.: This chapter required me to type out an outline before doing anything else. It is so chaotic with a few layers that I had to coordinate it neatly. After getting four and a half pages typed, not gonna lie, I felt the intimidation. This was easily going to be 8,000 words or more. Well, now that it's over, it ended up being A LOT. My limits have been far exceeded and honestly, I'm tired! But I'm also proud of myself for doing it. I wanted for there to be main antagonists so that this battle had similar vibes to Marineford. I decided on using Alucard from Castlevania (MY BABY BOY I LOVE HIM) and liked how Aizen's powerup looked like in his battle with Ichigo in Bleach. Of course I have to tweak things so they fit the One Piece universe, but I like what I ended up with. Shoutout to Castlevania, Naruto Shippuden, and Attack on Titan for the help in writing out these fight scenes. :.

The Girl with A Half Soul

Chapter 57:

The Wolf Woman: Eclipse

They used Haki to fully drive themselves into the targets. Giants were beings who could dominate the entire world if they wanted to just from their sheer indomitable nature alone. Knowing that working collectively would pack a bigger punch against them, the minks propelled themselves down with black shells covering their hands, feet, or even their foreheads. Beautifully radiant white hair that gusted with the air resistance focused bursts of blue electro wherever they desired. This would hurt like Hell.

The giants lifted their axes and swords to break up the flock bearing down on them, but swinging only had them eluding a blow as fluid as water. Feet pattered rapidly across the metal until they had to jump off again. Some of the free spirits started flipping until the giants' faces got too close. Upon impact, some blood spurted, but all their heads knocked back. The multiple Armament Haki-coated strikes came together with precise timing to make a single strike backed by the strength of another giant. Right before it all fully registered for the victims, the amassing electro packed a second punch that knocked their heads back farther. Their nerves sizzled down their bodies, making their muscles lock up and be unable to catch themselves.

The battlefield trembled as twelve new giants (six minks and six Lun'aecho warriors) grew in the blink of an eye. They all found their footing and pushed off to begin their charge. Everyone smaller did their best to avoid them. Some failed and perished. That did not stop them all from making sure the giants collapsed. Ones managing to stay on their feet were met with oversized clubs to the chest, or a pair of soles smacking into their armor plates. Either way, the bigger they were, the harder they fell. The prairie was violently misshapen from the bodies crashing into it. A wind blasted in all directions as dirt flew into the air. Any animals dumb enough to be in the area finally fled.

The ground was so ravaged that it failed to contain its secrets within. Parts were thinner than others thanks to the enormous wildlife that burrowed to survive. The Lun'aecho knew that tunnels existed underneath, but they failed to recognize just how many and how interconnected they were. As a result, when the giants ravaged the prairie, it caused the roofs of the tunnels to crumble and cave in. The ground suddenly appeared webbed as many fell with it. Those buried alive, partially buried, or lucky enough to simply land on top of the rubble were all interrupted in their undertakings. The elephants who walked closest to the giants already wobbled from how unsteady the ground felt. When the ground crumbled, it took a lot of them out, too.

Knees buckled and dislocated for the innocent creatures. They cried out from the unexpected sensation of falling and then got stuck. The injuries they sustained meant they had landed in their graves. The Marines on their saddles abandoned them to keep from becoming easy pickings. Four elephants miraculously remained standing despite the odds. But the Sulong minks greatly outnumbered them and noticed the good fortune.

Like a swarm of white flies, they quickly descended upon them. The Marines tried hoisting the cannons up onto the ground to keep using them, but they were brutally interrupted. The cannons were smashed by their increased strength and Haki. Then they were beaten until the threat was no more. The minks were swift because of their impending time limit. Fifteen minutes was all they had before their bodies could no longer handle the Sulong transformation. They would lose themselves mentally and die of exhaustion.

For the sake of the war's conclusion, they all tried to get things taken care of in that timeframe. Their boldness caused the Marines to have pressure on all sides. Utterly surrounded, the devil fruit users on the Marines' side upped their game to protect their comrades. The Sulong minks were suddenly met with heavy assaults of all kinds. Logia, Paramecia, and Zoan types challenged them in hand-to-hand combat, with guns or swords, or even Haki against Haki.

But it barely compared to the bloodshed happening at the original center. Death was vicious. Lun'aecho warriors encompassed their weapons with Armament Haki as they fought. Arrows seemed to explode whenever they hit something. They hacked Marines with hatchets like they were delicate flowers and impaled them with spears so easily. The minks did the same to their claws as they slashed flesh, but electro helped incapacitate the enemy, too. Some Marines defended themselves with shields and swords. Others tried to prevent confrontations altogether by shooting before anyone could make a move on them.

Then a mortar would remind them that it was not enough. Victims of the blasts were wounded by shrapnel or tossed away like ragdolls. Screams petrified those starting to lose their nerve. Dead bodies were tripping hazards, as well as those missing limbs or other body parts. The only ones who did not care were the frightened bison and horses, or even the cursed wild animals that chased away Marines. An angry bear snarled as it hustled after a group of three at full speed. A scorpion devil fruit user sprung from underneath the ground to stab through a mink's back. Demons from within were summoned, causing animal characteristics to appear and offer better skills, instincts…

The cry of a little boy with shackles around his wrists and ankles was drowned out as he sat underneath it all. He was brought here without explanation or reason. Like the fishmen he traveled with, he had a distinct paw print branded on the pale flesh of his back. Slavery was all he had ever known, and this was what it brought him. The violence scared him so bad that he wet himself. It did not help that someone else's blood splattered him, making him scream louder.

But then a big furry hand scooped him up in the middle of a run. His crying paused. He glanced up to see a weird creature with a duck bill had grabbed him. Quintus found a bison with a Lun'aecho warrior shaking a body off his spear on it. When he placed the boy in his lap, he continued to run with electro gathering in his palm. "Take him to the mountains! Hurry!" he commanded as his chubbiness slowed his pace.

