"The Minks certainly have sturdy bones!"
Aeridar stared intently at the standing corpse of Duke Inuarashi. "The Ruler of the Day... I shall remember your name."
Inuarashi was formidable, but unlike Jack, he was not an Ancient Zoan user with extreme durability. A direct punch imbued with the power of vibration had been enough to shatter his life force on the spot.
As for Nekomamushi, he was likely still alive, though undoubtedly clinging to consciousness. Aeridar's current Impact Cannon, that pillar of ultra-compressed air, was a strike that even Kaido wouldn't dare to take head-on, let alone a feline whose power fell far short of the Emperors.
The battlefield was a graveyard of ambition. Thomanson and Eden had been sidelined by an Airquake at the start; Bara was buried under trillions of tons of earth and stone; Inuarashi was dead; Nekomamushi was broken; and Sabo had been sent flying.
The elite squad that had set out with such hope to assassinate Aeridar was now on the brink of total annihilation.
Aeridar's lips curled into a smirk as he surveyed the wreckage. "Weapon S-1 was ruined by that idiot Jack. I planned to turn Sabo into S-2 last time, but he escaped. This works out perfectly, I'll take that big cat alive. He'll make excellent raw material for the S-2 project."
…
Hundreds of meters away, in a massive crater, Sabo lay half-buried under shattered masonry. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and his clothes were reduced to crimson-stained rags.
"Sabo! Where are you? Sabo!"
Suddenly, Koala scrambled out from the ruins. Panic etched across her face, she rushed into the pit and began frantically digging through the rubble until she found him.
"Sabo, it's me! Koala!" She knelt beside him, cradling his face in her hands, her voice trembling. "Wake up! Please, wake up!"
After a few agonizing seconds, Sabo's eyes fluttered open. "Ko... Koala? What are you doing here?"
"Thank god! You're finally awake!" Seeing him conscious, Koala nearly wept with relief, tears streaming down her face like rain on a pear blossom.
With Koala's help, Sabo shoved the remaining bricks aside and managed to sit up. Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind, and panic gripped him. He reached out with a weak, trembling hand to grab her wrist.
"Leave... you have to get out of here... Cough!" He doubled over, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Sabo!" Koala cried out, fresh tears welling up.
"Don't... don't worry about me. That monster is still... you have to run..." Sabo's face was deathly pale, but he didn't even stop to wipe the blood from his chin, his grip on her hand tightening in desperation.
Then, Koala's soft expression vanished. A cruel, savage smirk twisted her features.
"It's okay, Sabo. Captain Aeridar won't kill me."
In a blur of motion, Koala drew a silver revolver from behind her back and pressed it against Sabo's forehead. Her voice turned icy, dropping the temperature of the air around them and dousing the fire of Sabo's concern with a bucket of freezing water.
"Ko... Koala? What did you just call that monster?"
Sabo froze. He looked up at her, staring at the familiar face now wearing a malicious grin he had never seen before, a look so alien it made his blood run cold.
"Aeridar-sama, of course!" Koala's tone was sharp and mocking. "What else would I call him? Am I supposed to call him a monster, like the rest of you Revolutionary trash?"
"You... you're..."
Sabo felt the cold steel of the barrel against his skin, but the chill inside his chest was worse. He stared at her in utter disbelief.
"11mm caliber revolver, the 'Hunter.' Barrel length: 16.4mm. Seven-round capacity," Koala recited with predatory pride. "Loaded with the latest alloy-core steel rounds. Even the bodies of the Vinsmoke Princes of Germa 66 would have holes punched through them by this."
"Crafted by the hand of Mechanic Dr. Vade, a weapon designed specifically for me!"
She pressed the 'Hunter' harder against his temple and laughed. "One shot is all it takes to paint the ground with your brains. Even with Armament Haki, the vibration alone will knock you senseless."
"Why?" Sabo asked, his voice cracking with grief. "Was it back then... when you were captured?"
"Hmph. Stop asking such nonsensical questions," Koala said, her eyes clouding for a brief, flickering moment before hardening again. "In any case, after today, there won't be a Revolutionary Army left to care about."
If the second-in-command was captured or killed, it would be a devastating blow, but it was worse than that. Koala knew their secrets, their codes, and the location of their headquarters. With her betrayal, the Revolutionary Army wasn't just wounded; it was a cripple that had lost its strongest arm.
"Beautifully done, Koala! Hahahaha—!"
A low, rumbling laugh descended from the sky. Sabo and Koala looked up to see Aeridar hovering above, a body in each hand, the unconscious forms of Master Nekomamushi and Eden. He drifted down and landed heavily.
Tossing the two broken warriors onto the dirt like discarded trash, Aeridar walked up to Sabo and grinned. "Tell me, Revolutionary Sabo... how does it feel? To be betrayed by the person you trusted most in this world?"
"You bastard!"
Ignoring his injuries, Sabo struggled to his feet, his eyes burning with rage. "What did you do to Koala?!"
He had caught that momentary flicker of confusion in her eyes. He knew her, he knew the trauma of her childhood and the unshakable conviction she held as a Revolutionary. She would never betray them unless her mind had been tampered with.
"What did I do?" Aeridar didn't blink. He gave Sabo a long, measuring look before turning a proprietary smile toward Koala. "I didn't do a thing. Koala has been my sleeper agent inside the Revolutionary Army for ten years. She is the finest operative the Chris Investigation Bureau has ever produced!"
Aeridar would never admit she was a brainwashed victim. He would never tell Sabo about the memory-altering powers of Pudding. He had waited years for this specific moment, the perfect opportunity to decapitate the Revolution.
"Liar! You're lying! What did you do to her?!" Sabo lunged at Aeridar, completely ignoring the gun Koala held to his head.
Perhaps, in some deep, desperate part of his soul, he believed she could never pull the trigger.
But as Sabo charged, Koala's hand moved instinctively. She lowered the sights and fired.
BANG—!
A deafening roar echoed as a flash of fire spat from the barrel.
A silver-grey bullet with a dark gold tip tore through the air with lightning speed and immense kinetic energy. It buried itself in Sabo's thigh, and a spray of blood blossomed in the air.
"AAAGH!"
Sabo collapsed after two steps, his right leg buckling as a white-hot agony surged through his body. His limb went completely numb, and he hit the dirt, losing all balance.
"Oh... marvelous! Truly marvelous, my dear girl!"
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" Aeridar threw his head back and laughed at the sight of the hero of the Revolution screaming at his feet.
Yet, in that same moment, for reasons she couldn't understand, Koala felt a sudden, agonizing pain, as if a blade were being dragged across her heart. Her right hand began to shake uncontrollably, and beneath that savage, mocking mask, tears began to slide down her cheeks, unbidden and hot.
"Why..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "Why does my heart... hurt so much...?"
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