Chapter 09: The Mercenary Princess, Maia
-Forests of Eostia-
Right now in the same forest where our hero was looking at a bonfire. On the fire, there is a stick that has a huge piece of meat on it.
In the end the battle against the King of the Forest had been too predictable, simply showing it would have been a waste of time. The simple fact that such a massive bear was now meat on a stick was clear proof of what happened.
"Delicious! This bear is so delicious!" A cheerful Luffy commented as he continued to chew the meat of the huge King of the Forest. Luffy was sitting on top of a recently fallen log in other words, Luffy just kicked a tree to make it fall and thus have a place to sit.
Actually eating animal meat that he heated himself in a campfire brought back the feeling of being in Rusukaina. However, unlike that island, this forest was a quiet place without huge beasts.
So Luffy could eat calmly without worrying about some huge beast that was going to challenge him to take his food from him and thus interrupt his lunch.
Moments like these to lie down to rest and enjoy good meat. Then Luffy would continue running at full speed to reach his goal in Ken.
However, unfortunately for Luffy, this was not going to be a quiet meal since before taking another bite he felt something.
"Something is wrong?" Luffy said out of nowhere who focused his gaze in a certain direction.
However, even without any loud sound, Luffy felt that something was wrong. His own instinct was telling her.
"I'd better check." In the end, Luffy decided to trust his instincts, something that had helped him survive in the wild without much trouble. Luffy didn't know how big that choice would end up being.
But since Luffy simply couldn't let that delicious meat leave the grasp and taking advantage of the elasticity of his body, he opened his mouth and swallowed the whole piece of meat in one go. Truly a mouth with the ability to stretch was very helpful in supplementing the straw hat boy's appetite.
Luffy then started running being guided solely by his instincts. Eventually, the Captain of the Straw Hats came to a part where the forest ended.
Sticking his head out of him, Luffy could see a clearing in the middle of the forest, There was a river that ran through the place as well as a naked girl surrounded by monsters.
Luffy could see a red-haired girl being surrounded by various creatures that he recognized as those ogres that the Black Dogs used in the castle when he rescued Olga and Chloe as well as being the same ones that he faced in Feoh while walking the streets.
The fact that that girl was naked was practically something Luffy paid no attention to, while other men would have already had a nosebleed seeing such a beautiful body in all its glory.
Instead of that sexy body, Luffy focused on the situation itself.
At the edge of the river were clothes and a pair of swords. That girl had weapons to defend herself, but when she found herself bathing, she separated from them and had been disarmed in the face of the apparent ambush
Luffy's next action would be obvious since he knew which group the Ogres were associated with. Besides, he wasn't just going to leave someone in trouble there.
-Of course in the Forest-
On the other hand, we now focus on where the conflict was occurring.
For the Warrior Princess known as Maia, things certainly couldn't be worse. It wasn't just the fact that she found herself surrounded by what were clearly Ogres with eyes filled with lust.
It all started as a normal day for her, after waking up in the morning and eating something Maia headed to her castle to begin her work as the ruling Warrior Princess of Geofu.
However, unlike what had been a peaceful experience some time ago, it was now an unpleasant experience.
Some days ago the false rumor had reached Geofu (In Maia's eyes) that the Kuroinu mercenaries had started a rebellion against Eostia with the aim of transforming it into a repulsive 'empire of sex'.
Maia just didn't think it was possible that that was the truth, the Black Dogs she remembered wouldn't do that.
Unfortunately, it seemed that this opinion was not shared by many since in the city Maia heard people murmuring about how terrible the Black Dogs were, even in her castle Maia could hear her subjects talking about that topic.
Maia really wanted to answer them and tell them how wrong those people were, and that Vault and his people would never do something like that. However, Maia could not do it as she recognized how things were with those rumors if she said something to the Black Dog's defense, her own people might think that she was on the mercenary side.
And even though she hurt, because of Geofu's stability the redhead was silent even when Maia wanted to speak.
Perhaps her romantic feelings for Vault and feelings of companionship for others had influenced her decision to believe in the Black Dog's innocence. The only way to convince her otherwise would be to show her eyes how wrong she was in believing in the innocence of Vault and her own.
But if Maia saw with her own eyes the decline of her former companions would mean that she herself was on the verge of being a victim of Vault's wicked mind. In other words, Maia was in a dangerous situation although she herself did not know it, all due to her desire to believe in the good of her former companions, but going back to the reason why Maia was alone it was actually pretty simple.
She just wanted to be alone.
As in itself, it was stressful just keeping quiet in the end Maia used the excuse of going on patrol by herself so that she was alone in one of her favorite places. A river crossed this clearing and continued into the forest where she could enjoy bathing in the open air.
As her job to rule Geofu could be stressful for her who before being ruler was a mercenary, Maia often came here and today was no exception.
But when she was naked bathing in that river was when she Maia suffered the great bad fortune of being surrounded by a group of Ogres who looked at her with lust.
Unfortunately, that matter with the Black Dogs and her alleged crimes was so present in Maia's mind that she did not realize her situation until it was too late in other words she took her guard and now paid the price. price.
It was clear to anyone what would happen here if those Ogres managed to capture her, Maia had had the misfortune to see it before when she and the others took missions to eliminate Ogres in the past.
"My swords are so close!" Mentally Maia felt desperate since her opportunity to fight was so close, but since the Ogres seemed to react to every movement or time their muscles tensed Maia knew that they would launch on them the instant she started running for their swords. .
But doing nothing would mean becoming the toy of the Ogres.
"It only remains to take a risk. All or nothing!" Mentally shouted a determined Maia knowing that there was only that option if she wanted to avoid being raped.
But before Maia could make the first move.
"Gum Gum Pistol!" A boy's voice could be heard.
"ARRRGGG!" An Ogre was immediately heard complaining of pain and then sent flying a few steps and falling unconscious on the ground with no sign of getting back up.
"Hey?" Maia said as she watched as something very unusual happened in a very tense moment, She could see something that looked like a human arm. But was it really one? After all, an arm was not that size.
However, the Ogres instinctively tensed as they felt great power very close. Luffy came out from among the trees. His gaze wasn't friendly at all, but luckily it was directed at the Ogres.