The warrior did not hesitate to hold the boy close and start galloping off. His attention switched to the mountains, but then it was snatched by a mysterious black cloud that suddenly whooshed into existence on the ground level. It was away from the battle but still dangerously close to where he was trying to go.

Quintus swiveled his head to try finding more people who needed rescue. A bison stopped with a couple healers jumping off to tend to someone. Because of that, he quickly moved on. But that did not mean others were leaving him alone in the process. Marines came in waves to challenge him or try to slow him down. Since he was usually bigger, they were overpowered easily for the most part. If his strength was not what dispelled them, it was definitely his electro. His webbed hand was swinging when Lakota's voice frantically returned to his ear canals.

"Quintus! Quintus, you got company!"

His hand slammed a Marine away from him before he paused. "What kind of company?"

"I-It's Cherokee!"

The platypus mink looked behind himself. He knew where Cherokee went down, but he failed to identify her among the lively battle. At the same time, he wondered how she could rejoin so quickly. An injury as severe as what she sustained would take anyone sensible out for the remainder of the conflict. There was not enough time to ponder, though. His Observation Haki detected something approaching him. Rather fast, at that.

He barely moved his head just to narrowly dodge a sword flying through the air without a wielder holding its handle. His sight saw the iron glint for a split second as it traveled the path where it was meant to behead him instantaneously. But then, he saw it halt and slowly shift to a downward positioning while still levitating. Its blade was incredibly long but perfectly shaped to not be brittle. Quintus stared with confusion. He had a few questions about what he was looking at.

"Greetings, Duke Quintus of the Mink Tribe," a refined masculine voice said behind him.

Quintus watched the sword suddenly fly back toward him, forcing him to dodge again. He turned to watch it be effortlessly grabbed by a young man as if it was weightless. The most noticeable feature of his was the bleach blonde hair that fell around his shoulders just from how messily gorgeous it was. His skin was sickly ashen, and his golden eyes would have had more life in them in sunlight. If it were not for the sound of his voice, he could have been mistaken for a woman just from his looks alone. Perhaps that had something to do with how he was only twenty years old, so his youthfulness was still more than present.

Other than that, Quintus knew he was up against someone who ranked high in the military. His white coat had many little trinkets adorning the right breast and tassels dangled from his shoulders. It was left open to show off the black vest underneath and went all the way down to his ankles. New black boots touched his knees. Matching leather gloves almost ascended to his elbows. Since layers were supposedly his thing, a heavy-looking black cape draped over his back with a chain holding it in place over his neck. Judging from how clean and sophisticated he looked, he had to guess no enemies were laudable enough to receive his actual opposition with the sword in his hand.

This was the first time they had met, but this Marine knew his name. Quintus could not do the same for him. He just watched as the sword swung downward with so much precision that it sounded like air particles were sliced based on the high-pitched zing! that came and went. "Greetings, Admiral," he replied politely.

Suddenly, a new presence entered his field of Observation Haki. There was no time to react as something sticky grabbed his wrist and pulled it. Quintus was yanked to see another Admiral had caught him with silk reinforced with Haki. This one appeared more ordinary with brown hair, brown eyes, and thick-brimmed glasses. His white coat matched his colleague's except for its normal length, and it was buttoned up with white pants and plain shoes covering the bottom half. Unlike the other one, he had been busy fighting; he knew because of the blood staining his uniform. And he had a calm demeanor the whole time. Quintus was amazed by how young he also appeared. Obviously, he was dealing with devil fruit powers, but there had to be something else at play for them to be ranked so high.

"Now this isn't fair," he tried to joke. "Two against one?"

"Technically, I was here first," the blonde Admiral reasoned. "So, I believe this fight belongs to me."

"I suggest letting him choose how he wants to die," the brunette Admiral responded.

"It would be nice to know what powers I'm up against first," Quintus rationalized, pulling a big club from behind his back.

"Zoan types," the blonde Admiral answered. "Maybe that narrows–"

He was abruptly smashed by the club as it hit his stomach with an incredible amount of force. It caused him to be knocked backwards and only catch himself with boots digging into the ground and a hand holding him up. Annoyed, he groaned with his head still down.

"I choose the floating sword," Quintus quickly decided. "I don't get how it isn't a Paramecia type by that alone."

He lifted his gaze with teeth bared just to hiss at him. Quintus saw how long and pointy his canines were.

Meanwhile, the other Admiral pulled the now loose silk, impressed that it was snapped without a problem in spite of the Haki reinforcement. "He hates it when people say that," he informed the Duke. And then he sprouted grayish-brown wings from behind his back that had a pattern in them resembling eyes. The peach fuzz on his face suddenly thickened and his eyes expanded until they were large black orbs. By the time antennae poked from his forehead, he was already flying to watch from above.

"Stand up," Quintus ordered his opponent. "What's your name?" The club was metallic, allowing him to conduct his electro through it. His footsteps were heavy when he jogged toward him. The Admiral stood up straight with his left hand behind his tailbone and the sword pointed at him. A black coating stretched down the hilt until the entire blade could withstand the electro. When their weapons collided, sparks flew.

Size did not matter to him, even if his sword was dwarfed. Neither did the strength of the duke. He seemingly mocked him by not using both hands. Their arms swung repeatedly as sword and club slid past each other without causing harm. Sensing a horseback rider about to get in the way, the Admiral jumped back with a small spin. He was airborne when bat wings erupted from his back. "Adrian," he finally answered.

Quintus tried to catch him in time by emitting Haki as his club powerfully swung again, but the wave was outpaced by his flight. Adrian only needed one beat of his wings to disappear from sight. In reality, he was right above his head with wings no longer visible. He silently landed behind the duke. As soon as he turned around to meet him, the sword was striking his club again, but the strength backing it was enough to make him stumble back.

"Bat Bat Fruit?" Quintus wondered aloud.

"Vampire model," Adrian clarified, suddenly vanishing without his wings to help.

Quintus felt him nearly teleport behind him again. Ready this time, he swung in time to meet the blade. It slipped a little earlier than expected, though. As soon as their contact ceased, the Admiral swung again, nearly missing his belly to split it open. But Quintus recovered fast. Adrian countered his club with his arm raised to hold the sword downward. This time, neither of them budged. The electro zapped as they strained to overpower the other.

What made Quintus lose concentration had nothing to do with their conflict. There was a creepy screech that filled his ear canal. Other minks and Lun'aecho warriors reacted to it as well. Then everything in their sight turned red.

The entirety of the battlefield paused. Both Quintus and Adrian relaxed until there was no point in maintaining their confrontation. All eyes gazed upon the bloody moon as it reflected the brilliance of a lunar eclipse. And it did more than just change the hue of everything underneath. Sulong users reflected accordingly by pelts their turning from heavenly white to hellish red. Crimson fire bathed their bodies.

Kiyaya paused to watch the flames climb her arms until her hands were engulfed. The ends of the fibers lifted and rolled repeatedly as her electro sparked wildly. It made her muscle fibers also twitch and begin to cramp. She had no idea what was happening or why an eclipse would have such an effect on their Sulong. But that was not the only thing being affected.

Around her, minks cried out and grabbed their skulls so hard that their claws pierced their flesh. Foreign body parts appeared on them as their demons were awaking on their own. Ones like Kiyaya were left trying to help them. She saw her father among the crowd as he fought against something internally. Hastily, she got to his side and dropped to her knees. "Dad?" she said to the polar bear mink.

His eyes squeezed shut as he strained. When she scooped him into her hand, it was like the push his demon needed. A coyote tail replaced his own and he looked up at her rabidly. He suddenly latched onto her nose with his teeth and raked his claws down her cheeks. It caused her to panic and try flinging him off, but the persistence was making the pain worse. His Haki was fully activated.

Minks all around her were in the same boat. They were mindlessly attacked by loved ones and friends. The combination of the eclipse and being vessels for demons was making them go berserk.

Quintus was part of the minks who were forced into Sulong. They had stared at the eclipse for too long. Now it was too late to turn back. Quintus began to glow red with electro going haywire. Adrian watched as he wondered if he should cut him down while he was vulnerable.

The other Admiral dropped back to the ground next to him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Sosuke," Adrian addressed.

"You need to see this," he informed his comrade, appearing more alien than human at the moment.

"What's happening?"

"Something else is here."

They both looked at the duke as he continued his transformation with long fiery fur flying in all directions. Neither of them uttered a word to officially abandon the fight with him, but it was understood that it needed to happen. They took to the sky only to notice how the battlefield was unrecognizable now. Every mink acted as a light source, and nobody was off limits for the berserk ones. Aside from that chaos, there was something not allowing itself to be illuminated. It was a piece of the prairie nearly devoid of any life as it spread farther and farther. Like a black hole, anyone who tried invading was sucked in. If they were lucky enough to be spit back out, it was not a time to be celebrated. Just because they evaded instant death did not mean they were spared of it altogether.

One Marine stumbled off the cursed soil clutching his throat. When he coughed hard enough, suffocating flowers struggled to leave his mouth, and he was not able to pull them free fast enough. Another Marine screamed and tried to run from the battle completely. Everywhere he looked, he swore it was there, but nobody else noticed it. But he did! That duck. It stared so menacingly as it followed him, mocking him by doing so.

A lot of the others were chased out. Contrasting the blackness of the soil were skeletons continuing to crawl out. They got to experience a plane between life and death that was both and neither at the same time. If the Marines were too slow, they were quickly advanced on and engaged. When they outnumbered their victims, they proceeded to bleed into the battle to continue their rampage.

Both Admirals immediately intercepted the undead army. This was not part of their briefing, but they were not deterred by it. With his chitinous wings acting as armor, Sosuke spun with enough force to blow back a couple. It gave Adrian enough time to slice open his arm with the levitating sword just to make his own blood spill. Sosuke tested the durability of the skeletons by coating his fist with Haki and punching straight into their ribcages. As expected, they shattered and fell to the ground as a pile. By the time he looked back, Adrian had a new metallic shield that was ready to use.

He stepped in front of Sosuke to see the odds were stacked against them. These skeletons not only had numbers backing them, but they were vicious and not holding back in their attacks at all. When he slashed one away, two more pounced for him. The sound of bones scraping against his blade made him cringe. Every time he blinked, more were on top of him. He slashed one in front of him. A different one tried getting him from behind, so he quickly turned to slash that one, too. Then another one leapt from the side, catching his shield briefly before getting the tip of the sword pierced straight through the cranium and tossed away. He blocked another with his shield. Then he turned around just to stab another through its orbital socket. A fast one knocked him across the head as it passed, allowing another one barely scrape his cheekbone.

Sosuke soared low to the ground to try sweeping many away all at once. Being easily disposable had to be a disadvantage. His open arms slammed into so many while his wings fluttered powerfully. Haki helped him hit hard enough to make more lifeless piles. Like a large knife, he cut down large sections without having to try very hard. But still, it was like he was barely scratching the surface of this arsenal. Picking up a dead body by the back of the collar, he slid across the ground on his feet and relinquished his beast form. It was a decent shield until he returned to Adrian's side.

It was obvious that he was getting a tiny bit overwhelmed. Being lightheaded did not help any, either. But having the extra help made it better. Adrian shoved a skeleton away with his shield just to decapitate it with a single swing of his sword. Sosuke shot more silk from his palm to yank a skeleton closer to him and obliterate its unnatural figure. Ducking underneath, Adrian cut down a skeleton coming from a different angle to protect him. Every single one that surrounded them ended up returning to a defunct state after consecutive strikes in their little team effort.

Finally satisfied with the space they freed, Adrian released his sword to make it levitate once more. A quick twist of his gloved fingers commanded it to spin in a circle and fly to a nearby Marine who was being restrained by another skeleton. After it cleanly sliced through the forehead and decapitated a second one that was just close enough, he looked at Sosuke. "I need blood."

