Chapter 46 - Humans and Monsters

When the heavy and intangible aura pressed down on the creatures, they wailed angrily, but it only slowed them down a little bit. That was enough for Zoro. That small amount of leeway gave him some room to maneuver. His blades sliced through their slimy hides one by one.

Not far away, Luffy fired off his gatling gun punches at the horde. The creatures smashed apart under the barrage, but left behind numerous cuts on Luffy's limbs in retaliation.

Sanji enjoyed a particularly rough time. His kicks obliterated several void beasts, but his accumulated injuries slowed him down. Sweat and blood dripped from his body, and his suit was in tatters.

Behind Zoro, Jin dashed forward. In the eyes of others, his body looked like a blur. In fact, he looked partially translucent. Void creatures, sliced in pieces, collapsed to the ground in his path, yet most others could not see what he used to cut them. From off in the distance, Tashigi briefly got a chance to observe him, but she didn't fully understand his current state. All she could perceive was a hazy aura and a mostly translucent katana-like blade in his hands.

"Has he reached the realm of Swordmaster?" She wondered aloud, unable to help herself from admiring the smooth yet fierce flow between each of his strikes. It was like watching a dance of death in which every movement reaped a life. It was not a form of swordsmanship she thought a pirate would learn. Even Zoro's swordsmanship surprised her when she saw it.

"Sergeant Major Tashigi!" A Marine exclaimed from nearby.

Prompted by the warning, Tashigi parried the sharp tendril stabbing at her chest. The effort required to do so made her realize that the average low-ranked Marine would not be capable of withstanding one of these beasts on equal footing in close combat. Thus, she and Smoker took up the vanguard alongside some of the higher ranking Marines while the rest provided cover fire.

Bullets tore through the abominations, but the rain prevented the Marines from firing often. Only those perched under roofs provided continuous cover fire. Tendrils shredded the clothes and pierced the skin of many combatants. It turned into a desperate and bloody brawl.

Amidst all this, Jin focused on cutting down beasts one after the other, but they numbered in the thousands. More charged out from the Reality Crack above them.

'Need to close this first,' Jin noted.

Zanpakuto in hand, he cast a circular barrier with sharp barrier blades attached to the outer ring using Barrier Make. The barrier whirled around him, cutting down many of the beasts crowding around him. The concept only added an extra component of velocity compared to his barrier board and increased the drain on his energy reserves by a small margin. Any beasts that jumped past the barrier fell in pieces under quick and powerful sword strikes that connected like flowing water.

Amidst the combat, Jin yelled at Zoro, "I'm going to close that rift!"

"Got it! I'll cover you!" Zoro called back in a muffled voice due to the sword held between his teeth.

"Oh! Me too!" Luffy exclaimed, a wide smile on his face.

"One of you is more than enough. Sanji's having a hard time," Jin retorted while slicing through another Void Beast that avoided the spinning barrier.

"Ah! Right! Sanji, are you okay?" Luffy yelled while flinging himself through the horde of beasts again. Ignoring the blood dripping from his limbs, his fists bombarded everything in his path.

"Do I look like I'm fine?!" Sanji roared in retort while blasting apart the head of a rhino-like Void Beast with a spinning kick.

With that taken care of, Jin and Zoro forced their way through the horde. They cut down everything in their path. Jin's Reiatsu pulled a heavy load in slowing down encroaching beasts. Void Beast corpses fell by the dozens and dissolved into the mud.

Eventually, they arrived below the rift. Jin expanded his spinning barrier, and Zoro hopped into the center with him after a single gesture.

While Zoro fended off anything that passed the barrier, Jin sheathed his Zanpakuto and channeled a large amount of the remaining energy in his Power Veins toward his shoulders. Four large shadowy arms billowed out from his back. Since he already knew what to do thanks to the first tutorial mission, no external guidance interfered. Jin cast a wide barrier stairway leading up to the rift and sprinted up. Zoro followed after briefly observing the arms the other Chat Group members had mentioned previously.

During their ascent, the large red eyes lowered their gaze and focused solely on Jin. A shiver ran down his spine, but he did not stop or falter. More beasts charged out and ran down the barrier steps toward him. His spinning barrier and Zoro's swords quickly dispatched the enemies since only a few could fit on the stairs.

Over where the Marines were fighting, Tashigi and Smoker looked at Jin's arms with serious gazes. Although Tashigi did not know what kind of ability it was, the arms made her feel like a small fish swimming in the wide seas of East Blue. On the other hand, Smoker shoved down any sense of reverence forcing its way into his heart and wondered if it was a form of Haki he had not heard about before.

Before long, Jin arrived before the rift. All sorts of beasts flung themselves from the portal at him as though disregarding their own lives for a single chance to bite or stab him. Many missed and tumbled to the ground below, though they quickly got up and charged into battle again.

The barrier and Zoro's Santoryu style fended off many attacks, but several pierced their defenses. Multiple sharp tendrils pierced their bodies before Jin could cast more defensive barriers.

Taking an offensive approach, he gave up defense and grabbed at the space around the Reality Crack with his metaphysical arms. Gritting his teeth and ignoring the wounds on his body, he pulled with all his might. Slowly, the rift closed. The red eyes stared at him the whole time, unblinking and unmoving. No emotion could be perceived within.

Eventually, the rift closed. A burst of kinetic force exploded from the closed Reality Crack. Unable to resist the force that even split the clouds in the sky for a few seconds, Jin and Zoro flew backward. Jin barely caught the ground with one of his shadowy arms to stabilize himself. Zoro tumbled a bit farther through the mud before rolling onto his feet. They barely got a chance to breathe before the remaining horde of beasts in the vicinity charged at them.

Others on the battlefield also lost their balance. Even the Void Beasts could not avoid stumbling. However, the battle continued. Nobody had time to consider the otherworldly phenomenon beyond fighting for their lives.

Eventually, Luffy and Sanji finished off the last of the beasts around the Going Merry. Sanji collapsed in the mud. Usopp bent over, heaving out of exhaustion. He had far fewer wounds than Sanji, but blood stained his wet garments nonetheless. Even with Sanji's protection, Nami did not escape without several scratches. Her daggers dripped with a black substance that slowly evaporated in the rain.

Luffy, on the other hand, ignored his wounds and charged back into the fray with Zoro and Jin. The three pummeled and cut down beasts in a heightened fervor of adrenaline. Eventually, they arrived near the Marines and joined the fray there as well. The Marines, despite their enmity with pirates, couldn't help feeling thankful for the assistance from powerful combatants, especially after the three prevented more injuries and casualties.

The storm continued to rage. Combatants fought with all their might. Friend or foe from hours before did not matter. They simply fought as humans against monsters.

When the final Void Beast fell and disintegrated in the mud, Jin looked around. His breathing was labored and unsteady. He solemnly took in the results of the battle. The Marines, although tired, gathered their fallen comrades. The injured were carried off for treatment. Large cloths were laid out over those who would no longer fight alongside them again. The number of deaths was less than twenty, which surprised Jin. Even so, a solemn atmosphere pervaded the area, bringing about a heavy silence aside from the pouring rain crashing against the buildings of Loguetown.

Lifting his gaze to the tumultuous thunderclouds, Jin let the rain pour down upon him in silence.