Miyuki Uchiha: "Eh? Why did Kaido go after Hawkeye all of a sudden?"
Yamamoto Mei: "This... I didn't see that coming either. Is Kaido seriously that loyal to Jaeger?"
Jibril: "Pfft—Kaido's become Jaeger's most loyal mutt. Almost reminds me of Kei Karuizawa."
Karuizawa: "!! Huh? Already facing competition?! Tch, whatever. That guy's so outrageously ugly, no way he can compete with me—a super cute beauty."
Eriri Sawamura: "…Weren't you shy and timid before?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha: "Heh. The same girl who signed a slave contract and calls herself a loyal dog. Shy? Don't make me laugh."
Kei Karuizawa: "Ahem… That's just how I am in front of Saint Jaeger. He gets the real me, okay?"
Jibril: "Hah! Are you two seriously competing for his attention?"
Eriri Sawamura: "Heh, the fat girl's finally got a rival. Schadenfreude mode: on."
Kasumigaoka Utaha: "A golden retriever that got kicked down. Anyway, I'm going back to watching the Princess of the Shadow Kingdom fight. Those divine realm techniques… it's no wonder she's revered as the teacher of mythical heroes."
While the chat group bantered in its own chaotic rhythm, the tension in the pirate world climbed to a fever pitch.
"Urgh—!"
Hawkeye Mihawk dropped to one knee, blood gushing from his mouth.
He gritted his teeth, bitterly accepting the reality—Kaido's strike had nearly crushed him.
The power gap was insurmountable. If he had five more years, maybe he could've stood toe to toe. But right now? He was just a fledgling.
Still kneeling, he lifted his gaze defiantly.
Kaido sneered.
"You brat. You think you're worthy of facing Saint Jaeger?"
He raised his colossal mace again, ready to crush Hawkeye's skull.
"I heard your kind dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman. But if you can't even withstand a single strike from me, then just die. You'll be more useful as compost than wasting my air."
The mace fell again, aimed directly at Mihawk's head. It would've crushed him—until a sudden tempest roared across the battlefield.
From afar, Dragon—the leader of the Revolutionary Army—watched with clenched fists. The pressure on him had eased ever since Kaido left to fight Hawkeye, but that wouldn't last.
If Kaido kills Mihawk, they'll both come after me next… and Jaeger hasn't even moved yet.
He made a decision.
Summoning a powerful thunder shield to block Akainu's incoming magma fist, Dragon then raised both hands, conjuring twin hurricanes and hurling them toward Kaido.
"RAAAAAH!"
The wind howled like a beast unleashed. One hurricane swept Hawkeye's broken body away from the strike zone, while the other slammed into Kaido's side, throwing off the deadly trajectory of his swing.
The mace smashed into the earth instead, shattering the ground in a violent quake—but Mihawk survived.
Jaeger, watching from the execution platform, raised an eyebrow.
As expected of Dragon—son of Garp, future leader of the revolution. His combat instincts, tactics, and adaptability… impeccable.
If only a man like that could be tamed and molded into a proper tool…
He let out a soft sigh.
Dragon had done it. He'd saved Mihawk and recruited a potential ally in one stroke. But before he could press his advantage—
"Move."
A quiet voice cut through the storm.
It was Mihawk.
Still midair, blood-soaked but grimly focused, Mihawk raised his blade and slashed—not at Kaido, not at Akainu, not even at Jaeger.
But at Dragon.
The wind and lightning hadn't yet faded when Mihawk's sword aura tore through it all—straight for the one who had just saved him.
Dragon's eyes widened. "You—!"
He summoned another barrier of thunder and wind, but the brief moment of confusion cost him.
Akainu, ever-patient and ruthless, struck from the flank. His magma-coated fist crashed into Dragon's ribs with a brutal explosion.
BOOM!
The ground shook.
The hurricane clashed with sword energy in a violent detonation, but Dragon was already flying backward, his body charred and bleeding. His ribs shattered, and the smell of scorched flesh filled the air.
"MIHAWK!!"
He roared through the pain, collapsing to one knee.
"I saved your damn life! Kaido was the one about to kill you—why the hell did you attack me?!"
