2 Chapter 2: The Fall of Arlong Park
"Mmm." I toss and turn in bed for a while before deciding to wake up.
Remembering the events of last night I look around only to find no one in sight.
It shouldn't surprise me, but it still does.
I try to give her the benefit of the doubt, just from looking at the sun I can tell I overslept quite a bit, maybe she got impatient and is waiting for me somewhere?
It sounds absurd even to my own ears.
"Oh well." I gave her a choice, if only to alleviate her fears, if she won't take it then, what can I do?
I'll just take care of Arlong without her knowledge, she agreed to our deal, she has no one to blame but herself.
I make myself a quick but large breakfast just to make sure I'm at a hundred percent.
I do find it a bit odd that my mother isn't there, but I just assume she's at a friend's house or something, I did sleep in after all.
I finish my food and prepare myself, there's no reason for me to put my revenge off any longer, I'll deal with the consequences, if any after I kill that walking seafood.
I kick my front door open, probably breaking another lock, I just can't help myself.
Bolting out of my house, I can't help but feeling ecstatic, the moment I've fantasized for so long is finally here.
I unknowingly develop a wide grin as I race down the small hill my house is located on.
In no time at all I approached the center of the village.
In the distance I could see what looked to be the entire village populace rounded up, and screaming in unison.
'What's with all the commotion?' I think to myself, starting to develop a sinking feeling in my gut.
This seems familiar somehow.
'Are they hyping themselves up? Oh, hey! There's my mom.' She's not the only one, I can see Genzo, Nojiko and even Nami in the distance.
By the time I reach them however, they all suddenly let out one final roar before bulldozing away, leaving only Nami, who collapses on the floor.
"Oh shit!" Now I know why this seems so familiar, this is a scene straight out of the anime!
'But why is this happening, is it because of me?'
'Well no shit it's because of me. But how?'
'I refuse to believe in some bullshit like destiny or fate, it has to be one of my actions that sped this up.' I'm a firm believer that in no universe Arlong keeps his end of the bargain, in other words he would confiscate Nami's money in any timeline.
Him doing it earlier isn't that weird, what's weird is the fact that he should have no way of finding out how much money Nami has.
I finally get to Nami and cease my thoughts. She should be able to explain any questions I may have.
"Nami!" I called out.
She whips her head back evidently startled, she relaxes when she sees that it's only me.
She even seems to gain a hopeful look before it's mercilessly crushed back into a broken expression.
She glances at my sword tied directly to my hip before looking directly at me, well, as directly as she can through her tears.
"Colt… it's my fault, everyone is going to die," she pauses to let out a choked sob before continuing, "It's all my fault."
I kneel down to be at her level, "How is this your fault?" I ask seriously.
She takes a second to regain her bearings before she answers, "A-After last night I was still worried you would try to fight Arlong, I ended up remembering I had a meeting with Arlong I forgot to mention, but because of my worry and stupidity," she spits out the last word venomously, "During the meeting I ended up letting it slip that I almost had the 100 million, I told him he better keep his end of the deal, he look startled before smiling and agreeing."
"It was still early so I went back home before going back to your place, while me and Nojiko were chatting some Marines came and confiscated my money on Arlong's orders." She pauses to cry some more, before she finishes, "Genzo got shot and Nojiko almost was too, I just got back from confronting Arlong and now the whole village is gonna die…"
Throughout the entire ordeal I was silent just letting her vent, I finally spoke up however.
"So it's my fault then." Nami looks up at my words.
"If I never told you about confronting Arlong, you wouldn't have let it slip and none of this would have happened." I explain.
For a second Nami looks like she's about to agree with me, desperate to shift the blame on to someone else, she glares at me through her tears before she completely deflates again, "No, it doesn't matter anyways."
"You were right, Arlong was never going to let the village go, not as long as he could use it to leverage me."
"I was the one stupid enough to trust him for 9 years, I was the one stupid enough to tell him the amount of money I had." She mutters self-deprecatingly.
As much as I want to keep comforting her, I'm working on a definite time frame, as Nami just said he wouldn't give up the village so long as it holds leverage over Nami.
But I wouldn't put it past him to kill a few as an example. I didn't want to just leave Nami here alone on this dirty street, but I couldn't waste time or I'd run the risk of losing someone.
