16 Chapter 16
BOOM!
Krieg, no longer caring about the state of his ship, missed Rowan and ended up slamming his shoulder-plate-shield against the wooden wall.
SPLASH!
Krieg immediately turned and launched himself at Rowan who was found up at ceiling, holding onto a fine-looking chandelier. Letting go of the chandelier, Rowan watched as Krieg shattered the chandelier apart, and had its parts sink into the various part of the water that was continuously leaking in.
BANG BANG BANG!
Then, another round of bullets were fired. Rowan moved to the left to evade all of them at once, and while doing so, he seemed to have remembered something.
"Huff… huff… damn you…!"
"…" Rowan stood still with his arms crossed. He pursed his lips in a thoughtful manner. Then, he asked to Krieg,
"Have you heard of a man named Yanric before?"
As Rowan gazed at the bullets, which were now embedded in the wooden wall, Krieg expressed rage.
"Yanric…? Don't joke with me…!!!"
Bringing out his other shield, Krieg brought them together.
Clang—!
"AHHHH, HE'S DOING IT!" One member of Krieg pirates from the deck above screamed, "HE'S ABOUT TO TAKE OUT HIS STRONGEST WEAPON!!!"
"EVERYONE, GET AWAY!!!"
Rowan watched with narrowed eyes as a sharp blade and a long pole exited from both sides of the combined shields, resembling a spear.
"I-IT'S THE BATTLE SPEAR!!!"
Krieg raised his spear up, and,
BOOM!
the entire ship broke into two upon Krieg slamming his spear down. The water gushed in along with multitudes of pirates who were attaching themselves just on the outside, before the water erupted, sending all of them, along with Rowan and Krieg, up high in the air.
SWOOSH!
In midair, Rowan kicked himself off from another airborne pirate to dodge Krieg's battle spear. It brutally slammed onto one of Krieg's goons instead and instantly severed him into two.
""ROWAN!!!""
Hearing the shouts from Nami and Carina, Rowan briefly checked their location before jumping on top of another falling pirate's back. As Krieg, due to much heavier weight than Rowan, accelerated and fell back into the water, Rowan jumped from one pirate to another as if jumping on top of a platform, and landed on the ship of Krieg pirates, taken over by Nami and Carina.
"Huff... huff... nice." Rowan commented while inspecting the current situation. Apart from the Ugly Adventure that the Krieg pirates were crowded at and this ship, all the other ships sank to the bottom of the ocean.
"H-HELP!!! PLEASE!!!"
"Ureegahgaugh!!!"
One by one, the Krieg pirates who were unable to secure a position on the Ugly Adventure were drowning. And Pearl, the hemophobic man with iron plates, was nowhere to be seen; Rowan deduced that he must've drowned also.
"Captain Krieg!!"
Meanwhile, the remaining Krieg pirates managed to pull Krieg up. Coupled with the heavy weight of treasures, the Ugly Adventure was barely floating. And Krieg, with his body drenched and his nose still in a hideous form, froze as he looked at the blue sea around him, filled with nothing but his drowning crew members. He muttered,
"...What... huff... the hell happened..."
He looked down, and saw the bloody deck. Grimacing in realization, he raised his head up and gazed at the last remaining ship of his, one which his three enemies were riding.
Then,
BOOM!
"AHHHHH!!!"
"C-Captain!! Why are you doing this?!!"
Krieg abruptly swung his battle spear, drawing the blood of his own crew members. As the blood sprayed over Krieg's golden armour, and the corpses fell into the water, dead, Krieg growled,
"Idiots!! The ship is going to sink with this many people aboard!!" Krieg glared at the nearest member.
BOOM!
"Y-you... kurgh... you can't be doing this to us..."
Krieg growled, "If you are going to be a deadweight to the crew, then face a glorious death instead of hideous life!!!"
BOOM!
