Dim light flickered across the stone walls of the hidden treasure repository.
Lying on the cold floorboards, the Nine Red Scabbards slowly drifted back to consciousness. The heavy scent of medicinal herbs and clean bandages filled the small, dusty room. Wounds that had been bleeding profusely just hours ago were now tightly wrapped and treated.
Pushing himself up with a groan, Kin'emon clutched his bandaged side. The samurai leader blinked, his vision clearing enough to catch a fleeting glimpse of a tall, feminine silhouette slipping quietly out the heavy wooden door.
"Who... was that?" Kin'emon rasped, his throat dry.
Sitting up nearby, Kawamatsu shook his head. The kappa adjusted his woven hat, checking the fresh bandages wrapping his torso. "I am not sure. I saw a face from the past, but my mind must be playing tricks on me. A dream born of blood loss."
Across the room, Denjiro and Raizo checked their weapons, finding their bodies surprisingly capable of movement despite the catastrophic injuries sustained on the roof. The mysterious benefactor had pulled them back from the brink of death.
Gritting his teeth, Ashura Doji forced himself to his feet. Gripping his katana, the large bandit glared at the heavy wooden door.
"It doesn't matter who patched us up," Ashura grunted, resting the blade against his shoulder. "The battle is still raging outside. We failed to take Kaido's head, but we can still fight. We have to support the alliance."
Nodding in solemn agreement, the remaining retainers gathered their strength. The shame of their defeat burned deeply, but the raid required their blades.
Just as Kin'emon stepped toward the exit, the heavy wooden door clicked open.
Footsteps echoed in the quiet repository.
Stepping into the flickering lantern light, a towering, muscular figure blocked the doorway. Wearing a familiar kimono, the man carried two massive swords at his waist. Wild, dark hair framed a grinning, confident face.
"I missed you all!" the man laughed, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "You have grown so old!"
Shock rooted the samurai to the floor.
Weapons clattered against the stone as Raizo and Kikunojo dropped their blades. Tears instantly welled in Kin'emon's eyes, blurring his vision. The impossible stood right in front of them, looking as he had twenty years ago.
"Lord Oden?" Kin'emon whispered, his voice trembling.
Falling to his knees, the leader of the Scabbards wept openly. The emotional weight of seeing their fallen master shattered their hardened resolve. Denjiro covered his mouth, struggling to hold back a sob, while Kawamatsu openly cried tears of joy.
"It really is you," Kiku sobbed, stepping forward.
Before the samurai could embrace their master, Ashura swung his arm out, blocking their path.
The large bandit did not weep. Narrowing his eyes, Ashura stared intently at the grinning figure standing in the doorway.
"Stop," Ashura commanded, his voice deadly serious. "Open your eyes. Look at him."
Wiping the tears from his face, Kin'emon looked at his fellow retainer in confusion. "Ashura, what are you doing? It is Lord Oden. He must have used Lady Toki's power to travel forward in time..."
"Lady Toki's power can only send people forward," Ashura interrupted, tightening his grip on his katana. "It cannot change the past. We all watched him burn in the boiling oil. We watched Kaido shoot him. He died that day."
Raising his sword, Ashura pointed the sharp tip directly at the grinning figure.
"Look at the swords," the bandit noted coldly. "Enma and Ame no Habakiri. We know exactly where those blades are right now. They are not sitting on his hips. And look at the floor."
Following the bandit's gaze, the Scabbards looked at the wooden floorboards.
The lanterns cast long, flickering shadows behind every single samurai in the room. The figure standing in the doorway, however, cast no shadow at all.
The joyful illusion shattered.
Realization crashed over the retainers, replacing their tears with a cold, burning fury.
"Kanjuro," Denjiro snarled, drawing his blade with blinding speed.
Hiding somewhere in the fortress, After being released from Ben's control Kanjuro was manipulating a flawless, living painting to torment his former comrades, using their emotional vulnerability against them.
Recognizing the deception had failed, the fake Oden's grin twisted into a cruel, mocking sneer.
"You caught on quicker than I expected, Ashura," the painting spoke, carrying the mocking tone of the traitorous artist.
Rushing forward, Ashura brought his katana down in a heavy, devastating vertical slash.
The blade sliced cleanly through the fake Oden's shoulder, confirming the lack of flesh and bone. Ink splattered across the floorboards instead of blood.
However, the painting did not collapse.
Opening its kimono, the ink construct revealed a massive cluster of ignited explosives strapped tightly to its chest. The fuses burned down to the final millimeter, sparking violently.
"Die with the past!" the painting laughed.
"Get back!" Ashura roared.
