“Escape”

*That's a nice reward* thought Yamamoto with a slight smile as he noticed the notification from the system.

The explosion and fire caused all the nobles to start running like ants trying to save their lives. King Lucas who was close to Pluming, upon seeing Arno's horrible death fell to his knees and looked at Yamamoto in terror.

Unlike everyone else present, Pluming had an expression of anger, "You useless man, you're not even good enough to kill a damn old man!" shouted Pluming angrily at the dead Arno who had not a hair of his left.

"You two! Bring me the head of that old man!" ordered Pluming to the two bodyguards who had frightened expressions.

"B-but Mr. A-arno..." stammered one bodyguard as he took a step back.

"Are you disobeying my orders!?" asked Pluming as he turned and glared at them angrily.

For Pluming this day was the most abnormal day in many years. It had been a long time since he had felt such anger as he did today. First of all, a tramp (referring to Tesoro) insulted him and was merciful enough to just beat him up (to death), and then this old man called him a nasty rat something unheard of. And finally, his bodyguards don't obey a simple order.

"Why do you keep quiet? Answer me!" shouted Pluming. He noticed how one of his bodyguards pointed behind him.

As he turned he noticed Yamamoto standing very close to him, "You damned old man! You'd better kneel, you've insulted a God!" exclaimed Pluming spitting spittle.

*Has his perception of reality altered...* thought Yamamoto rolling his eyes.

Before Pluming continued spitting spittle at him, he made a slash with his fire-impregnated hand straight to the throat of this screaming Celestial Dragon.

Yamamoto easily slashed his neck from which a large amount of blood began to drip.

"Wh-what..." said Pluming in a whisper as he looked down and noticed all the blood pouring out of his neck. He tried to cover the blood with his hands, but the blood was pouring out.

After a few minutes of agonizing death, he fell to his knees and gave one last astonished look at Yamamoto. Never in his life would he believe that someone would dare to kill him.

[ DING! You dared to kill a Celestial Dragon, something rarely seen! Rewarded with 1 skill point and 100 merit points! ]

*So I do get rewards for killing this scum. That's a good thing* thought Yamamoto with a smile, he knew it wouldn't be the first time he'd come across one of these particular individuals.

"Y-you...how dare you! You...killed a Celestial Dragon!" exclaimed in shock King Lucas who was leaning on the ground on his butt in disbelief at what he had seen.

"M-my kingdom is finished! And it's all because of you!" exclaimed King Lucas as he lost his mind and began to pull the hairs out of his head.

Yamamoto looked at him with disdain and with his index finger he created a fire bullet and shot it toward King Lucas' head who because of his state could do nothing to dodge it.

*Tsch what a good-for-nothing. He's a king and he doesn't give any reward* thought Yamamoto with disdain.

King Lucas had in his kingdom many human stores and promoted them, so he didn't see killing him as a bad thing. After that, he looked at Stella who was standing near Pluming's corpse with a surprised expression.

When she felt Yamamoto's gaze on her she trembled with fear, *Why is he looking at me?* Stella thought with fear.

Yamamoto again used his hand in the form of a blade, but this time pointed it at Stella. Seeing this Stella closed her eyes in fear, but after a few seconds she felt how her neck felt lighter, *I didn't die...?* Stella thought as she slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw, was the collar that imprisoned her, it was now on the ground and had a clean cut, "You freed me?" asked Stella without understanding.

"Stella are you okay?" exclaimed Tesoro as he hugged Stella.

The incredible attack that Yamamoto made to assassinate Arno and then that he dared to kill Pluming left Tesoro in shock, so he was slow to react and come towards Stella.

[ DING! Mission Secondary Completed! Do you want to see your reward? ]

Again Yamamoto noticed the notification from the system. He never had so many notifications in a row, *It was a good decision to come here* thought Yamamoto with a smile.

Even so, they still had to escape, so he didn't see the reward and would leave it for later. Before he could call Tesoro and Stella to go to the ship, his den den mushi rang.

