C46 : Traces of World War

• [Above the Sea Clouds] {Year : 21.7} •

"I'm just a pirate." Ryu laughed at the face the Havoc Bringer made at his answer.

It was that of suspicion and annoyance. "A mere pirate? You, possibly one of the strongest humans I have heard of, are a pirate?"

"What of it?"

"You could be an emperor of a large empire with such power. Why do you choose to be a pirate?"

Ryu squinted his eyes. "That's too much job for me. There's too much responsibilities being an ruler, so even though I am indeed in possession of a large country, I don't actually do anything much."

"...So you are still a ruler after all? Care to tell me which country it is called now?" The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer frowned. For a man like Ryu to be a ruler of a country, he definitely had to tell the others of this to watch out for his strength.

"Nah." Ryu grinned at the Havoc Bringer. "Why would I do that?"

"So we will not attack your land..."

"...You'll eventually attempt to take it over." Ryu rolled his eyes as he interrupted. It was obvious that the Havoc Bringer had grudge against him because of his disdain towards Human race.

The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer snorted. "But of course. With your strength, it is possible for your empire to be highly capable among humans."

There were already several weaker Havoc Bringer rapidly approaching their location. Although it was known in far past that Havoc Bringers usually went on their own ways, it was different in this time. They were going to start a great world war among differing races. Due to this, the Havoc Bringers understood that they would probably go against far stronger races than theirs.

Now, there were groups of Havoc Bringers moving while ordering around lower races. The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer glanced at his group. "Do not bother to try killing him. His power is beyond ours."

There were disbelieving looks directed at their group leader. After all, Ryu was a mere human to them.

"Boss, are you sure he's strong?" One of them asked, glaring at the human in front of them. "He doesn't seem much."

"...Go and try, then. You are on your own if you do though." The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer snorted coldly. To be honest, he didn't really care if they died because of their mistakes.

That same Havoc Bringer smirked and moved ahead of them to the human. He then brought one of his hands up and directed them towards at the human.

Ryu looked at him. He just looked at him but the arrogant Havoc Bringer suddenly felt as if his body was poked all over to the death with sharp swords.

The Havoc Bringer felt his view was strange. He saw his own body, the shocked looks of other Havoc Bringers behind him... and the clean cut on his neck. He wanted to open his mouth in confusion but couldn't as life left him.

"..." The Havoc Bringers was speechless, including the blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer. This human wasn't simply a mere human at all! He was a monster!

When they saw Ryu's cold green eyes move to them, they felt their hearts skip several beats while holding their breaths. Fortunately, they seemed to still be alive. They looked at each others and took a step back, unwilling to do anything to offend this monster. The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer simply stayed at same spot. He felt his earlier words were ridiculous, now that he saw how Ryu easily killed one of their fellow Havoc Bringers with a look.

Ryu just continued to look at them. "So? What are you going to do next?"

"Leave, of course." The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer said. He turned and looked at his group with certain message in his eyes, urgency in them.

They all nodded in response before they left together...

"Hey." Ryu wasn't about to let them go that easily. They froze. "Who said you could leave?"

"...Are you going to kill us?" One of them stupidly asked in response. He had an smaller build than the other Havoc Bringers in the group.

"Maybe. After all, you're an enemy to my race... are you not?" Ryu looked at each of them, all of them were Havoc Bringers whom could easily wreck destruction upon any islands if they so desired to.

They couldn't refute Ryu's statement. They were indeed interested in destroying humankind due to their past history of birthing several immensely strong humans that were comparable to other stronger races than theirs. Why wouldn't they destroy the human race before they could give birth to an another world-changing human?

Unfortunately, it seemed that there was already an extremely strong human... and he was right in front of them. Ryu then changed his demeanor to a colder one as he showed disdain in his green eyes directed at them. "Since we're going to be in a war as whole, I won't hesitate to eradicate your entire race..."

The Havoc Bringers immediately took a fighting stance as they each called for their respective elements. The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer barked out orders in a serious manner, while his body slowly crackled with cyan-colored lightning.

All of those things were seen as pathetic attempt to eliminate the threat to their race by Ryu. He waved his hand disdainfully, imbued with Sword Aura that had been always on passive until now. Several sharp sounds exploded in the Havoc Bringers' hearings.

*SCCCHHH~* x8

"Ugh!" Few of them couldn't take it, due to their heightened hearing sense and/or their element being especially based on it as scouts.

The lightning-marked Havoc Bringer didn't hesitate to attack at that moment. His body now clad in completely lightning as an armor, he charged forth towards Ryu. He summoned a large dark blue lightning from his back and waved his arm as it slowly turned into a shape of menacing lion. Briefly, it appeared and then disappeared, having turned into a bolt of lightning towards the human.

Ryu simply glanced at it. The large dark blue bolt of lightning abruptly dissipated midway. His Sword Aura took action and had pierced the offensive attack into smithereens of sparks.

"Tsk!" The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer clicked his tongue. He glanced at his group and saw that they prepared their respective large offense attacks, uncaring of the risk of backlashes. "Very well, I shall do the same then."

Then he took a deep breath and bulged his muscles with veins popping up. His originally bright blue eyes were now completely dark blue and had sparks of lightning flashing through it.

*rumble*

A dark cloud appeared over them.

*crackle*

Lightnings manifested in the dark cloud, appearing menacing. It flashed around often while growing its size and power.

*clank*

Several invisible swords hovered around Ryu as he turned his head at the dark cloud. He slowly smirked. He rose one of his hands and pointed his index finger.

"FOR THE SAKE OF OUR RACE'S FUTURE!"

"UOOOOHH!!!" All of the Havoc Bringers roared along with their group's leader as they fired off their attacks upon the human.

Ryu inwardly thought that they were overdoing it for their death, so he showed a bit of mercy and gave them a suitable death. "I shall allow you all to strike me, however, after that, I will give you a quick death."

They were enraged but nevertheless continued. Some close-combat Havoc Bringers already approached Ryu and rapidly attacked his body. His clothes fluttered, already having lost its shape and became ragged. The Havoc Bringers who either summoned a beast-like apparitions or some sort of long-distance attacks, commanded them to strike him down.

Ryu's body cultivation was already at its peak in this world, so it went without saying that he was unaffected by those attacks. Only his clothes suffered from their relentless attacks. He merely chuckled after they realized it — they could not even harm a single bit of this human's body. After laughing, he sharply changed and moved his pointed finger downwards to them.

The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer roared. The dark cloud condensed of menacing lightnings moved and combined together into a single entity. It slowly took shape of a ancient race long thought myth and/or extinct by humans... a large titan. It overshadowed the sea as it stood in it. The cloudy sea were at the mere height of its chest. Ryu was slightly stunned when he saw the titan. It was completely clad in dark blue color with lightning clashing out of it before trickling into the large titan. It had an larger humanoid shape but it didn't have a face and simply was completely devoid of any facials.

The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer however, did not stop and continued to attack the human with other moves. Sparks of lightning balls manifested and shot directly at Ryu's body.

This snapped him out of it and he immediately moved to strike down the other Havoc Bringers, instantly cleaving their necks. They barely had any reaction to their failure, only despair for their race as they watched the remaining Havoc Bringer in the location. They understood that this human was simply too defying and could easily wipe out their race if he so desired to.

"A titan, huh?" Ryu was curious to this titan. He already understood that it was far weaker because it wasn't a real titan, only a mere manifestation of a weak Havoc Bringer. "Is this how a titan would look if they continued to exist?"

The blue-scaled and lightning-marked Havoc Bringer gritted his teeth. This monster acted as if his moves were nothing while casually looking at his manifestation.

The lightning titan that overshadowed the cloudy sea and water sea easily, suddenly moved. It slowly raised its arms and clasped its hands into a single fist before swinging towards the small human compared to its far larger body.

Ryu didn't bother with it any further as he looked at the remaining Havoc Bringer in location. He thinly smiled. "You're weak."

With no interest in blocking the large titan, a single invisible sword shot forward and swiftly cut through the remaining Havoc Bringer. In his death, his last sight was an extremely large and dark blue-colored 'meteor'-like crashing against Ryu's body.

*BOOOM*

…

Elsewhere...

"Damn it! It's already started." A completely black-clad in armor Havoc Bringer cursed when he noticed the large titan from afar. Everyone on the same side of world could easily see it from a very long distance. It was overwhelmingly large and they would even mistake it for something piercing the world. However the black-clad Havoc Bringer knew what it was and what it signified. There was someone who killed a group of Havoc Bringers. He assumed that they were unlucky and encountered a stronger race than theirs.

"Should we go?" Another Havoc Bringer clad in dark blood red outfit casually asked, not really caring. He was practically forced into helping out other Havoc Bringers when he usually went alone and did not care for anything else but his own interests, so he didn't really care if he was the sole remaining Havoc Bringer in the whole world.

"You... No, we shall leave and report this to the general." The black-clad Havoc Bringer was annoyed with this fellow Havoc Bringer. Both of them were at odds due to their different goals, but were forced into the same group because of the general whom was far stronger than both of them combined. "The general will not like this, so don't cause more trouble if not already."

"Hah, whatever." The dark blood red Havoc Bringer scoffed as both of them left to gather the rest of group.

At a Marine Base on the same side of the world...

"Commander! There's something large outside!" A Marine Officer panicked as he barged into the office of current commanding officer.

Normally he would have been annoyed and scolded the officer to humiliation, but this time, the Marine Commander simply stood speechless at the porch of his office. He looked at the extremely large shape at far distance. "I know, I'm already looking at it..."

"D-do you know what's that, commander?" The Marine Officer hesitatingly asked, no one in the base knew what it was or what was going on.

"I don't know." The Marine Commander responded, in a daze. However he snapped out of his daze when he saw the large shape suddenly move and appeared to have arms with its hands into a single fist, swinging downwards.

The Marine Officer also saw this. "Holy sh*t! Is that a monster?!"

*BOOM*

It seemed that the fist that had been moving downwards suddenly exploded in middle of the sky, like a balloon popping. After that the large dark shadow slowly faded and disappeared. It was as if it appeared to show the world something, only that they didn't understand what.