Said Ogres tensed when they saw that boy since it was now general knowledge that a boy with a straw hat and capable of stretching his body, was someone even more dangerous than any other monster.
But they had been informed that this boy would be somewhere else. So what is he doing here?!
"Haaaaaa!" However, upon hearing the battle cry of a Luffy who ran towards them, the Ogres had no choice but to face that boy.
And that's why they forgot about Maia.
"Did his body stretch?" Maia asked quietly seeing something impossible with her eyes.
At first, she wondered if what she saw was some optical illusion, but seeing that boy doing her next action would remove the redhead's doubts.
"Gum Gum Whip!" Luffy's scream marked his next move, his leg was stretched out wide and the pirate waved it like a whip, the wide-ranging attack ended up continuously hitting the chest of some of the Ogres.
However, in a great show of agility, one of the Ogres managed to position itself on Luffy and surround his torso with his gigantic hands, as if it were a doll.
The Ogre internally was glad to manage to catch Luffy without knowing that the pirate did not panic at any time. Thinking that he had achieved victory, the Ogre gave a smile full of malice and desire to kill, and with great joy he used all his strength to compress Luffy's torso between his hands.
What ignorance.
Even though he had Luffy in his hands, even though the Ogre used all of his strength to break every bone in the pirate's body just like he had done countless humans before, he couldn't hear or feel the familiar sound of bones. breaking down.
Luffy didn't even wince.
One would think that with his rubber body that was resistant to brute force impacts, it was very easy to withstand attacks of that level, on the other hand, even if his body was not made of rubber, Luffy would still have been able to perfectly withstand the physical power of that. Ogre and it would have been the ogre who would have ended up hurting to continue that grip.
"What a weak grip," Luffy said coldly who prepared one of his free legs and...
One kick to the stomach was enough for the Ogre to let go of Luffy. Also, as the Ogre was more concerned with his own pain than with his opponent, Luffy took the opportunity to end this.
"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy named his next move again, our hero's outstretched fist did not take long to demonstrate his power by crashing into the Ogre's, even when he tried to defend himself with his arms, they simply broke on contact. The Ogre's teeth flew out while his nose was totally shattered causing blood to flow like a geyser.
With that, there were only three Ogres left standing.
These creatures began to forget his anger when they saw how his companions were defeated without difficulties, and he was replaced by the fear that flooded his hearts because for them Luffy was now a God giving a punishment.
And that same fear caused them to forget the presence of the princess knight, his original victim, his lustful desires had no chance to win against the fear they felt at that moment.
Maia seeing that she had been forgotten did not hesitate to run towards her clothes.
Instead of staying as a mere spectator, Maia immediately went to look for her clothes and in a great show of speed she put them on in a matter of seconds (It was simply a kind of leotard that leaves her breasts in view and some kind of stockings, it didn't take long) and proceeded to grab his swords. Maia was ready to go help the strange boy who had saved her, staring at her useless was something she didn't want to do.
However… in front of Maia, even more monsters came out from the forest, and they weren't exactly more Ogres.
Those were small, ugly, big-nosed, green humanoid monsters. Each of them carried knives, axes, or small swords. Those monsters proceeded to circle Maia to prevent him from escaping her.
"Goblins!" A frustrated Maia exclaimed at the appearance of more monsters. She was about to go help that boy and now more problems appeared.
Goblins were generally weak creatures the size and strength of a ten-year-old child, as well as being stupid beings but they were no less lethal for that.
What the goblins lacked in power they made up for in numbers.
Maia remembered hearing that in just one week a nest of ten goblins could grow to a hundred members as long as they had human women to reproduce by forcing them to have sex.
Needless to say, Maia found those creatures repulsive and in her mercenary days she ended up with many, which is why she was not intimidated.
"I've already finished with hundreds of you before. Come on!" Challenge Maia who pointed at them with one of her swords in her hand.
Those words were the beginning of the match for Maia.
The Goblins lunged toward Maia with the intention of incapacitating her, normally it would be with the intention of raping her but this time they had orders from her.
Maia wasted no time and quickly drew both swords from her sheaths, they were long swords specially designed for speed, and that was Maia's greatest ability and her most powerful advantage in this battle.
Using a quick footwork, the princess knight did not take a second to close the distance with the goblins, Using the range of her swords she attacked the closest one with a quick and accurate strike to her neck.
Three Goblins launched themselves at the same time with the intention of restricting their movements, Maia did not show fear and danced avoiding the first Goblin, when the second one was on her, the sexy redhead showed not to be in any way weak by taking her arm and twisting it when the third was in range, Maia threw the second Goblin forcing him to collide with the third.
Seeing them immobilized, she threw one of her swords, which pierced their bodies and remained stuck on the ground, the goblin's groans of pain began to sow fear in the hearts of the little monsters.
"Come on you fucking cowards!" The sexy redhead yelled with an insane smile. "They want to Fuck me! No?! Then come get me!" Spurred on by Maia's words and driven by anger and fear, five Goblins attacked again relying on numbers.
Through experience, numbers were nothing to Maia, at least not one of this kind.
Maia simply lunged at the nearest Goblin and sliced him up and down, When the second one was a few feet from her the princess knight launched herself in a direct attack impaling him through the heart, but as a consequence was left open to the enemy attack.
Even so, Maia was perfectly continent of her environment, using the corpse of the Goblin attached to her sword as a shield, the third Goblin doubted and it was his undoing since Maia took the second sword forgotten in the corpse of his enemies and in a quick movement. I beheaded him.
The two remaining Goblins cowered and fell back to join the idle group behind them.
However, although they were weak, they had a more developed mind than many monsters, so they did not take long to surround Maia in a circle, a Goblin took advantage of the fact that the princess knight's attention was focused on another but someone like Maia would not have lasted so long if she could fall for such a simple tactic.
Crack!
"He has!" Without wasting time Maia reacted and gave a powerful kick to which she tried to attack her from the back, the blow was perfectly placed on the jaw causing the head to turn in a different direction and ended up breaking the neck of the Goblin making him fall lifelessly to his feet.
Seeing how one of them had died trying to attack from behind the other goblins showed their cowardly attitude and took a few steps away.
