time of the execution. Seconds turned into minutes, Minutes into an hour – closer and closer to the time limit, like a ticking bomb about to explode.
Luffia lies there, exhausted in trying to free herself from the chains that bind her, but all efforts are useless. Sab feels resigned to her fate now that they are minutes away from being dead. There is nothing she can do at this point but pray that Luffia and Ann will be safe.
"Your death will be quick, princess. Wiihahaha."
Sab glares at the man, all her hate directed to him. If only glares can kill, he would have been dead. But no, glares will do nothing.
"Kill us if you must. You will be dead anyway if you attack the Dark Forest."
Burgess grabbed Sab's blond hair, pulling it as hard as he can, forcing her to look up to him.
"It appears that your feistiness is still there, burning for a sliver of hope. I don't think the pain you have gone through is enough. Maybe we should let you feel more pain before you die."
He lets her go and fetched a thorned whip used to torture prisoners.
"NO!" Luffia shouted, but little of her voice can be heard. Even the civilians pleaded for Burgess to stop and they received hits from the enemy soldiers.
"Shall we begin?" Sab was not able to form a sentence to refute him, what came out of her mouth are pained shouts, screams of agony as the thorned whip makes solid contact on her skin, ripping it apart.
Blood spilled on the execution platform, and it does not stop there. Burgess continues to whip her arms, her back and at one time, the thorns hit her head and her neck, ripping the necklace off.
Sab can feel her consciousness slipping away. Her throat can no longer produce screams, rather what came out are just whimpers of pain that no one can hear. Her eyelids flutter in an attempt to keep her eyes from closing, but with how things are, every strike, every whip, she falls to embers of unconsciousness.
Burgess stopped after seeing how bloody the princess has become, not because of pity – no, he does not pity them – rather, out of satisfaction upon the sight of despair and helplessness.
An evil grin appears on his face, full of satisfaction, his eyes signaling the executioners that it is time.
"Your time has come, Princess. It is time to die."
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Shanks can feel his head aching at the whole situation. It feels surreal, unbelievable yet here they are on a big ship sailing fast to Cresta. The ship is full of creatures he had heard before, and even below them, in water, it is full of creatures found in tales.
"It appears that the three rascals have gotten themselves into a lot of trouble." Smoke puffs out of Benn's mouth as he finishes his sentence, not that he can leisurely smoke with the speed of the ship.
"They always cause troubles even when they are younger, at least the troubles they had are nothing excessive as this." A sigh left Shanks, his mind going down the memory lane of when the princesses were children. The King and Queen travel to neighboring kingdoms, leaving the princesses behind in the Palace. They sometimes asked Shanks to look after the three. The number of times Shanks almost went bald because of the three's mischiefs cannot be counted anymore.
"Trouble always finds the three of them."
"This trouble is bigger than we thought, but at least they have someone willing to summon Fishmen just to save them." Their eyes wander to where the Otherworldly creatures are. All of them emits a strong aura, unfazed by the speed of the ship.
Slowly, Shanks' eyes wander to where the three High Princes are. Who could have thought that the princesses will attract the attention of the three powerful beasts?
Certainly, Shanks' thoughts hold the truth in them. Not even Marco and Kidd can fathom that their mates will be humans living not far from where they are. Albeit of Zoro's irritation to the youngest princess, he still feels a sliver of connection to her, even if she is not his mate at all.
And at this moment, they are minutes away from Cresta. Kidd stands at the figurehead, gazing at the palace standing not far from them. At this moment, he feels the connection again, hitting him with a nauseating feeling he cannot describe.
He pants overwhelmed at the sudden connection to her and at that moment, he feels it. He feels the immense pain she is in, he can almost feel her breath slowly fading, her consciousness, and her life force.
Without waiting for the ship to dock, Kidd took off his cape, wings sprouted on his back, startling the humans aboard and even their companions.
"Kidd - " Zoro calls out but stops as he felt Kidd's state of mind has something to do with Sab. Something must be happening now. A second after Kidd's wings appeared, he flies off, faster than anyone expected.
The red-haired prince is guided by his instincts and as he gets closer and closer to where she is, he can smell blood, her blood. Then he arrives without anyone noticing his presence midair.
The plaza is full of enemy soldiers encircling the execution ground while some of the civilians are pleading not to harm the princesses. His eyes look ahead and that's when his world almost stopped. Suddenly everything does not matter – ceased to exist in his mind, nothing but the sight in front of him.
Sab kneeling on the elevated execution platform, chained and bathing on blood – her own blood.
Blood…
Kidd froze for a moment, trying to discern if what lies ahead is true...
Then, his eyes caught the sight of two executioners, pointing their swords at her. His eyes register the sight, rage slowly creeps to his whole being, consuming him – instincts taking over. All of his rages woke the sleeping demon inside him, veins almost bursting with power, his body emits a bloody red aura. The wind surrounds him, like a storm brewing, about to cause chaos and catastrophe.
The people in the execution plaza noticed how the wind slowly becomes hotter every second, sending chills down their spine. The wind blows strongly, almost gathering at one spot above them.
Burgess and Devon noticed the ominous presence not too far from where they are, and as they look at the person, hovering in the air, they can't help but feel like they are staring at a demon.
Huff… Huff… Sab fights to stay awake. She forces herself to look at her people one last time, but she can only see a blurry mess of people in front of her, nothing else.
It is at this time that Kidd's accumulated rage exploded.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" The shout causes trembles in the air and vibrations sending tremors on earth. Everyone is startled hearing a war cry of a demon.
Kidd descends on the ground, so fast that the people are not able to react to it until they see him moving, sending enemy soldiers to their doom.
