Chapter 117
(Mihar POV)
Mihar successfully blew up two marine warships, rendering them unfit for sailing. He was on the third one when he realized that there was no longer any point in resisting. He glared at Admiral Aokiji who held Eri by the back of her neck.
"Let her go!" Mihar snarled.
"Put the gun down, Mihar," Aokiji said, the chill in his voice unmistakeable. He was the one that held power between the two of them. "Don't waste my mercy."
"S-Sensei!" Eri called out to Mihar. Tears welled in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I got caught…"
"It's not your fault, Eri," Mihar said in what he hoped was a comforting tone before returning to glaring at the tall and lanky admiral. "Alright… I won't fight."
"No, Sensei! Run!" Eri cried. "They have Tanya and Kotatsu!"
Hearing what Eri said made Mihar stop for a moment. He then grit his teeth in frustration.
'To think they were captured…'
Mihar was aware of how capable Tanya was with her Devil Fruit. Kotatsu wasn't one to be scoffed at either. Kotatsu is a lynx, and he's a natural predator. His Devil Fruit only enhanced what he could already do.
'Was it him?'
Tanya and Kotatsu were capable fighters who could hold their own. At the very least, Mihar knew that they could escape if they wanted to. If they were captured, that would only mean that they were overwhelmed. Mihar guessed that it was most likely Aokiji who captured them.
The information Eri revealed made Mihar stop, but only for a second. There was nothing he could do about it now. In reality, now that he was aware of Tanya and Kotatsu's situation, it only serves to support Mihar's decision to surrender.
Their enemy was giving them mercy and they should take it… for now. Eri's life was on the line and Mihar needed to stand down instead of fighting. Mihar was beyond frustrated at the weakness and helplessness he felt.
'Ace… I'm sorry…'
Mihar let go of the rifle in his hands. It fell on the ground with a resounding thud. The marines quickly encircled him, their rifles aimed at him. Despite not having a weapon, the marines didn't dare get close to Mihar after seeing what he was capable of.
"Thank goodness Admiral Aokiji is here!"
"Yeah, we're saved!"
"Mihar! He's more dangerous than they told us!"
Mihar ignored the murmurs around him and just continued glaring at Aokiji. He then held out his hands.
"I won't resist," Mihar said. "Just… please let Eri go. She's just a child."
"Arara! Not yet," Aokiji said before addressing the marines. "Will someone get handcuffs for our prisoner here?"
One of the marines who already had handcuffs on his person went forwards and handcuffed Mihar. True to his word, Mihar didn't resist. Seeing Mihar letting himself be handcuffed, Aokiji let Eri go.
"Sensei!" Eri ran towards Mihar.
Then, there was a bang.
Eri's world froze. She watched Mihar fall face first on the deck of the marine warship, redness spreading on his back as blood seeped out of the gunshot wound he just received. Eri stopped in her tracks, eyes wide and empty as she stared at Mihar.
"...oi." Aokiji glared at one of the marines.
The said marine had a wide grin on his face when Aokiji called to him. Hearing Aokiji's chilling voice wiped away the gleeful expression he had. He looked up to see Aokiji glaring at him.
"I hope you have a good reason for shooting a surrendering prisoner," Aokiji said.
"H-He killed my friends, Admiral Aokiji!" the marine said. "There's no way I'll just… let him go!"
"You forget your place, marine!" Aokiji said before pointing at a marine, specifically his uniform. "That uniform you're wearing! What do you think it means?"
The marine was stunned, not knowing how to answer Aokiji's question. The other marines gave him a wide berth, not wanting to be close to him seeing how he pissed off Aokiji.
Eri was vaguely aware of the fact that Aokiji was reprimanding the marine that shot Mihar in the back. Truthfully, everything around Eri seemed to matter little to her at the moment. Her eyes were glued on Mihar's form as she slowly inched forward.