"I'm not done with you yet!" Maia said with a dangerous tone to the goblins who took another step back. "I haven't gotten soft enough to lose against you." While Maia no longer faced enemies all the time like Back in the days when she was a mercenary, since she was a Warrior Princess her combat skills hadn't diminished much.
Seeing how determined Maia was to continue fighting the Goblins were even more scared since they were also cowardly beings by nature. When there was a numerical advantage they felt ready to fight, but when things started to go wrong and the opponent seemed to be able to continue fighting, then the Goblins' first instinct was to escape.
But they knew what could happen to them if they tried to escape, they would be tortured by the mercenaries.
The Goblins attacked Maia, but one could tell that her movements were shaky and stiff, Maia took advantage of that and continued attacking those Golbins.
The redhead's two swords tasted the goblin's blood.
After a few more minutes all that remained of the monsters that tried to attack Maia were bodies killed by cut wounds (Courtesy of Maia) and unconscious bodies with broken bones (Courtesy of Luffy).
"That was all," Luffy said seeing that none of the monsters were still standing.
"It has been a long time since I faced a group of goblins," Maia commented to herself who was checking her body to make sure that none of the weapons had touched her since it was known that being weak the Goblins used weapons dipped in a mixture of herbs poisonous and excrement a disgusting method, but irritatingly effective.
"Well then I'm done here," Luffy said casually planning to return to his campsite to rest and then continue on his way.
"Waiting!" However, after a few steps, he was interrupted by the voice of Maia who was looking at Luffy with stunned eyes.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Luffy asked who didn't see a good reason for that look from Maia.
Although the reason was simply out of nowhere a boy with the power to stretch appears and defeats a group of Ogres making it look easy. And now that same boy planned to leave without saying anything else?
Well, Maia wasn't going to allow that.
"Who are you?" Maia asked.
While she wished she had answers, first things first. Hers, her time as Warrior Princess commanding a castle, also taught the redhead a bit of courtesy.
"I'm Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy." Luffy introduced himself.
"My name is Maia, thank you for helping me." She said with genuine feelings of gratitude. "Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't shown up." Maia hoped she could have grabbed their swords in time but at the same time, she knew that doing so would have been difficult.
"Okay, I already had unfinished business with those guys," Luffy said indicating the aching and immobile Ogres on the ground. As those creatures were part of the Black Dogs it was clear that Luffy would defeat them.
However, despite saving her, Maia felt a little suspicious about Luffy since that power was not normal.
"I have many things to ask but the first is how did you do that?" Maia asked as she watched Luffy with a little caution since what she saw him do was not normal for a human at all.
"What thing?" Asked a curious Luffy who didn't know what Maia was referring to even when it was obvious.
"I mean how your body is able to stretch!" Maia raised her voice a little as thanks to her previous attack she was a bit unsettled and Luffy's response didn't help much to calm her down.
"Ah, it was because I ate a Devil Fruit," Luffy replied simply.
"Did a magic fruit give you those powers?" Maia asked who was looking at Luffy weirdly.
"Yes, I ate the Gum-Gum fruit and now I'm a rubber man." Luffy nodded.
"Well, very strange things happen in Eostia," Maia admitted in a whisper after thinking about hers, her own experiences from her mercenary days, and many of the unusual things she encountered. "So I think a magic fruit makes sense. "
With Luffy's powers cleared, Maia then had something else she needed to know.
"So Luffy, what were you doing in the forest?" Asked Maia, although she was very grateful for the rescue, she also wanted to know what a boy with those rare powers and great combat skills was doing in a place that few people knew about.
"I have a very important letter to deliver to a person named Kazuya," Luffy explained.
Furthermore, Luffy did indeed forget the name of the person he was supposed to find in the first place.
Had he remembered the name of Princess Kaguya, this encounter with Maia would surely have gone in a very different direction than it would now because Luffy forgot the name of the person he was supposed to find in Ken.
But with Luffy, things somehow ended up working out in the end. It was funny how it was that almost by fate the Captain of the Straw Hats met important people even without doing it on purpose.
It would probably happen again in the future, either in Eostia or on the Grand Line.
"Do you have to deliver that letter? Then you must be a messenger?" Said Maia who was forming a (Wrong) image of Luffy.
Luffy was about to correct her and say that he was a Pirate, if not for remembering Olga's words that it was better to say that he was not a pirate since he had to keep a low profile until he got to Ken.
But since he didn't want to lie knowing how terrible he was at it, Luffy just kept quiet and nodded very quickly so that Maia wouldn't see her face.
Fortunately, that seemed to have the desired effect.
"I see." Maia agreed understanding Luffy's situation.
"Right now I'm on my way to Ken." Said Luffy who then looked more closely at Maia. "If you're here does it mean I'm close?" Asked an excited Luffy thinking that his journey had come to an end.
"Ken?" Maia repeated who saw Luffy with a strange look.
"If that's the city I should go to." Luffy nodded. "Then am I close?" A hopeful Luffy asked at the possibility of finally being close when in reality he was far away.
"Luffy, Ken is in another direction." Was the response of Maia who saw Luffy as if he were an idiot, which was not at all out of reality. "You're close to Geofu."
Geofu's name was somewhat familiar to Luffy, who sadly couldn't remember exactly where he had heard it.
"Whoa?!" An incredulous Luffy exclaimed when he learned that everything he had traveled had been in vain as he was going in another direction.
"Didn't you have a map to help you get there?" The redhead asked when she saw how Luffy had gotten.
"No…" Replied a discouraged Luffy. The only map he had seen was the one shown to him before starting his journey which Luffy thought he understood.
Seeing Luffy's predicament made Maya pensive, and then.
"If it's that important then I could help you," Maia said after having formed that idea almost seconds ago very spontaneously.
"Hey?" It was the response of Luffy who looked at Maia with surprise.
"This really is the best opportunity to get away from my city…" Was the idea that came to Maia's mind after hearing Luffy's predicament.
As had been said, Maia found the environment in her city stressful due to negativity towards Kuroinu and she couldn't just leave to find out the truth. In the worst case, they could declare her a traitor to hers, which would put her in conflict with her current allies.
