"Y-You tell him!" A rather plain-looking low-ranking mber, known as a Waiter, of the Beast Pirates hissed.
"No way! You think I want to die?!" To his side, an equally as grunt-looking Beast Pirate hissed back, looking over at their boss nervously, "Y-You were the one who King told to warn the Captain!"
"It was a general statent! He was telling any of us there to warn him!" The first grunt countered, looking over wearily as their Captain lay slumped back in his throne-like chair, drool flowing down his chin.
"Hu... huh?" Kaido blinked rapidly, the beast-like man opening his eyes as he reached up, grabbing at his head in pain. The world around him was spinning lightly, and he glanced over at the half-drunk bottle of sake leaning against him.
For any normal person, it would’ve looked far too big to be drunk out of - as the bottle was nearly five feet tall, and contained enough liquid to drown a man. However, for Kaido, it was simply a regular bottle.
As he stared down at the half-drunk sake, his head pounding from downing nurous bottles of alcohol just hours earlier, Kaido thought for just a split second about what to do. He was already hungover like hell, and drinking more would just send him into an even worse state.
So, Kaido raised the bottle to his lips and downed the rest of the sake in one gulp. The grunts could only watch in horror, their eyes wide as they knew what was coming next.
"Argh... wbhat do youb want?" Kaido asked simply, his words a bit slurred as he looked down at the two grunts with an unreadable expression.
"A-Ah, Captain, um," The first Waiter finally gathered to courage to speak, stepping forward as he looked up at Kaido’s towering form nervously, "S-Sir King said... to report... t-that there is a group of unknown d-dragons attacking the front entrance!"
The grunt bowed at his hip as he pushed out the rest of the words quickly, sweat dripping down his brow. His nervousness only grew, his heart pounding in his chest, as Kaido just stared down at him for a mont - not saying a word. For a second, the grunt wondered if the silence ant he was already dead, and he just hadn’t realized it yet.
But then, Kaido spoke. Instead of anger, his tone was somber - a terribly sad, almost depressed sound.
"Ah... I used to want a fleet of dragons..." Kaido sighed, slumping back in his throne as he stared up at the roof overhead wistfully, "Ah... back when I was so ambitious... when I had so many dreams! But... I failed... I can’t find any devil fruits to make dragons... I’m such a failure of a Captain..."
The second grunt’s eyes went wide, stepping forward quickly as he saw an opportunity to gain favor with his captain. As he did, the first grunt just looked over at him with sad eyes, knowing what was about to happen.
"Y-You’re not a failure, Captain! You’re doing an amazing job-"
"WHO THE HELL ARE YA CALLING A FAILURE?!" Kaido’s fist lashed out, slamming into the front of the grunt as just one of his knuckles was bigger than the man’s entire body. The grunt was sent flying, rolling through the air as he finally slamd into a wall far behind him - and then went through it.
That grunt was far from the first victim to be lured into a false sense of security from Kaido’s all-fabled ’drunken mood switches.’ In a split second, the somber and sad Kaido had vanished, with an angry beast taking its place.
If the grunt was lucky, Kaido would get distracted before he continued to beat or even kill him. And, fortunately for this grunt, he was lucky.
"Where the hell are the dragons?! I wanna kill a dragon!" Kaido huffed, standing up from his throne so quickly that the massive structure almost fell over behind him, "Bring to the dragons! Where are the fuckin’ dragons?!"
"T-They’re at the front-"
"SHUT UP!" The second grunt was sent flying with the first one, bursting through a wall and being knocked out instantly. Kaido just huffed, stomping forward as he started to head towards the main entrance in his drunken state, but paused before he did.
"Why... does it sll like smoke?" Kaido slowly looked up, staring at the ceiling above him blankly for a second, "Is soone cook-"
He never got to finish that sentence, as a massive wall of fire slamd through the ceiling, and the Emperor was consud in a ball of flas.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five Minutes Earlier
"We’re almost there!" I called over my shoulder, speaking to the woman who was flying not far behind , "When we get there, you can transform, but try not to kill anyone, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah! No promises!" Tiamat smirked at my words, only a few feet behind as the surface of Wano blurred by below us and the towering silhouette of a ginormous skull ca closer, "When you’re that big, it’s hard not to squish soone that small, y’know? What was it that you told Riser? That everyone looks like an ant?"
I ignored Tiamat’s teasing, just looking over my shoulder dryly at her. She wasn’t there when I humiliated Riser, but Yubelluna had apparently been gushing about what I did for her to everyone she could.
I was glad that she thought I was being badass, and that she was grateful that I saved her, but I really could’ve done without the praise. Now, I had more than a few won at my palace teasing about ’calling them ants.’
"Just do your best," I deadpanned back at her, "They’re the Beast Pirates, so most of them will be bigger than you think. Let anyone who surrenders do so without harm, and try to knock anyone who resists unconscious. Obviously, if one of your group’s lives is in danger, prioritize that first."
Right now, the assault on Onigashima was starting. My various armies, led by Falbium, Azazel, Ragnat, and Hyougoro, were attacking regions in Wano at this very mont - overthrowing the tyrannical rulers there and claiming it in my na
At the sa ti, and Tiamat’s group are headed for the island of Onigashima. Behind , a flock of 20 dragons was flying with us - looking much more intimidating than the human-form Tiamat, though that definitely wouldn’t be the case once she transford.