Despite having warm bodies littering the ground and enemies he could take from, Adrian had a problem with liking certain tastes. Unfortunately for Sosuke, he was a source that was rather tasty apparently. He was not sure if it was because he could turn into a moth or just having bad luck. Whatever the case, he knew his comrade needed a refuel on the double, so he pushed his sleeve up and offered his wrist. Sosuke did not flinch as his fangs sunk into his veins.


Lakota crawled to the others in his party. They lay unconscious from whatever happened with Cherokee. Prodding Ravenna, he tried to be gentle but urgent. Her coarse yellow locks were brushed out of her face as her eyes opened. To see nothing but red startled her. Even the sky was unable to maintain its black atmosphere. The wolf mink sat up as Lakota woke up the rest and looked down at what had become of the battle. In all honesty, she had no idea what she was witnessing anymore.

He pulled the mask back over his face. "Rodencia, come in."

All that could be heard were yelps and cries of pain. There was no distinct response from the rat mink.

"Quintus, come in," he tried next.

Ravenna looked up at the giant moon as it, too, glowed a deep red. She could not peel her eyes off of it. Even as it started getting hazy from her not blinking, she did not realize that her body was reacting. She had never trained to be a warrior like Nanu had. The Sulong form was foreign to her. It was like the eclipse did not care as electro started to bounce rapidly in her nerves.

"Ravenna," Lakota repeated, shaking her shoulder and breaking the spell.

She flinched and looked at his horned mask as static electricity shocked his palm.

"I think we're on our own. We need to go down and help," he told her as calmly as he could.

She pulled herself together and got them back in the saddle of their bison. With the other nurses, healers, and doctor following them, Lakota summoned the rest of their unit to advance into the battlefield with them. His jitters of being the only leader remaining could not stop his Observation Haki from sensing people dying and getting injured. When they passed Cherokee's miasma, Lakota gazed into the black blazes that flowed from the cursed ground. They were growing taller than the grass did in the prairies. Still, he managed to catch a glimpse of her deer antlers as she remained stagnant. "Cherokee," he spoke, hoping she would respond. "I'm here. I-I'll be helping like you wanted me to."

As if she could hear his voice without the transpondance curse, she moved her gaze in his direction. But he departed from the area quickly to reduce the risk of being caught up in her wrath.

While Lakota started naming people in the unit and giving them direct orders to head to a specific place, Ravenna kept her bow loaded and protected them from attacks. It was not until they got in the thick of the chaos that she realized how bad it was. Seeing Sulong minks not acting like themselves made her uneasy. They were so maddened that the Marines had no time to sabotage them. Instead, they were more worried about their own lives.

It was a complete free-for-all. Marines were trying to band together before a fiery mink was on top of them. When Lun'aecho warriors and other minks realized they were also part of the problem, it was almost too late. While a few Sulong minks seemed normal, they were lost in the crowd. The Lun'aecho and minks were unable to trust their eyes as a result.

"Shawnee," Lakota directed a healer, "can you get to the downed giants?"

"I can!" a female voice answered him.

His head swiveled in the opposite direction. "Hova, I need you and your brother to find Lyris. He is struggling with too many injured by himself."

"On it," the sugar glider mink replied.

Seeing that Lakota was busy, Ravenna decided to take it upon herself to check in on her family. "Kiyaya!" she called out.

The fiery wolf mink flung off Nanu in a panic. The searing pain of him ripping through her flesh left some blood trickling, but her bigger size did not allow for it to be severe. The polar bear mink shifted to his hands and knees as he shook his head, the coyote tail very apparent in the air. As he charged her like a wild animal would, she heard the call of her mother from the curse.

"I'm here, Mom!" she answered.

"Nanu!" Ravenna named.

Kiyaya snatched him in her hand with an unwavering clench. He snarled nastily at her just to sink his powerful jaws in her fur. Even if he was smaller compared to her, the strength he had was enough to make her wince and want to let him go. (Kind of like when a hermit crab pinched someone's finger.) "I got him," she told her mother. "Something's wrong."

"The eclipse is interfering with your Sulong," Lakota guessed. "We have to stop it."

"Stop what? The moon?"

"Cherokee did something," he revealed. "I don't know what, but…it didn't happen until she changed."

"What do you mean 'changed'?" She yelped when it felt like something was trying to rip her tail off. She quickly turned hard enough to fling another berserk mink off. But it was only the first of many who were encroaching her space. She was too big to ignore.

"Something's wrong with her. It's like her devil fruit powers have gone out of control. I would suggest getting her to stop the eclipse, but nobody can get near her without getting cursed."

Kiyaya kept Nanu in her fist, trying not to hurt him, as she hit minks away one after the other. Her sight was filled with flaming hides. It was clear that they were coming after her simply because she was still moving. Her electro did not slow them down or affect them. "If you have any other ideas, make them quickly. I'm dealing with a lot over here," she relayed honestly.

Something Ravenna noticed was that herself, Kiyaya, and many other minks did not participate in the demon possession ritual for this battle. If they both were not out of control, then the demons were the key to this predicament. "Lakota, how do your people get rid of the demons?" Ravenna asked, seeing someone get pounced on and shooting at their attacker.

"U-Uh," he stammered. It was something he never really thought about before. Survivors of battles returned to the mountains with their possessions still intact. It was mostly understood that the possession was temporary because a restless night's sleep would be rid of it by dawn. That was when he realized there actually was a way. "Sleep. Unconsciousness. Something along those lines."

Ravenna hesitated. A battle was not the time or place to make people take a nap. But she knew that something had to be done soon. Minks who were self-aware had the ability to stop their Sulong, but these berserk ones did not.

Kiyaya's mind blanked when a gruesome punch contacted her abdomen. She felt her body cave in, her organs squish, and blood cough out of her mouth. Suddenly, the force propelled her away from the vicinity, freeing her of the onslaught, but making her crash into others until she slid to a halt. Nanu was dropped. She got blindsided by a Haki user, no doubt about it.