And really Maia wished she didn't have to fight them.
However, it was thanks to Luffy that Maia was able to find a good point to get to the bottom of it all.
With Luffy, Maia would take him to Ken using the excuse of helping whoever helped her. So in Ken, she could ask Kaguya for help to find the truth about what was happening with the Black Dogs knowing that Ken's Warrior Princess was a pretty reasonable girl.
In other words, Maia would be killing two birds with one stone since she could help whoever helped her and also with the help of Kaguya to get to the truth.
"You can come with me to Geofu." Maia gave Luffy an offer. "You can spend the night at my place and then we can leave the next morning for Ken after lunch."
Since Maia was never royalty and instead she was a mercenary, having a castle was never really her style. That's why she lived in a simple medium-sized house while she went to her castle to do her homework.
"Seriously?!" Asked an excited Luffy upon hearing Maia's proposal. First, because she knew where to go and second, and most importantly because of the food.
"You could say that I really know Eostia like the back of my hand to the point of not needing a map to travel the nation." Maia smiled with pride in her voice as she said those words. If that was true in her time as a mercenary, Maia had traveled to Eostia together with the Black Dogs when they had not yet become what they were now. "You got me out of a very bad situation, so the best I can do is get you out of your bad situation." Maia elaborated.
"Good! You are a very nice girl!" Luffy celebrated and raised his fist to the heavens when he saw how everything seemed to be heading in a better direction.
Seeing his upbeat reaction from him Maia couldn't help but smile. Really finding a boy her age with such a pure and joyful attitude was a true rarity as a dangerous world like Eostia would eventually corrupt young people like that.
Truly if this would be her company for the next few days, then Maia felt that this trip to Ken would be better than she thought.
Before she knew it, Maia had already formed a whole plan to be able to have time away from Geofu, all to meet this mysterious young man who had helped her out of a very bad situation.
She didn't know that it was Luffy who had faced her and defeated her former teammates, usually leading them to their deaths by allowing someone else to deliver the coup de grace nor that Luffy was becoming Vault's symbol of hatred.
For Maia, our hero was right now just a boy with peculiar powers who helped her through a very hard time and she could help at the same time take advantage of Geofu's time to leave.
"Come with me, Geofu is about thirty minutes." Indicated Maia who started walking towards a certain direction where she had left her horse.
And so the redhead led Luffy to where her city was, but what neither she nor Luffy knew was that someone saw how the boy with the straw hat had saved her.
-Behind some trees-
On the other hand right now in the trees that were on the opposite side of the forest trees from which Luffy came out things were not as cheerful as with Luffy and Maia.
Those who had observed the act of the redhead being saved by the Straw Hat boy were mercenaries who belonged to a certain group whose luck had run out the day Luffy appeared in this world.
"Damn! What is that guy doing here?!" The first mercenary shouted with fear when he saw how the boy who was gradually turning into a nightmare was quite close.
"Is it possible that he somehow found out about Vault-sama's plan?!" The second mercenary also shouted with great fear when he saw that the plan had been definitively ruined.
The plan here was quite simple: To save Maia when she was about to be raped by the Ogres.
The Ogres had been ordered to be about to penetrate Maia, but without crossing that line so that the two mercenaries who were in hiding would appear and as complete heroes defeat the Ogres who had been instructed to let themselves be won (Of course that was achieved in exchange for promising the Ogres that they could rape as many women as they wanted nothing too serious for Vault). The Goblins had been put in case Maia had somehow been able to fight the Ogres.
After that, the mercenaries would take Maia to the camp where she would find a Vault that would act as if nothing the Black Dogs had done was true.
Thus she would believe that her former companions were still as she remembered them and she would agree to help them 'clean her image' of her and thereby let them enter Geofu, where Vault planned to show her his true colors.
Vault knew of the feelings that Maia had for him and that is why he planned to use them to the best of him.
Since when he entered Maia's castle that would be where Vault would show her true nature and after defeating her, he would be in charge of raping her along with her subordinates.
And so after having captured Geofu Vault would rape her even more in front of the captured inhabitants of her to send Eostia the message that Black Dogs and her dream had not died and that they were not weak either.
But Maia's feelings for Vault weren't the only reason, going for her was also the most strategic.
Thanks to an informant in Rad, the message that Luffy was heading towards Ken reached Vault who thought to make the most of that by focusing his attention on the remaining cities.
Since Celestine Lucross was in Thorn in that city that would surely be the most protected of all that ruled her out as her target until she could gather enough men and monsters for a final attack.
Kaguya was in the place where Luffy was supposedly heading which also ruled her out as a goal as the priority was to avoid Luffy at all costs.
And finally in Ansur, a great ally like Grave Levantain was ready to help them at any moment so it was not of such a high priority.
So Geofu would become the new starting point for the Black Dogs Empire of Sex.
Or that was the original plan if not for Luffy's unexpected appearance from simply getting lost on the way.
So the mercenaries having been defeated without even comforting the boy in the straw hat on this occasion knew that the best option would be to return to the camp instead of trying his luck with someone who would surely tear them apart without effort.
Again thanks to Luffy a Warrior Princess had ended up avoiding a horrible future.
-Camp in the forest-
About thirty minutes of running through the forest led the two mercenaries to a meadow that had been chosen by the Black Dogs for the meeting point.
In that camp there were several tents and a total of fifty men outside, counting the leader among them.
There waiting surprisingly was an intact Vault sitting on a chair among the other mercenaries who were standing.
Usually, they were messier, but right now Vault wanted to give the image that his own were an orderly bunch to make a better impression on the girl he was supposed to be arriving at any moment.
If Maia saw that the Black Dogs had become more orderly as a professional army then she would believe even more that they weren't those rough savages that the Eostia people had branded them with.
"There is little left, Soon Maia will be here and we can recover." Said with a wicked smile the leader of the Black Dogs who looked better than ever even though his last meeting with Luffy had left him very hurt.
In order for Vault to be as if nothing had happened, the mercenaries had to spend a huge amount of healing items, some of them incredibly rare and cost the lives of some members to obtain and were unique.
"It should be very close now." Vault said to himself who knew that at any moment his subordinates would return along with Maia.