Eri's knees buckled when she reached Mihar, kneeling down beside her sensei. With shaking hands, she pushed Mihar's shoulder as if urging him to wake up.
"S…Sensei…"
Eri's gaze drifted to Mihar's back She watched blood seep out of the gunshot wound, staining Mihar's clothes and the wooden deck red as it pooled around Mihar's unmoving body.
Red. It was all Eri could see. It was all she cared about. Nothing else mattered. Red. Red. Blood. Rage.
Rage filled Eri. Rage bubbled and frothed in her heart, overflowing and uncontainable. Eri screamed a shrill scream.
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
With her scream, Eri lashed out. Her entire being wanted to lash out, to rage, to harm, to release the sheer amount of stress and pain she was feeling. For the first time in her life, Eri embraced her power.
"Get away from her!" Aokiji shouted at the marines, but it was too late.
A pink wave of energy pulsed out of Eri, covering her immediate vicinity. A pink wave of energy pulsed outward for every second that Eri screamed. For every second that she cried. Her rage turned to sorrow, Eri cried for Mihar…
"Don't leave me, papa!"
Her adoptive father.
Frowning at the unprecedented display of power he didn't expect, Aokiji focused on building layer after layer of an ice dome around him as he gathered his haki. Every second, his layers of ice melted.
'She's aging my ice backwards. Tsk.'
Eri's cries were becoming sadder, the pulses of energy she was releasing only growing stronger and traveling farther. Aokiji saw what Eri's Devil Fruit was capable of when she was on her way to finding Mihar. Seeing how she wasn't very adept at using her powers yet, Aokiji dismissed her as a threat.
Now, Aokiji didn't want to bet his victory on a clash between their Devil Fruit powers. The pulses of Eri's power that spread every second were wild, indiscriminate, and omnidirectional. Whatever ice Aokiji throws at her, he's confident it will just disintegrate.
Aokiji needed to get close to her if he wanted to neutralize her. His Haki should resist the effect of her Devil Fruit. Suddenly, Aokiji lost his footing. The pulses of Eri's power were now strong enough to directly disintegrate all the layers of ice Aokiji built.
Looking around as he strangely fell, Aokiji was startled at the fact that the warship they were on… was no more. There was also no one else in his view besides Eri and Mihar.
Eri disintegrated both the marines and the warship by aging them backwards to a time when they didn't exist yet.
With his Haki protecting him from the pink pulses, Aokiji used Moon Walk and jumped towards Eri. He reached out and hit the back of Eri's neck hard enough to directly knock her unconscious.
"Ice Age!"
With his Chilly-Chilly Fruit powers, Aokiji froze the water directly below them and made a foothold in the middle of the sea. He caught the small form of Eri and held her in one arm while reaching out with the other for Mihar's arm.
Safely, the three of them landed on the foothold Aokiji made. Aokiji released a cold breath containing all his worry, disappointment, and relief. It was then that he noticed something astounding.
Judging by the faint pulse he felt on Mihar's wrist, Aokiji was surprised to find that the man was still alive even after being shot through the heart. With his focus on Mihar, Aokiji was able to hear the faintest of his whispers as well.
"Eri…"
Aokiji heard the ghost of Mihar's whisper, calling out to the unconscious Devil Child sleeping in his arm.
'Since when did she have a horn?' Aokiji asked to himself before turning back his attention to Mihar.
"You're a stubborn one, ain'tcha?" Aokiji put Mihar down rather gently. "Hmm. Well, whatever. You don't have an official bounty yet. Letting a nameless nobody die would leave a bad taste in my mouth."
Aokiji placed his hand on Mihar's chest.
"You should be grateful for this favor," Aokiji said as the hand he placed on Mihar's chest turned cold. "Ice Time: Capsule!"
Mihar's body was then encased in ice. Looking at his handiwork, Aokiji gave himself a proverbial pat in the back.
"For the sake of innocent marine lives… I hope you surrender peacefully, Gol D. Ace."