"Heheheh... direct combat truly isn’t my strong suit." Mando, clad in a black robe, appeared atop the city wall, right at the point of its breach.
Mando is a renowned assassin from the underworld, a Swap-Swap Fruit user with the ability to swap places with objects within a certain range, even up to a hundred miles. His moniker, "Black Ghost," cos from his black robe and ghost-like ability to move like a ghost.
Four years ago, he failed to assassinate a kingdom’s king, was gravely wounded, and drifted unconscious onto a beach on the Clifford Kingdom coast. He was rescued by Benson, who was out enjoying himself at the ti, and was subsequently won over by Benson, secretly assisting him in various sches.
Crackle-crackle!
Boom!
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flew across, striking the city wall behind Mando, instantly scattering bricks and stones and charring the surrounding area.
"Oh my... Master, you look quite a ss!"
Mando looked down and saw two figures, one large and one small, battling fiercely in the gap in the city wall. One was his master, Fifth Prince Benson, but the larger figure seed to be a strange, dark blue beast, crackling with lightning, incredibly fast and ferocious, with strength almost on par with Benson’s.
"Co down and help!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Benson quickly unleashed a large stream of cold air, forcing the beast back, then seized the opportunity to shout.
Whoosh!
No sooner had Benson spoken than Mando vanished from the city wall, reappearing instantly before Benson. Mando placed a hand on Benson’s shoulder, and both disappeared from their spot, reappearing simultaneously on the city wall. The entire exchange took less than a second.
"Phew..." Looking down at Vito, Benson sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead and the blood from his lips. A series of high-speed attacks had left Benson no ti to even speak. Though he held the upper hand, it was the result of him exerting his full power.
"Hmm... this ability... I think I’ve seen it before?!" Vito looked at himself, then at the city wall above, a bit dazed.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several slashes tore through the air, striking directly at the city wall, instantly shredding the spot where Mando and Benson had stood.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
Large amounts of bricks and stones tumbled down, and dust imdiately filled the air. Vito below also flickered, instantly covering hundreds of ters to reach the plaza.
"Hey, hey! That’s a fierce slash, Oliver-san! I’m still down here, you know," Vito’s body rapidly shrunk, returning to its original form, his highly elastic clothes hanging in tatters. He spoke with a slight complaint.
Oliver gave Vito a cold glance, saying nothing. The fresh blood and swelling wound on his face made him look sowhat nacing.
"I’d advise you not to provoke him. He’s not in a good mood right now," Marcus took the opportunity to tease, forcing Limmings back with a single sword stroke.
"Uh... then I apologize." Seeing the bleeding, grotesque wound on Oliver’s face, Vito understood. Anyone would be in a bad mood after getting a sword across the face.
Whoosh!
A sound of tearing air ca from above.
"Hm?"
Feeling the commotion above, everyone quickly looked up. In the sky, a dark figure rapidly descended.
"Is that...?" Arlan’s face lit up with joy.
Rumble!
The dark figure crashed heavily onto the ground, instantly creating a deep crater in the plaza. The terrifying impact shook the surrounding ground, and surging airwaves kicked up dust across the sky.
"You still haven’t finished? Is the opponent too strong, or have you been slacking off in your training?" A clear voice erged from the bottom of the deep crater, followed by a figure leaping out.
"Captain!"
"Captain Aeridar!"
Imdiately, Arlan and the others cheered with joyful surprise.
"Golden Ring Aeridar!"
anwhile, Benson, who had swapped to the city gate, Mando, and Limmings in the plaza, all had their faces change drastically.
"Damn it, did he... win?"
Benson looked back at the ravaged royal palace, which was now deserted. Aside from widespread ruins, craters, and cracks, there were countless broken corpses—no trace of any living person.
"Damn it, is the gap really getting wider and wider?" Limmings looked at Aeridar, covered in scars, his face grim.
Another well-known New World powerhouse had fallen at his opponent’s hands, yet he himself couldn’t even quickly defeat an officer from a second-rate pirate crew. The gap wasn’t just a small one.
"You look like hell, Oliver," Aeridar chuckled.
"Shut it," Oliver grumbled, pouting.
"Oh, hey... that guy at the city gate..." Aeridar scratched his head, as if recalling sothing. "Isn’t he the Fifth Prince? What’s he doing here?"
Aeridar rembered that the intel before they ca stated His Royal Highness Fifth Prince Benson had gone to the beach to relax.
"Captain Aeridar, you’ve arrived!"
Suddenly, Third Prince Casey pushed through with a few guards, pointing at Benson with disgust. "That scoundrel! He tried to be the wolf, ready to snatch the lamb, hoping to take us all out at once. The king’s throne isn’t for soone like him to usurp."
"Wolf?!" Aeridar raised an eyebrow, understanding dawning on him. He looked at Benson with amusent. He hadn’t expected this person to be the deepest hidden. His cunning was truly profound.
It seed that if Aeridar’s side hadn’t been here, or if he hadn’t won, Benson would likely have been the ultimate victor.
"My foolish Third Brother, do you think he’s really here to help you?" Benson looked at Casey with a cold, contemptuous sneer. "As a re prince, and not even the first in line, with no money or influence, and weaker than even the Fourth Brother, what makes you think a formidable Warlord of the Sea would help you? You’re a complete idiot. No wonder they chose you as their entry point."
"What do you an?" Casey frowned, then suddenly realized, stating fiercely, "You’re trying to sow discord between us! I won’t fall for your tricks. Just surrender obediently; it’ll save you so tornt."
"Idiot! Their goal is this country! What do you possibly have that they’d find appealing?" Benson yelled in exasperation, utterly speechless at his dim-witted brother.
"Oh... you actually know our objective!" Aeridar was surprised. Logically, his true objective, apart from the World Governnt and high-ranking Marines, should only be known to his own executives and core collaborators. Even most of his subordinate captains were only inford just before battle.
"Uh... Captain Aeridar, I accidentally let it slip," Vito scratched his head sheepishly.
"C-Captain Aeridar, you’re joking, right?"
Casey was stunned, forcing a smile as he asked. At the sa ti, the few knight guards beside him grew wary of Aeridar, though their eyes were filled with fear, for they knew the only outco of truly resisting was death.
"No, he’s right," Aeridar said with a cruel smile, extending his hand. "You’re useless now. So die!"
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