Two sword flashes crossed.
Dozens of demons with clusters of uneven horns sprouting from their heads were sliced apart.
After landing, Zoro and Kuina turned to look at the creatures they had cut down.
"They're still alive?" Zoro stared in disbelief.
Some had been split diagonally through the torso, their bodies divided cleanly in half, yet the severed pieces continued to writhe.
They even seemed to be trying to pull themselves back together.
"These are the immortal monsters Cyrus warned us about."
Kuina's expression turned grave.
Judging by the fighting so far, the creatures themselves were not particularly strong.
Their near-immortality, however, was terrifying.
"Aim for the core of their markings."
Robin's voice reached them as they considered how to finish the creatures off.
"The core?"
Kuina and Zoro scanned the twitching chunks of flesh scattered across the ground.
It was not difficult to locate.
The patterns covering the demons followed a clear structure. By tracing the lines, they could easily identify where each creature's core was located.
Shhk!
Zoro gripped Shusui and drove its blade into the nearest mass of flesh.
The writhing remains convulsed once, then went completely still.
"That's pretty simple."
After confirming it worked, Zoro pulled out the sword and moved from one body to the next, finishing them off.
"It only seems simple because they were ordinary people before this."
Robin walked over and shook her head.
Kuina and Zoro could not yet be called top fighters of the sea, but they had already surpassed ordinary people by an enormous margin.
Even after these civilians became infected and mutated, the difference in strength remained substantial.
That was why the two swordsmen found them easy to kill.
Robin, however, looked deeply troubled.
Even if the transformation only doubled a normal person's physical strength, it would already create a serious threat—especially when combined with such extreme regeneration.
And these creatures had grown by far more than merely twofold.
What would happen to the world if they spread completely out of control?
"Keep moving. There are still plenty of monsters on this island, and they're searching for survivors."
A powerful gust swept past them.
It was Hancock.
But the one speaking was Teach, who floated along behind her.
"The faster you move, the more people will survive."
He was clearly still familiarizing himself with his newly acquired power.
"He's right. We don't have time to waste."
Kuina nodded.
Blue flames ignited around her body as she transformed.
Then she disappeared with speed almost indistinguishable from teleportation.
"Wait for me!"
Zoro immediately chased after her, though the distance between them continued growing.
"Did Cyrus send you?"
Robin looked toward Teach.
"Yeah. There are opponents on this island those two will have to fight seriously, and they might not be able to win."
Teach did not bother hiding the truth.
He now understood Cyrus's intention.
He was here as a bodyguard.
What Teach still needed to decide was how far that protection should extend.
He obviously could not intervene at the first sign of danger. Even if the two brats were injured, he should not immediately step in.
Cyrus clearly wanted his fellow disciples to gain experience through real battle.
Once Robin received confirmation, she asked nothing more and left in another direction.
"These things…"
Teach looked down at the motionless pieces of flesh beneath him, a shadow passing through his eyes.
This was what Rocks had become.
As the thought crossed his mind, Teach's mouth slowly spread into a grin, though his expression became dark and vicious.
…
Zoro and Kuina had believed themselves mentally prepared.
Even so, the sight of the enormous horde ahead made their hearts tighten.
They repeatedly reminded themselves that the creatures were no longer human.
Yet their mostly human appearance still slowed their blades.
In this brief battle alone, the number of lives they had taken was hundreds of times greater than everything they had killed since first setting sail.
Hancock had no such hesitation.
She wanted to finish the mission as quickly as possible and return to Cyrus.
Her fist, coated in both Armament and Conqueror's Haki, came crashing down and blasted a large number of demons into the air.
Then she fired a barrage of Slave Arrows.
The creatures appeared immune to the passive effects of her beauty, but anything struck by those arrows was still turned directly to stone.
Countless petrified bodies fell from the sky and shattered against the ground.
Once broken apart in stone form, they had no chance of regenerating.
Robin was no slower elsewhere.
Her versatile ability allowed her to restrain each target precisely before killing it.
Although they had not deliberately attempted to draw attention, their arrival and the enormous commotion they caused gave the demons searching the island a new target.
The creatures began converging on them from every direction.
The island had originally housed only several tens of thousands of people.
At least half had already become monsters.
As the horde grew increasingly dense, Zoro's and Kuina's faces turned pale.
The sheer number of people they were killing placed enormous psychological pressure on them.
Even Hancock and Robin, who had initially fought without hesitation, began looking increasingly uncomfortable as the bodies piled up.
Teach still did not act.
His gaze remained fixed on the rear of the horde.
These creatures had not entirely lost their intelligence. Their reason had merely been overwhelmed by their desires.
A few, however, still retained traces of awareness despite the madness consuming them.
Boom!
Just as Zoro and Kuina began slowing down, a figure charged from behind the horde.
Every demon in its path was sent flying.
Bang!
A black fist swung toward Zoro.
His expression changed, and he raised his sword to block.
An overwhelming force travelled through the blade, into his arms, and then through his entire body.
Both of Zoro's feet left the ground as he was launched backward.
The attacking monster did not pause.
Having failed to kill Zoro with the first strike, it immediately chased him through the air.
Only then did Zoro get a clear look at it.
The creature was several times larger than the other demons.
Its two grotesquely muscular arms were each thicker than Zoro's entire body, despite the rest of its frame being only moderately oversized.
It looked like an unusually powerful man with a pair of giant's arms attached to his shoulders.
"Die!"
Another fist came crashing toward him.
Still flying backward, Zoro adjusted his posture and swung Shusui from in front of his body.
A flying slash tore from the blade toward the approaching monster.
Boom!
The demon swept one arm through the attack and shattered it outright.
"Two-Sword Style: White Crane!"
Zoro drew the second sword at his waist.
