The earth wailed as the lingering shockwave stirred up clouds of dust that refused to settle.
Monet's snow wings had been shattered; blood dripped from the corner of her lips as she collapsed, unable to continue fighting.
The remaining marines fared even worse, severely injured, many unable to move, their groans of pain echoing across the devastated battlefield.
It was as if only one figure remained, Burgess, looming like a demon, his wild laughter tearing through the smoke.
Burgess swept his gaze around, basking in his victory.
But his smug grin soon faded.
Because within the swirling dust, a small yet stubborn silhouette slowly straightened.
Ain.
Using her sheath as support, she rose again.
The shockwave had churned her blood and inflicted internal injuries, but she was far from defeated.
She wiped the blood from her lips, and the calm, composed light once in her eyes was now replaced by blazing fury.
She looked at her comrades writhing in pain on the ground, at the soil drenched in blood and flame, and from her slender frame erupted a murderous intent unlike anything she had ever felt before.
"Oh? Still standing?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Burgess' eyes, quickly replaced by violent exhilaration.
"Impressive willpower! But what can you possibly do?"
"What can I do?"
Ain lifted her head slowly, her voice cold as a New World winter.
"Obviously, I'll carry out justice and execute you here, you unforgivable piece of trash."
Before the last word fell, Ain vanished.
"Soru!"
She was faster than she had ever been, a streak of pink-violet lightning shooting straight toward Burgess without the slightest hesitation.
"Good! COME!"e
Burgess roared in excitement, tightening Armament Haki around his right arm as he threw a brutal straight punch powerful enough to rip the air apart.
But just before their fists collided, Ain dropped low, her body bending with ghostlike flexibility, slipping perfectly beneath his punch!
At the same moment, her right leg, coated with Armament Haki and infused with the power of the Return Fruit, swung upward like a war axe toward Burgess' unguarded jaw!
"Rankyaku, 'Retro Crimson'!"
The movements happened so fast that even the battle-hardened Burgess failed to react fully.
BOOM!!
Her kick crashed into his jaw, forcing his massive body to tilt backward, pain exploding across his skull.
Worse, a strange pink glow seeped through his jaw, causing the bone structure to regress twelve years in age!
"Not bad!"
Even in pain, Burgess only grew fiercer.
He stabilized himself and drove his left elbow at Ain like a battering ram.
"Kami-e!"
Ain's body seemed boneless, folding backward just enough to avoid the crushing strike.
Supporting herself on one hand, she extended her other hand, fingers sword-straight, condensed Haki sharpening at her fingertips.
"Shigan, Pierce!"
Swish!
Her finger shot like a drill toward the opening beneath Burgess' ribs!
"Hahahaha! Useless!"
Burgess roared, flooding the spot with overwhelming Armament Haki.
CLANG!
Her Shigan struck with the sound of metal on metal.
It pierced skin, but went no deeper.
"Get lost!!"
Burgess seized the opening and delivered a crushing knee strike to Ain's stomach.
Ain's pupils shrank.
She crossed her arms just in time-
"Tekkai!"
THUD!
The impact sent her flying like a rag doll, tumbling through the air until she managed to halt herself using Geppo midair.
Both arms numbed, her stomach twisted with pain, she had taken severe internal damage.
"Your martial arts are impressive," Burgess sneered, rolling his jaw.
"But before overwhelming power and Haki, technique is worthless!"
"Shockwave, Crash!"
He spread his arms, unleashing two invisible tidal waves of force that crushed the air itself, sealing every escape route as they lunged toward Ain.
Ain's eyes sharpened.
She didn't dodge.
She spread her palms, two pink-violet spheres forming instantly within them.
"Return, Twin Shot!"
She thrust the spheres forward with a fierce shout.
These were not mere energy blasts, they were condensed laws of her Return-Return Fruit.
The twin spheres collided with Burgess' shockwaves,
No explosion.
Only a bizarre sizzling sound, like twisting space.
Ain's Twin Shot greedily pulled at the shockwave's "age," trying to rewind it into nothingness, but Burgess' Haki was too overwhelming!
In less than three seconds, Ain's spheres collapsed under the force!
The remaining shockwave slammed into her-
"Urgh!!"
Ain vomited blood, her body falling like a broken butterfly into the ground, carving a deep crater.
"Ain-sama!"
"Ain!"
Monet and the surviving soldiers cried out in despair.
"Damn… damn it all!!"
Rehn smashed the ground with his fists, eyes bloodshot.
His heart overflowed with fury, helplessness, and guilt.
They were fighting for him, for this nation, yet all he could do was lie there like dead weight, watching them fall one by one.
He hated his own powerlessness.
He hated these butchers who treated life like weeds.
"Wehahaha! The game's over!"
Burgess lost interest entirely.
He flickered into the midst of the retreating marines and swept his massive arm.
"Shockwave, Crash!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Despair drowned every last beating heart.
"…Is this the end…"
Half-kneeling, Ain looked at the demon-like figure who seemed invincible.
Agony surged through her body.
A faint, bitter smile tugged at her bloodstained lips.
"Sorry… Renzo…"
"I failed you…"
As darkness crept over her consciousness, memories flashed before her eyes.
Her training at the Marine Academy.
Her first voyage under Zephyr.
Her proud declaration of "justice."
And then, the lazy, exasperating man she served as adjutant.
"Ahhh… what a pain… why did the Fleet Admiral send me to this dump…"
"Ain, read this file for me… too many words, my eyes hurt…"
"Ain, switch today's tea to orange flavor…"
"Ain, where are my sunglasses? Did you hide them again?"
At G-5, she felt less like an adjutant and more like his caretaker.
She handled piles of paperwork, endless problems, while he napped, drank tea, or wandered off to do more napping and tea drinking.
She had been frustrated countless times.
And yet, "…Not bad."
After she resolved a pirate riot flawlessly, he said this.
Casually.
Without opening his eyes on his beach chair.
But that one offhand compliment erased all her exhaustion.
She realized, he noticed everything.
He simply didn't bother saying it.
Under his protection, she could uphold justice freely and confidently.
It felt… safe.
Memory after memory flickered by, annoyance, helplessness, admiration, and something deeper she'd never recognized.
And then, that sunny afternoon.
That man tossed her a cool pendant.
"…Here. You work hard, so consider it a bonus."
"Don't underestimate it. Took me a lot of effort to make it 'less troublesome.'"
"If you ever encounter a top-tier 'problem,' activate it."
That lazy, sleepy voice thundered in her fading mind.
'The pendant.'
'Yes, the pendant!!'
A survival instinct jolted through her nearly broken body.
The glaze in Ain's eyes sharpened, just barely.
"Heh… still alive? Admirable… but pointless."
Burgess stood over the crater, raising a fist that promised death.
But he didn't see-
Within the shadows, Ain's shattered right hand, each movement agony,
slowly, trembling, reached toward her chest.
Her fingers brushed against something cold and familiar beneath her torn uniform.
Her last hope.
As Burgess' killing blow descended, Ain gripped it tightly.
With the last of her will, activated it.
A silent wave pulsed from the pendant, transcending distance and space.
There was no sound, no light, but to Ain, the pendant carved with an unknown flower glowed gently, faintly… softly.
Alive.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu