Ariel was much more docile and obedient when she was sober. The two were done after only an hour, since Ariel's body was exhausted because she had drugged herself and gone all out the day before.
Smooch-!
They were finished, but they were still cuddling.
'Is this girl actually an enchantress?' Shun was confused by how long he had spent there, especially since he wasn't even under the effect of her tea.
Knock-! Knock-!
"Ariel-sama, if we don't leave now, we'll be late for class…" Sylphie worked up her courage to return and remind her.
"Ah, it's already that time," Ariel said, though she made no attempt to get up from their position.
"You can enter, Sylphie."
Creak-!
Sylphie was surprised by the sight of them still together, but she didn't comment on it.
'If I get embarrassed, I'll lose!'
"Sylphie, I ended up using myself as a test subject. But now that you've seen the result, it's your turn now," Ariel said, using words unknown to Shun.
"!"
Sylphie immediately understood what she was hinting at and couldn't hold her composure any longer.
"If you haven't made a move by tomorrow, I'll have you join us instead," Ariel said softly with a smile as she leaned in to kiss Shun again.
'She no longer sticks out her tongue after the first few times, huh? That was the fun part.'
Shun didn't mind being used as a threatening tool for whatever they were talking about.
"I have somewhere to be too, so let's take a shower and get ready," Shun yawned and carried Ariel around her house as if he owned it.
"…"
——
"All right then, see you later," Shun was finally able to leave Ariel's house.
"Mm," Ariel nodded, then added, "School will be over in eight hours."
"Okay." Shun had no plan to return to this Ranoa Magic University after dealing with Badigadi, but now he had a big one.
Unknown to the two, Sylphie watched them with determined eyes. Seeing the two strangers becoming closer than even her parents, she was resolute.
'I'll do it tonight too!'
——
After separating from them, Shun took a stroll around the city before returning.
'I think… her tongue was what got me hooked the most,' Shun thought, still dwelling on this unique woman named Ariel. They had lost count of how many times they kissed in just one night.
Half an hour later, Shun returned to his floating castle.
'Lilia seemed to be fired up last night, but I couldn't return. I'll just pretend I didn't notice her stare.'
"All right, I got the map. Though we may have strayed from our original plan a bit… let's visit Eris."
"…"
Lilia was still staring at Shun, while Hilda and Aisha were busy with Pursena and Linia. They didn't even notice that Shun hadn't stayed the night.
'Are those two girls actually here? Are they just shameless, or do beastfolk take their promises extremely seriously?'
Shun stopped thinking about it and decided to just follow the map. As the house started floating in the right direction, Shun decided to go to his room.
'Apparently, Aisha and Hilda were busy teaching Pursena and Linia to be maids.'
'Not just a beastfolk, but they have a maid fetish too?' Shun judged the Greyrat family once more before asking Lilia for tea and returning to his room.
Creak-!
Lilia entered Shun's room and found him on the bedroom veranda. There were two chairs and a table, and Shun was seated in one of them, looking at the scenery below.
"Master, the tea is ready."
"…"
'She usually calls me by name when we're alone, but she is really angry this time, huh?' Shun was amused by this tantrum.
"Thanks," Shun said as she placed the tea on the table.
Lilia took a seat next to him without a word. She pretended to be angry, but Shun being absent for a few days was a normal occurrence for her and Hilda. Lilia stole a glance at Shun's side profile. At this moment, Shun was in deep thought.
'There must have been something important that happened last night,' Lilia thought, admiring Shun's profile until her name was called.
"Hey, Lilia."
"Yes," Lilia replied immediately, waiting for Shun's usual lousy comforting words.
"Can you stick your tongue out between your lips without opening your mouth wide?"
"…"
Lilia turned completely silent for a while.
"Ha?"
"Trust me, I'm trying to figure something out."
"…"
Beh-!
Lilia felt like she was finally sacrificing herself for Rudeus' future as she stuck her tongue out with a weird noise.