He crossed both blades before him, his face turning serious as Armament Haki covered his wrists and hands.
The coating did not yet extend onto the swords themselves.
Whoosh!
Brilliant intersecting flashes erupted from the blades.
The released slash seemed to accelerate Zoro's backward momentum.
Just before he collided with the building behind him, he planted both feet against the wall.
His knees bent deeply.
Then his legs snapped straight.
Whoosh!
Zoro overtook his own crossing slash and passed lightly beside the demon, his movement resembling a white crane gliding through the air.
More than a dozen wounds burst open across the creature's body.
Every cut reached the bone.
Yet the demon barely seemed to notice.
By the time it turned around, the horrific wounds were already writhing closed and beginning to heal.
Zoro's expression became grave.
Rather than stopping to continue the duel, he kicked off the ground and widened the distance between them.
"Smart."
Teach had expected him to focus entirely on defeating the powerful opponent.
Instead, Zoro charged toward the other demons still pouring into the area.
Their objective was not to defeat one particular monster.
It was to eliminate the disaster consuming the island.
That powerful demon was only one part of it.
"Hm?"
Teach turned toward another battlefield in the distance.
Floating in the air gave him a far wider view.
Two similarly abnormal figures were attacking Kuina from opposite sides.
All three moved with speed comparable to teleportation, clashing so rapidly that they resembled curtains of different colors flickering through the landscape.
'Those should suit her well.'
Teach glanced in several other directions, then down at the flood of demons surging across the ground.
Zoro and Kuina were gradually becoming accustomed to killing them.
Now that suitable opponents had appeared for both of them, he could deal with the rest.
Teach descended and raised one hand.
The ground trembled violently.
The earth beneath his feet began deforming, the effect spreading outward across the island.
Large sections of terrain rose and folded inward.
The shifting land squeezed countless demons together.
Their shrieks mixed with the sound of bones and flesh grinding apart.
Teach had possessed the Float-Float Fruit for only a short time, but he had watched Golden Lion use it before.
He did not have time to develop entirely new techniques, but imitating methods Shiki had already demonstrated was not especially difficult for someone with Teach's talent.
…
Aboard the Rose Hunter, Cyrus opened his eyes and looked toward the distant island.
Black energy appeared around one hand, carrying a strange pulling force.
'No wonder he could use the Tremor-Tremor Fruit immediately after stealing it. His talent really is impressive.'
Cyrus silently admired Teach's ability while his Observation Haki continued covering the entire island.
As Teach moved between several locations, he reshaped a portion of the island's terrain and crushed large groups of demons.
Meanwhile, beside the creatures that had never been drawn toward the fighting, flames flashed briefly.
In an instant, those demons vanished, leaving only a few traces of black ash.
"Don't disappoint me, Imu."
After helping clear the remaining stragglers, Cyrus closed his eyes again and murmured quietly.
Hancock was the first to return.
She landed beside him, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"Cyrus-sama, it's done."
"Well done, Hancock."
Cyrus offered his praise freely.
"It was only what I should do for Cyrus-sama."
Hancock's face reddened even further.
Footsteps sounded on the deck.
Robin folded away the wings created from her ability and sat beside Cyrus.
"If every island is like this one, the Guild doesn't have enough people."
Her eyes remained fixed on him.
"Don't worry. That won't happen."
Cyrus opened his eyes and shook his head.
"If she used this on the entire world, she would truly have no cards left to play."
"What do you mean?"
Robin paused.
"Wait a little longer. We should receive news soon."
Cyrus shook his head.
"She needs time too."
Robin frowned, unable to understand what he meant.
Not long afterward, Teach floated back toward the ship, carrying one pale-faced swordsman in each hand.
Zoro and Kuina both looked battered.
"Ran into trouble?"
Cyrus raised an eyebrow, knowingly asking the question.
"They weren't real opponents. They just appeared suddenly and caught us off guard."
Zoro immediately denied it after hearing Cyrus's tone.
"They were difficult to deal with." Kuina answered honestly.
"You still did well."
Cyrus smiled.
When fighting those monsters, they not only had to kill them but also avoid being wounded and infected.
"Haki can block their attacks." Zoro said.
"Good. Realizing that means you passed."
Cyrus sat upright and nodded before looking toward Teach.
"Let's continue. There are more places to visit."
Teach nodded without another word.
After stepping away, he used the Float-Float Fruit to move the enormous ship.
Zoro and Kuina gathered around Cyrus.
Despite all their stubbornness, both understood that Cyrus's strength and experience exceeded theirs by an unimaginable margin.
Naturally, they brought him every question and problem they had encountered during the battle.
While Cyrus's group continued its operation, Crocodile frowned at the compiled reports in his hands.
"No new outbreaks? Could more still be appearing without being detected?"
"That's unlikely."
Reiju shook her head.
"The Guild's intelligence network now covers almost every inhabited island. As long as people live there, we can usually obtain some information."
"The outbreaks really have stopped."
"Could this be all of them?"
Crocodile hesitated.
"Even if it is, this ability is still terrifying."
Reiju looked toward him.
"The affected regions cover nearly half the world, and some islands are already spreading the infection beyond their shores."
"The Guild will still need to commit everything it has."
"And containing them will cause significant casualties."
"A Hunter's sense of duty alone won't be enough. We need another way to motivate more people to act."
"That will be difficult."
Crocodile shook his head.
"The chairman could issue a personal call. With his influence, plenty of Hunters would respond."
"But even that wouldn't last forever."
Crocodile understood how practical the people of the sea could be.
Aside from fanatics who practically worshipped Cyrus, most might initially fight without concern for profit, but that resolve would eventually weaken.
"Didn't the chairman recover a large number of Devil Fruits during the Hunter Exam?"
Reiju offered another suggestion.
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