Especially considering my mother is part of that mob, which is another thing, I'll definitely be having words with my mother after all this. It's one thing to suicide charge when there is no other option, but she couldn't even give me a heads-up? Maybe ask me if I wanna join, very insensitive.
So as to not choose between Nami and the villagers' safety, I choose the in between option.
I pull Nami to her feet and pick her up in a princess carry, before running off.
"Ah!" She obviously yelps startled.
"What are you doing!?" She demands the suddenness of my actions, even stopping her tears.
"Taking you to Arlong Park obviously, that way you can see me kill Arlong." I say confidently, more confidently than I feel.
My initial plan had been to kill Kuroobi and Hatchman first, then kill Chew, Arlong and the rest of the fodder together.
It seems like I'll be fighting all the officers plus Arlong at once, I still think I win, but it is no longer as clear cut.
Regardless, at my words Nami seems to gain a bit of hope but I can see she doesn't want to believe it.
Or perhaps a better way to phrase it, is that she can't believe it.
It's alright though, I'll make her believe.
-0-
[3rd Person POV]
"OPEN THE GATES!"
"Come out Arlong!"
"Yeah! Come out and face us!
Dozens of villagers were standing at the entrance of Arlong Park.
For all the commotion and all the hype they've generated truthfully no one is strong enough to bust through the gates
So they're left banging on the doors, trying to find objects to use as rams, etc. They're falling spectacularly and for some reason, Arlong and his crew have just ignored the banging and the obvious revolt.
Until now.
"Keep it down will ya! Most of us are still hungover from last night!" Came from beyond the gate, the voice belonging to Pisaro, a member of the Arlong pirates, by all means he barely qualifies as fodder.
"Open the gates!" Demands Genzo, standing at the very front leading the charge.
He gets no reply however, it seems like one of the Fishmen just came to quiet down the ruckus and left.
The villagers weren't just going to give up however, at Genzo's suggestion the villagers decided to scale the surprisingly tall walls surrounding the gates.
This unfortunately has some of the men abandon their weapons to climb, but deep down they know it wouldn't have made a difference, this is a suicide mission after all.
"ARLONG!" Many of the men scream in unison upon climbing over.
"Honestly you humans really can't take a hint can you?" The deep and Intimidating voice belonging to the Captain of the Fisman asks rhetorically.
"I was willingly to overlook your mutiny so long as you turned away, I even sent Pisaro, yet you have forced my hand.
"I decide to spare you for the sake of my precious Navigator and this is the thanks I receive." The large shark smirks mockingly.
Nojiko seems to be infuriated from his words, "Don't pretend like you didn't steal from Nami!"
"You were the only one who could've known about the money!"
"Huh?" Arlong tilts his head still on his throne, overlooking the angry mob.
"Oh, you're Nojiko aren't you? What, did Nami go and tell you everything?"
"I'll tell you the same thing I told her I had nothing to do with what happened to her. She's a pirate, what kind of pirate lets herself get robbed by marines." He says mockingly.
"SHAHAHAHAHA!" Arlong starts laughing, his crew following with equally obnoxious laughter.
"Liar!" Nojiko screams out, her words echoed by others, but hers sounding the loudest and most prominent.
Arlong and even his crew stop their laughter abruptly, "What did you just say?"
"Did you just call me a liar?" He asks his eyes screaming murder.
"Let it be known that I never lie in deals related to money. Your sister accused me of lying as well, and I barely tolerated her disrespect despite her being my crewmate."
"You have one chance to rescind your baseless accusation before I kill you." He states seriously.
The threat bounces right off Nojiko and the rest of the villagers who have fully accepted death as an option.
"Go to hell you filthy fucking animal." Nojiko says coldly.
"I said your nothing but a fucking liar!" She yells out towards the end of her statement.
Arlong face is shadowed, his teeth are clenched and the armrests of his throne start cracking from his steel tight grip.
His crewmates sensing the impending danger start trying to calm Arlong.
"Arlong, ignore her words she's nothing but a filthy human."
"He's right, Captain, who cares what she says."
Even his right-hand man Kuroobi chimes in, "Arlong, if you get upset you'll bring down the park, just give the order and we'll handle it."
Arlong takes a moment before, "Beat them with an inch of their lives, it doesn't matter if some die, so long as even one still breathes that's enough to shackle Nami." He says, surprisingly calm.
