"You're not from the Kingdom of Andia." Allen's expression darkened as he swept his gaze toward Xia, who was surrounded and guarded by a group of soldiers. As the King's Shadow—known as the phantom that does not exist—it was humiliating that he had failed to kill even a rebel leader.
What blocked him wasn't an elite force, but barely a hundred seemingly ordinary soldiers. His surprise attack had been discovered—an outcome that astonished even the leader of an assassin organization.
"The Duke of Valos couldn't have trained warriors like these. Even among my own assassins, only a few possess such combat instinct and awareness."
Allen's body suddenly turned into crystalline fragments. He thrust his fist forward, focusing the surrounding light particles into it. The punch exploded with heat and shockwaves, blasting several soldiers hundreds of meters away and instantly disabling them.
"Move aside." He advanced quickly. Though his strength was great, being surrounded by thousands would still be troublesome. From what he'd observed, there were stronger fighters within the Wall of Valos—perhaps more than one—so he needed to end this quickly.
But the soldiers of the Lantis did not retreat. Even knowing death was certain, they charged forward without hesitation, buying precious time with their lives.
"Fools." Allen clasped his hands together and rubbed them rapidly. A faint magnetic field spread outward from him, rippling across the area.
Weapons in the soldiers' hands began to tremble violently—the magnetic forces were thrown into chaos or outright seized. As a Crystal Fruit user, Allen didn't have the diamond-like defense of the Diamond Fruit, but his crystal powers were versatile and finely honed.
By manipulating the refraction, diffusion, and focus of light, he wielded immense combat power. Crystals also had piezoelectric properties—when rubbed against his body, they generated subtle electromagnetic fields.
Through these, Allen could produce magnetic effects similar to attraction and repulsion, or even disrupt the natural magnetic frequency of the human body, weakening his opponents from within.
As the soldiers faltered for a moment under the magnetic interference, Allen's crystal-charged fist smashed through them as if binding them with invisible chains, leaving them unable to react.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Lantis warriors fell rapidly. Just as Allen was about to finish off the last few, Rosen appeared in a flash, his Armament Haki-coated fist slamming straight toward him.
"Tenfold Crystal Shield!" Allen's face shifted. His fist instantly layered with ten colored crystal coatings, forming a massive crystalline gauntlet that collided with Rosen's strike.
Boom!
The impact shattered his crystals. Allen was sent flying, his arm going numb from the shock.
"Crystal Dissolution!" he muttered grimly. Glancing once at the masked Rosen, he dissolved into a silvery shadow and sank into the ground, vanishing completely.
"What kind of power is this? Erosion Cycle?" Rosen frowned, then reacted quickly. "You think going underground will save you?"
Boom!
The ground erupted as Rosen's ability tore it apart. Underground, Allen was startled—many could split the earth, but not this swiftly. He hadn't gone deep enough.
Startled but composed, he accelerated his escape.
"Infernal Sandstorm Dragon!" Rosen commanded the sands to spiral upward, gouging a trench tens of meters deep—but there was no sign of his target.
"Black Inferno Barrage!" He unleashed thirty-three compressed sand bullets, blasting the ground into a cratered wasteland.
"There's blood… but no body. Escaped again. Damn ability users," Rosen muttered, frowning. He overturned the rubble but found only bloodstains.
"Are you all alright?" Alice finally arrived, her face grim as she looked at the fallen soldiers.
"Gather the wounded. I'll treat them first." Pursuing further was pointless; underground detection with Haki was nearly impossible, and their opponent was strong enough to survive his assault.
Alice nodded. Xia's expression darkened—not out of fear, but guilt. Many soldiers had been wounded protecting her from this mysterious assassin.
"Order a citywide search."
"This must have been the King's Shadow," Xia said after a moment's thought.
"Looks like the King is getting desperate."
Rumors of the Shadow had always circulated within Andia—a nameless assassin responsible for countless noble deaths. No one knew his face, but his abilities matched perfectly with the reports.
"Desperation works to our advantage," Rosen said coldly. "We'll remember this debt."
After tending to the wounded, Rosen contacted Enel, Hathaway, and Daz Bones, instructing them to each select several nobles as assassination targets.
The operation would begin only after word of Xia's attempted assassination spread. The goal was simple: to make the nobles of Andia lose faith in their King.
"Alice, stay by Xia's side and protect her closely. Leave the rest to me." Rosen's tone turned thoughtful. It was time to go on the offensive—but the troops between the fortresses were still insufficient.
"Moris, send word to all fortresses, especially the builders. Tell them what awaits if they rebel—freedom."
"Alice, pick a few sharp-minded soldiers. I'll give them special assignments. They'll disguise themselves as refugees and infiltrate the builders' camps at each fortress. Their task is simple…"
Thus began Rosen's full-scale operation. When flames of rebellion erupted across the land, it would be time to take the King's head.
"Hawkeye's still here?"
"Yes. According to reports, he's in a tavern in the inner city, drinking," Vic replied as he arrived.
"Good. I know where to find him."
In the inner city tavern, Hawkeye sat quietly with a glass in hand. When the door opened, he glanced up calmly. "What is it? You want another round? I'm not in the mood. If that's why you're here, you'll be disappointed."
"Not this time," Rosen said, taking a seat across from him and signaling for a bottle of good wine. "Too much going on lately. I just came to talk."
"Talk? Don't forget—I'm one of the Shichibukai. Technically, that makes us enemies."
"Don't act like that title means much to you," Rosen replied evenly. "Besides, the Shichibukai system won't last much longer. Its end is coming soon."
Hawkeye's hand paused briefly mid-sip, then he finished his drink in silence. After all, that single sentence touched directly upon his own uncertain fate.
(End of Chapter)