In the middle of trying to catch her breath, the wolf woman instinctively rested her hand on her lower stomach. Some panic went through one ear and out the other for her little one, but she had to remember how small her uterus currently was and how it was not in the area that took the blow. By the time she moved off innocent bystanders who were being smushed underneath her, the one responsible was singling herself out from the rest.

A female rat mink in blazing red Sulong had gorgeous long hair waving behind her. Her boots clicked against the ground as she approached. Kiyaya's first reaction was to back away farther from her former mercenary leader. "Lakota," she said with worry, "I'm in trouble."

He immediately looked toward the back of the battlefield to try identifying her location. "What kind of trouble, Sweetie?" he inquired, changing course.

"Like berserk Rodencia kinda– WAIT I HAVE AN IDEA." She stood to size her up, gaining a new wave of confidence. "Rodencia has Conqueror's Haki."

"Perfect!" Ravenna responded with delight. She leaned over Lakota's shoulder. "We use Rodencia to knock everyone unconscious with her Conqueror's Haki. The demons are released, and the Sulong will end!"

"Let me knock her out to see if it works first. Then we'll get down to business."

"Be careful," Lakota pled. "Don't accidentally kill her."

"She won't go down without a fight." She sparked more electro and coated her fists with Armament Haki, ready for her this time. "Sorry, Rodencia, but you-teia will thank me later."


With blood trickling to the ground, Sosuke cringed as Adrian gripped his wrist and drank continuously. The suction was uncomfortable as he bit deeper and deeper. It was like he was getting intoxicated. Finally, Sosuke had to put an end to the feeding. He pushed the vampire away, freeing himself of his fangs to be left with teeth marks and a couple holes in his skin. Adrian came to his senses and smirked in satisfaction. Blood dribbled off his lip before he wiped it away. His lightheadedness was already relieving from the replenishment.

The donor wrapped silk around his wrist to dress the wound and pulled his sleeve back down. "Now, shall we continue?" he half-joked.

Although Adrian could see him clearly under the red hue of the moon, his devil fruit powers allowed him to detect body temperatures. The skeletons were exempt of his detection abilities for obvious reasons, but even with their presence, he was able to see who was alive, dying, or already growing cold. What struck out to him was how significant of a temperature drop the blackened ground had compared to the normal prairie. "Fly with me," he requested, his bat wings reappearing.

Sosuke joined him to take back to the sky, the levitating sword following them. They kept a safe distance from the miasma as they hovered over. Adrian saw how the black circle grew more and more with a little lifeform in the center. The path it had taken could also be seen from the patches of dead grass leading to it. Out of curiosity, he flapped down. Focusing Haki in his legs allowed him to touch the cursed ground without being affected.

The moment he touched, Cherokee physically reacted. Her staff waved in the air to move the purplish miasma away from her line of sight, revealing the intruder to her. They made hostile eye contact. Cherokee saw the white uniform of a Marine. Adrian saw the tearstained face of a devil. The Admiral took a moment longer to inspect what exactly he was looking at, but she was not very interested in cooperating. The miasma twisted around him, prepared to swallow him, but he read the signs and jumped away. Sosuke flew by with an arm snatching him to get him away. "And that's how you die," he sarcastically scolded, annoyed by the reckless stunt.

Adrian shook himself free to pull out a transponder snail from his coat. "Fleet Admiral," he said, stopping midflight and watching Sosuke circle back around.

Over at the closest coast, dozens of Naval ships were anchored and emptied or full of waiting regiments. In case the first phase was overpowered, a surprise second was supposed to march onto the island and stomp out the savages once and for all – whether it be with their bare hands or a buster call had yet to be discussed. The one waiting for the call to be made was the Fleet Admiral. His red hair blended perfectly with the lunar eclipse that had his men in awe. But the transponder snail rang, giving him a bad feeling.

When Adrian's voice came through, he had no time to answer or question the status. "Remind me of this woman who's leading the natives."

"Hm? I already told you. Young woman close to your age. Face is probably painted. Hair as dark as a crow's. Likes to wear a fancy feathery headdress. Has a bad attitude and a Paramecia devil fruit power to go with it."

"Yes, yes, I saw a woman with that description in the beginning."

"Then what's the issue? Is she dead?"

"Has there been any reports of this leader ever awakening her devil fruit?"

The Fleet Admiral went silent. When Adrian said that, Sosuke looked surprised. Such a thing was rare. He should know. As he returned his gaze to Cherokee's little territory, he tried to picture how an awakening could make something so destructive. If only they knew exactly what the devil fruit was.

But then he let his gaze wander as Adrian continued the conversation with their former mentor. They needed to return to the battle to alleviate their losses. The minks were single-handedly cleaning house with their Sulong. Why nobody thought to check the moon phase before establishing this battle was beyond him. The only thing that could not be faulted was the eclipse that strengthened them even more. Nobody had encountered carnage like this before at the hands of the Mink Tribe. Judging from the victims trying to defend themselves, it was almost as if the minks themselves had no idea they could be so badly affected by the event.

Regardless, there was still some order to be seen underneath. Sosuke adjusted his glasses as he watched Lun'aecho and mink riders weave throughout to certain objectives. They dismounted from their bison and horses, threw the injured or enslaved on, and then remounted to escape the fray. Other times, they found specific instances of support being needed and lent a hand until they could escape together. Just the way it was happening, it was very coordinated compared to the Marines.

The native's technology paled in comparison to the rest of the world's; they had no transponder snails to use. So, how were they following such specific routes and knew where they were supposed to end up? Even as he pondered, he watched a large group that was scattered suddenly turn and start heading toward the giants as if someone gave them a directive.

Adrian flapped his black fleshy wings to rejoin him. "We should let the minks continue to slaughter their own and then take out the awakened devil fruit user to end this," he explained. "Until then, we should try to reduce as many casualties for us as possible."

Sosuke ignored the plan and instead pointed to a particular pair of bison riders that never stopped but meticulously weaved through the battle without taking damage. "I don't know how, but there's still a leader taking their job very seriously," he deviated.