The remaining Krieg pirates, whether on the ship or floating on the sea, watched their captain with pale expressions. Watching this scene from afar, Nami wrinkled her face in contempt of Krieg,
"...Pirates," Nami gritted her teeth, "Despicable as always."
"So," Carina, staring at the Ugly Adventure with nervousness, asked Rowan, "We aren't just going to leave like this, right...?"
Rowan, while sitting on a chair with a cup of water and taking a momentary break, stated casually, "No food and no ranged weapons. In a condition where medical treatment is necessary. Bound by the weight of treasure, and can't afford to bring along all those people with one ship alone. Technically, Krieg's already fucked."
Crossing his legs and looking at Krieg, Rowan grinned in a predatory manner,
"What kind of idiot leaves this opportunity?"
Initially, Rowan was doubtful. Forget protecting the treasure—he wondered if it was possible for the three of them to escape alive. Then, he realized as the fight began, that deep in his mind, he was underestimating himself.
'By words, I spoke of killing Arlong countless times. Yet, being scared of Mad Treasure, being scared of Krieg, and being scared of number... I was all bark and no bite, a wimp who put on a strong front to hide his doubt.'
But no more.
Emptying the cup of water, Rowan stood back up. He held his left hand out, and in response, Nami placed on his hand, a common cutlass retrieved from the storage room of this ship.
Jumping up and standing on the frontmost part of the ship, Rowan remarked with a cutlass sitting on his shoulder, "You know, don't I look just like a pirate right now?"
"No! You don't!" Nami cried with an evident dislike for Rowan's joke.
Pointing the cutlass forth, Rowan shouted jokingly, "My subordinates, advance forth!"
"Aye aye, captain!"
Carina was the one to reply to Rowan's comical words. Rowan turned around and raised his eyebrow,
"I thought you aren't joining?"
"I changed my mind!" Said Carina, "And will change again after this fight is over!"
"Vahaha!"
"'I thought you aren't joining?' What?" Nami, while taking hold of the steering wheel, squinted her eyes at Rowan, "What are you two speaking of?"
The ship carrying three of them began to get back closer to the Ugly Adventure. On the Ugly Adventure, there only were Krieg and around thirty more. Judging by the looks alone, the Ugly Adventure seemed like a ship possessed by a demon itself, and considering how blood-covered Krieg's armour and spear looked, and how his crew members were looking at him with nothing but fear... Nami and Carina couldn't help but shiver.
"Vahahaha..." However, Rowan's mind was filled with nothing but an amusement, as he jumped from the ship, and,
CLANG—!
The common cutlass clashed against the extraordinary battle spear.
"...Pirate Slayer... hah," Krieg snarled as he glared right into Rowan's eyes, "I suppose that that title wasn't given out of blue."
"Why, I am so not honoured at all."
SWOOSH! Taking a step back, Rowan leaned to the side and let Krieg's spear stab pass by. Spinning the cutlass skillfully with his right hand, Rowan then shot the cutlass right at Krieg's exposed face, which Krieg urgently defended by raising the spear right back up.
CLANG!
Rowan intentionally let go of the cutlass as two weapons clashed, and as the cutlass was sent high above the air, Rowan rushed right in front of Krieg with his fist clenched. Krieg, having expected this, immediately took a step back while grabbing one of the spectating goons and placing that one in front of him—
PUK.
—only for Rowan's fist to slam onto Krieg's already-broken nose and not the goon right in front of Krieg. The goon gulped, with his body frozen in fear.
"G-gahh..."
As Krieg expressed pain and wobbled, Rowan caught the cutlass that fell down just in time, and swiftly stabbed through the petrified goon's heart,
CLANG—!
which also attempted to pierce through Krieg's armour, but to no avail.
"Huff... huff... huff..." Krieg's face was pale from the fear of death. If not for his armour, he would've died instantly. As Rowan pulled the cutlass out and the goon fell with a thud, Krieg, while having difficulty breathing, stared at Rowan with shaking eyes.
