A swallow can ride the wind and evade a blade.
Speed has nothing to do with it.
No matter how fast a sword is swung, it cannot move without disturbing the air.
Swallows sense that disturbance and shift their flight path accordingly.
Which is why no ordinary strike can cut one down.
A blade travels only in a straight line—
but a swallow darts freely through the sky.
And yet—
Tsubame Gaeshi is the sword technique that can cut down even a swallow.
At that moment, three intersecting streaks of phantom sword light appeared before Buggy's eyes.
A swallow?
Buggy's pupils lost focus.
For some reason, within those three crossing blades of light, he thought he saw a swallow dancing through the air.
The sword light was dazzling and razor-sharp.
Yet within it, the swallow danced gracefully.
A dance upon the tip of a blade.
Beautiful beyond words.
Buggy found himself mesmerized.
His eyes followed the swallow instinctively—
even ignoring the blades themselves.
And just as the swallow's dance reached its peak—
The sword light exploded.
It surged like a waterfall, flashing downward like a falling meteor.
"Pfft—"
The swallow was cut from the sky.
It vanished into nothingness.
Buggy slowly lowered his gaze.
Across his chest—
three crossing sword cuts had appeared.
Beneath them—
bright red blood burst forth.
In that instant, Buggy understood.
The swallow that had been cut down—
was himself.
"Tsubame Gaeshi."
Kairos D. Vale appeared behind him, sheathing his blade as he calmly spoke the name of the technique.
The moment the words fell—
Buggy's floating upper body dropped straight into the sea.
Meanwhile, the pair of legs still running along the shoreline collapsed weakly onto the sand.
"Captain Buggy's… splitting ability… failed?"
"How is that possible? His power completely counters blades!"
The Buggy Pirates froze in place.
The fear they thought had been shattered returned instantly—
and this time it was even worse.
Because it meant their fear had climbed to an entirely new level.
A level beyond measure.
No one spoke.
Mohji trembled.
Richie the lion whimpered quietly.
Cabaji stood frozen like a statue.
No one even knew what they were supposed to do.
Run?
That was pointless.
The chase from the town to the coast had already proven that Kairos was faster than all of them.
Fight?
Impossible.
Buggy—their strongest fighter, whose power directly countered blades—had been knocked into the ocean with a single move.
How could they possibly win?
Mohji and Cabaji exchanged a glance.
At this point…
all they could do was wait to die.
The night sea rolled gently, waves washing against the shore with a rhythmic sound.
The tide was rising.
Buggy's lower half lay half-submerged in the incoming water, though it had not yet been dragged into the sea.
Kairos watched silently.
He made no move.
The scene fell into a strange stalemate.
Kairos stood beside the pirate ship.
Mohji and the others stood several meters away on the sandy shore.
No one moved.
Then suddenly—
the sword in Kairos' hand began to glow faintly.
Starting from the tip, Monohoshizao slowly dissolved.
Piece by piece.
Like stardust.
The fragments scattered into the night sky and disappeared.
The icy indifference in Kairos' eyes gradually faded.
A trace of emotion finally returned.
Then—
three mechanical notifications echoed in his mind.
"Ding. Host has killed Kuro, captain of the Black Cat Pirates. Assassin Wu Liuqi Card (Magic Blade Thousand Blades Version) usage count increased by 1."
"Ding. Host has defeated Buggy (not yet one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea). Reward obtained: Miyamoto Musashi Card (Fate/stay night Version — 1 Use)."
"Ding. Host successfully used the Sasaki Kojiro Card (Fate/stay night Version). Skill acquired: Tsubame Gaeshi."
Three system notifications exploded in Kairos' mind.
This time, he hadn't just gained a new card—
he had also permanently acquired Sasaki Kojiro's ultimate technique.
Tsubame Gaeshi.
The rewards were immense.
But that wasn't what interested Kairos the most.
His attention focused on two specific words from the system.
Defeated.
And—
Not yet a Warlord of the Sea.
"As expected…"
The calm state of Clear Mind Like Still Water faded from Kairos.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
The system had said defeated, not killed.
Which meant Buggy was still alive.
Tsubame Gaeshi was a technique that never missed its mark.
Even Buggy's Chop-Chop Fruit wasn't enough to evade it at his current level.
In theory, anyone struck by that move should die instantly.
But Kairos had deliberately held back.
Because he wanted to test something.
Could Buggy be farmed twice?
After all—
in a strange way, Buggy was a man blessed with the same absurd luck as King.
A man with protagonist-level plot armor.
Later in the One Piece world, Buggy would become famous at Marineford—
and eventually rise to the rank of Warlord of the Sea.
That was the main reason Kairos spared him.
Since both killing and defeating granted card rewards…
testing this theory came at absolutely no cost.
And now—
the system notification had confirmed it.
Buggy could indeed be farmed again.
Satisfied, Kairos snapped out of his thoughts and looked toward the remaining Buggy Pirates.
Just that single glance—
made Mohji and the others gasp sharply.
"Go ahead and kill us!"
Mohji suddenly shouted.
Under the crushing pressure of fear, he had finally snapped.
"If you're going to do it, just do it already!"
"That's right!"
"Kill us if you want!"
The other Buggy Pirates straightened their backs.
Their expressions carried a stubborn defiance.
Better to die standing than live in humiliation.
Hearing this, Kairos' smile widened.
He began walking toward them.
Step by step.
Mohji took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
He waited for death.
One second.
Two seconds.
Ten seconds…
Thirty seconds passed.
But the cold touch of a blade never came.
Mohji slowly opened his eyes, still trembling.
The harbor—
was empty.
Kairos D. Vale had already disappeared.
"He… didn't kill us?"
Mohji wasn't relieved.
Instead, his face was filled with confusion.
The other Buggy Pirates looked just as stunned.
None of them could understand it.
Then suddenly—
the pair of legs lying on the beach twitched.
"Captain Buggy moved!"
"Captain Buggy's alive!"
"Quick! Pull him out of the sea!"
The Buggy Pirates rushed into the water in a panic.
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