The Fight for the Treasure 4

Eri POV - Blue Star, Grand Line, Nanatsu Islands(Mi) - 20 GAP 

I look at the Skeleton Warriors with a smile on my face then pointing at the scared people living in this village, I command, "Protect these innocent people and..."

At this point, I move my arm and with my finger point at Niphtal and his men, and without any hesitation I continue, "... Kill them all!"

Receiving my orders, all the Skeleton Warriors instantly stand at attention with their cold blazing blue eyes briefly flashing as they all reply in perfect sync, ""Your wish is my command!""

Then with perfect coordination, they quickly divide into two groups, one surrounding the villagers living on this island to protect them, the other heading straight for Nipthal, his men, and the two robots.

At the same time, Nipthal, Eric, and his men finally regain their bearing, and seeing the current situation, Nipthal quickly commands, "Men attack those monsters! Kau Ra Kau! Zau Ra Zau! Destroy them all!! Eric! Remain stand by my side! Your job is to protect me!!"

Soon the two forces start to clash and instantly the fight tilts in my Skeleton Warriors' favor as they efficiently and ruthlessly take care of all of Nipthal's men thanks to their superior skills, each one of their attacks aims at a vital point or an opening, they show no fear or hesitation.

Seeing that, I can't help but smirk while thinking, 'That's natural, after all, different from those poor fools they don't have to fear death or destruction, as all the Undeads in my Undead Realm are extremely hard to kill, as each and every one of them has a piece of their soul bound and protected by an artifact that I created with a little bit of help from both Jayr and Tio, I call it the Crypt, and its function is to simply nurture, and protect the souls of all my Undeads, so that even if their bodies are destroyed while serving, or even their souls exorcised or damaged, they can always recover from it with just a little bit of time that depends mostly on just how much damage they suffered, bodily damage is the easiest and can be fixed almost instantaneously, while soul damage are more serious and take more time to recover. As long as the Crypt is safe, they will always be able to recover, they basically infinitely respawn.'

Then I watch as one of my Skeleton Warriors uses his shield to block the shovel used by one of Nipthal's men as a weapon and counter-attack with a quick and deadly slash of his sword that decapitates the men in one swift swing and soon after that, I see a small wisp of energy enter its body, and quickly after that, his flaming blue eyes flash briefly before it continues with its slaughter, only this time it moves slightly faster and hits with slightly more power compared to a few moments ago. 

Seeing this scene, the smile on my face grows bigger as I continue my train of thought, 'And the biggest advantage of my Undeads is that they are able to grow as each enemy they kill enhances their powers a little bit! Moreover, since they have a fully functional soul and free will, they are also able to learn new things and improve their skills just like any living being! These are truly my masterpiece a truly unliving sentient race dead in the body but not in the soul... I just need to improve a few little things, like finding a way for them to "reproduce" as some of my Undead did fall in love with one other and some of them even started to desire offspring... Luckily since they have all the time in the Omniverse, they are quite patient and that desire isn't strong yet, but I'd like to help them with it.'

At this point, my mind once again starts to wander about possible solutions for this problem, 'Right now, most of the Undead in my Undead Realm are of the Skeleton types or Ghostly type, and I'd like to keep it that way, as they are the cutest type of Undead. Both of these types of Undead, don't have any sexual desire so they do not need organs for it, but they do have a gender, at the least their soul does... Maybe I could come up with some kind of Soul/Magic Power Reproduction like a pair that desire to be parents can take a very small piece of their soul and mix it with an equally small piece of their partner, then the parents nurture the small soul with their Magic Power fusing them together until grows strong enough to form an ego and a "body" be it a ghostly body or one made of bones... It could work, but many things could go wrong so I better think it some more.'

While thinking that, I notice that most of Niphtal's men are now dead, all massacred by my Skeleton Warriors, and now only the two robots, Eric, and Nipthal remain standing.

The blue and yellow robot, Kau Ra Kau, uses its duel-sided lance and spear arms to fight off and keep the distance from the Skeleton Warriors while taking advantage of its strong defense to tank most of the attacks.

On the other hand, the yellow and red robot, Zau Ra Zau, fights very similarly, he also uses its sword and spear arms to fight off the Skeleton Warriors while tanking their attacks with its equally strong defense, but he also attacks with an flamethrower that comes out of its chest.

With their combined might, the two robots are able to damage my Skeleton Warriors, but with all of Niphtal's men dead, my Skeleton Warriors are to focus all their attacks on them and are able to pile up enough damage, and it is now only a question of time before they get scrapped.

It seems that Niphtal also notices this as he exclaims, "Shit! This is very bad! At this rate, both Kau Ra Kau and Zau Ra Zau will get overwhelmed!! What the hell are these monsters!? Why can't my robot destroy them!? This can't continue any longer! We have to find a way to get away from here as soon as possible!!"