Dropping his katana, the large bandit lunged forward. Wrapping his massive arms around the explosive construct, Ashura tackled the living painting backward. Smashing through the heavy wooden door and the paper screens lining the corridor, he drove the bomb out of the repository entirely, forcing it toward an open balcony.
"Ashura!" Kin'emon screamed, reaching out a hand.
The bandit threw himself and the painting over the balcony ledge, plummeting toward the lower floors.
A deafening explosion ripped through the air.
Flames and shattered timber blew upward, tearing the balcony away and shaking the entire tower.
Standing near the ruined doorway, the remaining Scabbards stared into the rising smoke. Grief threatened to consume them once again, but the urgency of the battlefield pushed the sorrow aside.
"Kanjuro is alive," Denjiro stated, his voice devoid of all emotion. "If he is attacking us, he knows we survived the roof. Which means he knows his primary target is still unprotected."
"Momonosuke-sama," Kin'emon gasped.
Leaving the ruined repository behind, the retainers sprinted down the smoky corridor. They needed to reach the young lord before the traitor could finish the job he had started twenty years ago.
Racing through the third-floor hallways, the Scabbards encountered minimal resistance. The majority of the Beast Pirates had rushed downward to the Live Stage, leaving the upper corridors mostly empty.
Turning a sharp corner, the group skidded to a sudden halt.
The passage ahead was blocked.
Standing amidst the wreckage of a collapsed ceiling, Jack the Drought waited. The All-Star was battered, covered in deep slashes and burns from his battle with the Sulong minks on the roof. One of his massive ivory tusks remained shattered. Despite the severe injuries, the towering mammoth Fish-Man radiated an aura of violence.
Gripping two massive, curved shotel blades, Jack glared at the approaching samurai.
"You aren't going anywhere," Jack grunted, blood dripping from his chin.
Drawing their swords, the retainers prepared to engage. Fighting an All-Star required a coordinated effort, especially given their own weakened states. Any delay, however, allowed Kanjuro to draw closer to Momonosuke.
Stepping in front of the group, Inuarashi lowered his thin rapier.
"Keep moving," the canine mink ordered, keeping his eyes locked on the massive commander.
"Duke," Kawamatsu protested. "He is too dangerous to face alone in our condition."
"There is no moon to trigger Sulong," Inuarashi noted calmly, resting his weight evenly despite his prosthetic leg. "But Zou remembers what this monster did to our home. The poison gas. The torture. This fight belongs to me."
Raising his blade, the mink Duke pointed the tip directly at the All-Star.
"Go," Inuarashi commanded without looking back. "Save the young lord."
Trusting their comrade, the remaining Scabbards did not argue. Darting past the standoff, they slipped through the ruined corridor, leaving the duke to settle the score with the beast who had nearly destroyed his civilization.
Descending a wide, ornate staircase toward the second floor, the retainers continued their desperate sprint.
The sound of panicked shouting echoed from the landing below.
Bursting through a set of sliding doors, Kin'emon and the group entered a wide, decorative hall. Coming from the opposite direction, a small group of palace guards fled in terror. Leading the retreat, Kurozumi Orochi stumbled forward, his face pale and twisted in fear. Fukurokuju followed closely behind, ushering the Shogun toward the deeper interior of the castle.
Spotting the samurai rushing down the stairs, Orochi froze.
The Shogun had barely survived Kaido's betrayal on the Live Stage, saved only by the unique regenerative properties of his Mythical Zoan fruit. Fleeing the banquet hall, he intended to burn the entire fortress to the ground in retaliation.
Seeing the ghosts of the Kozuki clan blocking his path, panic briefly seized the tyrant.
Noticing the heavy bandages and the exhausted, bloodstained appearance of the retainers, the panic quickly shifted into arrogant confidence.
"Lord Orochi, we must flee," Fukurokuju warned, sensing the lethal intent radiating from the samurai. "They are cornered animals."
"Flee?" Orochi laughed, an ugly, grating sound. "Look at them! Kaido already chewed them up and spit them out! They are half-dead!"
Drawing his katana, Denjiro did not slow his sprint. Kin'emon, Kawamatsu, Kiku, and Raizo matched his pace perfectly, their blades sliding silently from their scabbards.
Igniting his Devil Fruit powers, Orochi transformed.
Massive, scaly necks erupted from his back. Shifting into the eight-headed Yamata no Orochi, the Shogun towered over the hallway. Hissing venomously, the massive serpent heads lunged forward, intending to crush the weakened samurai in a single strike.
"Die, you miserable ghosts!" the serpent heads roared in unison.
The Scabbards did not pause to trade insults. They did not shout a dramatic battle cry.