'Cute,' Shun thought as he dived in and took her tongue between his lips.
"!"
Lilia was surprised, but she had spent three years intimately with Shun, she didn't turn back from new play.
——
While Shun was busy figuring himself out, the floating house was steadily heading towards the Holy Land of Swords. It had been six hours since they started their little journey. Shun and Lilia were already done with their little wrestling. Now, Shun was resting on Hilda's lap while Aisha fed him grapes.
The newcomers, Linia and Pursena, were surprised by this sight, but they took notes as they assumed that they would have to do this sometime in the future, too. Mostly, they felt jealous of Shun; they wanted to live carefree like this.
Unlike their assessment, Shun wasn't just being lazy. He was sensing the movements around the floating house, because even if they were flying, there could be dangers such as flying monsters. Mostly, however, Shun was searching for a blue-haired girl who had been present during the Badigadi sealing incident.
'She must have headed home after seeing Badigadi defeated. We should be heading to same location… but there's no clue about her.' Shun was getting tired already; although his magic power supply was infinite, his Haki was not.
"Oh?"
"Eh?" Shun's sudden noise attracted their attention.
"I'll be back," Shun said, then got up.
POP-! POP-!
Through the limited space, Shun's mastery had reached the highest level possible; he was able to use repel and recoil, leaving the room in under a second. Then…
After five seconds, he brought a horse and a girl back.
"…"
"Who is that?" Including the newcomers, even Hilda and Lilia were speechless by this sudden kidnapping.
"E-E-E-Eh?! Where am I… Y-You are?!" The blue-haired girl named Nina Farion's reaction was quite amusing.
"This girl is the Sword God's daughter, and since we're going to the same place, let's just go together," Shun said, waving his hand in front of him to show he had no intention of fighting.
Regardless, Nina Farion pulled her sword from its scabbard with trembling hands. Ignoring her, Shun returned to his earlier position.
"Please calm down, Nina-san. You must know that if we meant harm, you wouldn't be alive by now."
"…"
'Aisha's character is becoming really bad, huh? Or was it always like this?'
Regardless, Nina sheathed her sword.
"Yes, yes, calm down. Do you know who our leader is?"
"He is him, the Magic God!"
Linia and Pursena followed Aisha's lead and started acting like the delinquents they were.
"W-Why did you bring me here?" Nina wasn't intimidated by the two delinquents and asked Shun instead.
"Your father is the Sword God, right?"
"Yes!" Nina immediately affirmed his words to intimidate them a bit.
"He attacked one of my friends in the past, and now he is nearing the end of his life force."
"!"
Even Shun's group was shocked by this sudden news.
"E-Even if he is my father, we aren't that close!"
"…"
'This girl should be Eris' rival, but her reactions are really interesting.'
"I lost count of how many times he made me go through hellish training."
"I see. Then I have a request for you."
"W-What is it?"
"I want to make your father feel as much rage and fear as possible."
"…"
"So, I want you to play along. The role of a daughter that got captured by her father's enemy."
"Eh?!"
Shun wasn't cruel enough to do it for real, so he even went out of his way to find her and tell her in advance. Nina fell into deep silence as she stared at Shun. Shun suddenly opened his palm and moved it… and grabbed a grape.
He was just eating a grape, but this action terrified Nina.
"I-I agree! I'll show everyone the best acting ever!"
"Thanks, that's reassuring to hear."
Thus, the two actors for the drama in the Holy Land of Swords were decided.
——
Eris Boreas Greyrat POV.
Huph-! Huph-!
Today, too, Eris swung her sword. Her determination was clear in her sharp eyes. If she ever felt discouraged, her mind replayed the scene where their group was nearly… no, when they got truly wiped out by the Dragon God.
'Even that bastard with Mom is so strong that I can't even fathom it. I never want to feel that again.'
Thus, Eris continued swinging her sword. She didn't take showers; she just ate, trained, and slept. If she took a shower once a month, it was considered a good month for the other kids learning swordsmanship there. After all, Eris stinks!