Soon after saying that, Niphtal starts to furiously search his pockets for something and after a few seconds, Niphtal finally pulls out something that, from here, looks like a small remote and says, "I found it! Eric! Pick me up and run!"

Following his order, Eric doesn't hesitate and picks up Niphtal, who is holding both the gemstone and the remote, like a sack of potatoes and starts to run at full speed while Niphtal yells, "Take that, you bitch!" 

At the same time, just as Nipthal is about to press, the button on that remote, I instantly realize what his intentions are, and without any hesitation, I raise my staff to cast some Spatial Magic to create a strong barrier that envelopes the villagers protecting them in an isolated space.

As soon as I erect the barrier, Niphtal also presses the button on the remote, and as I expected, in response, both robots start to glow, and without giving away too much time, they release a blinding light and explode with such force that raze to the ground everything in the immediate surrounding in an area of around 500 m2, basically destroying most of the center of this village leaving behind only a big fuming crater.

Luckily, I'm still connected to Noriko, so I'm intangible and such an explosion that is composed of pure physical force is unable to harm me, and the same can be said for my Skeleton Warriors, that while their bodies were destroyed by the robots' explosion, they are still fine as they have already reformed their bodies in my Undead Realm and are ready to be summoned once more.

Of course, the villagers are also fine, if one ignores the fact that they are currently in shock after witnessing such an explosion so close, as my Spatial Barrier was easily able to withstand the force of such a weak explosion, after all, to break such barrier, it needs at the very least a power equal to Tio's Dragon Breath. 

Basically, the only damage caused by the explosion is at the building of the village, basically a material one, and that can be easily fixed by rebuilding everything, or if one is lazy, has the right Magic, and wants to quickly return to her lover like me, it needs just a quick cast of the spell Tetragrammaton, a Restoration magic variant, which restores all destruction regardless of whether it was organic or inorganic matter.

It is a spell that Meiru taught me not too long ago when she came to visit with Hajime and the others, 'Now that I think about it, Meiru was quite excited to learn about this world, she even said something about realizing the true potential of the Omniverse, and that she would force Oscar to build her an Artifact so that she can visit this place again and seize all the treasures hidden in it.'

Unfortunately, that Eric guy was quite fast on his feet even while carrying that short, stocky Niphtal on his shoulders, and so he was able to escape while taking advantage of the chaos caused by the explosion.

But at this point, I smirk and mutter, "Well, it isn't like he can escape for much longer..." and without any hesitation, I once again use my Spiral Cosmo to connect to my Undead Realm and summon some of my old Undead Puppet now upgraded to Undead Pet, the Skeleton Twin-tailed Wolf. 

I summon a pack of them and ask them to hunt down Eric and Niphtal using their smell, of course, I'm not talking about their bodily smell as these Skeleton Twin-tailed Wolves are obviously unable to sense that, but they can easily pick up other "smells" which are quite unique between different individual, I'm talking about the smell of their Magic Power/Energy Source and the smell of their Souls, and among my pets the wolves are the best in this field.

After that, while I wait for them to find him, I focus and cast the Restoration Magic, Tetragrammaton to fix the damages caused by the explosion and then I make sure that the villagers are truly fine.

Eric POV - Blue Star, Grand Line, Nanatsu Islands(Mi) - 20 GAP 

I continue to run from that scary woman and her immortal monsters while carrying around this useless dead weight sure of the fact that the explosion of those two pieces of scrap won't be able to harm her as I have seen how shovels, bullets, and rocks passed through her body without being able to harm her.

At the same time, I start to think about what to do now, 'Shit! This isn't going according to the plan at all! This should have been an easy job to gather some money and increase my reputation as a mercenary! But no matter how my time I tried to cut apart those monsters they always got up once more to fight again they were truly relentless! And now, I'm forced to escape with this deadweight... this Niphtal will only continue to get in my way like this, it is better to just quickly get rid of him and take the treasure for myself, it does look quite precious and that Warlord of the Sea does desire it, so it must be worth quite some Belly...'

After getting quite far away from that damned village, I put down Niphtal and get ready to get rid of him, but just as I'm about to act, I hear a male voice behind me that says, "What is going on here, Niphtal?"

I turn around and see a man floating up in the sky, he has black eyes and hair, which is covered by a small golden helmet, except for a black antennae, which stuck out partially on the front, a black goatee, and what appears to be black sideburns. 

He wears an elaborate, pure white suit with gold edges and a cape-like design, underneath the suit he wears a purple shirt, he also wears a monocle over his right eye, as well as a thick golden neck brace, and what appears to be a gold disk behind his head, polished, black shoes, and holds a gold-covered book in his hands, overall, he looks like quite the gentleman, but I know that it is only is outward appearance as he is one of the Seven Warlords of the Seas, the one behind the chaos that is enveloping the Nanatsu Islands, he is Simon "The Divine".

