Buggy's upper body streaked through the air.
Kairos D. Vale stood quietly on the deck of the pirate ship.
The distance between them—
was only a few meters.
So it wasn't that Kairos had failed to catch up.
He had simply arrived first and waited for Buggy and his crew to run straight into him.
"Y-you… how are you here?!"
Buggy was so frightened his head nearly popped off—literally. His floating upper body shot backward while his legs, still on the shore, bolted in the opposite direction.
"Run!!"
The Buggy Pirates scattered instantly like startled birds.
Everyone fled as fast as possible, terrified that even the slightest delay would mean being silently cut down by Kairos.
Kairos lifted his head and quietly watched Buggy's scattered body pieces scrambling through the air.
Then he raised his hand.
Monohoshizao reflected the cold moonlight.
The blue tassel fluttered.
The deck beneath Kairos' feet exploded into fragments, the shattered planks bursting apart into glittering splinters as the sword hummed sharply.
Kairos shot forward through the dust cloud.
With that single step—
he unleashed astonishing jumping power.
His body streaked through the night sky.
Shhh—
Like moonlight gliding across the surface of water.
Like a swallow soaring through the air.
Buggy, floating ahead, suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold at his back.
Instinctively he turned—
and saw Kairos already behind him.
Before Buggy could react, Kairos drew his sword and slashed.
The killing move descended instantly.
Monohoshizao's long, slender blade cut across the night sky, sweeping toward Buggy's back like a falling crescent moon.
"Damn it!"
Buggy roared.
At the critical instant between life and death, the brutal pirate instincts buried beneath his fear erupted violently.
The Chop-Chop Fruit activated.
Boom!
The moonlike sword shadow crashed down through the air, tearing open the atmosphere before smashing into the ground with a deafening roar.
The earth split apart.
Dust and debris exploded outward.
Yet Buggy—
remained completely unharmed.
At the exact moment the sword light arrived, he split his body apart.
The blade passed straight through the gaps between his floating body pieces without touching his true body.
For the first time since Kairos had begun fighting—
his opponent survived.
"Huh?!"
Buggy's scattered body pieces froze for a moment before bursting into wild laughter.
"Hahahahaha! I'm the Chop-Chop Man! Your sword can't hurt me!"
He laughed loudly and arrogantly.
But deep in his eyes lurked unmistakable fear.
He had nearly forgotten—
in the chaos of watching the Black Cat Pirates die so strangely—
that his Devil Fruit power naturally countered blades.
Even so, Buggy had no intention of actually fighting Kairos head-on.
His laughter was nothing more than bluster.
He was trying to scare Kairos away.
"Captain Buggy actually dodged it?!"
The Buggy Pirates stared at the scene in stunned silence before excitement surged through them.
For the first time—
someone had survived one of Kairos' sword strikes head-on.
Didn't that mean…
Kairos wasn't as terrifying as they thought?
"Captain Buggy is amazing!!"
Cheers erupted from the pirate crew.
When fear is broken, humans instinctively try to trample the thing they once feared.
It was both revenge and embarrassment for their earlier cowardice.
More than a dozen bloodthirsty gazes locked onto Kairos.
"Damn it, turns out he can't do anything against Captain Buggy!"
"Those Black Cat Pirates must've just been weak!"
"They tricked us into thinking this guy was strong!"
"Captain Buggy, kill him!"
The pirates shouted wildly, urging Buggy to attack.
Some even began yelling for Kairos to be killed.
But seeing this sudden reversal—
Buggy nearly had his heart leap out of his chest.
"Shut up!!"
He spun around and roared at Mohji and the others.
The pirates froze instantly.
But confusion filled their eyes.
Captain Buggy clearly had the perfect ability to counter this swordsman.
And yet…
why did he still look nervous?
Why did he look afraid?
"Idiots…"
Buggy cursed under his breath.
He knew better than anyone just how terrifying the man in front of him really was.
He had only been bluffing.
And now his own crew was shouting for him to kill Kairos?
Impossible.
If Kairos got angry because of their shouting…
Buggy shivered violently.
He turned and looked back at Kairos.
Kairos had already landed back on the ground after his earlier slash.
He stood there calmly, looking up at Buggy.
His eyes were utterly still.
Not a trace of emotion.
Clear Mind Like Still Water.
For some reason, the phrase flashed across Buggy's mind.
But it was only a fleeting instinctive thought.
Kairos' calm expression instead made Buggy breathe a sigh of relief.
Good.
He wasn't angry.
"If you're scared, you should just leave now. I might consider spar—"
Buggy cleared his throat and began speaking again.
But the moment the word "consider" left his mouth—
three brilliant streaks of sword light appeared in his vision.
They burned brightly—
like molten lava in the darkness.
Like lightning tearing through a storm cloud.
They became the only thing Buggy could see.
Three slashes—
released at the exact same moment.
Kairos held a single sword—
yet three sword lights descended.
This was the sword technique capable of striking down a flying swallow.
The inevitable killing blade that never missed its target.
Tsubame Gaeshi.
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