Chapter 38 – The Pressure of a Great Swordsman
White smoke billowed from Smoker's fist, surging straight toward Dante Voss.
Dante Voss's eyes stayed calm, utterly unbothered by the almost-solid mist.
Swish!
With a casual wave Dante Voss sent a scarlet sword flash slicing Smoker in half.
Yet, sharp as the strike was, it couldn't harm Smoker at all.
Smoker swiftly re-formed his body and kept attacking.
Such is the terror of a Logia: elementalization lets him ignore anyone without Haki.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
More sword flashes tore through the white fog, shredding the smoke to pieces, but still failed to wound him, and Dante Voss frowned.
He knew he was strong—at least top-tier among Vice Admirals, able to fight even a weaker Shichibukai.
Yet against a Logia like this he had no real counter.
After all, he couldn't use Haki.
While weighing whether to drag the fight out, he spotted the weapon on Smoker's back and his eyes lit up.
"You've handed me your own weakness."
Dante Voss smiled and shot toward the half-smoke Smoker.
Smoker wasn't worried; without Haki the man couldn't touch him.
Thick white smoke closed in, trying to pin Dante Voss down.
Dante Voss ignored the smoke swirling around him; it scattered the instant it drew close, unable to near his body.
Such is the awkwardness of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit:
weak offense, weak control.
Compared with the Three Admirals' Logia, it's the disgrace of the class.
Dante Voss closed the distance in a blink and punched at Smoker's head.
Smoker stayed calm; though his smoke was useless, Dante Voss couldn't hit his elemental form.
Instantly he dissolved into mist, dodging the blow.
But Dante Voss had planned for this—his real target wasn't Smoker, but the jitte on his back.
Slipping through Smoker's body, Dante Voss snatched the jitte and swung it straight at him.
Bang!
The Sea Stone-laden jitte slammed the elemental Smoker to the ground.
"You—"
Smoker's eyes widened.
He never expected the very weapon he'd prepared against Ability users to be turned on himself.
He couldn't fathom how Dante Voss knew the jitte was Sea Stone.
But he understood one thing:
his life was now in grave danger—he might die.
Without his element he couldn't even take a single strike from Dante Voss.
Yet, seeing the fallen Marines and the justice he upheld, he stood, eyes firm on Dante Voss.
"For my justice, I can't let you leave here!"
If someone so ruthless walked free, countless more would die.
Even if it cost his life, he wouldn't back down.
"Justice?"
Dante Voss murmured, then flashed forward.
Smoker tried to fight, white smoke rising from his hand.
But he was too slow; Dante Voss was on him in an instant, smashing him to the ground.
Bang!
The jitte pinned him, draining his strength and forcing his body solid again.
"Justice isn't a word you say or print on your coat."
Dante Voss said quietly, eyeing the kanji on Smoker's back.
"Who… who are you? Why such hatred for us Marines?"
Pressed to the ground, Smoker asked weakly.
He could feel Dante Voss's deep hostility toward the Marines.
"Me?"
Beneath the black hood Dante Voss's lips curved slightly.
"I told you—I'm an avenger, a monster the World Government created."
Had they not dragged him to Mary Geoise, he'd never have awakened the system or grown this strong.
Everything was the World Government's doing.
And to earn slaughter points he would target the biggest power around—the World Government itself.
"World Government…?"
Smoker's heart chilled at the words.
Now he understood: whatever the government had done had bred this man's hatred for the Marines.
"All right—time to finish this."
Dante Voss's gaze hardened; he kicked Smoker in the head, knocking him out.
For one of the few true men of justice in this world, he couldn't bring himself to kill.
Killing him would bring rich rewards—Smoker was a notable character, after all.
But Dante Voss refused to let points decide a life; he would follow his heart.
The system was merely a tool; he wouldn't let it change who he was.
"Captain Smoker!"
A sharp cry rang out in the distance.
Dante Voss turned to look.
A female Marine led a squad rushing toward him.
"Everyone…"
Tashigi's body shook at the carnage, her sword hand trembling.
Marines lay everywhere, bodies torn, blood pooling, entrails spilled across the ground.
The other Marines looked sick.
More than half their force—gone in one street.
Even their "invincible" Captain Smoker had fallen.
Fear gripped them deep.
"For this cruelty, I'll never forgive you!"
Wiping her tears, Tashigi glared at Dante Voss in fury.
She was terrified of him.
Yet as a swordsman she would never back down from a stronger foe.
A swordsman's path is ever forward.
Fueled by vengeance for her comrades, she charged, sword raised.
Dante Voss stayed motionless until her blade was inches from him.
Only then did he lift a hand.
Though her strike was swift—more than most could handle, a small expert of the Four Blues—
to Dante Voss it was slow, weak.
Swish!
His hand flashed faster than her sword, clamping on her wrist; no matter how she twisted,
his grip was an unmoving mountain.
With a squeeze he forced her fingers open; the famed katana shigure clattered to the ground and into his grasp.
"Give shigure back!"
Seeing her partner-blade taken by the killer, Tashigi blurted through fresh tears.
Ignoring her, Dante Voss swung the sword, sending a Flying Slash cleaving down the street.
Boom—
A huge crimson arc carved meters deep, racing hundreds of meters onward.
Tashigi's eyes bulged.
Though a swordsman herself, she'd never witnessed a Great Swordsman's might—
until now.
Such power was utterly beyond resistance.
She froze, knowing she hadn't the strength to challenge him.
Clack!
Dante Voss tossed the blade; shigure stuck upright beside Tashigi.
He walked away, black figure instilling dread and despair, a quiet voice drifting back:
"Come capture me once you wield power like this."
Watching him leave, the Marines breathed huge sighs of relief.