AND…
When Vault heard the sound of the galloping horses approaching immediately a smile formed on his face.
However, instead of her honest, lust-filled smile as usual this smile was a warm and friendly fake smile.
That fake smile was one Vault had used many times to hide his true repulsive nature.
That smile was the one that he used when Celestine commissioned him to capture Olga Discordia and also the smile that he used with Maia some time ago to capture her heart after saving her, it was also the smile that Vault used with the new recruits make them feel more secure and that he wouldn't get mad if they failed.
Yes, something as simple as a fake smile could have surprising effects in the hands of someone manipulative enough to take advantage of it.
Unfortunately for the poor subordinates to see that only they returned and brought no one else Vault's smile faded to give way to an angry look.
"Where is Maia?" Vault asked in a dangerous tone of voice that clearly carried a threat if the answer didn't satisfy him.
The idea of using his sword to kill them sounded truly attractive right now, even if it made him lose his image of a great leader that his subordinates believed in.
Normally to maintain his image of a good leader, Vault rarely showed such aggressiveness to his subordinates unless they had made an epic mistake.
Vault himself appreciated his subordinates enough but as the recent wave of bad results has shown (thanks to Luffy) he was already creating a great mental drain on Vault.
If he continued like this, sooner or later Vault would end up doing something that would irreversibly change the dynamic between him and his group.
Perhaps even at the beginning of the breakdown of a group of mercenaries, he can no longer even trust his leader.
"V-Vault-sama, t-the plan was proceeding as indicated." Said the number one mercenary quite nervously at how intimidating the leader of him was.
"Y-Yes, Maia ended up in that waterfall as planned and then we released the Ogres." Continued the mercenary number two who did not plan to leave his partner alone, even being scum at least there was a feeling of camaraderie.
"Then what happened? I doubt that Maia could get out of that situation by herself." Vault said who knew that with the superior numerical power and simple power of the Ogres, it would have been enough to defeat Maia who would not even have her weapons when she was bathing in the waterfall Not to mention the goblins who served as backup in case of a bad result.
"But then the bastard in the straw hat appeared!" Finally, and without being able to see it, the second of the mercenaries sent on the mission revealed what had happened and the appearance of the Black Dog's enemy number one.
Silence reigned in the camp but if one looked at the faces of the other mercenaries who were not Vault he had turned pale at the mention of Luffy.
And Vault on his side right now wore an expression torn between fear and anger.
"Repeat…." I ordered a Vault that spoke very slowly to give that order, yet the fury was palpable.
"An Ogre was about to capture Maia, but out of nowhere a fist that was stretched hit the ogre." Mercenary number one began to explain what happened in more detail. "The bastard with the straw hat appeared and defeated as if nothing had happened. The ogres while Maia killed the goblins that we kept just in case."
"How could she have known that we would choose Geofu as our target?!" Vault was about to rip out his hair out of frustration that even trying to avoid him that boy who had been a headache since the day they met again was close by.
"Eh, maybe it was the Dark Elf who told him." One of the mercenaries dared to say although his tone of voice showed nervousness.
Luckily that seemed to be an answer that Vault was able to take into account.
"I see with that damn Olga Discordia it could be possible," Vault muttered to himself, who thought that Olga was the cause of everything.
That only added to her desire to make her suffer from it while she was raped when he managed to capture her.
"Vault-sama how will they go to Ken? Should we just go off and head to Ansur?" Asked one of his subordinates who made it clear that avoiding Luffy was in everyone's best interests.
Vault was about to nod and give the order for a mass move towards Ansur.
However, after thinking about the situation carefully, Vault gave a malicious smile as a sign of having thought of something truly terrible.
Coincidentally, that smile had been present whenever Vault thought about his dreams of the Empire of Sex and the things he would do to the women of the Seven Shields Alliance.
And finally, that smile was one that his subordinates knew well enough to know that it meant that his leader had thought of something.
"It won't be necessary since the perfect opportunity has been presented before our eyes," Vault said that after mentally reviewing the situation saw that all was not lost.
"How can Vault-sama say that?" Said one of the mercenaries confused. "Our plan failed and now Maia will surely eventually become an ally of that brat."
"That's why now that that bastard is alone with Maia is when we can kill him as long as they don't spend a lot of time together." Vault clarified, which earned confused looks from his followers.
As you could tell they were just followers and there was no one exceptional to know what Vault wanted to imply.
"What I mean is that we will make her kill him since he will not expect it." The Leader of the Black Dogs elaborated.
Hearing that instead of applause for Vault there were only uncertain looks from the mercenaries.
"As strong as Maia was, I bet that boy would defeat her in a matter of seconds." One of the mercenaries said with absolute confidence in her voice.
The rest of the mercenaries present nodded, although they loathed and feared Luffy, they also knew that his power was real.
"Oh don't worry, what I have prepared will be just something that will take that damn off guard." I declare a confident Vault. "Even if that rubber phenomenon is super strong and resists electricity there is something that I am sure will kill it." With that said Vault will He headed for a special tent in the camp, one where the rarest and most important items his mercenaries had collected over the years were found.
Hence Vault managed to find a vial with a purple liquid inside.
"This is one of the most lethal poisons that exist." Commented a smiling Vault. "Just a few drops would be enough to kill even an Ogre in a matter of minutes and his powers will not be able to save him from the poison."
Vault had done his research on the rubber and came to the conclusion that even with a body like that, Luffy should have no defense over the poison.
And certainly in part Vault was right, only that he came to that conclusion at a point in Luffy's life where poison no longer mattered.
If this had been the Luffy from before being separated from his crew then Vault really had a good plan with great potential to kill our hero.
However, the Leader of the Black Dogs, ' plan was destined to fail for the simple fact of a detail that neither he nor Luffy himself knew.
The fact of having survived Magellan's poison in Impel Down had made Luffy's immune system something truly to fear for the poisons that were applied to him. Luffy was not completely immune, but only poisons at an extraordinary level could kill him.
Will the poison from the Vault be enough?
"We just have to let Maia do it." An unsuspecting Vault answered. "As she must still have feelings for me, we can take advantage of that so that she herself is the one who kills that plague once and for all."