"What does that mean?"

"It means he's the only reason why the natives and minks haven't totally collapsed."

Adrian loosened his grip on his sword to let it float. "I see. Take out the remaining leader and watch them destroy themselves faster." Following who he was singling out, the sword vanished from sight to test the theory. All that could be seen was a glint of light reflecting off the blade as it leveled with the ground.

It quickly entered Lakota's field of Observation Haki. He paused in his speaking, detecting something approaching very fast. From the lack of vital signs, he recognized it as an inanimate object. It was very strange for something to pick up that kind of speed, and from the angle it was coming, he knew it was not one of the cannon balls. His gut told him this was something much worse.

At the last second, Lakota abruptly changed course by yanking the reins. Ravenna almost lost her balance and grabbed the back of the saddle. The sword failed to match the turn as precisely. When Lakota turned to look, he felt the blade barely knick his arm to where it did not sting, but it still drew blood. It startled him. The bison grunted from his jaw being yanked again to stop. Lakota watched the sword halt and turn back toward him. At the same time, he felt two beings approach from the sky.

Ravenna lifted her bow toward what he was sensing and shot at the Admirals. The first thing Lakota noticed was their wings. Devil fruit users were pursuing them. All he could think about was escaping them. So, he pulled the reins once more to get a move on. Compared to the others, they were easy targets since they could not use Armament Haki to protect themselves.

Adrian bent his fingers and twisted his wrist to drive his weapon for another attack. The bison riders entered an area of many flaming Sulong minks who were killing off Marines and natives alike, but they did not stop. Instead, they used the chaos to help hide themselves. Lakota would have jumped off the bison completely with Ravenna to make a run for it if it was possible for him. They had to settle for and pray that the minks leaping over them and focusing on other possible victims was enough to have the Admirals lose sight.

But the sword did not try to maneuver through the fighting. It spun and sliced through whatever got in its way, taking fingers, heads, or even driving completely through stomachs as it went. Some organs spilled onto the soil. People screamed from the unexpected assault. Others just silenced completely as they entered the afterlife. Lakota felt it returning to them and knew he had to avoid it at all costs. Ravenna was working to protect him, but he could barely match her effort. He started to panic as he realized the odds were stacked against him.

After he narrowly dodged the sword a second him, he allowed the breath to puff out of his open mouth. But not for long. All he did was blink, and suddenly, Sosuke was next to him. He had swooped down and casually flew parallel to the ground. His presence had Lakota perceive time happening slowly as he recognized just how much in danger they were.

Sosuke grabbed Lakota by the face. The force of the Haki in his fingers crushed his mask, but it was meant for throwing him off the bison. The Lun'aecho warrior crashed into the ground with his limp legs rolling over his head and his feathery mohawk dislodging from where he had it tied. He somehow stopped ungracefully with his front touching the itchy grass. When he looked up, he saw the bison continue to gallop with Ravenna remaining in the saddle. Then the sword flew back over his head.

She locked eyes with him. Her blonde locks bounced in that moment. They had been separated. Get him back – that was all she thought about. But the blade reflected the moon's red radiance. Lakota watched it vanish right in front of her.

Ravenna's eyes never left his. Even when the clean line formed on her neck and her hair got cut, it was like her soul was intact. But that glimmer of life darkened in her irises. Lakota gasped. The wolf mink's head left her body, which stayed upright for a few seconds as the bison slowed to a stop. But it went limp and toppled to the ground to bleed out.

The horrified scream that came out of Lakota was one he had never before mustered in his life. Just like that, Kiyaya's mother was gone. It was so shocking and unexpected to witness that he did not know what else to do in response. The shattered mask picked up his scream and broadcast it for all to hear, although not as clearly.

Somewhere else in the battlefield, the Duke shook his head from how much his eclipse Sulong form was hurting him. But the moment he heard the scream among the others, he got a hold of himself. Despite not knowing Lakota well, he knew it was him.

Adrian gently landed next to Lakota. He glanced up at Sosuke as he hovered over the battlefield to inspect any effects from their actions. "Well?"

"Oh yeah. They're disorganized now," he confirmed.

Lakota's chest shook with sobs. He moved his elbows to try crawling away, but a boot pressed into his spine to stop him.

Sosuke landed nearby to pick up pieces of the broken mask. It appeared ordinary, but he checked it anyway for anything like a transponder snail. "How were you commanding your people?" he questioned him.

Lakota kept a tight fist balled around stalks of grass as he refused to answer. Cherokee's powers would remain a secret with him.

Adrian lifted his arm to summon the sword back to him. Without trying to impress anybody this time, he simply aimed it over his neck. Like Ravenna, he would get a quick death, one that he would not even realize was done and over with so quickly. "Any final words, Savage?"

At that moment, Lakota deflated. He had always anticipated that his life would end tragically like this. Now that it was here, he was feeling all kinds of emotions. Of course, he thought of those most important to him. His fiercely beautiful wifey of the Mink Tribe who changed the last few months of his life for better. And Cherokee, who showed him what having family was supposed to be like. If it were not for those two, he would not be the man he was today. He knew he was so lucky to experience their love and bond, and it made him happy that he got to die with the memories he had.

And besides, he knew this truly was not the end. It was only the beginning. Kiyaya would bring a part of him into the world in a few moons. He pictured the wolf woman cradling a bundle in her arms, letting a small furry hand grasp her pinky as she smiled with bittersweetness. He knew the Lun'aecho Tribe would take care of his little family after today. But not taking care of them himself still hurt.

I'm sorry, Kiyaya. I couldn't protect your mom. Now I can't keep my promise of staying alive, he thought, relaxing where he laid. But you'll be fine. You're so strong that I'm almost jealous. And now you get to be a mother to our little one. Thank you for choosing a nobody like me to be your husband. It was such an honor. I love you so much it hurts. My Kiyaya. My wolf woman. My love.