"I've obviously been to lenient with them."
"Nojiko however, I want someone to bring me her head personally." He states venomously.
"YES CAPTAIN!" The Arlong pirates scream in unison and charge at the barely armed villagers.
"FOR NAMI!"
"FOR BELLE-MÈRE!"
The villagers have a chant of their own as they meet the Fishman charge head-on.
It goes as well as one would expect, the Fishmen bulldoze through the Mob like they're made of paper, just the initial impact is enough to knock a few out of commission.
"HAA!" What ensues can only be classified as a slaughter, very few of the Fishmen are armed but with their bare hands alone they're ripping through skin and breaking bones.
Nojiko in particular kept being targeted because of Arlong's orders; the villagers kept some of the fishmen off of her by intervening here and there.
But as their numbers dwindled and as some of the Officer's started to get involved, Nojiko finally met her match.
"That Nami was always so stuck up despite being a human, I can't say I won't enjoy this." Chew the weakest of Arlong's officers calls out spitefully,
'So this is how it ends huh?' Nojiko thought morosely.
'I hope Nami took our advice and ran away, maybe she even took Colt away, so they can finally be together.' Even to her own ears that sounded ridiculous, knowing Nami and especially Colt there is no way they would ever abandon them.
'Oh well, Belle-mère… Mom, I'll be joining you soon.' Nojiko closes her eyes and awaits her death, the screams of Genzo and those surrounding falling on deaf ears.
Chew inhales and is ready to spit out a water bullet strong enough to shred through humans like they're nothing when all of a sudden-
"[One Sword Style: Shark Claws!]"
In the blink of an eye the entirety of Chew's back is eviscerated, 3 humongous sideways gashes appear on the back of his torso, slicing through vital organs and even his spine, Chew dies instantaneously.
If the cuts had been any deeper, Chew would've been sliced in three.
Time seems to come to a stop, everyone from the villagers to the fishmen can do nothing but watch in astonishment with gaping jaws and eyes popping out of their sockets.
A giant pool of blood instantly forms at Chew's now corpse, forming a clear view of the man responsible for killing him.
Panting out of breath stood Colt Anderson, his sword drawn and dripping with blood, Nami sitting a few feet behind him after he dropped her, to strike more efficiently.
"Saving the day seconds away from disaster? If I didn't know this was an anime, this would be a clear indicator." He says with a shaky smile, despite his bravado, seeing Nojiko almost die terrified him.
-0-
[Colt Anderson POV]
'Holy shit!' I think, more than a little startled, I'll be honest, I did not expect Arlong to try to kill Nojiko.
It's one thing to kill some of the others to make an example, but killing Nami's sister, and risk her leaving? He has balls I'll give him that.
Everyone starts recovering from their shock and disbelief, my brain kicks into overdrive.
'Dammit, Ideally I would have killed Hatchan first, caught him off guard and killed him the way I killed Chew, now he'll be expecting it.'
'Kuroobi's skin is a bit too tough to be killed by [Shark Claws], cut definitely, killed is another matter completely.' I scheme.
'Alright, first I'll kill-,' I'm interrupted from my thoughts by a simple, somewhat infuriating message.
[System Alert!]
[You have defeated Chew]
[5,000,000 Berry Bounty]
[Reward: 2.5 Points]
[First Time Announcement: Defeating a wanted criminal is only half the job. To obtain the other half of your reward you must turn in the criminal dead or alive, to the government. Upon receiving your Bounty, the system will reward you with the missing points.]
'Wait… CHEW HAD A BOUNTY?'
'Does that mean Hatchan and Kuroobi do as well!? Could I have targeted them instead of Arlong all along!?' I question.
'No, the heavy lifting comes from my [Advanced] swordplay, even if I were to kill the officers and cash in their bounties somehow, the boost probably wouldn't be enough to help me defeat Arlong.' I rationalize making myself feel better.
I finally understand how anime characters are able to monolog within their head so easily, all my thinking and rationalizing after killing Chew, it feels like it's been forever, but in reality I literally killed Chew like 4 seconds ago.
Unfortunately those 4 seconds seem to be enough to finally snap everyone out of their stupor; Arlong is the first to react.
"CHEEEEEW!!!" He bellows out in a mighty roar that quite literally seems to shake the ground we stand on.