Moving in fluid synchronicity, the samurai simply ran past the lunging serpent.
Steel flashed in the dim light.
Five distinct, flawless cuts carved through the air. The strikes carried twenty years of suppressed rage, focused into a single, effortless motion. The blades sliced cleanly through scales, muscle, and bone.
Continuing their sprint without losing a single step, the retainers vanished down the opposite corridor.
Standing in the center of the hall, the massive serpent body remained still for a fraction of a second.
Then, six severed heads slid off their scaly necks, crashing heavily onto the wooden floorboards in a fountain of blood.
The decapitated body collapsed, twitching violently on the tatami mats.
Witnessing the brutal, instantaneous execution, Fukurokuju took a cautious step backward. The ninja commander recognized the overwhelming difference in skill.
A sharp metallic twang echoed behind him.
Turning his elongated head, the ninja found his path blocked. Raizo stood near the ruined doorway, holding a pair of sharp kunai. The portly shinobi glared at his former rival, resolving the unfinished business between the two rival ninja factions.
"Your master is dead, Fukurokuju," Raizo stated coldly. "And you will not pass this room."
Leaving the ninja to duel, the remaining Scabbards pressed forward into the depths of the castle, their blades wet with the blood of the usurper, focused entirely on reaching the young lord.
Far away from the sprinting samurai, a different battle unfolded in the Pleasure Hall.
The third-floor banquet room served as the personal domain of Black Maria. Ordinarily filled with music, sake, and geishas, the room now resembled a massive, terrifying spider's nest.
Thick, highly flammable webs coated the walls, ceiling, and floor. Captured samurai hung suspended from the rafters, cocooned tightly in the sticky silk.
Standing in the center of the web-covered room, Robin adjusted her dark leather jacket.
The archaeologist remained unfazed by the horrific environment. The illusions designed to break her mind had failed miserably. Black Maria's subordinates had attempted to manifest a thick, hallucinogenic mist, creating heartbreaking images of Professor Clover, Jaguar D. Saul, and her mother, Olvia.
Robin had merely smiled. Utilizing a simple gust of magic, she blew the mist away. Activating her Observation Haki, she located the subordinates hiding in the shadows and snapped their necks instantly with a quick application of her Fleur abilities.
Dropping from the ceiling, the master of the web finally revealed herself.
Shifting into her hybrid Rosamygale grauvogeli form, Black Maria towered over the pirate. The upper body of the beautiful woman connected seamlessly to the terrifying, hairy thorax and long, barbed legs of a giant prehistoric spider.
Taking a drag from a long smoking pipe, the Tobiroppo offered a cruel, pitying smile.
"I was hoping to capture Black-Leg Sanji," Black Maria purred, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "I wanted to hear him cry and beg for his life. But I suppose tearing the Straw Hat archaeologist to pieces will have to do."
Brushing a stray lock of dark hair from her face, Robin offered a serene, chilling smile.
"Sanji is a kind soul," Robin replied smoothly. "He would never raise a hand against a woman, even a monstrous one. But you should know better than to underestimate him. He is one of the wings that will carry the Pirate King to the top of the world."
Flicking the ashes from her pipe, Black Maria sneered. "Such confidence for a woman about to be eaten alive."
The giant spider legs scuttled forward with terrifying speed.
Thrusting a sharp, barbed leg directly at the pirate's chest, the Headliner aimed to impale her target and inject a lethal dose of venom.
Reacting effortlessly, the archaeologist dodged the lethal strike by a fraction of an inch. The barbed leg pierced the solid stone floor, getting stuck momentarily in the masonry.
Exploiting the opening, Robin coating her right hand in dense, black Armament Haki, she stepped inside the spider's guard. Delivering a heavy, palm-strike directly into the Headliner's abdomen, the force lifted the hybrid off the floor.
Gasping in shock, Black Maria crashed into a web-covered pillar, splintering the wood.
"You hit hard for a scholar," the Tobiroppo grunted, recovering quickly.
Changing tactics, Black Maria opened her mouth, spewing a massive volley of sticky, hardened webs. The silk shot across the room like a net, intending to pin the pirate against the wall.
Diffindo.
A sharp, invisible cutting charm sliced through the air. The magic severed the sticky webbing mid-flight, causing the ruined silk to fall harmlessly to the floor.
"My turn," Robin noted calmly.
Crossing her arms, pink flower petals drifted through the air.
Mil Fleur: Spider Net.
Hundreds of arms sprouted from the ceiling and walls, weaving together to form a massive, intricate net of human limbs. The structure dropped downward, attempting to entangle the giant spider hybrid.