Sosuke grabbed the back of Lakota's shirt to lift him off the ground. The inability to use his lower half caused him to keep trying to get him to cooperate. But seeing him continue to go limp made him wonder if the fall had actually paralyzed him by accident. Lakota did not give any indication of trying to fight back, though. He was instead waiting to leave the world behind. Adrian had no reservations with his voluntary silence. He just lifted the sword higher to go through with his execution.

The setup was spotted from a long distance away. As the blade was held in both hands until it reached an acme, she felt her Sulong take over her body. The glowing red sclera eliminated her slitted pupils completely with a powerful beat of her heart. It was like she had broken out of a cage as electricity bolts zapped everything in her vicinity. Her mind reverted to an animal-like state, leaving behind her humanity in a fit of rage.

The Admirals flinched from the feral sound of horrendous howling and snarling more intensely than any of the other Sulong minks around them. In a matter of two seconds, Kiyaya bore down on them. Her long strands flamed so much that she did not look like a living being at all anymore. The ground bucked from her strength alone, causing a dust cloud to erupt. They were in her jaws and one of her hands shielded Lakota from harm. The Lun'aecho warrior froze while they felt the wrath of the wolf woman. Her teeth crushed them without a second thought.

Adrian grunted as his sword and shield broke from the force, but he and Sosuke held off from sharing the same fate thanks to their quick thinking of using Haki. Even as she shook her head violently to aid in her efforts, it was of no use. Kiyaya plucked them from her jaws and furiously smashed them into the ground like a pair of ragdolls. Break their backs. Breaks their spines. Something had to give! Their Haki could not protect them forever.

When Lakota opened his eyes, he was met with Rodencia laying unconscious next to him. Her Sulong was gone. The sight of her short gray fur, naked pink tail, and normal black hair relieved him. Her pulse was steady, and she did not appear severely injured. Kiyaya succeeded in ridding her of her demon, and it indeed ended her rampage.

Finally, Kiyaya tossed the Admirals away. They ended up laying in trenches carved out by their own bodies. As she gathered Lakota and Rodencia in her palms, she remembered how Lakota was not alone here. She frantically looked around for her mother. But then she saw what remained and paused. Blood had emptied from her neck. Her decapitated head laid a few feet away. As her heart thumped in her chest, she had a hard time believing that she failed to make it in time for the woman who birthed her.

Lakota gripped her fur and buried his face into it. He was relieved to see her, to feel her touch once more. But that did not stop him from being riddled with guilt at the same time. Because he was too weak, he could not protect Ravenna. "I-I'm s-so sorry," he stammered with a clenched bottom lip.

She was not ready to face the grief. Holding them closer, she stood up to escape from the Admirals completely. However, that could not stop memories of her mother from streaming into her mind. From her youngest years, Kiyaya remembered that maternal scent. It was so comforting, along with her warmth as she snuggled her into her chest. Ravenna may have wanted more children, but she loved her daughter so much that it was like she did not want to share her love with anyone else.

The absence of her mother did not affect her much at all while she was away from Zou for their mercenary expedition. But for some reason, now that it was permanent, Kiyaya was devastated. Trying to push it aside was hard. Her legs felt numb, but she kept running. She just needed a place to be still for a moment. Returning to the mountains was too risky since she was very noticeable compared to others. The next best option was her hopping down into one of the collapsed tunnels and quickly digging open the entrance that went deeper. She dove headfirst into the hole with Lakota and Rodencia in front of her, and she crawled until they were hidden from sight.

The ground above them trembled as the battle continued. Thanks to Kiyaya's illuminating pelt, they were able to see small bits of loose dirt fall from the ceiling. "Quick. We must wake her," she urged, laying Rodencia flat next to Lakota.

He tried shaking her gently and opening one of her eyes, but it was not working. Then he remembered one of the remedies given to him earlier and unlatched a small vial from his belt. He rubbed some on his wrist and hovered it over her triangular nose. Upon inhaling, her whiskers twitched, and she coughed from how it tickled her throat. Both Kiyaya and Lakota sighed with relief that it worked.

The rat mink rubbed her nose as she sat up. The eclipse's Sulong did not stop her from recognizing Kiyaya. "What's going on?" she asked them, listening to the rumbling above them.

"Cherokee's triggered an eclipse," Lakota filled her in. "It's wreaking havoc with the minks. We need to put everyone to sleep with your Conqueror's Haki."

"Now," Kiyaya pushed. "We're running out of time."

Without going into detail, Rodencia already understood what she meant. Being unconscious warped her sense of time. If they were worried, then she had to make haste.

The sound of an explosion directly above had them all look up at the ceiling. Larger pieces of earth rained on them. Another explosion made Kiyaya grab them again and reverse out of the tunnel. She had a bad feeling when a crumbling tried following them. She tried to hurry. If she did not, they were going to get buried alive.

As soon as she burst back outside, Kiyaya knew their cover was blown. Adrian had picked up their heat indexes below and knew it was them. He and Sosuke were ready to intercept them after forcing them out. Reflexively, Kiyaya backflipped over their heads. But they were not planning on falling victim to her again. Sosuke only needed one powerful beat of his moth wings to accelerate toward her. Before she had the chance to touch the ground, he struck her with the same fist of Haki that he used to collapse their tunnel.

Kiyaya vomited blood as she flew several yards backwards and slid across the grass. That was the second time she suffered a punch like that, but it hurt worse than Rodencia's. Her bones cracked. Still, she managed to hold onto Lakota and Rodencia. They both looked at each other before Lakota tended to his wife and Rodencia touched the inside of her ear. "This is Rodencia," she voiced through the transpondance curse. "I need backup. Anyone. Please!"

While Lakota brushed the fur under Kiyaya's eye and tried making sure she was okay, the rat mink slipped out of her grasp. Sosuke was flying toward them.

"You-teia are mine," she stated as she sprinted toward him. If she needed to keep him busy so that Kiyaya and Lakota could escape, then so be it.