The rest of his crew reacts in the same way, crying his name out in pain and anguish.
As satisfying as it is to hear their pain my delight is undercut by a certain emotion, no not pity or anything that stupid, it's rage.
How dare they cry for their friend, grieve and shout for him, they're nothing but monsters they don't deserve to have relationships, or people they care about.
They call each other brothers and they truly mean it, but knowing what bonds feel like, how can they just turn around and enslave a bunch of innocent people who have nothing to do with them?
Why!?
The rest of the villagers have long since snapped out of their trance, beaten and defeated they lost much of their hope, until I appeared of course.
I assume.
Maybe that's narcissistic. But judging by their expressions, that is in fact the case.
Nami, being the first to snap out of her shock, basically glomps her sister.
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you!?" I hear her ask.
Nojiko pushes Nami off, "Stop fussing over me, I'm fine."
Suddenly she gets more serious, "I told you to leave, why didn't you?" She replies.
As touching as the little moment they're having is, I'm a bit too preoccupied to eavesdrop-, I mean politely listen in.
"You bastard!" A multitude of different fodder charge me, with Hachi at the helm.
I don't have much time to think, so, 'Add all my points to Speed!' I call out mentally, hoping that will be enough.
Fortunately it was.
[Speed: 10 —> Speed: 12.5]
My speed and overall Agility increased suddenly, allowing me to weave in and out of Hachi's slashes to target the ones behind him.
SLASH!
SLASH!
SLASH!
I don't use any named attack, these losers are so weak I don't need to, better to save my Stamina.
Instead, some casual slashes are more than enough to kill them. I can cut deeper easily, maybe even slice them in two, but bones are surprisingly tough, on fishmen especially.
I would have to apply a lot of pressure and strength, as cool as it would look it would be a waste of energy, given they die regardless.
"TAKE, MACRO,SHIOYAKI!" Hachi calls out a bunch of names, I assume the fodder I just killed.
"I'll make you pay you bastard! I'll show you the power of my six sword style, and of these cutlass, each weighing over 300kg!" He says without stuttering, if I didn't know any better I'd say he rehearsed that.
"[Six Sword Style: Octopus Chaos Blades!]"
I block, well more like deflect, some of his blades before realizing that wasn't going to work, Hachi wasn't kidding when he said his swords weigh 300kg each.
As embarrassing as it is to admit, I'm not strong enough to parry his attacks despite being much more skilled.
So I deflect the best I can, close in and go on the offensive.
"[One Sword Style: Shark Claws!]" I jump over one of his blades, high enough where I can make eye contact, then mid air, I spin my body cock my sword behind my back and launch 3 consecutive blue slashes.
Despite being sure this would land, the difference in skill between Chew and Hachi known, Hatchan knowing he can't dodge, maneuvers his blades and body, so that the blades would take most of the impact, and what they didn't absorb, would just hit him in non vital areas.
"ARGH!" He still screams in pain, but it's not the quick death I was hoping for.
He rolls on the ground bleeding and crying out.
I slowly walk over to him panting, slightly out of breath, "Is that it?" I ask mockingly.
"Six Sword Style, honestly what's the point of calling it a style, all you did was flail your arms around, and hope that you hit something."
"I'm sure that works on weaklings, but against someone of real skill, it's childlike to dodge. I'd give you advice on how to not telegraph so obviously, but, well, you won't need it where you're going." I taunt with a vicious smirk.
"How can it be, Brother Hachi lost against a human!"
"That's impossible!"
I ignore the disbelief of the remaining fishmen.
"Any last words?" Perhaps it seems cruel how I'm treating him, but besides Arlong, there is no one in this world I despise more than Hatchan.
I don't give a damn that he is "redeemed" later on, I'm not sure if this is a retcon issue, or whatever, but Hatchan is just as bad as any of the other fishmen. He was the one who pointed out Belle-mères house, he laughed as he kidnapped Nami under Arlong's orders right after killing Belle-mère. There was zero remorse then, and there is zero remorse now.
Hatchan has never initiated any conflict, but he just stands around and watches as his 'brothers' do atrocious things, or worse he joins in when ordered.
I refuse to believe he has a change of heart at some point, and even if he does, frankly I don't care.