Dread. Something felt this time around for Krieg. Unlike the previous clash where Rowan seemed nothing more than a sneaky rat, Krieg felt as if he was the rat this time around, being toyed around by the hunter in front of him.
"I..."
Krieg gulped. He was sweating all over. The blood continuously dripped down from his ruined nose, and many of his teeth went missing.
"I…"
But nonetheless, Krieg gathered his will once more and proclaimed, "I AM 'PIRATE ADMIRAL' DON KRIEG!!!"
With all his strength, Krieg lifted up his battle spear and slammed it down toward Rowan—
Tap.
Krieg froze, as Rowan, after easily getting out of the way, managed to stop the battle spear from crashing the deck, by catching the pole section of the spear with his left hand.
"Bizarre, isn't it?" Rowan muttered, though it was unknown as to whether he was speaking to Krieg or to himself, "I vividly remember, that I wasn't this strong before. The feats that you showcased earlier, like blasting apart an entire ship and causing the water to erupt—I wasn't capable of that much. And yet, after having ascertained my victory,"
Rowan grinned with his eyes full of light,
"I feel much stronger than before."
Rowan then threw the cutlass that he was holding with his other hand. Krieg's eyes naturally followed, and while the cutlass was airborne, Rowan brutally smashed his fist onto the battle spear,
BOOM!
There was an incredible force behind Rowan's punch this time around, shredding the hard battle spear into pieces.
Bam! And as the cutlass landed back on the deck, embedded on the edge of the Ugly Adventure,
"This... h-how can it be..."
Whispered Krieg,
"I... I... I lost...?"
before,
BOOM! Rowan slammed his fist on Krieg's chest, breaking the golden armour in one go. Krieg was knocked back, and under the watch of Nami, Carina, and the remaining Krieg's crew members, Rowan rushed at a rapid speed, and,
BOOM!
Krieg's eyes popped out and spilled out a mouth full of blood, having been punched again.
BOOM!
Then another,
BOOM!
The another—
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Krieg's body wasn't even allowed to land back on a platform. As Krieg hovered in the air, Rowan blasted a consecutive series of punches one after the other, which, to others' eyes... seemed to accelerate.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
"UAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
Within a second, Krieg was reduced to a bloody mess. Krieg screamed in a hoarse voice, before his vocal chord was eventually damaged beyond return and muted him. He breathed with a critically injured nose, but eventually, his lungs were impaired. His heart thumped in desperation, but as Rowan threw his final punch,
BOOM!
it beat no more. Rowan's punches finally stopped, and Krieg's body, oozing blood everywhere, fell to the bloody deck of the Ugly Adventure.
"C... aptain Krieg."
In the eyes of everyone, it was evident—that Krieg was already dead.
Then,
"...Spirit Rush."
Disregarding the gruesome form of Krieg, Rowan muttered.
"...What?" Nami raised her eyebrow.
"That's the name of my technique just now."
In the middle of the sea, 'Pirate Slayer' Rowan clashed against 'Pirate Admiral' Don Krieg and his fleet.
Pearl the 'Iron Wall.' Gin the 'Man Demon.' All the named executives of Krieg pirates fell by the hands of one single man, and Krieg himself... was defeated too.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
One by one, the remaining pirates who lost their will to fight, knelt. Without a slightest bit of loyalty, they yielded,
"We... we'll do anything you tell us to do. Please... just let us live."
Three versus five thousand. This news will become widespread within days. After today, the name alone will be sufficient enough to cause all the East Blue pirates to gulp in fear.
'Pirate Slayer' Rowan. The strongest bounty hunter in the entirety of East Blue.
"...What part of that was 'spirit?' I think the name should be 'Hundred Fists!"
"Eww, Hundred Fists? That's the worst name I've ever heard of! I suggest 'Gatling Gun!'"
"Uh... I think I'm satisfied with 'Spirit Rush.' I felt like my mood was quite elevated while punching consecutively, you know."
Currently, he was busy conversing two girls about how he should name his attack, one that just killed the noteworthy pirate.
