Minotaur

Baldur had initially intended to resolve this situation peacefully, as being aggressive hadn't worked out well for him in previous encounters.

However, upon hearing the words of this bastard, he didn't hesitate to attack with all his might. Quickly increasing his speed thanks to the Devil Fruit, he unleashed three rapid punches to the pirate's stomach, and without giving him time to react, he sent him flying several hundred meters into the forest.

"Captain! Captain Joseph!" his crewmates rushed toward the battle, but before taking a single step.

*Boom*

A massive explosion enveloped them all along with one of the ships. Most of them died instantly, but a few survived with burns all over their bodies and melted eyes hanging from their faces.

The vice-captain emerged relatively unscathed, with only a few minor burns on one arm.

Vice-captain: "Tch, thanks to that idiot, most of the soldiers are dead...," suddenly, he turned his gaze to some trees on the left.

"Hey, you! Come out of there if you don't want me to find you myself!"

Rose emerged slowly with a smile on her face, and behind her appeared several dozen soldiers, holding a cut thread in their hands. Naturally, she had placed some explosive traps on the beach, anticipating that some pirates would arrive sooner or later.

Rose: "You could be more polite with a lady, don't you think? Fufufu."

A bit irritated, the vice-captain quickly vanished from sight. Rose ducked and narrowly avoided some massive claws, but some soldiers behind her weren't as fortunate. Legs, heads, and stomachs were scattered in the sand.

*Bang*

*Bang*

*Bang*

The soldiers began shooting at point-blank range, but none of the shots managed to hit the humanoid cheetah, who moved swiftly among the men, attacking with its fierce claws.

Rose: "Hmp, troublesome." She pulled several explosives from her pockets and threw them at the cheetah and the soldiers.

*Boom*

The remaining soldiers were blown to pieces, and the sand was completely dyed red by this point.

A figure jumped and quickly ran toward Rose's position. She narrowly avoided the attack, but it still left a deep wound in her stomach.

Rose: "No! You damned!" 'A little more, and he would have killed my baby...'

Backing away, she loaded the weapon she had used against Brogy and aimed it at the pirate, who was bleeding profusely and missing an arm.

Vice-captain: "Bitch... Hahaha, aren't you going to ask my name?"

Waiting for the woman's response to take advantage, no voice came from her, just an indifferent look.

Rose: "Die, you cursed kitty."

*Boom*

Before Rose could fire, the pirate had already made his move. However, the speed of the projectile surprised him and hit him squarely.

When the dust and sand dissipated, only a few bones and random bits of flesh remained scattered on the beach.

Rose: "Well... I guess Lexter will be mad if he finds out I didn't cut off his head first."

Exhausted, she fell to the ground and looked in the direction of the forest, listening to the battle between Baldur and the pirate captain.

Thud

Thud

Joseph and Baldur exchanged direct blows with each other, but the pirate had a certain advantage, being in his Minotaur hybrid form.

He threw Baldur off and delivered a strong punch to his chest, making him cough up blood and hitting a rock. Without wasting time, he lunged and struck at him.

Turning his head, Baldur narrowly dodged the punch and counterattacked with a kick to the groin and another to the jaw, momentarily leaving the Minotaur confused. Without giving him a chance to react, he ferociously struck the beast with rapid blows, leaving him stunned.

Baldur began to run in circles to leverage gravity's force and accelerated with his fist forward, impacting the pirate's face, sending him flying once again and destroying a portion of the forest due to the impact.

*Drip*

*Drip*

*Drip*

Joseph got up from the crater with a slight nosebleed, releasing a mouthful of blood.

Joseph: "Was that Haki? Hahahaha, this fight is more fun than I thought... let's go for the next round!"

Baldur was panting a bit; a while ago, he used a slight layer of Armament in his attack, which, although minimal, was enough to boost his attack power. While also using Tekkai to withstand blows, his stamina was rapidly depleting.

Baldur: "What's with this guy... I hit him with my strongest punch, and he barely flinched; he's even tougher than the Giants of Little Garden."

He was snapped out of his thoughts when a shadow loomed over him and struck the ground, creating a massive crater.

Joseph: "Well, you're quite capable. How about joining my crew? We're heading to the New World; we heard Kaido was assembling a crew of Beast Men... What do you say?"

Baldur burst into laughter and quickly resumed his attack. He swiftly positioned himself behind Joseph and delivered a knee strike towards the nape of his neck, which was blocked by the beast's arm. Undeterred, he attacked from below with several kicks.

Skillfully evading the beast's blows, he managed to land two powerful punches on the forehead, giving him the opportunity to execute a charged attack.

Baldur started running in circles again, gathering kinetic energy.

Joseph: "Is that all you know how to do, you idiot!?"

Enraged, Joseph prepared to receive the attack.

However, what happened next left him speechless. Baldur stopped running in circles and moved deep into the forest.

Joseph: "Hey, where are you going, you idiot—"

*Boom*

An enormous explosion, twice as large as the previous one, interrupted his sentence and devastated a significant part of the forest.

The smoke cloud reached nearly a thousand meters in height.

Obviously, this was another of the traps that Rose had set. Baldur, knowing about these traps, didn't hesitate to use them against his opponent.

When all the smoke dissipated, Joseph was practically charred but not dead.

Joseph: "Ahgggggg, aggghhh, ahhhh..."

Making noises, roars, and unidentifiable words, the Minotaur seemed like a monster from hell.

Baldur: "Ahahahaha, that's what you deserve, you bastard! But... there..."

Mocking Joseph, he remembered that he had several broken bones, including some ribs. He quickly approached to deliver the final blow, but... with sheer determination, Joseph managed to grab his foot and slammed him to the ground with all the strength he had left.

Baldur cried out in pain but swiftly freed himself and, with a kick, ripped the Minotaur's head off since his skin and muscles were completely burned.

Baldur: "Whew, you... whew, you were a tough one... whew."