Maybe I hate him so much because I expected better from him, whatever the case may be, I won't spare him. Nami is a better person than me, she can forgive, I cannot.
So I savor the moment as I hold the tip of my blade right over his throat.
"COLT, LOOK OUT!" Nami's warning and my own instincts come at just the right moment, making me throw my body as hard as I can to the right, unfortunately I'm still caught by the sneak attack.
"AHH, FUCK!" I scream out in pain.
The entire left side of my torso feels like it's been attacked by a machine gun, a huge chunk of flesh is ripped off by the attack.
I look over and it's Kuroobi, the fins on his forearms are all bloody and gorey, it's obvious where and how he attacked me.
I don't even question the fact that he snuck up on me, I'll be the first to admit I was more than a little distracted.
The question on my mind as the left side of my torso burns with searing pain is, 'Why are those things so sharp? Does he sharpen them the same way bald people wax their heads?'
Probably a stupid question, but the stupidity helped alleviate a bit of the pain.
"I'm surprised you moved so fast, not bad for a human." He spits out through his clenched teeth, despite it being a compliment I can feel his hate through his gaze.
I smirk, but it's all bravado, I can barely stand through the pain, if it weren't for adrenaline I'd definitely be unconscious.
'Fuck! I always shit on anime characters for "playing with their food", in other words not finishing the fight as soon as possible, I had Hachi, I could've killed him, but I dragged it out, shit!'
'I'm such a hypocrite!'
'I was doing so well, now I have to fight handicapped, damn my hubris!' I think spitefully.
I completely ignore Kuroobi who is waiting for me to make the first move and turn to one of the few fishmen left, "Hey, Ugly, I've been wondering how does it feel to lose your 'family', I mean there's not many left, I've killed quite a few of you, and Arlong is still just sitting in that ugly-ass chair."
I smirk, "So much for that brotherhood thing amirite?" I start laughing, I make sure not to make my pain obvious.
The Fishman honestly seems to hesitate before responding, "What do you know human!? Arlong hasn't stepped up because he doesn't want to wreck our home! All of us are brothers, we'd all give our lives for each other!"
"So you're saying you're lives are worth less than some stupid Park? That's hilarious!" I say with a shit-eating grin, I'm not sure why they haven't attacked me, but I'll take the time to recuperate, yes I'm losing blood, but humans have a lot of blood, so long as I keep applying pressure the pros of stalling still outweigh the con that is bleeding out.
Those are my thoughts, however as I see Kuroobi preparing to attack, probably seeing my idle chatter for the stalling that it was, I decide I'll beat him to it.
I charge, weaving through Kuroobi and running to the random guy I was harassing earlier.
"You said you all of you would give your life for each other right? Let's test that!" I say while charging at him wildly.
This is my opening, a weakness to exploit. For some reason or another these 'things' truly do care for one another, I can use that.
"NO PISARO!" Kuroobi sounds about as distressed as I've ever heard him, guess he's fond of this maraca wielding fuck.
He runs after me, considering my head start there's no way he'll catch up to me, not unless I let him, which I do. My goal from the start was to bait Kuroobi into a better position, one less guarded and it worked like a charm.
Right before reaching the ugly-ass musician, I dash back, to the karate user's surprise.
The shift is so sudden that Kuroobi has no time to react when I'm on him. He struck at my torso right? I'll return the favor.
"[One Sword Style: Shark Claw Barrage!]" I yell out.
I'll be honest I literally came up with this move on the fly, it's similar to [Shark Claws], except, as the name implies, it's a barrage of multiple slashes instead of three.
I do unfortunately have to sacrifice some of the power by adding more than 3 slashes, but it's still a strong ability, especially against an unguarded opponent at such close range, which given how long my sword is, it's always close range.
"ARGH!"
He stumbles back from all the cuts, blood gushes out like a sprinkler, completely spraying me red, it's quite grotesque.
I learned from my mistake with hachi, however, this time I don't hesitate.
"[One Sword Style: Bee Sting!]"
…okay I'll work on the name for that one.
I jam my sword right through Kuroobi's chest, piercing his heart and finally ending him.
I hear some gasps and joyful sounds coming from the villagers' side, but I can't really concentrate on them however.
I know his death is real from the message I receive.
[System Alert!]