Even Kaido and Akainu paused, exchanging surprised glances.
Had Jaeger's charisma already warped the mind of yet another?
Mihawk sheathed his sword in a single, controlled breath.
"The moment you stopped me from fighting… you became my enemy."
He glared at Dragon.
"I wasn't going to die from that strike. Even if Kaido had landed it, I would've survived. I don't need saving. I need... the sword."
Then, slowly, he turned to the execution platform—where Jaeger now stood, smiling.
Jaeger tilted his head, amused.
"A swordsman who'd rather die than be robbed of his duel. Hah. You remind me of her—she is beautiful and just as insane."
Kaido, still holding his mace, asked cautiously, "Saint Jaeger, shall I finish him?"
Jaeger shook his head gently.
"No. I'll handle this myself. The live broadcast is already dead—this execution is just a formality now."
He raised his Blade, its golden glow pulsing with impossible majesty.
"If you survive this next strike," Jaeger said calmly, "I'll allow you to follow me. You'll be my sword slave."
"Sword slave?"
Mihawk didn't even flinch. His voice rang with conviction.
"I don't care what you call it. All I ask… is a chance to challenge you again someday—not as a slave, but as a swordsman."
Jaeger chuckled.
"Challenge me? That's a dream too big for a corpse. Set your sights lower, boy."
Then his tone changed, as casual as one asking for the time.
"Ready?"
Mihawk's body tensed. His eyes blazed.
"Always."
Jaeger moved.
No flourish. No effort. Just one word:
"god Avoid."
He didn't need to aim.
The golden sword light didn't travel through space or time—it simply existed, inevitable and absolute. It ignored distance, bypassed defense, and carved through reality like fate itself choosing a target.
A clean, brilliant arc traced through Mihawk's body—from waist to shoulder—almost splitting him in half.
"GUH—!"
Blood burst like a fountain, pooling beneath him in seconds. Mihawk dropped to his knees, then collapsed backward.
He was still breathing. Barely.
Eyes wide with shock, he stared at the ceiling of sky above, mouth trembling.
"It's like… I was cut before the blade even moved…"
He let out a dry, rattling laugh.
"Unbelievable… If this is the pinnacle of swordsmanship, then dying to it would be… a swordsman's perfect end."
And with that, he passed out—unconscious, but alive.
Behind Jaeger, Gion's sword trembled slightly in its sheath.
She whispered in awe, voice barely audible:
"Such… a beautiful strike…"
Her gaze fixed on Jaeger.
That man—obnoxious, haughty, and arrogant—had just delivered the purest expression of swordsmanship she had ever witnessed.
Even without feeling it herself… her heart raced.
And deep inside, a strange seed was planted.
A longing.
"This sword-wielding brat is way too lucky…"
Kaido glanced at the unconscious Hawkeye with a hint of jealousy.
Tch, he himself had been beaten half to death by Jaeger, yet this kid had gotten away with just one sword strike… and now he was Jaeger's subordinate. How absurd.
Still, Kaido's mood quickly settled.
After all, hadn't he just been promoted to admiral in front of the whole damn world? His idiot daughter had somehow become Jaeger's woman, and by extension, that made him—Kaido of the Beasts—the father-in-law of a Celestial Dragon.
He grinned smugly to himself.
A mere sword slave? Tch. I'm the Admiral of the beasts… and Jaeger's father-in-law. That punk can't compare.
But then—
A terrible, heart-wrenching scream echoed from nearby.
Kaido flinched. The voice wasn't unfamiliar.
"Ivan! What happened to you!? IVAN!"
It was Dragon.
He and Akainu had ceased fighting temporarily, both focusing on the showdown between Jaeger and Hawkeye.
Like everyone else, Dragon had watched with some disdain as Mihawk fell and became Jaeger's sword slave.
But now, out of the corner of his eye, something had caught him off guard.
Ivankov… was dead.
It wasn't from earlier injuries. It wasn't collateral damage.
His head had been cleanly severed, like it was sliced by a master swordsman.
Dragon's blood ran cold.
"That sword strike… It feels familiar…"
He turned his gaze to Jaeger, eyes burning with fury.
"Jaeger...you bastard Celestial Dragon! Did you kill Ivankov!?"