"Oh I see, in that case, it should work..." Commented in amazement one of the mercenaries who had never thought of that possibility.
Then the rest of the mercenaries began to murmur among themselves, implying that they loved this idea and saw it as a great opportunity to get rid of Luffy.
"I'll secretly contact her and have her poison that boy's food as they travel to Ken!" I declare a triumphant Vault.
For Vault this plan would be his last hope to eliminate Luffy since if this did not work then it was very possible that despair would overtake the Leader of Kuroinu and he would end up doing something very stupid.
Would Vault's plan to use Maia to kill Luffy work out or would he just give Maia the option to change her feelings for someone else?
After all, Monkey D. Luffy had the ability to make people ally with him with his simple personality, which was the most dangerous ability in the seas of his world.
And the possessor of such a dangerous ability right now was standing next to a girl that Vault believed he could manipulate.
-With Luffy and Maia, (Forest) -
With Maia on top of her black horse, she and Luffy were walking along a dirt road that would lead them to the main path to Geofu.
They were both silent so Luffy looked clearly bored, even yawning.
However, while Luffy looked bored, Maia looked thoughtful as she was focused on what had happened recently and how Luffy completely dominated those Ogres.
The Ogres possessed superior strength than the average human and in large numbers like those who attacked her, it would take a group of people to face them and get out alive.
Even having been in an ideal situation, Maia would have focused more on how to escape than how to fight, in the end facing such a number of Ogres was beyond her capabilities.
Luffy possessed enormous power, but for Maia, the best way to get a good measure of someone's level was facing that person.
"You know Luffy..." Maia started to speak, gaining the attention of our hero. "For a few moments I have been thinking about how you fought with the Ogres, it was incredible."
"Oh yeah?" Luffy replied. "Actually I didn't do anything out of the ordinary." For Luffy in fact that fight with the Ogres was one forgettable among all the ones he had ever had.
"Nothing out of the ordinary? But if you killed those Ogres like them they were simple human soldiers." Said Maia "It really is something that is never seen and that's why there is something that I would like to see in the first person."
"What thing?" A curious Luffy answered.
"I just want to see how strong you are," Maia said in her tone of voice that did not contain any malice or cruelty.
Knowing the reason why she was challenging him, Luffy nodded.
"Well, this can help me finish lowering the food," Luffy said making mention of the large piece of meat that in his time was the King of the Forest and that now was in his stomach.
"Thank you, I was really curious to know what it was like to face you in person." Maia smiled who got off her horse leaving her two swords on the animal.
Luffy being an expert in combat instantly understood the implication of that action.
"Aren't you going to use them?" And more than a question Luffy sounded like he was saying a fact.
"It would be very dangerous, You don't have armor nor do you have weapons." Was Maia's reply.
"You can use them," Luffy said as he understood Maia's concern about hurting him with those swords.
"Are you sure?" Asked a surprised and at the same time concerned Maia. "If I use them I could seriously hurt you." And since there was still time to get to Geofu, a too-severe injury could be lethal for Luffy.
And in general, Maia was against the idea of mortally wounding whoever she had helped her with.
"Okay, I'm very resistant." A Luffy replied who did not show the slightest bit of nervousness at the idea of facing a girl with weapons, but considering how much this boy had been hurt throughout his life, Luffy was right to trust him. its resistance.
Normally Maia would question the rationality of a boy saying something like that since no matter how strong one was without armor in the end the flesh was easily cut by the steel of a sword.
But seeing how Luffy's body wasn't exactly normal, the redhead decided to believe in him.
"Very well, if you are so sure I will allow it." She said although there was still a bit of insecurity about fighting with her swords before a boy without armor.
Maia walked a few steps back to create a distance between her and Luffy on this dirt road.
The two of them then stared at each other. In that exchange of glances, Luffy was thinking about how to end this without hurting Maia.
After all, it was clear that this girl named Maia was a kind-hearted girl as she offered to take Luffy to Ken to ensure that he did not get lost on the way. That's why Luffy decided to hold back and quickly put an end to this.
Here the battle would begin when one of the two made the first move.
"He has!" Shouted Maia who performed the footwork that had made her so skillful, her footwork was specially designed to move on the battlefield like a lion hunting her prey, but with the cunning of a fox.
So it wasn't hard to believe when he found himself a step away from Luffy with their swords already ready to cut his neck.
Luffy only took a step back when the swords came very close to touching him.
"Huh?!" There was the sound of surprise from Maia at not feeling anything when she expected to feel human flesh making contact with her sword.
The princess knight knew that she was not invincible, Claudia had shown her that fact many times in battle, but her footwork and agility were something she was proud of, making it almost impossible to miss the first attack.
But Luffy proved otherwise.
Maia quickly overcame the surprise she felt, there was no time to stop to think, and without hesitation she attacked again, using her natural agility and flexibility she began to launch a hail of sword blows, each one directed with the intention of incapacitating him, but even so…
"How can he be so good at dodging?!" Maia yelled mentally, she couldn't believe how Luffy simply dodged her movements consecutively and without difficulty.
She had never seen anything like it.
That's why she intensified the speed of her movements, however even with that Luffy kept dodging her when she was about to touch him.
Observation Haki really did wonders for a person who had to fight.
And for a girl who was used to at least touching her opponent once in a match, it was a bit frustrating to experience being dodged over and over again.
As a result, Maia's attacks became less focused on technique and more focused on speed and strength.
Still, Luffy was still calmly dodging.
"Stay still!" And finally losing her composure from the humiliating feeling of being dodged so many times and Luffy making it look easy, Maia attempted a more intense attack one with her swords looking to stab rather than cut.
But…
Luffy reacted quickly and kicked Maia's swords.
"Hey?!" He yelled at the redhead in surprise at suddenly feeling her empty hands. The twin swords ended up stuck and pointed to the ground.
Her first instinct was to get them back since Maia's body fight was not as proficient as in using her swords.
But Luffy had superior speed and he already stretched her fist in a backward direction in a movement that Maia recognized perfectly.
At that moment, panic flooded Maia.
"Gum Gum Whip!" Luffy declared the name of her technique, just like the name, Luffy's leg went towards Maia's torso. Instincts built through years of battle proved useful when dodging Luffy's attack.
