The field fell into a deathly silence, with only the sound of the wind bringing a hint of clamor.
Cold sweat trickled down; the expressions of the remaining three Captains were no longer calm, but filled with shock and incomprehension.
"Hey, hey, I'm not seeing things, am I?" The scarred bald man's face looked extremely grim.
"That bandage guy... he's just dead like that?!" The Wolf, who had already transformed into a giant black wolf, swallowed hard, his voice raspy.
"That strange wind... Is this guy an Ability User too? Just what..." Honei was already dressed revealingly, and under the powerful wind, she was already quite exposed, but at this moment, she had no mind to care about such things.
Although the dust and debris had obscured their vision, giving Kilo the chance to duel the Bandage Man one-on-one, how long had it actually been?!
Probably only a dozen seconds or so?!
In such a short time, Kilo was actually able to kill the Bandage Man so quickly?
One must know that the Bandage Man's strength was similar to theirs, and that troublesome ability—capable of both offense and defense—was definitely not something that could be broken in a short time!
If he could kill the Bandage Man in such a short time, then Kilo's strength had clearly surpassed them by an entire level!
With brows furrowed, the experienced Captains immediately reached a judgment: in a one-on-one fight, they were far from a match for the youth before them.
At this point, was their only option to join forces and fight to the death?
Just as The Wolf began to harbor thoughts of retreat, he saw Honei step forward gracefully beside him, tossing away the already tattered fabric on her body to reveal her plump, tempting fair skin.
Her eyes were like silk, her breath like orchids, and her entire body emitted an intoxicating hormonal fragrance as she generously displayed her proud figure to Kilo.
In her impression, a young little chef like Kilo wouldn't be able to resist her charm.
If the opponent slackened for a moment and breathed in her special fragrance...
Honei panted delicately, her voice shy and alluring like a plaintive melody.
"Little handsome guy, we have no reason to fight to the death. I can let you..."
Before she could finish, alarm bells suddenly rang in Honei's heart. She tilted her head, narrowly dodging a lightning-fast wind blade.
Glimpsing the wind blade that had cut deep into the wall, leaving crisscrossing blade marks, Honei's charming face froze, her footsteps halted, and a trace of disbelief appeared on her face.
She was confident in her charm; countless people had fallen at her feet.
But even after she had gone this far, Kilo remained unmoved?!
Retreating sheepishly to the side of her two temporary comrades, the embarrassed Honei felt she was losing face.
A flush of shame and anger rose to her face; she felt somewhat resentful.
Could Kilo have a problem with his sexual orientation?
Expressionlessly repelling Honei's attempt at seduction, Kilo swung several slashes toward the top of the passage behind him.
The howling wind blades left the edge of his blade, slicing through the overburdened ceiling.
Rumble!
The rolling rubble piled up, blocking the only exit on the field.
The hearts of the Captains who had just considered retreating immediately sank. The worst possible outcome had occurred—
They were going to have a fight to the death with the young swordsman before them.
"Damn it, we just caught some slaves to earn some Berries. How did we get into this mess?"
The Wolf's expression was ugly, but in the next moment, a look of determination surfaced.
"Damn it, let's fight him!"
"Did he really think we were afraid of him?!"
"Give it your all, or we'll all die here!!"
The three stood side by side. Honei was the first to attack, pink fragrance continuously gushing from her body. The massive, thick scent surprisingly wasn't immediately blown away by Kilo's gale.
The scarred bald man and The Wolf stood together, charging at Kilo, who remained stationary.
Spiked mace and sharp claws arrived simultaneously, but they only pierced through the afterimage Kilo left behind.
Honei's vision also blurred, but she felt the air beside her suddenly turn scorching hot.
She seemed to realize something and turned her head in terror, her body spewing countless sweet fragrances. A figure indeed emerged beside her.
Kilo's aura changed, and the scorching air almost made it impossible for the close-by Honei to breathe.
Meeting Honei's terrified gaze, Kilo struck out boldly with his blade.
[Sun Breathing, Seventh Form: Sunflower Thrust]
A thrusting sword technique in Sun Breathing that can cause severe penetrating wounds and explode at the wound site to burn the opponent.
Flames enveloped Kilo's afterimage-like thrust, burning away the sweet fragrance along the path. The unstoppable flaming blade suddenly approached under Honei's terrified gaze.
Swoosh!