"Eris! You have a visitor." Ghislaine's cool voice finally stopped Eris' wild swings.
"I don't care, tell them I'm busy!" After saying this, Eris returned to swinging, but…
"It's Master Shun," Ghislaine stopped her again. Unbeknownst to Ghislaine, she had started to respect Shun because he actually let her go with Eris, despite initially saying he wouldn't let them go. Ghislaine was still under the misunderstanding that she was included in Shun's list of close people.
"That guy? Why?" Eris and Ghislaine were both muscleheads, so they didn't notice that Ghislaine's way of addressing Shun had changed.
"Probably because Hilda-sama is there, too."
"…Let's meet them."
——
Back to Shun and his crew.
For reasons unknown to them, Shun and his group were waiting in the dojo where a bunch of sword users had gathered. The big dojo, which usually had people sparring and practicing their sword skills, was nearly empty. Only a few people were present, but they were important, two of them even had their names on the list of the world's Seven Great Powers. The titles given to them because of their overwhelming strength were the Sword God, Gall Farion, and the Magic God, Shun.
At this moment, Gall Farion had no clue what was happening.
'The rumored Magic God is suddenly in front of me… and for some reason, Nina is sitting close to him.'
Despite this bizarre sight, Gall Farion didn't lose his composure. He was the one who made enemies lose their composure by provoking them, not the other way around.
Creak-!
At this moment, Eris and Ghislaine entered the dojo. On one side of the room, Shun sat casually with his crew plus Nina. On the other side, opposite them on his Sword God seat, Gall Farion sat surrounded by a bunch of tall men who seemed to be in their thirties. Their unique feature was that they all carried swords, as they were Sword Saints and some were even nearing the Sword King level.
Gal Farion was a middle-aged man with a face described as looking like a "ferocious wolf," marked by a prominent scar below his left eye that extended to his ear. He had blue hair and, as the Sword God, wore a leather coat reserved for Sword Kings and above, distinguishing him from his disciples in training attire.
"Eris. Long time no see, it's your father."
"!"
This introduction was unexpected.
"What are you doing here?" Eris had grown up; she didn't shout or get mad at Shun.
"Eris."
"Mom."
"Come here," Hilda's voice was firm, leaving no choice for Eris.
Eris and Ghislaine quietly stood with Shun's group.
"You guys want to go back to the house early? It'll get ugly here soon," Shun cared about his image, at least around the people close to him.
"No. I'll see through your revenge; you can protect us, right?" Hilda was determined; despite being the weakest here, her will was among the strongest.
'Well, that explains where Eris got her personality from,' Shun thought before replying, "Of course."
After finishing the talk, Shun turned towards the Sword God.
"I came today to challenge the dojo," Shun's words were as unique as always.
"Huh? Aren't you a mage?" The Sword God obviously didn't recognize Shun, and Hitogami hadn't given them a warning.
'Did he judge it was impossible to save them anyway?'
"Yes. I know nothing about swords. The one challenging the dojo will be someone else."
"…"
"How would you feel if I told you there is another one like me? Allow me to introduce you to my son. His name is Hawk." As soon as Shun finished his dramatic speech, a boy who looked about the age of 13 materialized in front of Shun with a bright light.
This child had dark hair and piercing yellow eyes. His most notable features were the black wings growing on his back and the distinctive Lunarian flame burning behind him. As soon as Hawk arrived, he immediately became the focus of attention.
"Son?"
While everyone was confused, Hawk was as calm as always.
"…Who is the enemy?"
"That dumb-looking guy sitting like he is the strongest in the room," Shun's description was vague, but Hawk immediately pointed out his target.
"You were probably getting bored of not getting challenged, right? Those guys attacked one of our allies in the past. Test their sword skills and make them despair before killing them."
"!"
Shun's chilling instructions were heard loud and clear. What was most eerie about his words was that Shun had no doubt at all that Hawk would be able to defeat them alone.