(Image Here - Simon "The Divine")

Seeing the man floating in front of us, Nipthal quickly exclaims, "Simon-sama!!" then he kneels in front of him offering the gemstone before he starts to explain, "Simon-sama, my men and I were able to force out the location of the Mitsukado Ruins from the people living in the Bakudo Village, after that I sent both my trustworthy Kau Ra Kau and Zau Ra Zau to recover the treasure from the Treasure Guardian while we waited as we watched over the people of Bakudo Village."

At this point, Niphtal gulps loudly remembering what happened afterward, making me internally scoff, 'It is clear that this fool is still scared shitless by what he just witnessed.' Meanwhile, Niphtal continues with his narration, "Of course, my creations were successful, following their orders to perfection and retrieving the treasure from the ruins, but just as they returned, and I was about to get rid of the witness, a strange woman came down from the sky and summoned some dreadful and scary monsters from her shadow... Those monsters are basically unkillable! No matter how much my men and robots tried to destroy them they always recovered after a few seconds and soon all my men got killed by them!" 

Niphtal shakes a little remembering those immortal monsters then he says, "Left with no other choice, I made Kau Ra Kau and Zau Ra Zau self-destruct and used the explosion as a cover to escape together with Eric, the Devil Fruit user mercenary that I encountered and hired on this island, from that dreadful woman who I'm sure is now chasing after us! I beg you Simon-sama save us from those monsters!!"

After that, a strange silence falls, but it lasts only a couple of seconds before Simon snorts loudly and comments, "How pathetic! One of my men was forced to such a pathetic state by one simple imperfect being that ate one of those Devil Fruits! How dare you claim yourself to be my subordinate if you can't even handle something as simple as a Devil Fruit user!" 

The more he speaks the more enraged Simon seems to become, at the same time, Niphtal's body starts to shake more and more as he continues to say "I, who is someone who far exceeded humanity. I, who was born with my invincible special ability, am way different from any of you inferior being who has to rely upon all kinds of outside tools to even get close to my greatness! I won't allow such a pathetic being to serve me any longer!"

At this point, Simon raised his right hand and from it, he launched a sheet of paper as a projectile which quickly flew toward the helpless Niphtal and easily cut his throat making it bleed profusely, soon Niphtal let the gemstone fall on the ground as he holds his throat with both his hands in the futile attempt of blocking the blood flows as he looks at his leader and killer in shock and disbelief, then he lets out some painful groans and fall on the ground as the poor guy drows in his own blood.

After killing his subordinate in cold blood, Simon looks at me and calmly says, "Now... what to do with you? If I remember well, Niphtal said that you are one of those Devil Fruit users, right? Good... Your sacrifice will help me in becoming the King of this World!"

Sensing the incoming crisis, I don't hesitate at all and use my Devil Fruit's power to attack the man in front of me, I quickly swing my right hand and yell, "Kama Kama no Kamaitachi!" and release a single small air blade that nonetheless is still powerful enough to easily slice through rock, which I'm pretty sure is fast and strong enough to kill this bastard.

This is the power of the Devil Fruit I ate, the Kama Kama no Mi (Sickle Sickle Fruit) a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that lengthens and sharpens the user's nails, which are capable of creating razor-sharp gusts capable of cleaving through even hard materials like rock even the nails themselves can also be used to slice opponents in close-quarters combat, which I think is a quite good power.

Indeed, as I expected, Simon doesn't react at all to my air blade and stands still in place, but just as the air blade touches his body, I'm shocked to find out that his whole body transforms into sheets of paper making my air blade pass right through it and the next instant the sheets of paper regroup together forming once again the figure of an unscratched Simon, who simply smiles and says, "It is useless. I already told you, I far exceeded humanity you imperfect beings that rely on the power of the Devil Fruits can't hope to harm me."

Seeing that, I immediately notice how similar Simon's and that woman's abilities are, both can't be harmed by normal means, I realize that but I still don't give up yet, and without any hesitation, I release my ultimate technique, "Those thin piece of paper won't be able to protect you against this! Kama Kama no Kamaitachi Midareuchi!" 

I slash many times with both hands, releasing multiple air blades toward the enemy before unleashing a powerful whirlwind of razor air that can effortlessly slice through solid rock.

This is a stronger version of the Kama Kama no Kamaitachi, and even if this technique still isn't able to harm him, it should be at the very least able to buy me enough time to allow me to escape or at the very least, lead him toward that woman hoping that those two monster destroy each other.