[You have defeated 'Warsaw' Kuroobi]
[9,000,000 Berry Bounty]
[Reward: 4.5 Points]
'Fuck yeah! 2.5 points to Speed, 2 to Stamina.'
Who knows if that's the right decision right now or not, but the adrenaline is wearing off and hopefully the Stamina boost will help.
[Speed: 12.5 —> Speed: 15]
[Stamina: 10 —> Stamina: 12]
"I WILL MURDER YOU INSUBORDINATE LITTLE MONSTER!" Arlong finally leaves his area, for some reason only after the majority of his crew is dead, though I won't complain.
"Come at me- HRRK!" I'm cut off by Arlong's hand gripping my throat, choking the life out of me.
How did he move that fast!?
"RAAAGH!" He throws me as far as he can, at this point I'm completely disoriented, up is down, left is right. I definitely have a concussion.
I can barely make out the sounds coming from the peanut gallery that is my friend's and family, but they definitely sound happy… oh wait, no scared, they sound scared. That makes more sense.
… definitely a concussion.
As I lay on the floor trying to regain my bearing I suddenly felt a crushing weight impact my stomach, I feel it shatter at least half of my ribs.
I yell out in pain, or at least I attempt to but all my voice box manages is a completely silent scream.
I blearily open my eyes to see the menacing figure of Arlong kneeling beside me, but at this distance and with his size, he might as well have been straddling me, considering how much of my vision he took up.
"THIS. IS. ALL. YOUR. FAULT!" He emphasized every word by bringing his giant fist down smashing it against my body, each time fracturing or breaking a bone.
After a minute or so he stops, panting out of breath, I feel myself slip unconscious for a second and when I open my eyes he's not there anymore.
I'm not stupid or naive enough to think he, mistakenly left me alive, knowing him and his personality, he probably wanted to save me for last or something.
So despite my body screaming otherwise, I use every ounce of strength and Stamina I have left to sit up.
Sitting up allows me to see, fuzzily mind you, what's going on, I can see the huge figure of Arlong holding Nami up by her throat with one hand, appearing to choke the life out of her.
Nojiko, Genzo and a bunch of the surrounding villagers are trying to pry her off to no avail, anything they try to stab him with just scrapes off, their attacks do no damage, in fact Arlong is so hyper focused on killing Nami he just allows the attacks to connect.
'Shit… gotta get up… gotta kill…" My consciousness threatens to leave once more when out of the corner of my peripheral I spot someone.
Hatchan, at this point completely unconscious and out of commission, lying in a pool of his own blood.
I know he isn't dead or I would have gotten a system alert for it.
Thinking of a plan, and knowing it's probably my only chance for success, I army crawl my way to Hatchan, well first I reach for my sword.
It isn't too far from my body fortunately, though the area where my sword was resting looks to be slightly destroyed, it honestly looks like Arlong tried breaking my sword while I was unconscious and failed to. Despite the seriousness of the situation, that almost makes me laugh.
I swiftly make my way over to Hachi and with no fanfare this time I swiftly jab my sword into his skull, piercing his brain matter, and obviously killing him.
[System Alert!]
[You have defeated 'W' Hatchan]
[8,000,000 Berry Bounty]
[Reward: 4 Points]
'3 Points to Defense, 1 point to Stamina.'
I have a very good reason for choosing these two, my stats are very broad. I didn't like it at first until I realized I saved points this way, not having to invest so many on obscure stats like Endurance and Vitality.
What that means, is that I've noticed something upon putting so many points in speed, it's not just quickness, it's Agility, Reflexes, and maybe even Dexterity all in one, and while all those sound similar they are all slightly different.
Thinking about it logically, I don't have a Vitality, Endurance or Regeneration stat, but those three things would probably fall under Defense and Stamina. So if I up my defense which seems useless in this scenario I'm really using leveling up my ability to heal, and also giving myself more energy.
[Defense: 10 —> Defense: 13]
[Stamina: 12 —> Stamina: 13]
I confirm my hypothesis to be correct when I immediately feel a burst of energy far beyond what can be attributed to only Stamina, I even feel myself receding slightly.
Before my new dose of adrenaline wears off, I muster up my new strength and stand up. Turning to the commotion I notice the growing panic.
Nami lies limply in Arlong's grip as opposed to a few seconds ago where she was thrashing around and struggling to get out.