"Understood," Hawk replied curtly.
'This kid used to reply with only yes or no. Now he responds with a long word like 'understood'. I guess that's the proof of our deepening bond.'
"Master Shun, are you sure?" Surprisingly, it was Ghislaine who asked.
"Yes. That kid is special, everything about him. His potential alone might be stronger than me."
"!!"
Shun wasn't lying; his original potential wasn't much compared to those Seraphim monster kids. But now that he had stolen all kinds of abilities, it was pointless to compare. He said it just to reassure them.
Shun took a seat to watch the show. In today's battle, he didn't have an active fighting role. Instead, he had a psychological attack role.
Shun gave Hawk the sign to start, and he gave a sign for Nina to start their act, too. Nina sighed with nervousness, then took a seat on Shun's lap.
"!!"
This was the moment the Sword God showed the most emotion on his face today.
"Nina, what are you doing?" He asked.
"…" Nina didn't answer because…
'There were no such questions in the script!!'
"We met at the Ranoa Magic University and became quite close," instead of her, Shun answered, but instead of Gall Farion, someone else reacted.
"Huh? Nina? What the hell are you doing?!" It was Eris the tyrant.
'I want to know that!' Nina thought, but didn't reply.
"I was planning to visit here quite a bit earlier, but I just couldn't separate from your daughter…" while Hawk wanted to start the fight already, his father figure started trash-talking.
Clench-!
Though he kept his poker face, the Sword God's grip on his sword tightened.
"Zeno. Go fight him." The sword masters seemed to underestimate Hawk because of his appearance.
Since Shun said to make them despair before killing them, Hawk took his time fighting the Sword Saint.
'As expected, this brat is the real Sword God. Letting him deal with the fraud Sword God was a correct move.'
While the swordsmen kept themselves busy, Gall Farion kept staring at his daughter sitting on the enemy bastard's lap. Noticing his gaze, Shun decided to go a step further. Nina Farion was a girl with long dark blue hair and sharp blue eyes. Though her chest area was modest, her body overall was a muscular type due to her training from a young age. She was currently dressed in a white uniform similar to a white judo clothes.
Shun gave her a wink as a sign, to which Nina nodded softly. It was time for the second part of the script. Once the sign was given, Nina awkwardly kissed Shun's cheek.
"!"
Seeing this, two figures were fuming with anger.
'I'm only trying to provoke Gall, can you step back, Eris?'
Gall was angry for obvious reasons, but Eris' reasoning was that…
'Nina is trying to become my step-step-mother or whatever it's called!!'
Clang-!
Just a few meters away from them, Hawk was defeating the poor Sword Saints one by one.
Seeing that Eris might start acting instead of Gall, Shun decided to put them in a bubble shield. It was just a space that repels attacks.
POP-!
"!"
"What are you doing?!" Eris was fuming. However this unusual and instant magic alarmed Gall.
Now, everyone from Shun's group except for Nina, Hawk, and Shun were inside a bubble.
"Thrum-! Thrum-! Thrum-!" Shun didn't care about their reactions, instead focusing on the script. He lifted Nina's right leg into the air and started strumming her legs from the knee to the upper thigh like a guitar.
"…"
'W-What is he doing? The script said just cling together for a bit with me occasionally kissing him on the cheek.'
Gall's reaction turned cold; he no longer could keep his poker face. Even Shun's group started to feel irritated by his actions.
"He is kinda irritating," Hilda commented.
'Are you noticing it now?' Lilia thought, but didn't say it out loud; she knew Shun's sensory magic and his petty grudges.
"I didn't think about it before but…"
"Is Master actually a bad guy?" Linia and Pursena asked.
"Newbies, there's no good or evil in this world. The winner is the justice," Aisha replied, already acting like a veteran.
While the group chatted safely inside the bubble, Gall Farion had vanished from his seat, his sword already drawn. He ignored Hawk, who had already defeated his subordinates. Gall swung his sword down toward Shun's head, and Shun couldn't react at all.
