Kairos stood suspended in midair, violet demonic energy coiling around his body like living smoke.
All around him—
hundreds upon hundreds of bullets and rockets hung frozen in place.
"Huff…"
The copper-orange bullets and flame-tailed rockets had come to a complete halt, as if time itself had been locked in place.
Yet the violet aura around Kairos continued to churn and roar, carrying a sound like enraged spirits wailing through the air.
Amid the suspended barrage, Kairos stood tall and unmoving.
His sword arm trembled—just slightly.
Then—
a cold flash of steel.
Demon Blade Art: Rashomon Gate!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A slash too fast for the eye to follow tore through the air.
In the next instant—
every bullet and rocket detonated simultaneously.
The explosions linked together in a single blazing line, like countless stars igniting and dying behind Kairos.
Flames erupted—
then vanished just as quickly.
The pirates' barrage should have unleashed a devastating storm of shockwaves, enough to tear the cavern apart.
But everything had happened too fast.
Kairos hadn't merely cut through the projectiles—
he had cut through the explosions themselves.
Every burst of fire was trapped within a tiny pocket of space, unable to expand even an inch.
The flames twisted, compressed, shrank—
and then disappeared without a sound.
Silence fell.
Kairos remained where he was, his expression calm and indifferent.
Wrapped in that writhing violet aura, he no longer looked human.
He looked like something else entirely.
Something unnatural.
Something monstrous.
His left eye burned crimson—so vivid it looked as though blood might spill from it at any moment.
At that moment, Kairos felt as though a thousand years of hatred and violence had gathered in his chest.
And there was only one way to release it.
Through slaughter.
"Kill… kill… kill…"
A low, savage murmur slipped from his lips as a faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
Below him, every pirate froze.
The sheer malice pouring off Kairos made even their forward charge falter.
"Guns are useless! Close in and kill him!"
A thunderous roar broke through the tension.
The man who shouted was tall and broad, his eyes glowing faintly red—an Observation Haki user.
But the moment his voice rang out—
Kairos moved.
He lifted his right foot and stepped forward in midair.
Two faint metallic chimes rang out.
A ripple of invisible force spread from his wrists.
Tomogiri.
Shishino-ko.
They were humming.
Then—
his foot came down.
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion erupted from the spot he had just occupied.
Kairos vanished—
transforming into a streak of violet light as he shot forward, tearing through the air with hurricane force.
The wind screamed.
Wrapped in boundless demonic energy—
Kairos plunged straight into the pirate crowd.
Boom!
He hadn't even swung his blade.
The demonic aura erupting from his body exploded outward like a violet sun detonating at ground zero, shredding everything in its radius.
The point where he landed—
was exactly where the Observation Haki user had been standing.
He didn't even have time to react.
His body disintegrated instantly.
Not even bones remained.
That was all it took.
A single impact.
Nearly a hundred pirates were crushed and obliterated by the shockwave alone, leaving behind a blood-soaked clearing filled with shattered flesh and bone.
The stench of blood spread rapidly—
thick enough to choke the air.
But the pirates did not retreat.
They were long accustomed to slaughter.
If anything—
it only drove them further into madness.
These were men who would gamble their lives for a hundred-million-berry prize.
And now—
a one-billion-berry head stood before them.
How could they possibly back down?
"ROAR—!"
Savage howls erupted from every direction.
No commands were needed.
No words required.
The scent of blood had already driven them insane.
At that moment—
only one thought remained.
Kill.
The empty clearing carved out by Kairos was instantly swallowed again as more pirates surged forward.
"Come on… all of you…"
The smile on Kairos' face deepened, turning increasingly unsettling.
His body was now drenched in blood.
Normally, he would have used Qi to keep himself clean.
Not today.
Today—
he welcomed it.
He wanted their blood on him.
He wanted to immerse himself completely in slaughter.
Even if it turned him into a demon—
so be it.
Clang!!
Tomogiri and Shishino-ko trembled violently.
Kairos gripped them in both hands and swung in a wide horizontal arc.
At the same moment—
the demonic arm of Ibaraki-dōji moved with him, bringing Higekiri down in perfect sync.
Three blades.
One strike.
Shhk—
Tomogiri moved first.
Its chilling blade-light swept outward, and anyone touched by its killing intent felt their blood freeze and reverse.
More than a hundred pirates collapsed dead—
before the blade even reached them.
Then came Shishino-ko.
Its strike was overwhelming and tyrannical, whipping up a violent storm that tore through everything in its path.
Armor.
Weapons.
Bodies.
All were shredded like paper.
Nearly two hundred pirates died in that instant.
Then—
Higekiri descended.
The very gravity in the area seemed to multiply.
Movements slowed.
Bodies dragged.
Even the fastest fighters felt as though they had aged decades in a heartbeat.
And when the blade-light reached them—
there was no escape.
Three blades.
One strike.
A thousand dead.
And the slaughter—
had only just begun.
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