The dragons were all high-level dragons, but they certainly weren’t on the level of a Dragon King. They had levels in the low hundreds, and the varying Earth, Fla, and Blizzard Dragons reached fifty feet at most - a far cry from Tiamat’s form, which was easily over a hundred feet long and tall.
They wouldn’t be a huge help against the higher-ups in the Beast Pirates, but they didn’t need to be. They just needed to distract the grunts and keep them off my and Tiamat’s backs as we targeted the true threats.
She would take on the All-Stars and any other higher-ups who got in our way, while I would target the man himself - heading straight for Kaido as Yamato joined on the way. I didn’t really need, or honestly want, the woman’s help to take down Kaido, but I couldn’t deny her the opportunity.
She had been the one suffering under his rule for decades, while I had never even t the Emperor. I was certainly prideful and arrogant as a King, but even I wouldn’t push her feelings aside just so I could get the badass one-on-one victory I desired.
"This is it," I said simply as we finally reached the island, shooting downward as I headed towards the mouth of the skull.
The area in front of the skull was strangely empty - or, maybe not strangely, as any guards were probably laid out throughout the castle as they were either hungover or still drunk from the celebration the night before. The towering mountains around the main island didn’t seem to house a soul, nor did the ships sitting in the water in front of the main entrance.
"This is where we split up," I said simply, glancing back at Tiamat, "Make as much noise as you can on the way in. It’ll make the guards by the rear entrance even laxer."
This was the plan to get to Kaido without any trouble: Tiamat’s dragons would create a commotion at the main entrance, thus drawing out the All-Stars to her location. As she did, I would take the rear entrance and head for Kaido.
On the off chance that Kaido decided to address the commotion personally - sothing I doubted, as he wasn’t the type to handle sothing like this, and even less so when he was hungover - then I could easily navigate through the interior back to the front entrance and catch him by surprise as Tiamat held him off.
I’d much prefer for things to go as planned, as while I was confident that I could take down Kaido with my armor, sword, and Boosted Gear, I didn’t have a level gauge of his strength. I trusted Tiamat to hold her own against him, but I didn’t know how far that trust should extend
But that just ant I had to be quick.
"Good luck," Tiamat said simply, nodding at after my statent, "Don’t take too long, alright? I could get bored playing with these ’ants!’"
I just chuckled at her teasing words again, waving her off as I broke away from the pack of dragons in the air. As I did, I watched them dive-bomb down towards the main entrance, and I knew the chaos would start soon.
I continued forward, flying fully over the massive skull as I ca around to the back of it, and then started my descent. I landed on the ground behind the towering structure, taking in the sight in front of .
There was a large open area, with a massive crack in the back of the skull, as if soone had taken a ginormous hamr and slamd it into the back. Inside that crack, on the floor at the rear entrance, was just a small collection of grunts.
I raised my foot, moving to take a step forward.
They weren’t completely incompetent, as a large, chubby man stepped forward and raised a mace in his hand towards , "Hey, what’s with the get-up?! I’ve never seen armor like-"
My step finished as I stood casually behind the group of grunts, and a second later, they slumped over - falling to the ground unconscious. I just continued forward, not wasting any ti sparing them a glance as I stepped through the rear entrance.
I considered using [Appearance Disguise] as I searched for Yamato, but decided against it. This was a conquering, not a stealth mission - anyone who got in my way, I would simply take out.
And, on my way through the rear entrance and towards the back of Kaido’s castle, there were certainly a lot of people who tried to stop . Foolish grunt after foolish grunt noticed my strange armor and ca to approach , and foolish grunt after foolish grunt ended up unconscious on the ground.
Eventually, after the twentieth grunt trying to stop , I decided to change my approach a bit. They were certainly easy to take out, as while I would’ve been able to handle them easily at any ti, they were definitely slowed down from the celebration just re hours earlier.
My legs tensed, and I leaped into the sky - aiming no longer for the back entrance to the castle, but instead for the roof of the castle. I reached it in the blink of an eye, casually standing on the rooftop.
In a different world, where I never arrived in Wano, this was where Luffy would reach Gear 5 as he fought Kaido. This was where the trajectory of the world would change, and where Luffy would truly beco a man worthy of being the King of the Pirates.
But that wasn’t this world. Instead, I raised my hand, and a small fla appeared on it.
If you wanted to find soone, the most efficient thod was to make them co to you, right?
I know I wanted to keep as many pirates alive to add to my Kingdom, but if they couldn’t survive a bit of fire, then they wouldn’t be any help in the upcoming war anyway.
Or, as I raised my other hand and wrapped it around the thick hilt of my sword, perhaps it would be a lot of fire.
"Boost."
With one simple word, the small fla on my hand flared upward - looking more like a bonfire as it stretched dozens of feet towards the sky and filled the air with smoke. I slowly turned my palm, pointing it straight downward.
If they couldn’t survive this, then the n in this castle didn’t deserve to serve the true Beast King.
A second later, the biggest fireball Wano had ever seen shot downward, and the castle was engulfed in flas.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Thank you for reading! The next Chapter will be out in a few days! (For real this ti!)
You can also read the next 7 Chapters right now on Patreon/Koyon !
Reviews
All reviews (0)