"Stop him!" Burgess shouted at his soldiers and magicians. They hastily gather into formations against an entity they have never seen before. The magicians cast a spell to Kidd, blue magical formation appears above him, and there came a gravitational technique that is supposed to keep him grounded and unable to move. That is how they expected it, however, the gravitational technique did nothing but enraged Kidd even more.
A sway of his wings and the magical formation disappeared in a blink of an eye. He moves again, sending soldiers aside, killing them as he passes by, closer to the execution grounds. Anyone who tries to stop him will meet their death.
The way Kidd walks, the soldiers feel like they are seeing death itself. Burgess frowns irritated at the sight of his soldiers dying. He has no choice but to kill this man himself. He does not know who this demon is, but a little entertainment before he executes the princesses is definitely welcome.
Burgess jumps from the execution ground to meet the demon, fist ready to send it flying. He expects his fist to connect to this demon, but it did not. Instead, his fist met an invisible barrier right in front of the red-haired demon. This shocked Burgess, his entire body trembled upon experiencing the red hue of energy surrounding this creature.
Kidd stares at the huge man in front of him, blood-red eyes trying to discern who this man is, and even at his raged state, he knows who this man is. A faint memory of how this man hurt Sab. Once again, his rage exploded, so as his power. With a fast movement, he grabs the man's neck forcing him to kneel before him.
"Ughh, who are you? T-This is Akainu's territory, you will not be forgiven if you do any damage more than you already have." Burgess tries to summon all his power to resist the man, yet he cannot. No matter how much resistance he puts, it becomes nothing in front of this demon. It is as if all his energy is being sucked, leaving him with nothing but despair.
Kidd's claws sunk deeper to Burgess' neck, slowly cutting away the little protection he has. The huge man tried to peel the claws from his neck, but what Kidd did is something no one expected. His right hand continues to break Burgess' neck while his left hand reached for Burgess' right hand, and in one swift move, he pulled the entire arms off his body. Burgess did not have enough time to shout in pain when his left arm came off his body, blood spilled everywhere.
He trembles in fear – something he had never experienced before.
"You dare harm her! You filthy human dared!" The red-haired man's voice sends shivers to everyone in that plaza. The soldiers slowly walk backward while they stay alert. The magicians have found themselves unable to cast any spells due to fear.
Burgess' mind slowly remembers Roger's warning to Akainu. Should they harm his daughters, they will regret it for the rest of their lives. Is this what he is talking about? Did Roger ask the Otherworldly to assist his daughters?
He does not have enough time to ponder for the claws have sunk deep into his neck and in one final push, he laid on the floor, dead.
Grrrr…. Grrr….
Everyone in the plaza heard growls of wolves getting louder and louder. And when they look around, hundreds of wolves have surrounded the entire plaza, hungry to kill the soldiers and kill they did. As soon as they saw their enraged Master, they decided to attack the soldiers, spilling their blood on the ground.
Achilles growls, sending orders to the wolves to leave no soldier alive. A quick death is already mercy from them. What they did to Sab cannot be forgiven. As for the magicians, Achilles is quick to take care of them all.
Zoro and the others arrived in the plaza, witnessing the death of several enemies. Nami gasped upon seeing Sab and Luffia's state.
Zoro did not waste any time, his draconic wings spread out as he flies as fast as he can to where Luffia is. He feels the impending danger the woman near Luffia poses. She must be a dark practitioner.
Midair, he summons his two swords on each side.
"Nitoryu Iai: Rashomon!" The woman, even if she noticed Zoro approaching, she has no way of easily defending herself from the speed of the blade. Magicians are not known for their speed, nor their defenses, this makes Zoro's attacks effective against her. She was sent flying, a huge sword wound on her chest.
With the two main enemies gone and dead, Kidd slowly regained his clear-minded state. He approaches the execution grounds where she is. His heart pounding in rage as he broke the chains off her. As she lay in his arms, bloodied, beaten, and almost lifeless, he feels an unfathomable feeling of pain, guilt, and despair.
He pushed her away when he knows he needs her. Where was he when she needs him? Coiled up in his palace, contemplating on his hate for humanity! He utterly feels ashamed for what he has done. This could have been avoided had he not chose to push her away and accept the truth, but no, he was a coward and his cowardice almost cost her life.
"This will never happen again. I swear it." Kidd whispers as he slowly drips his blood to her mouth. With her on his arms, he stands up and flies towards their ship where Chopper can heal the injured princesses.
Zoro pours droplets of healing water to Luffia's mouth to ensure that she will not die. He cannot possibly let her consume his blood for it will harm her more than it will do good.
Kidd and Zoro fly to the ship and let their comrades deal with the remaining soldiers. The Wolves led by Achilles had killed the soldiers who dared to fight back. Shanks and Benn stayed behind in the palace to help subdue the soldiers and possibly get more information about the enemy's armies. Truth be told, Shanks had never seen a one-sided battle like this. It is proof that of the power and might these creatures have.
As soon as he saw the red-haired High Prince transformed, he knows that the enemies are doomed. And he is right, however, the people who are in Cresta are not the enemy leaders. They are mere subordinates, which is why this war is not over, no, not yet. More battles will come in the future. Now that the presence of the Beasts of Raftel is out in the public, Akainu and his army will do anything to attack Cresta again, and it won't stop in Cresta. They will attack the Dark Forest and Raftel.
Another storm is coming…
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AN: So proud of this chapter tbh. And I almost postponed the update today because I was crying. My outline for the next chapters are gone. Damn Evernote. Anyway... Here's the promised chapter. Enjoy.