Sosuke furrowed his brows as light reflected off his glasses. He steadily let off the use of his wings in exchange for his feet. Right when he passed her, he adjusted his weight to spin around to face her. She tried greeting him with a roundhouse kick, but he deflected it and held her foot up longer than expected. The moment of vulnerability gave him a chance to punch her in the diaphragm. Reading it, Rodencia pulled her leg back down so that it would drag diagonally across his body and knock the punch away. The next punch hooked the right side of her face, making her spin when following the force. Clapping him back with a punch of her own was dodged in that moment. After that, every punch they threw at each other was caught or deflected.

The intensity only went up from there. Rodencia pulled out a knife and tried to slash across his face with it. When he dodged that as well, she quickly flipped after tossing it above her head. The end of the handle made contact with her heel as it swung over. Sosuke had to turn his head as it shot at him like a bullet just to keep it from impaling his face. Luckily, all he suffered was a graze. But right when Rodencia regained her poise, he turned back with a punch. She shielded her face to absorb the impact, which sent her tumbling backwards until she skillfully caught herself in a crouch.

She was about to burst from her crouch to charge, but her legs did not commit to engaging. The other Admiral soared over their heads. Her eyes followed him until she had to turn her head. "Kiyaya!" she called as a warning.

Both her and Lakota felt Adrian speeding toward them. Instinctively, Kiyaya brushed Lakota underneath her hair so he could hide. The next split second was her rolling away from her current spot. It was like a bomb went off from how the ground suddenly exploded. Adrian's silhouette loomed in the dust as it settled. Not having a weapon now was inconvenient for him, so he resorted to using techniques Sosuke was more accustomed to. "I know you're hiding him," he taunted, seeing the heat signature through his vampiric sight. "Hand him over if you know what's good for you."

"I'd rather die," Kiyaya declared.

"Very well." He bared his teeth to hiss at her as a warning. The anger in him that she destroyed the tools he worked hard to create was petty, but it added to his motivation to end this faster. He also sized her up and saw potential rather than an obstacle. Sosuke's resupply helped alleviate his anemia, but he would need another feeding session to replace those tools. A being of Kiyaya's stature was a buffet for him.

He took a single step. It was all that was needed for him to rashly be right in front of her. The little sting of his teeth sinking into her flesh was enough to get her to try to squash him like a mosquito. Too bad for her, he already had a feeling that would be her response. After he got a sip, he unlatched and took another single step to avoid her slap. Now he was behind her. The heat signature of the man she was hiding was more visible to him.

Adrian purposely aimed for the hand that she was quickly coming for him with. He caught a ride without alerting her. From her perspective, all he did was disappear again to find another blind spot. But right when her hand stopped in the air, he let go to catch some air. The bat wings fanned out with a whoosh! and he went to expel his target from the hiding place.

Lakota held on. His sight was shrouded, and so he did not know what was happening. What he did know, however, was that Kiyaya had not defeated him. The Admiral's presence was coming from above. "Watch out!" he told her.

Kiyaya pivoted until she noticed the trick. She blocked his attempt just to feel his bite return. He sucked deeper until she tried smashing her hand into the ground. And just like the first time, he again took barely moved to avoid it. This was nothing but a game to him. The more he tried to snatch Lakota from under her nose, the more she panicked and became more susceptible to bites. And, although slowly, Kiyaya was starting to tire from the effort.

Little did she know that someone was rallying what troops he could to lend them assistance. Quintus heard Rodencia's plea. Once he realized who the enemy was, he very much understood why. They needed numbers to even deter them a little bit. As he jogged as fast as his chubby body would take him, he could not help but notice the skeletons hurrying past him. They were not mindlessly attacking anymore. To make it even weirder, they were heading straight for the skirmish, too.

He looked at both sides of him. Right, left, back to right. His confusion became fright when a demon joined him. She materialized out of thin air. Against the light sourced from his Sulong, Quintus saw something dirty in rags and disheveled hair, topped with a deer skull. Looking down, he saw a black cloud around her unmoving feet. This demon was floating!

Almost hearing his inner thoughts, the demon glanced at him. Quintus nearly tripped when he realized he knew her. What the Hell happened to Cherokee?

Such a trivial topic was not of any concern right now. Cherokee grabbed his elbow. And suddenly, they were both right in the center of the fights happening. Feeling their presences without warning, everyone paused for once. That was a mistake. Sosuke had no time to prepare for the hand that grabbed his face. Cherokee practically teleported from how purely her Haki was flowing from her. First to him, then to Adrian. Both were manhandled like children. They were her trophies that she got to claim, and once she did, she launched away to an incredible distance away from them.

Everyone stood with clueless and stunned expressions. That was so much easier than anyone could have imagined it be. But Lakota, still oblivious to the outside of his refuge, crawled out from underneath Kiyaya's hair just to see the peace. Although it caught him off guard, he did not let it distract him from what was most important.

"Rodencia! The plan!" he reminded her.

"Right!" she replied, motioning for Quintus to join her.

The Duke did not understand until she started to skywalk. She needed to find a good position for hewr Conqueror's Haki to reach all of the affected minks. "I'll need your help getting people to safety," she told him. "I'm knocking them all out."

Quintus followed behind her, focusing his Haki into the soles of his feet and creating larger bursts of air pressure from his weight alone. He had no idea what their plan was, but he trusted her enough to not question it. They ascended to an unreachable height at the very center of the battlefield. "Everyone get ready!" she announced over the transpondance curse.

Anyone sane enough to understand looked up and began to flee.

Then, she paused and unleashed the biggest shockwave of Conqueror's Haki she had ever produced. Originating from her frontal lobe, it vibrated through the air and fell over everyone in its wake. Quintus felt it, but he was possibly the only one who could withstand its effects. For those not as gifted, it was like the blinds got pulled down on them. Marines, Lun'aecho, minks, and anything in between simultaneously slacked and collapsed to the ground. Many black orbs left the unmoving bodies, and the Haki's breeze blew out all the candles. The red Sulong diminished out of sight like magic, eradicating the crimson fire for good.