Luffy blinked slightly in surprise, as it was probably the first time someone had managed to dodge one of his attacks on Eostia, and this made him smile slightly.
The princess knight quickly gathered herself and tried to run to where her swords were, but her eyes widened in surprise when Luffy's arm/whip turned towards her, only this time every time she dodged it came back.
"Ah!" With some difficulty he danced in Luffy's arms, It took him a couple of seconds, but she managed to find a pattern between the movements and managed to reach her sword.
"Gum Gum Pistol!" Hearing Luffy's scream she could only try to cover herself with her sword as a last resort.
Seeing how that blow was going towards her at such great speed, Maia closed her eyes expecting the inevitable impact powerful enough to knock her totally unconscious or even blow some teeth.
And yet all she felt was a powerful breeze of air on her face. The pain never came and neither did the sensation of losing consciousness. Maia kept her eyes closed for a few moments until she slowly opened them to see what happened.
Just a few inches from Maia's face was Luffy's fist who stopped her fist before causing serious damage. The breeze she felt was caused by the power behind that fist.
"V-Very good... You won." were the words of a nervous Maia who dropped her swords and raised her hands in surrender.
With that, this battle between Pirate and Warrior Princess had been decided pretty quickly.
Luffy lowered her fist and nodded in recognition of her victory in a friendly match.
With the combat over, Maia went to collect her swords and then get on her horse and continue on the road.
"You really are so strong that I feel like a weakling next to you." A slightly discouraged Maia commented upon seeing the power gap between her and Luffy, a gap that she now felt was impossible to reach after fighting one-on-one with Luffy.
Maia had pride in her own power which was perfected in her mercenary days. However, next to Luffy, it seemed that she was a simple novice instead of a warrior with experience in the world.
That really was a blow to Maia's warrior pride.
"You're not that weak," Luffy replied. "You were able to dodge some of my blows and you weren't scared, so you are the strongest of Bulk's subordinates."
If Luffy had remembered the name of the Leader of the Black Dogs without a doubt this situation would have become tense and potentially dangerous due to Luffy's honesty added to the fact that Maia thought that the Black Dogs were still the same as before.
Perhaps the situation had ended with blood being spilled and it was not exactly Luffy's blood that had ended up on the ground.
"Bulk?" Maia repeated who hadn't heard that 'name' before, but since Luffy said that this guy had subordinates, Maia became interested since not everyone had subordinates.
"Bulk is a guy with a bat face that I have to defeat," Luffy explained who looked more determined when he said that. "I have made friends in this place and he seeks to hurt them in addition to attacking their homes with his subordinates." In the tone of his voice, Luffy showed great determination and a promise of pain for 'bulk'.
"Is he really such a bad person?" Asked Maia who from Luffy's tone of voice didn't sound like a lie.
"Yes, he wants to force my friends to do things they don't want to do," Luffy said.
"That Bulk sounds like a pretty nasty guy." Maia nodded after hearing Luffy's words ironically she was calling the man she had feelings for nasty, yet Maia's words were true after all.
However, knowing that confirmed something for Maia.
From what she had seen men with great power tended to be arrogant beings and believe themselves better than others, when she was just starting out as a mercenary, Maia saw many of those guys.
And Luffy on the other hand was the opposite, he was clearly a simple boy who seemed to be fighting to protect his friends from him rather than for personal gain and was not arrogant because of his great power.
"You really are very strong and you are not arrogant." Maia smiled as she kept her swords away. She didn't feel bad about losing as this was a friendly match to begin with and Luffy's personality made it difficult for one to get mad at him. "You must have had a really hard training."
Of course, she hadn't dealt with a Luffy who ate all the food or did something stupid that's what her crew was for.
"Yes, it was." Replied Luffy who also remembered his training in Rusukaina especially when Rayleigh was there.
"After checking it out for myself I came up with a great idea." Said a smiling Maia to Luffy.
"What thing?" Luffy asked.
Maia extended Luffy her right hand.
"Would you be interested in working for me?" She offered her redhead extending her hand to Luffy as a sign of making an offer. Maia knew how to recognize a great talent when she saw him and frankly, Luffy was full of that talent to the point that Maia could not avoid making him that offer.
"I am not interested," Luffy answered instantly after hearing Maia's offer.
The redhead made a displeased face at being rejected so quickly and bluntly.
"But I can get you a good place to live and you would have good pay." Maia insisted. "I'm sure your fighting skills will see better use working for me than being a messenger."
"I don't want to, I'm happy doing what I do and I wouldn't change it for anything." Luffy meant to be a Pirate but he didn't say it, but since it wasn't a lie, his face didn't show any sign of lying.
Maia could see that Luffy had great conviction in his words.
"Ah, fine if it's really what you want I can't force you." Sighed the redhead accepting Luffy's answer but not hiding how disappointed she was with losing such a great talent. "Then I'll just focus on taking you to Ken."
"And how long did it take us to get to Ken?" Luffy asked that question mostly to say something and not get bored along the way.
"Well, there are many routes that we can take." Replied Maia who remembered the many possible routes in which there was a problem. "But almost all of them would take two weeks even on horseback." That was due to the dangerous roads and monsters that were out there.
"That?!" Said an incredulous Luffy at how long it would take to get there. "That's too long!"
"Unfortunately nothing can be done." Maia apologized knowing that delivering that letter should be important to Luffy.
"Is there really no faster way to get there?" Luffy asked.
Maia closed her eyes and thought again of all the possibilities, as Luffy had helped her a lot by saving the redhead she wished she could help him so Maia was thinking if there was something to better help Luffy get to Ken.
And thinking Maia she remembered that another path existed, another path that under normal circumstances she would not consider but due to Luffy's circumstances she was willing to consider it.
"The fastest way to get to Ken is to go through Ravolox and then through an underground route built by dwarves in the mountains before being eliminated." Said Maia remembering that there was a route. "Nobody ever goes there so it is also a route Calm down and if one took it it would take three days to arrive."
"Great! I want that route!" Luffy celebration.
However, Luffy noticed something.
"But why doesn't anyone use it if it's a short route?" Asked the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.