Jaeger, still standing tall on the execution platform, let the sword in his hand dissolve into golden light.
A faint warmth shimmered in the air as Ivankov's very life legend was consumed, turning into one more piece of Jaeger's growing arsenal.
With a calm smile, Jaeger answered:
"Correct."
He looked down at Dragon and continued in a soft, almost friendly tone:
"That was my second sword stream. A technique from Wano Country—Kozuki Oden style. It looks like one blade, but carries the power of two. Magical, isn't it?"
"You bastard! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Dragon's scream cracked through the air like thunder.
In a single breath, wind roared to life around him, swirling into a violent jetstream. Consuming his own life force for one final surge, he launched himself toward Jaeger at breakneck speed—so fast even Akainu and Kaido barely had time to blink.
Eyes blazing red, he no longer cared for reason.
His grief and rage reminded everyone of his future son—Luffy—when pushed to the brink.
Jaeger blinked once, then raised an eyebrow.
Huh. With this timeline… Luffy probably hasn't even been born yet. And Dragon's about to die. Does that mean… Luffy gets erased before he even enters the story?
He mused silently, tilting his head.
Unless… like Roger, Dragon left something behind before rushing toward death?
But Jaeger was still in place, unmoving.
"Piercing Death!"
"Demon God's descent—Generalissimo Ice!"
Just before Dragon reached the execution platform, sharp cries rang out across the square.
A crimson spear whistled through the air, tearing toward Dragon's chest like a bolt of divine judgment.
Behind it, a towering ice general rose from the frost, while a searing beam of cold energy—fired like a laser—cut through the sky.
Scathach and Esdeath had returned.
Their opponents defeated, they wasted no time rejoining the battle.
"Damn it… it's those women! They wrapped up their fights that fast!?"
Dragon cursed as he soared through the air, unable to stop or dodge.
With no way to evade, he summoned a maelstrom of thunder and wind, forming a barrier of primal energy.
It wasn't enough.
BOOOOM!
A thunderous explosion cracked the heavens.
Fragments of ice rained down, turning Loguetown's summer into a blizzard.
From the chaos, a bolt of thunder descended beside Jaeger.
It was Karuizawa Kei, riding the storm like a goddess of lightning. She shoved Gion aside and clung to Jaeger with a sugary smile.
"Mr. Jaeger~ I took down Doflamingo! That guy doesn't deserve to call himself a Celestial Dragon, not like you~!"
Jaeger looked at her, amused.
"Well done. You've adapted quickly—and grown surprisingly fast."
He pulled her into one arm, wrapping the other around a still-pouting Gion. Then, turning his eyes back to the battlefield, he watched the results of the last attack unfold.
From the mist, Dragon's body crashed to the ground.
His left arm had been severed by the magic spear.
Frostbite covered most of his body. He gasped for breath, face twisted in agony.
And he wasn't alone.
With loud thuds, other bodies fell nearby:
—Crocodile, frozen in a grotesque sculpture of ice.
—Shanks and Buggy, their bodies broken and battered.
—Bullet, who looked more like splattered meat than a man.
—Doflamingo, reduced to blackened charcoal from Kei's lightning.
The so-called pirate superstars of Loguetown…
Defeated.
Dragon, still conscious, looked around in horror.
Of all the powerhouses who came to challenge the world's order… he was the only one still standing.
But could he still fight?
He clenched his jaw and looked around.
—Akainu, burning hot and expressionless.
—Kaido, monstrous and smug.
—The ice queen Esdeath.
— Scathach the crimson spear now crackling with dangerous magic.
Even with all his idealism and resolve, despair finally broke into Dragon's eyes.
No… this wasn't a battlefield anymore.
This was a slaughter.
Even if Roger, Whitebeard, and the Golden Lion returned from the dead and stood beside him, they couldn't overturn this.
He glared up at the execution platform, where Jaeger stood smiling, arms draped around two beautiful women like it was just another casual day.
"Jaeger… Celestial Dragon bastard…!"
Dragon roared hoarsely.
"Are you really just going to hide behind women!? Are you too scared to fight a man head-on!?"
Jaeger blinked.
Then smiled gently.
•••
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