"I don't rember ever knowing soone like you. No… or rather…"
Matthew's gaze sharpened.
"A demon."
With that final word, he directly exposed the old man's true identity.
That was right.
On the surface, the old man looked like nothing more than a refined and elegant gentleman, but under Matthew's Observation Haki, his true emotions were impossible to hide.
Greed.
Curiosity.
And covetous desire.
This old monster was coveting him.
It felt exactly the sa as the aura he had sensed from Jennifer when she had been possessed by a demon.
And this old man was absurdly strong.
So strong that by the ti Matthew noticed him, the man had already reached the doorway of the cabin.
And Matthew's Observation Haki, while not yet at the absolute highest level, was still among the best of Vice Admiral-tier standards.
Its detection range exceeded ten kiloters.
A demon.
And absurdly powerful.
Matthew had almost imdiately identified him as a true heavyweight.
Of course, the old man had no idea that the prey he had set his sights on had practically already seen straight through him.
Maintaining that sa elegant, mysterious posture, he looked directly into Matthew's eyes and said softly,
"Sotis, humans and demons are no different, are they not?"
"When you killed those people, did you ever feel pity, child?"
Those eyes of his seed capable of seeing straight through Matthew, as if they could glimpse all the blood on his hands.
Matthew had no interest in playing word gas with him.
"So this girl's situation was caused by you?"
"I rely made a deal with this child and helped the one she loved return to her side."
"In the form of a soul?"
"Taking a soul from Nehemah is no simple matter." The old man smiled faintly, as though explaining that he, too, had paid quite a price for this transaction.
Unfortunately, Matthew did not believe a single word of his nonsense.
A faint red glow flickered in his eyes, and a terrifying aura slowly spread outward from him. The air inside the wooden house beca heavy and distorted, as though even space itself was turning murky.
The pressure was so overwhelming that Needy found it hard to breathe.
"Demons excel at lies and deception. There isn't a single word from you worth trusting. From the very beginning, your target was ."
That terrifying presence stirred even the heavens.
The gray clouds above churned violently, and the earth itself seed to tremble faintly.
Yet faced with the frightening aura erupting from Matthew, the old man showed not the slightest trace of panic.
Instead, he observed him with visible interest, seemingly fascinated by the inhuman force of will Matthew displayed—the very manifestation of his spirit turned into power.
"What an extraordinary power. To think a human could turn will itself into a weapon."
"I like you, child."
"But I hate the way you look at ."
Matthew pushed his Observation Haki to its limit, focusing entirely on the old man.
That greed was practically overflowing.
He understood clearly now—this demon had set his sights on him completely.
It had started back in Devil's Kettle.
As for fear?
That was impossible.
On the contrary, Matthew's desire for battle was already burning.
If one wanted to grow stronger, there were only two paths: relentless training and battle.
And the fiercer the battle, the more it could force out the hidden potential within the body.
Ever since obtaining the Glint-Glint Fruit through the sign-in reward a few months ago, Matthew had never encountered a truly worthy opponent.
Even the demon back in Devil's Kettle had been defeated too easily.
There had been little real benefit to his growth.
But this one—
This one was strong enough.
Whether for his own growth, or for hunting demons and absorbing their souls for the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, the answer was the sa.
This demon saw him as prey.
And Matthew was looking at him the exact sa way.
Especially since this was Earth.
His ho ground.
The advantage was his.
Boom!
There was no more pointless conversation.
The old man still tried to tempt and manipulate him, but Matthew gave him no chance at all.
He stomped down hard with his left foot, shattering the wooden floor beneath him, and in the blink of an eye, his figure shot forward, rushing straight toward the old man.
His right fist had already turned pitch black, gleaming with a tallic luster. Terrifying arcs of black lightning crackled around it as the punch drove straight toward the old man's face.
The speed was terrifying, the force even more so. And mixed within that fist was an overwhelming impact of will, so intense that even the old man fell into a brief mont of daze.
By the ti he reacted, that black fist wrapped in flashing lightning was already only a few centiters from his cheek.
And yet, it stopped there.
The punch slamd into a dark purple vortex-like barrier. With every rotation, the swirling shield stripped away the terrifying force behind Matthew's strike, while also violently twisting his arm, trying to snap it apart.
Unfortunately, Matthew's body was simply too monstrous.
It was all raw stats.
Big Mom's "Iron Balloon" physique was absurdly overpowered. Even though he had not yet developed it to the level of a Yonko, it was still outrageously strong.
This level of tearing force posed no threat to his body at all.
Seeing this, the corners of the old man's mouth twitched slightly.
Is that even a human body? So demons in hell probably aren't this ridiculous.
"You…"
The old man had wanted to say sothing else, but the mont he opened his mouth, he saw golden light suddenly erupt from Matthew's right hand, followed by an intense surge of energy.
His eyelid twitched.
Without even thinking, the old man's figure blurred and vanished from where he stood.
In the next instant, a golden beam shot from Matthew's hand, tearing through the sky, crossing over the highway, and blasting straight into a hill on the opposite side.
Boom—!!
A deafening explosion shook the area. Flas burst outward as the not-so-large hill was blown apart on the spot.
Outside the wooden house, a hundred ters away, the old man's figure reappeared.
The shockwave arrived a mont later, carrying a violent gust of wind and debris—but as it reached him, it inexplicably dissolved into a gentle breeze.
He turned his head toward the destruction caused by the beam of light and couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration.
In truth, given his level of existence, that amount of destructive power should have ant nothing to him.
But compared to the fact that the boy before him was rely human—and that he could tell this wasn't even Matthew's full strength, just a casual attack—the display was far too shocking.
More importantly, for certain reasons, he was not here in his true body at all.
This was only an energy projection ford from a fragnt of his consciousness.
He had to admit it.
Matthew was too strong.
Strong enough that, in his current state, he had no way to force him into submission through brute ans.
But the stronger Matthew was, the more valuable he beca in his eyes.
The old man turned back toward the wooden house.
Amid the swirling dust and sand, Matthew walked out from within. Needy followed behind him with visible fear and unease, but she stopped at the doorway and did not dare co any farther.
The earlier exchange had shaken her deeply.
Having gained abnormal strength by accident, she could still feel it clearly—this was a high-level battle she couldn't even begin to participate in.
In fact, she felt like even watching it was dangerous.
If escaping hadn't felt so awkward, she would have already run for her life.
Matthew continued walking forward.
From ti to ti, terrifying black lightning burst from the ground around him. Black-red arcs of electricity exploded across the surface of his body, shielding him from the invading wind and sand.
He finally stopped fifty ters away from the old man.
In his eyes, his pupils had been dyed red, and the overwhelming battle intent spilling from him felt almost tangible.
Seeing Matthew like this, the old man narrowed his eyes.
"So… you're treating as prey?"
His voice remained calm, but there was a deeper chill beneath it.
"Should I call you brave… or foolish, child?"
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