"Ravolox was previously a city where the Goddess Laurentia and hers were worshiped by three followers of hers who were minor gods even building temples, but now it has been a ghost city for a long time," Maia answered Luffy's question.
"Laurentia?" Luffy repeated who for some reason felt something special about that name, as if it were something important.
Asking that question from her horse, Maia saw Luffy with surprised eyes.
"Eh? You really don't know about the goddess Laurentia?" Maia asked incredulously because that goddess was known throughout Eostia, even in the most remote places.
"No, I never heard from her," Luffy answered honestly.
The redhead looked at Luffy for a few moments until she came up with the reason for that lack of knowledge.
"Oh I see, you come out of Eostia, right?" Asked Maia who had again reached that conclusion herself thanks to the information she had.
"If I come from a place called Foosha Village," Luffy replied.
"I never heard of that place." Maia answered. "But since you come outside of Eostia it is normal that I do not know." Eostia was a place that Maia knew very well, even small villages that were not even on the maps, but nevertheless she never he had been out of Eostia so foreign locations were a problem.
But back to Luffy's question.
"Laurentia is an admired and worshiped goddess in Eostia." Maia began her explanation before Luffy who was looking at her while at the same time, they both continued to go towards Geofu. "Long ago she and three minor gods who served her were free and they traveled this world eliminating evil beings."
At first, it seemed like an ideal story but things were never that easy.
"While Goddess Laurentia chose to protect mortals by reincarnating in various bodies until reaching Celestine-sama, the truth is that she was the only deity to want to protect us," Maia explained with a bit of pride in her voice since despite everything the redhead was still happy to be able to serve someone like Celestine who proved to be a kind and gentle leader, but who could also get serious when the situation required it. "When the other three saw that decision they betrayed Laurentia who after a great battle sealed them in Ravolox."
"Wow!" Said an impressed Luffy by what he was hearing. "That goddess sounds amazing."
"According to what Celestine-sama once told me, having a mortal body, Laurentia's powers are greatly diminished and also the goddess herself sleeps deep within Celestine-sama's soul," Maia said remembering that time Celestine explained that to her the first time Maia saw her after becoming a Warrior Princess leaving behind the life of a mercenary. "Celestine-sama is still her own person only with part of Laurentia's powers."
Maia gave Luffy a half-nervous smile as he was a bit wrong on where to direct that admiration.
"Actually the husband of a colleague of mine named Klaus knows much more about that subject," Maia said. "In fact what I explained to you were things he said when I was visiting my partner's home," Maia said referring to Claudia Levantine.
"Carry on! It's very interesting!" Said an expectant Luffy as although he would normally fall asleep when someone tried to explain something to him this time Luffy was interested in how much that sounded like a fantasy story.
Because of how excited Luffy was to hear that old story to pass the time, Maia saw no problem in continuing with what she remembered from Klaus's words.
"It is said that if the seal of the other deities is broken they will try to take revenge on Laurentia for having chosen mortals so we would have to fight against them," Maia explained with a tone of concern since the idea of facing revenge, One of those deities was terrifying even though she didn't know what kind of disaster they might bring.
However, the idea of facing a being that could be described as a deity in a world where beings like Ogres and Dragons exist was a valid concern.
But for Luffy...
"Fighting against a god," Luffy muttered who, imagining it, ended up remembering something specific. "I didn't think he would do it again!" Said an animated Luffy before the possibility of fighting against beings like those.
Since Luffy arrived in Eostia, nothing really could have been a challenge like Rusukaina had been, even with the number of opponents that were thrown at him, quality was the problem since they were all ones that Luffy could have defeated before even leaving in his journey to be the King of the Pirates.
In other words, it was frustrating for Luffy to face weaklings since in Rusukaina the animals could at least give him a good challenge, big enough to have to create his Fourth Gear.
That is why the idea of fighting against those deities that sounded very strong was attractive.
For the Captain of the Straw Hats, this would be the second time that he even faced a deity.
And certainly, even if Enel was not a deity being only an inhabitant of a Sky Island who ate the Rumble-Rumble fruit and developed a huge god complex the truth was that his powers over thunder were comparable to those of a divinity for how devastating they were.
If not for the fact that his body was made of lightning, a Luffy who did not know Haki would have been slaughtered by Enel's powers.
But for Maia what Luffy said about 'fighting a god again.
"Hahaha! You really are very funny!" Maia said who used her hand to wipe a tear caused by her laughter. To a person like Maia who didn't know the truth about Luffy and hadn't been with him on her adventures, those words might just seem like the imagination of a hyperactive boy.
And so in a friendly way, the black-haired man and the redhead continued on their way to Geofu.
Needless to say, eventually Maia would get a surprise thanks to Luffy.
The old deities of Eostia were about to be resurrected as a consequence of Luffy's interference in this world since he was reaching the salvation of that deity who supported mortals and earned the contempt of the others who slept waiting one day to be released.
And perhaps what combined best was that the boy with the blood of the 'D' who opposes the gods is present in this world to meet directly with them.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
And well here we have the first chapter of the adventures of Luffy and Maia and again Vault's plans end up being thwarted by Luffy who as always ends up somehow finding his way into someone else's evil plans.
At least he planned something else for Luffy, although if one already knows about One Piece then the chances of the poison working with Luffy are not in themselves the highest.
And also, we have seen how Maia has mentioned something very important for the future.
The reason why I mentioned the 'Old Gods' of Eostia is that I honestly don't think that Vault and his people, in the end, can give Luffy a real challenge, that's why I'm preparing something that can really be a challenge for our hero.
And in reference to them, it was also mentioned that Claudia's husband knows more. So maybe Claudia's appearance is also close.
I already have good planning for those events in the future and it will only remain to write them. This story gives for a little more.
Also, Maia may have a change of feelings during her trip with Luffy and maybe something else and you already know what I mean XD
Once again, I thank you for the support of all of you, my readers, as well as Hyakki Yako, especially for your help, If you have time, stop by to read your stories, which are good and show that you put in an effort. I also help in the battle parts of this chapter.
PS: For those of you wondering, Prim will appear in the next chapter, I decided not to include her in this one to focus more on Maia.