"What happened?" asked Yamamoto as he attended to the snail.

"Yamamoto-sensei we've already arrived at the ship, but there's a problem..." replied Olvia's voice from the other side.

"What problem?"

"Many marine ships are heading for the Kingdom of Ilisia!" replied Olvia with urgency in her voice.

*Well it was to be expected... after all, they put a net all over the West Blue* thought Yamamoto, if it wasn't this way the Marines would be useless.

"Don't worry about me, just set sail. I'll catch up with them on another ship" said Yamamoto.

If they waited for him it would take a long time to reach the abandoned port they used, so he decided to steal a ship in the main port of the Ilisia Kingdom which is much closer.

Besides, if the marines noticed only him, Olvia and the others would be able to escape more easily and without as much danger.

"Fine..." replied Olvia somewhat hesitantly, but agreeing.

"On the other hand, we were saved by a strange person" she added.

"What, by whom?" asked Yamamoto puzzled for the first time. It was no joke, that a stranger had saved them.

"It's a long story. He calls himself Emporio Ivankov or something" replied Olvia as she looked towards Ivankov who was doing weird poses on her ship.

Yamamoto was pleasantly surprised to hear this name. In his mind, he pictured a cross-dressing man with a large head and violet hair, *Is the revolutionary army here? Wait... I don't think they've created it yet* Yamamoto thought hesitantly.

"Alright, just set sail and let that cross-dresser handle the problems" Yamamoto said as he ended the call. Now he felt more at ease, with Ivankov on the Olvia ship, and the others would be safe. Besides, if he's here, Dragon might be somewhere in the kingdom.

"How did he know it was a cross-dresser...?" Olvia whispered as she put away the Den Den Mushi.

"You two have talked enough, let's go" Yamamoto said to Tesoro and Stella. Before leaving, Yamamoto picked up Pluming's corpse and began to carry it like a sack of potatoes.

"Yes!" Tesoro responded quickly, shaking Stella's hand and starting to follow Yamamoto. In the brief time that had passed, he had told her about Yamamoto and how he ended up asking him for help to save her.

Stella doubted Yamamoto's criminal background, but she had no choice but to follow Tesoro if she wanted to survive after Pluming's death. Both of them looked on, not understanding why he was carrying the Celestial Dragon's corpse, but they said nothing.

The fire created by Yamamoto's Deadly Strike card continued to spread throughout the castle. The sturdy castle walls were helpless against the powerful flames.

*At this rate the castle will collapse* thought Yamamoto surprised by the card.

"Please wait!" shouted a voice.

Yamamoto stopped and turned his head towards the noise of the voice. He could see that, on one of the columns of the castle, there were 5 people chained together unable to move.

He instantly guessed that they were slaves, although he did not know if they belonged to Pluming or any of the castle's nobles.

The screaming man noticing that he caught Yamamoto's attention exclaimed as he knelt and put his head on the ground, "Please, Great Fire Demon save us! We'll do anything!"

The other 4 people did the same as the man, as they waited expectantly for Yamamoto's response.

Yamamoto looked at these people with a strange expression. It was the first time someone used his nickname to flatter him instead of running away terrified in fear, "That man was one of Pluming's slaves" said Tesoro recognizing him.

The man was Pluming's mount, Tesoro got to see him when Pluming disembarked and headed for the castle.

After some thought, Yamamoto broke his chains easily as he did with Stella.

"Thank you! Thank you!" the 5 people started thanking Yamamoto nonstop with tears in their eyes.

"Now follow me, we must escape from here" said Yamamoto as he started the escape again.

"You are a benevolent man Fire Demon!" said the big man with tears in his eyes. The other people were also crying strangely, as they continued to flatter Yamamoto.

Their status as slaves would cause them to be hunted down until they were found, as they escaped from a Celestial Dragon and have the characteristic mark of Heavenly Dragons.

Being invited to follow Yamamoto gives them a place to go and someone to protect them, and who better than the Fire Demon himself.

"..." Yamamoto said nothing and continued heading for the castle exit.