Garrido looked up at the rising sun and smiled. They had made it safely through the night.
Then, without warning, his pupils shrank.
"Enemy attack!"
His sharp warning shattered the quiet morning.
High above among the towering trees, warriors came charging down from both the northeast and southwest, attacking from two directions at once. Dark-skinned, with camouflage paint covering their faces, each carried weapons or Dial-powered gear.
Garrido's expression changed instantly as he drew his greatsword in one swift motion. Behind him, the armored guards snapped awake, grabbed their weapons, and spread out to meet the assault.
'Boom!'
The first attack exploded across the campsite. A powerful blast erupted from an Impact Dial, crashing straight into the center of Garrido's formation and shattering their defensive line in a single strike.
At the same moment, Rojen, who had been resting against a tree, slowly opened his eyes. The Nether Soul Pirates woke almost simultaneously.
Chaporos, who had somehow fallen asleep on a tree branch three meters above the ground, jerked awake and immediately tumbled off it.
"Owww!" He landed with a painful scream. "What happened?!"
The entire crew instinctively turned toward the source of the commotion just as the attackers revealed themselves.
They were Shandians.
"Wyper." Garrido tightened his grip on his greatsword, his expression growing serious. They had crossed blades many times before, and though Wyper was still young, Garrido had never underestimated his strength.
"Garrido." Wyper's voice was ice cold. "We've finally caught you alone. Once you're dead... that old man Gan Fall won't stand a chance."
"So I'm your target?" Garrido paused for a moment before smiling. "Good. Then leave my friends out of this."
By then, the Nether Soul Pirates had fully gathered. Although they didn't know the whole story, one thing was obvious: these fierce-looking warriors had come to kill Garrido.
"What are these guys doing?" Chaporos yawned unhappily. "I wasn't done sleeping..." His complexion looked a little better than yesterday's, but the dark circles under his eyes still made him look completely worn out.
Jason, Crocodile, and the rest gathered around Rojen.
"Captain?"
They all waited for his decision. From the looks of it, this was Skypiea's internal conflict, and Garrido was the only target.
Just then, the battle erupted in full.
"End this quickly!" Wyper roared. "Don't give God's Army time to reinforce them!"
The jet-powered skates beneath his feet blasted out streams of air as he shot forward. In the blink of an eye, his warriors had already clashed with Garrido's squad.
Wyper himself leaped high into the air above Garrido, aiming the Impact Dial mounted on his hand straight downward. A violent torrent of compressed air burst forth.
Garrido gripped his greatsword with both hands and slashed upward.
'Boom!'
The tremendous impact forced him back several steps as the compressed blast scattered in every direction before fading into the air.
Before Garrido could fully recover his footing, Wyper's Jet Board propelled him forward at incredible speed. In an instant, he was right in front of him.
"Die!" Wyper raised his leg and brought it crashing down like an axe.
'Clang!'
Garrido forcibly stopped himself from retreating, bending his knees and lifting his sword to barely block the kick. But before he could counter, Wyper's fist slammed squarely into his chest.
Caught off guard, Garrido was sent flying, rolling across the ground three times before carving a long trench through the earth.
"Garrido!" Wyper strode forward like a charging lion, his killing intent surging. "Today's the day you die!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Garrido's squad was already at a disadvantage. Having stayed awake all night, they were exhausted to begin with, and against Wyper's stronger warriors, they quickly began to collapse. In just a few moments, three of Garrido's men had already been sent flying.
Garrido glanced at his squad from the corner of his eye, his expression growing even grimmer.
This wasn't looking good.
At that moment, Wyper charged again.
A fierce light flashed in Garrido's eyes as he gripped his greatsword with both hands and slashed. "Air Cut!"
'Whoosh!'
Mounted on the broad hilt of his sword was a mechanism similar to an Impact Dial, which shot out a compressed blast with the swing. Wyper bent low and dodged it, letting the razor-sharp shockwave slice straight through a massive tree behind him, cutting it cleanly in half.
'Boom!'
Garrido seized the opening. Lowering his stance, he swept his greatsword across the ground, aiming directly at Wyper's legs. Even while bent over, Wyper sprang into the air with astonishing agility, narrowly avoiding the attack.
After their rapid exchange, both men instinctively retreated about three meters, staring each other down.
"As expected of Garrido." Wyper's eyes remained icy. "You're stronger than I expected... but not stronger than I imagined."
"Wyper," Garrido raised his sword once more. "Leave."
"Leave?" Kamakiri laughed as he stepped up beside Wyper. "In your dreams! The advantage is ours now."
At the same same time, two more Shandian warriors landed behind Garrido. In the blink of an eye, the four of them had surrounded him.
"So..." Garrido said quietly, "you're determined to kill me today."
"We have to," Wyper answered coldly. "Without you, Gan Fall loses his strongest supporter. So you must die." He clenched his fists. "You've occupied the land of the Shandians for four hundred years. It's time to give it back."
The moment he finished speaking, all four attacked together. From the very beginning, their objective had been clear: a swift ambush, an overwhelming kill. Facing four elite warriors at once, even Garrido felt crushing pressure.
"Flame Jet!" The warrior behind him unleashed a torrent of fire from a Flame Dial, blazing flames rushing toward Garrido's back. At the same instant, another attacker appeared beside him. "Swift Slash!" His blade flashed toward Garrido.
From the front, Wyper charged head-on, his Impact Dial already aimed, while Kamakiri closed in from the side with a cold smile, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
In an instant, Garrido found himself trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation. The flames surged closer until he could feel the scorching heat against his skin.
Then...
'Whoosh!'
Garrido vanished. The flames passed straight through the afterimage he had left behind, burning empty air before fading away.
'Hiss...!'
Jets of compressed air burst from beneath Garrido's boots, Wind Dials. Streams of white vapor trailed behind him as they propelled him across the battlefield.
"Interesting." A cold laugh rang out.
One of the attackers instantly adjusted his position, appearing directly in front of Garrido and slashing across with his blade.
The instant Garrido reappeared... his eyes suddenly blazed with a dazzling light.
(End Of This Chapter)
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