I can feel the hysterics the villagers are in, the desperation they feel in trying to save Nami.
For some reason or another, I'm completely calm, calmer than I've ever been.
I'm about 20 to 30 yards from Arlong, despite this I'm confident I'm within range.
I sheath my sword, take a stance by putting my right leg back, slanting my body forward, and holding my hands over the hilt of my sword.
Some might recognize this stance as the one Zenitsu takes in demon slayer, in reality I took inspiration from fellow swordsman, Nobunaga Hazama from Hunter x Hunter.
It's a good thing that my next technique is specifically meant to be whispered, I don't think I have any more shouting left in me.
'[One Sword Style: Baile Estinto]'
You would have thought I just used Soru at the speed in which I traveled. Within an instant I traveled the distance between me and Arlong and even beyond that.
Landing in a stance similar to the one I started in.
I fully sheath the small part of my blade that was sticking out, and only then do I hear the screams of joy, confusion, fear, and excitement.
Because it isn't until then, that Arlong's head casually rolls off his shoulders like a bowling ball.
Why did it only happen after I sheath my sword, because anime logic of course, it's the same way Trunk's opponents didn't collapse until he fully sheathed 'his' sword.
I took a lot of inspiration from many anime characters, but [Baile Estinto] is basically a roided out quick draw technique.
[System Alert!]
[You have defeated Arlong 'The Saw']
[20,000,000 Berry Bounty]
[Reward: 10 Points]
'I did it. I finally did it.' Throughout all this I still haven't moved. I don't think I even have the energy to.
I confirm I don't have enough energy when I out of the corner of my eye I see some of the fodder I didn't get to kill, flee in mass.
I wish I could chase them but I can't, it's a good thing they left honestly, considering how weak I am right now, any one of those losers could casually kill me.
Good thing I'm such a good actor, it's my patented Lady Gaga Poker Face at work, clearly.
Despite my exhaustion I do have just enough energy to stand up straight and face everyone, well the ones that aren't knocked out from their injuries anyways.
And boy, what a sight it is. Everyone just stood there with their mouths agape, almost as if frozen in place. Except for Nami who is unconscious in Genzo's arms, I would be worried about her health more, but if she were dead, Genzo would not have the time to stare at me in shock, I'm pretty confident she's fine, though that's one hell of a bruise.
Regardless, the hilarity of their expressions make me burst out laughing, something which I try to suppress because of how much it hurts.
"Well, are you just gonna stand there and catch flies? Shouldn't you be celebrating? We're free!" I point out.
It seems like my words manage to break the metaphorical dam, because upon hearing my words they all suddenly jump up and rejoice.
"AM I DREAMING!?"
"ARLONG'S REALLY DEAD!?"
"WE'RE FREE!!!"
"LET'S GO TELL THE OTHER VILLAGES!"
Everyone reacts in their own way, some continue to gape in disbelief, some like Nojiko drop to their knees in shock, others run to spread the good news, regardless everyone in this moment is happier and more relieved than they have been in the last decade.
Some try to charge at me, presumably to hug, or even worse to throw me in the air in celebration, thankfully the good doctor, quite literally knocks a few skulls and points out how injured I am.
My vision starts getting blurry, I stumble in place and start falling, 'Guess the adrenaline finally wore off, huh.'
Right before I lose consciousness I make sure to be a smart ass one last time in case I don't wake up, "Someone catch me, if I suffer another concussion I might become as stupid as Genzo."
As I'm falling and my vision keeps getting darker I can't help but laugh at Genzo's sour expression, in contrast to the rest of the villagers who look concerned, and especially to Nojiko and my mother who are in a state of complete panic running towards me to try and catch me.
Unfortunately that's the final sight I see before falling into slumber.
Even the thought of possible death isn't enough to deter my joy, 'I still can't believe I actually did it.'
'We're finally…free!'
[Author's Note: I'll be honest I dislike the first half of the chapter, the whole chapter in general was hard to write, in fact I rewrote it completely, twice, I'm not doing it a third time despite not being fully satisfied, this is as good as it's gonna get. If you enjoyed the chapter please leave a review. Much like Shiro I too am motivated entirely by praise, feel free to critique my work as well, I'll appreciate it as well. Though I'll appreciate less than praise, I'm a hypocrite like that.]