Honei's body sagged. She retreated two steps blankly, looking down in disbelief at her chest, which had been pierced with a large hole.
Her voice was pained, her breath gradually weakened, and the flames on her body expanded further.
"I... how could I... die in a place like this..."
Boom!
A loud explosion rang out. Honei was engulfed in the blast, her fair body falling within the black smoke.
Without the slightest pity for the fallen beauty, Kilo withdrew his blade and turned to look at the two men frozen in place. Just as he was about to speak, a flush rose to his face, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Without hesitation, Kilo quickly stepped back, leaving the area enveloped by the pink fragrant mist.
He looked at the sweet pink mist with lingering fear.
Devil Fruit abilities were indeed troublesome. Fortunately, he was fast enough to escape the assault of the two in front and kill Honei, who was clearly acting as support, in time.
Otherwise, if Honei had been allowed to cover the plaza with the lethal fragrant mist, he would likely have been in grave danger.
The sword techniques he performed were based on the premise of Breathing Techniques. If he held his breath to fight, he probably wouldn't last long.
Just by inhaling a trace of the fragrance Honei released, Kilo's insides churned, and he spat out blood.
If he had breathed in more fragrance...
Taking a long breath, Kilo recovered and turned with his sword to face the scarred bald man and The Wolf, who were charging at him again.
His long sword pointed diagonally at the ground as he revealed what he thought was a sunny and gentle smile.
"Do you need me to wait for you?"
A chill rose from the soles of their feet, and a cold, clear warning of death emerged from their hearts.
The giant black wolf that The Wolf had transformed into was covered in sweat. Without a second thought, he turned and ran toward the blocked path.
Sharp claws, which were usually used to gouge out enemies' hearts, were now being used by him to frantically dig through the rubble, intending to dig out an escape route.
In the past, The Wolf would only have been ashamed of such behavior, but now his eyes were bloodshot, and he was even grateful that his claws were so good at digging.
Unfortunately, before he could dig for long, he heard the heavy sound of metal crashing down.
It could only be the scarred man's spiked mace.
Feeling a strong wind approaching, despair surfaced in The Wolf's eyes. He turned around indignantly and roared as he pounced at the incoming Kilo.
Slash!
His claws missed. He wasn't reconciled and still pounced at Kilo, but his heavy claw strike only pierced Kilo's afterimage.
Finally, The Wolf stopped moving, his lips trembling as he looked at Kilo, his heart a mixture of the despair of impending death and anger.
Not far away, the scarred bald man had already fallen, his head separated from his body, becoming a cold corpse.
Why?
Why!!
He had just come to do some business, yet he had to run into such a madman!!
"Wh... Why!!!"
The Wolf roared out his anger, his wide pupils trembling, full of despair and resentment.
"Why?"
Kilo gave a light chuckle and stepped closer.
"Your name is The Wolf, right?"
"Actually, for your deaths today, you should thank your Vice-Captain."
"If not for him, I wouldn't have known you were capturing slaves."
Sla... Slaves?!
The Wolf caught the keyword and, with a trembling voice, squeezed a sentence out of his throat.
"Sla... Slaves?!"
His claws trembled with resentment as he growled in anger.
"Just for a few filthy slaves?! You're going to kill us for that?!"
Hearing this, Kilo laughed out of extreme anger. A blade light flashed, severing The Wolf's four limbs as blood splattered.
Amidst the agonizing screams, his voice was filled with fury.
"Filthy?!!"
"The Wolf..."
"What... do you..."
"Think life is!?"
Because he was backlit, Kilo's face was shrouded in shadow, making his features indistinguishable. But The Wolf seemed to see a shadow as thick as ink vaguely outlining the figure of a swordsman like a ghost-god, with countless wailing ghosts falling into hell under his blade.
Even though his face was shrouded in shadow, The Wolf saw two pairs of cold, ink-colored eyes flashing with blood-red light fixed upon him.
One pair from the swordsman in front of him, and one pair from the phantom behind him.
The killing intent filling the air made The Wolf feel suffocated, and a bloody scent as thick as hell itself assaulted his nose.
Damn it, just how many people has this young swordsman killed?!!
The long sword in Kilo's hand blurred for an instant.
In the next moment, the giant wolf head flew high into the air.
He didn't even look at the giant beast's body as it crashed down, sheathing his sword.
A mechanical voice timely sounded in his mind.
[Killed three pirates with bounties in the 20 million range, Points +25]