The man before him wore a simple white outfit. His features were sharp and handsome, his frame tall and powerfully built. Long black hair fell loosely over his chest and down his back, giving him a relaxed, untamed air. A cursed blade hung at his waist, and a wooden sword rested across his back.
His eyes were bright, as if stars had fallen into them.
"Kairos?!"
Vice Admiral Doberman was visibly startled.
Looking at the man standing before him, he spoke the name aloud.
Kairos had become the hottest rising name on the seas lately. His bounty poster had already been delivered to every Vice Admiral.
A man whose very first bounty had reached one billion was someone every Vice Admiral had to take seriously.
"So it's him…"
"The strongest rookie…"
The moment Kairos' name was spoken, the warship filled with gasps and hushed murmurs. A few Marines even unconsciously stepped back, muttering words like monster and madman under their breath.
"Kairos…"
Robin softly repeated the name, her expression freezing for a moment.
Her eyes settled on his back.
She did not understand whether this sudden arrival was friend or foe.
But very quickly, thought flickered in her eyes.
No matter what, this was a good thing.
Kairos' appearance had broken the deadlock around her.
That meant Robin now had a chance to escape.
Kairos heard every whisper around him, yet his expression did not change in the slightest. His gaze remained fixed on Doberman.
"Heh… so you want to challenge me?"
Doberman had heard the rumors about Kairos. Seeing that look in his eyes now, how could he fail to understand?
Kairos gave a small nod, his gaze clear and steady.
"This isn't some harmless spar."
A savage glint flashed across Doberman's scar-lined face.
"I'll personally send you to prison."
He said it one word at a time.
To Doberman, everything Kairos had done amounted to a direct provocation of Marine justice.
For that sort of person, he would never show leniency.
"Come on, Vice Admiral Doberman!"
The faint smile on Kairos' face did not fade. He had no reason to get angry over Doberman's taunting words. Their positions simply stood on opposite sides.
"You damn brat! You can spend the rest of your life rotting in a cell!!"
Doberman's low, murderous voice rang across the warship as a violent, ferocious aura burst from him. It was the aura of a born fighter, like a wild beast claiming dominance on the battlefield.
Boom!
Doberman stepped forward.
Killing intent surged skyward.
His left hand lowered slightly, settling near the mouth of the scabbard at his waist. His fingers wrapped around the hilt, and his thumb pushed sharply.
A cold flash appeared.
Under the morning sun, the naked edge of his blade reflected a dazzling silver-white gleam.
Doberman's swordsmanship—
was formidable as well.
He, too, stood among the strongest of the Vice Admirals.
Kairos watched him, a faint light flickering in his eyes.
Against a powerhouse like Doberman, there was no reason to hold back.
System, use the Ikaruga Card (Fairy Tail version).
The moment those words echoed in his mind, Ikaruga's power crossed countless worlds and poured into his body.
Hummm…
A clear, trembling note rose from the blade.
Kairos' entire aura shifted in silence.
Though he stood plainly on the deck, he suddenly seemed distant, as if he might dissolve into the wind at any moment.
"Hm?"
Doberman's eyes narrowed.
He sensed the change in Kairos immediately.
But what caught his attention even more was Kairos' choice.
There was a cursed blade at his waist—
yet he did not draw it.
Instead, both hands reached into empty air and closed around a long sword with a slender edge and a hilt marked in red and yellow patterns.
The sword appeared out of nowhere, completely and abruptly.
And yet, the instant Kairos grasped it, the image felt strangely natural.
As if that blade had always belonged in his hands.
At that moment, his presence thinned further, until he seemed like nothing more than a drifting phantom.
"Cheap tricks."
Doberman barked the words and a faint red glimmer lit his eyes.
Observation Haki activated.
In the next instant, he drew.
His blade slashed forward like a furious dragon piercing the sky, coming down on Kairos in one direct, merciless strike. There was no ornamentation, only brutal speed and force. The air split along its path, and the wind pressure blasted outward in all directions.
He had already locked onto Kairos completely with Observation Haki.
No matter how ethereal Kairos' presence became, this strike would not miss.
"Good!"
Doberman's blade was reflected in Kairos' eyes.
He gave a low shout, lowered his body, gripped his sword, and stepped forward half a pace.
One of Ikaruga's signature techniques:
Sword Flash.
Boom!
Doberman's katana came crashing down with the force of a storming sea. The steel-reinforced deck split open under the blow, and the entire warship shuddered violently.
But Doberman's eyes widened in disbelief.
He had not hit Kairos.
He slowly lowered his gaze.
Crack…
The Armament Haki covering his abdomen suddenly split with fine fractures.
Then it burst apart completely.
"Sword Flash."
The quiet murmur drifted into Doberman's ears.
He did not know when it had been spoken.
Nor from where it had come.
Kairos had already appeared behind him.
He stood there calmly with his sword in hand, while a single red drop slid down the blade.
Drip.
The deck was stained red.
That was—
Doberman's blood.
"Vice Admiral Doberman… is injured?"
Every Marine on the warship looked like they had been struck by lightning. They froze where they stood.
The sight before them was too absurd to process.
None of them had seen Kairos move.
At most, they felt as though a shadow had flickered past their eyes.
In fact, it hardly even felt like Kairos had moved at all. His appearance behind Doberman seemed so natural that it was almost as if he had always been standing there.
Kairos said nothing.
He merely stood with his blade in hand.
And that alone was enough to silence everyone.
Blood still slid down the edge.
The blood of a Marine Vice Admiral.
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