…

Ryu casually shook his upper body, his shirt having been completely destroyed. When he thought about it, it seemed that the lightning titan was only used to tell other Havoc Bringers on the side of world about him. But it wasn't only Havoc Bringers on the side, there were other races that were stronger than them. He sighed, life was going to get more dangerous for humanity. Perhaps he should have asked Rin to stay in Wano Country for a bit longer... "No. It is better if she is with me."

He shook his head and immediately disappeared.

*woosh*

"Eek!" When Ryu appeared right in front of Kumiko, she screamed out of shock. Kumiko became embarrassed after that. "Wel-welcome back."

Rin had turned around when she heard her childhood friend scream in fright, but when she saw Ryu, she laughed and quickly clung onto Ryu's body. "You're back already! I was worried."

"You were?" Ryu smiled when Rin came crushing into his chest. He then pretentiously said. "It was unneeded, after all, who are you talking to?"

"My darling." Rin laughed again. "I was worried because apparently something big appeared in the sky, and the timing... isn't it related to you?"

Kumiko also curiously looked at him. She was already by Rin's side while the young miss hugged his broad chest. "Your clothes are also evidences of a fight. It doesn't seem something that harmed you at all, though."

"Oh, I only noticed now..." Rin blushed when she realized she had been too close with his naked top. She was worried however. "Are you alright? It's just clothes that were damaged?"

"Yup." Ryu didn't mind her worries and smiled. "What? Worried that I'll attract more beauties by showing off my body?"

"Hey!" Rin angrily smacked his chest, her hand slightly stinging due to his body being too solid. "Ouch! I can't even hurt you if you're teasing me too!"

She pouted at the unfairness. Back in Wano Country, there were a lot of married men who were henpecked by their wife, so she thought that their relationship would become like that but it didn't appear to be. Kumiko looked at Rin with suggestive eyes, laughing. Rin caught it and was embarrassed because she knew what Kumiko was thinking.

Ryu looked around to check what they were doing. "Oh, you're getting a small ship?"

"Yup, it should be enough for us. It wouldn't make sense to buy a large ship when we're just three people." Rin nodded and unlatched herself before continuing. "By the way, what happened when you left?"

"...Just found some people who tried genocide." Ryu casually responded, surprising the two young women. They already understood that a war was coming soon, but they didn't expect for it to begin already.

Kumiko hesitantly asked. "Should we have stayed in Wano Country? That would reduce your burdens, right?"

"No, it's alright. Besides, it's better if you're with me. I get to see two beauties everyday and I can always protect both of you when it's needed." Ryu smiled at their concerns. He felt being far away from them was far more stressful because he would always worry about the other races attacking Wano Country. Although this could be viewed as if he did not care about Wano Country aside from Rin and her friend, he simply viewed Rin and her concerns with higher importance.

Both of them smiled. They went on their way to obtain a small ship and then go around in the sea they currently were in...

"He didn't even give me a glance."

"Same here."

"Obviously, he wouldn't give you an eye because you're a p*ss-colored kitten."

"You're a f*cking wild mutt too! Teh! I'm going."

"Yeah."

• [Few months later...] {Year : 21.10} •

"Damnable pirate!" One of the Five Elders screamed in anguish. His bald head with birthmarks shined with sweats all over. He looked as if that pirate killed his whole family and eliminated any possibilities of creating a new family. "Why can't he just stop causing troubles?!"

"Is it not a pirate's job to cause trouble?" The blond and youngest Elder laughingly mocked.

"Shut up, you insolent blonde! If it had happened to you, you would be in similar situation!"

"But it didn't. Haha!" The blond and youngest Elder out of Five Elders continued to mock his demise. A certain pirate apparently went through his treasury and stole what was the most important out of others, one of Twenty Kingdoms' Ancient Essences.

Each of the Five Elders obtained them from IM to safe guard them from others, but most of Ancient Essences were lost or stolen so the Five Elders were left with one per one. It was unknown whether IM still had some or not, so the Five Elders treated them as if it was above anything else including their lives. The bald Elder with birthmarks on his head, lost the Ancient Essence he was given to safeguard, so it was understandable he looked to be in anguish.

The blond and youngest Elder continued to mock him, but inwardly he feared that he might be the next to be stolen from. It was only with the knowledge where he hid the Ancient Essence he was given that calmed him down.

They stiffened when a sudden pressure swept through them. A ghastly voice murmured. "So he has begun to collect them..."

They didn't dare to speak at all.

"...Begin the operation to search the world..." The ghastly voice ordered. "The world has changed and we must know what else changed to adjust ourselves to it..."

"Y-yes, IM." The Elders bowed in respect and obedience. The pressure slowly dissipated as if IM actually came here in person and begun to exit.

The world did change. With the tremors sent throughout the world from back then, it turned larger, far larger that the Blue Seas and Grand Line didn't reach each other. Not only that, more islands appeared and their residents were dangerous. Only those who traveled around the Blue Seas knew that the world grew larger somehow, and those who were informed by their trusty aides.