'Heh, in the end, no matter how strong a mage is, they're all trash once in close range.'
The sword was only inches away from hitting Shun, who was still playing around with Nina's thigh. Gall was sure of his victory. However, something was strange… time seemed to slow down for him.
'Huh? How am I able to think this much in less than a second? Did I break through to the next level?!' Gall was surprised by this weird phenomenon. Then it hit him.
'Is this what they call life flashing before one's eyes when they're about to die?!!' Gall immediately pulled his sword, turned back, and blocked Hawk's sword that was aimed at his neck.
Clang-!!!
"!"
Pant-! Pant-!
Gall was uncharacteristically shaken.
'This brat is… dangerous!'
After taking a deep breath, Gall decided to deal with Hawk first.
'A mage isn't my opponent, I'll deal with him later.'
Meanwhile, Shun let out a sigh of relief; he was really disappointed that the Sword God was about to die that easily.
'It would've been a total waste to our script and rehearsal.'
Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!
The fake and real Sword Gods were exchanging terrifying attacks. Eris, Ghislaine, and even Nina's eyes were glued to them. Though they were exchanging blows equally, Hawk had the upper hand.
'As expected, people from the One Piece world just have superior physical abilities than others. I think it's probably because of the food they eat, giant sea kings, etc.'
Just when Shun was about to level up their little provocation, Gall spoke some vulgar words.
"Nina! You little slut, taking the side of an enemy?! Did you learn that from your mom?"
"!"
Nina's face paled at his vulgar words. Tears welled up in her eyes as she started trembling. Shun was at a loss for words.
'They actually had a toxic family relationship?' Shun was confused by this sudden information that was never mentioned in the original timeline.
"Hey, we're supposed to be provoking him, not the other way around," Shun said as he wiped off Nina's tears.
"…"
"….Yeah."
Nina took a deep breath to calm herself down.
"Oi, Hawk. Don't use your Devil Fruit ability, only use sword skills and beat him up."
"…Understood."
Shun wanted Hawk to break his pride as the Sword God. While Shun was giving instructions to make Hawk's mission even harder, Nina had calmed herself down; her eyes now had a sharp look showing her determination.
"Sorry for going off-script," Nina muttered.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Since we've long been going in a different direction than our script."
"…I'll make up for it."
"Huh?"
The next moment, Nina turned her head around and dived into Shun's face, taking Shun's lips in an awkward way.
"…"
'Now you're going too far out of the script, and Aisha is here, too.' Shun never planned anything beyond little touches, especially since Aisha was there.
"Mmph~!"
Nina was kissing Shun awkwardly, but her passion was… extreme.
'Her teeth have been bumping into mine for a while now… This world really is full of perverts,' Shun sighed.
"Master…" Lilia and Hilda immediately covered Aisha's eyes, but their own eyes were burning with jealousy. They were placed in some kind of space where they couldn't leave and had to watch their man get assaulted.
Crash-!
Nina's provocation worked, and Gall's movement froze for less than a second, but Hawk didn't miss the opening and sent him crashing into the wall.
"Kah-!" Gall Farion coughed up blood.
'This brat got crazy strength in his little body, too…'
While all this was happening, Nina's passion still burned wildly as she kept kissing and touching Shun.
The students were told to stay away from the gym earlier, but one figure stayed behind. He was hiding in a corner and watching everything until now. In his eyes, Nina was being threatened by Shun.
"Nina… I'll save you." The figure's name was Jino Britts, aka the future Sword God. He was a handsome young guy who was in love with Nina.
Swoosh-!
He jumped out from his hiding spot and sprinted toward Shun like the wind. His sword was drawn, and his plan was simple: just get into close range against the mage.
"Nina! Duck!!" Jino roared as he swung his sword toward them.
"Huh?" X2
The two sitting on the ground and kissing each other in this crazy place were surprised by this newcomer.
"Jino!"
While Nina was shocked, others screamed in worry.
"Master!"
"Shun!" Even Ghislaine and Eris were screaming in worry, because the sword really connected with the back of Shun's neck. Hawk and Gall stopped their fight and looked back in shock.
"Hahaha! Jino! Great job!" Gall was exhilarated by this unexpected ally.
"…" Hawk, uncharacteristically, had a worried look in his eyes. But…
Clang-!
Hawk was the first one to notice and let out a tiny sigh of relief. While Hawk wasn't surprised, it was a crazy sight for everyone else. Shun's neck and the sword connected, but there wasn't the expected blood spurting. Instead, the sword broke in half.
"…"
"W-What?! What magic did he use?" Jino immediately stepped back.
"Phew! Don't make us worry," Eris shouted.
"Oh? You were worried about me?"
"!" Eris turned her head away.
"Jino!" While Shun didn't care even a bit about being attacked, Nina was angry because their kiss got halted.
"Nina?"
"Why did you attack him? Leave us alone!"
"…"
Nina's words were so different from what Jino expected.
"W-What are you talking about, Nina? Is he threatening you?"
"What gave you that idea? I did it on my own; we're in love!" Nina's words were cold.
'Huh? We were in love?' Jino aside, even Shun was shocked by what this girl was saying.
"Nina…" Jino Britts, the future Sword God, had been planning to challenge Gall Farion in the future and beat him, then ask for his daughter Nina's hand in marriage, but…
Jino no longer had any intention to fight.
Witnessing this scene, Shun felt a bit awkward.
'They're probably childhood friends, but… women sure are cruel…'
'This Jino Britts is the future Sword God and has a lot of potential to be an ally, but… nevermind, we have a Sword God at home,' Shun thought as he looked at Hawk slowly cornering Gall Farion.
Clang-! Clang-!
With each exchange, Hawk drew blood from Gall's body. Now, the Sword God's body was covered in small slashes and was bleeding horribly.
Pant-! Pant-!
"Tsk. Dumb brat, hesitating because of emotions," Gall cursed at Jino, who had stopped moving.
"Aghh!!!!" Suddenly Gall roared loudly and… threw a smoke bomb.
"!"
As soon as the room was covered in smoke, Gall broke the wall and went on the run.
'I have to run for now; beating that brat will take a bit of time. If the mage joins the fight during that time, it's over. Yeah, I'm running because I didn't have time for fighting. If I used Longsword of Light, that brat wouldn't survive, but if I injured the brat, the mage would obviously join the fight to assist him, since they said they were father and son,' Gall convinced himself as he ran like crazy.
"I'm glad I kept some of those smoke bombs of Auber," Gall sighed in relief, now quite far from the dojo.
"Getting this far should be safe now. But… why were those bastards attacking me?"
"I'll think about that later," Gall said and went on to run again.
Pant-! Pant-!
Gall was almost out of breath from running at full speed for a while now.
"I should be safe now," the Sword God finally stopped running and turned back to look.
"!!"
Only to see the brat from earlier still chasing him. His sharp yellow eyes gave him chills.
"Longsword of—!" Due to nervousness, Gall uncharacteristically shouted the name of his attack, but… his world started spinning. A moment later…
Thud-!
His decapitated head slowly rolled on the ground.
——
Back at Shun's side.
Shun now canceled the paw shield, and the group was about to withdraw.
'Everything about the plan completely went wrong, but… it's a success.'
The smoke bomb implied that Gall Farion had accepted that he couldn't beat Hawk. His pride as a swordsman was shattered.
'Though he isn't a Haki user, once you start to doubt your own strength, you will grow weaker and weaker. The perfect example for this was Gecko Moria.'
Step. Step.
Jino Britts walked away in silence.
'Sorry, Jino. But you can't become his enemy, just live safely somewhere else,' Nina thought as tears formed in her eyes, she too had a feeling for the young man named Jino Britts.
'Except for Hitogami, there's only one notable figure left for the revenge.'
Today's Shun was a complete villain.