Reacting with brute force, Black Maria tore through the sprouted limbs, her sharp claws severing the fragile arms.
"Your devil fruit is useless against my webs!" the Headliner laughed.
Spinning her thorax, the Tobiroppo sprayed a highly flammable, specialized silk across the entire room. The webs coated the floorboards, the walls, and the surrounding pillars.
Drawing a massive polearm, Black Maria revealed her trump card.
The weapon, known as Wanyudo, consisted of a long shaft with a flaming, demonic pug head acting as the bludgeoning end. The canine wheel burned with intense, searing heat, setting the highly flammable webs on fire the moment the weapon touched them.
Flames erupted across the Pleasure Hall.
The burning webs created a inferno, restricting movement and rapidly consuming the available oxygen in the room.
Swinging the flaming pug wheel, Black Maria charged through the fire. "Let's see you dodge this in a burning cage!"
Analyzing the trajectory of the flaming weapon, Robin did not retreat.
Crossing her arms again, the petals danced through the flames.
Cien Fleur: Delphinium.
Two massive, tree trunk-sized arms sprouted directly from the burning floorboards.
As the giant limbs materialized, Robin coated them in Armament Haki, turning the massive hands a gleaming, metallic black.
The flaming polearm crashed into the giant, blackened hands.
The heat failed to scorch the Haki. The massive hands caught the weapon cleanly, stopping the Tobiroppo's charge dead in its tracks.
Shock widened Black Maria's eyes.
Clenching the giant hands, Robin crushed the flaming pug wheel. The demonic weapon shattered into burning splinters, extinguishing the primary heat source.
"Impossible," the Headliner gasped, stumbling backward.
"You rely too heavily on traps and fire," Robin analyzed, lowering her crossed arms. "Your combat skills are lacking."
Furious and humiliated, the ancient Zoan roared. Abandoning weapons, Black Maria lunged forward using her massive spider legs, aiming to inject venom from her fangs into the pirate's neck.
Tracking the desperate attack with Observation Haki, the archaeologist realized the battle had reached its conclusion.
Closing her eyes, Robin focused on her Devil Fruit.
A dark, terrifying aura bloomed across the burning room.
Demonio Fleur.
A colossal, full-body clone of the archaeologist materialized behind her.
The massive construct towered over the giant spider hybrid. Demonic horns sprouted from the clone's forehead, and bat-like wings extended from its back.
However, Robin did not simply rely on the size of the construct.
Channeling every ounce of her Armament Haki, the black coating spread rapidly across the colossal clone. The demonic avatar turned pitch-black, gleaming with impenetrable spiritual pressure.
Looking up at the towering, black demon, terror finally gripped the Tobiroppo's heart.
"What... what are you?" Black Maria stammered, scrambling backward on her scuttling legs.
Opening her eyes, Robin's gaze turned cold and utterly ruthless.
"For my friends," the pirate promised, her voice echoing with a dark, harmonic resonance, "I am willing to become a demon."
The colossal avatar moved with terrifying speed.
Massive, Haki-coated hands reached down, grabbing the giant spider hybrid. Several hands clamped around the scuttling legs, while two massive arms secured the woman's upper torso and waist.
Trapped in the unbreakable grip, Black Maria struggled frantically, but power of the blackened limbs overwhelmed the ancient Zoan.
Grand Jacuzzi Clutch.
The sound of shattering bones echoed over the crackling flames.
The immense torque snapped the Tobiroppo's spine completely. The spider legs buckled and cracked under the devastating submission hold.
A sharp, agonizing scream tore from Black Maria's throat, silenced as the pain knocked her unconscious.
Releasing the grip, the giant avatar dropped the broken Headliner onto the burning floorboards.
The colossal clone dissolved instantly, bursting into a flurry of pink petals that quickly burned away in the surrounding fires.
Standing amidst the flames, Robin exhaled a slow, steady breath. The massive expenditure of Haki and magic drained a significant portion of her stamina, but her enhanced physiology quickly began to regulate her breathing and recover her energy.
Brushing a speck of ash from the sleeve of her dress, the archaeologist looked down at the defeated Tobiroppo.
"A fitting end for a spider," Robin murmured softly.
Turning away from the unconscious enemy, the pirate walked calmly through the burning webs. Utilizing a simple water-making charm to extinguish the flames blocking the exit, she stepped out of the ruined Pleasure Hall and back into the cool, dark corridors of the fortress.
The tactical dismantling of the Headliner was complete, but the sounds of heavy combat continued to echo from the floors above and below. Adjusting her jacket, the demon of the Straw Hat crew continued her calm, steady march through the warzone, searching for the next obstacle in her captain's path.