But all my plans become useless as I see Simon smirk as he comments, "How pitiful... this is a laughable attempt at best..." then he raises his hand and generates countless sheets of paper that quickly form a circular wall in front of him as he calmly declares, "Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation)."

I quickly notice that a strange symbol is drawn on all the sheets of paper that form that circular wall and that symbol is currently shining brightly.

At the same time, my powerful whirlwind of razor air finally arrives but as soon as it clashes against the circular wall, I see my attack being blown away and dispersing as if it clashed against an impenetrable steel wall.

I'm so shocked by such sight, that I'm too late to react to Simon's next move.

The circular wall of paper sheets splits up showing Simon with a calm and confident smile on his face as he points at me with his right hand and declares, "It is time to end this, I'm too busy to waste any more time with an imperfect being like you... Sefer Assiah (Book of Action)!"

From his hand another sheet of paper shoots off, this one has a different symbol drawn on it, the sheet of paper quickly sails through the air and reaches me but it doesn't cut me, not it sticks to my body and soon after that, the symbol draw on it shines and suddenly I fall on the ground as I lose control of my own body, I'm unable to move even a single muscle, I'm totally paralyzed, unable to do anything, at the full mercy of Simon.

I hear his footsteps as he moves closer to me and says, "Don't worry, your sacrifice will allow me to rise to my rightful place as the King of this world. After all, only when a perfect being like me is the ruler of everyone will this world truly know peace, after all, the world is a place where the strong eat the weak and grow even stronger, while kings and the government would not protect the weak. The reason for this is quite simple, it is because humans always try to control other humans, but only I am different. I don't seek control, I don't need it. I'm already perfect and way above everyone else, and so they all will simply be in peace, free, equal... all equally beneath me!"

As he continues to ramble this nonsense, I feel countless sheets of paper sticking to my body enveloping it completely in a cocoon of paper, now even unable to see everything, I only hear Simon as he says, "With this, I have more than half the treasure needed to reveal the location of the true treasure... Just 2 more gemstones and I'll finally be able to gain enough power to fulfill my ambition. Fuhahaha!"

Jayr POV - Blue Star, Grand Line, Nanatsu Islands(Hi) - 20 GAP 

The Athena's God Bidoof finally reached Hi Island, an island located in the south-west, it is one of the smaller islands in the Nanatsu Islands archipelago.

I can't help but notice that the weather on this island is also very irregular, the climate is very arid with very high temperatures, it is basically comparable to the climate of a desert, something completely unnatural for this island, as it is a very green island full of bright green vegetation which is obviously suffering under the current harsh climate. 

Seeing all that, I can't help but connect the unusual climate changes that these islands are going through with the actions of this guy named Simon "The Divine" and his pirate crew, 'Whatever those guys are doing, it is clear that they are the reason behind all this... or more specifically the opening of the ruins that contain those treasure they are searching for are probably the main reason behind these changes. Just what kind of treasure is this Simon aiming for? An incredibly powerful Devil Fruit... not possible, he already has a Logia Devil Fruit and it is unlikely that he would follow Blackbeard's footsteps, especially since it isn't clear how exactly he was able to eat two of them... Then maybe some ancient weapon like Pluton, Poseidon or Uranus. Yup, this feels more likely but just what kind of weapon could it be? After all, Poseidon is, in fact, just a mermaid capable of speaking with Sea Kings... I admit I'm kinda curious.' 

Another thing that I instantily notice is that this island is a lot more chaotic than the previous ones, as even from here the clear signs of a chaotic battle can be easily seen, thing like explosions, black smoke rising and even the sound of battle can be heard.

All of a sudden, Nikita's anxious voice snaps me out of my thoughts as she says, "We are finally close enough! Jayr, Seika, I'm going now! Thank you for everything you have done for me until now!"

Hearing that, both Seika and I smile back at her, and Seika even encourage her while saying, "Go and get him!" while I add, "But don't forget about stopping the rampaging pirates and helping the people on this island. You can always make out with your boyfriend after you have taken care of that."

After that, Nikita doesn't hesitate and cast her spell, "Viribus." which makes her body glow in a white light for a few seconds, then, quickly after the glow is gone, Nikita rushes out and with a single jump she reaches the shores of Hi Island, then she cast another spell that turns her invisible and starts to move toward the chaos.

At the same time, I look at Seika and say, "Head over to Fu Island with Athena's God Bidoof first, meanwhile, I want to make sure of something that has been bothering me for quite some time, then I'll come back to report and send you off."

Hearing that, Seika instantily understand what I want to do, nods and with a smile she says, "Go and check Nikita's situation. She is already part of our family as Galen and Kharna think of her as their aunt, I don't wish for some scum to play with her heart and hurt her." I smile back at her and then quickly fly after Nikita to make sure that at the very least this Champion is a good person.