Chapter 40 - Retrieving the Black Artemis! Wind Blades in the Cliff!

Ryu's lively roar echoed throughout the island, shocking both its inhabitants and the marines who were climbing the mountain. Even though it was not strong enough to make the ships tremble, it was still something that made all the marines in the fleet down at the pier listen perfectly.

Eric, who until now had been carrying low hopes of finding what he wanted, developed a sinister smile when he saw the majestic dragon standing.

"Kyahaha, finally! Soon the Dragonite will be in my hands and I will be immortal!" Speaking to himself so that no one would hear him, Eric looked at his goal with fire in his eyes.

And Noah, who was watching everyone below, signaled to Nami and Nojiko.

"You can go now. We'll wait until you get off the pier." Seeing that the marines would take some time to reach their location, he estimated it would be a few minutes. This was essential for them to retrieve their ship.

"Okay. Bye bye!" Nami winked at him and sent him a flying kiss.

"Bye, honey!" Nojiko did the same when she gave him a beautiful smile and jumped along with Nami from where they were.

Swoosh!

As soon as they properly set foot on the ground, the two immediately sped up towards the village. Now that they were no longer carrying Apis, they could finally display their full movement speed.

Watching them descend the mountain at high speed, Apis opened her mouth in shock. She knew they were strong, but not that they were this much. She barely blinked and they were already far away!

And to interrupt her thoughts, she heard Noah's voice, along with a hand messing up her hair.

"Climb on top of Ryu, you will be safer there." With the amount of flintlock rifles and the command of a psychopath like Eric, he did not want to test whether Apis was bulletproof. So it was better to stay behind who is.

"Is everything going to be okay?" Even knowing they were strong, she couldn't help but ask worriedly. After all, when she considered that there were only three of them to face all these navy people, she inevitably felt that it would be difficult.

"Of course it will. With Ryu and me here, no one will lay a finger on you." Noah smiled at her and gave a light pat on the old dragon, "Isn't that right?"

"Hmmph!" Letting out a sound through his nose, Ryu looked at Apis proudly before lowering his head and suddenly making her fall on his snout.

"Kyaa!" At first, Apis was a bit scared, but she soon laughed when he made her fall straight onto his head, "Haha, I know, I know. I trust you!"

With her happy laughter, Ryu looked at Noah soon after, his large, wise yellow eyes showing a lot of appreciation. After all, if it wasn't for him, these old bones would not have been able to stand so far.

But for Noah, it was no problem at all. Thanks to his increasingly longer hunts, with him getting stronger every day, the amount of small orbs (fallen from the black rabbits and below) in his inventory increased a lot. To him, it would be like a small snack, while for the girls it was no longer so useful.

However, when applied to Ryu, who had never experienced it before and was on the brink of death, it was sufficient to rejuvenate him for a few years and enable him to stand once again. Regrettably, it didn't increase lifespan, but it was adequate for the time being. Ryu didn't desire a longer life, but rather to savor his final moments with genuine happiness.

°°°

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Two figures were speeding through the forest, and moments later they arrived in the village. Nami and Nojiko looked around and realized it was practically infested with marines.

"Stealth or hit head-on?" Nami looked at her sister, wanting to know if she felt like challenging herself a bit.

"Do you think we can steal a ship in stealth?" The smile that was forming on Nojiko's face made it more and more obvious what answer she wanted to give.

With the decision made, they didn't delay any longer. Even unarmed at the moment, they were sure they could at least steal the ship.

Going their separate ways, Nami ran straight to the ship while Nojiko went the other way and soon approached a marine.

"Uggh..." The marine didn't get a chance to say anything before he suddenly passed out and fell to the ground.

"It's like taking candy from a baby." Nojiko smiled as she picked up the soldier's flintlock rifle to check if it was loaded. Even if it was slower than hers, it could still be useful for something.

While she was at it, she heard a set of voices from the marines.

"THEY'RE STEALING THE SHIP!"

"QUICK, IT'S ONE OF THE PIRATES!"

"FIRE!"

E Nami, who at that moment was in front of all of them, calmly looked at the set of rifles being pointed at her and only moved her two arms forward while continuing to run.

Wind Vortex!

A large amount of wind gathered in front of her, sucking in all the sailors and tearing the weapons from their hands before a wind explosion followed and sent everyone flying in different directions.

Taking advantage of the wind power around her, she remembered what Nojiko taught her and jumped into the air before using a counteracting force to kick the air with all her strength.

False Geppo!

Skilfully climbing onto the ship, she manipulated the wind in the area and her staff flew into her hand. Without delay, she stood on the edge of the ship when she applied all her strength to swipe in the air, her gaze focused on the various marines aiming at Nojiko, who was running towards the ship.

Flicking Tail!

Flying Slash Attack!

And in a mix of staff movements that she developed and Noah's sword movements, she launched a wind blade that carried a large part of her spiritual energy flying towards the marines' attacks.

RUMBLE!

As soon as the wind blade hit the ground near the marines, any bullet was sent flying in the opposite direction, hitting who shot, and the ground was completely torn apart, sending dust in all directions and causing them all to be immobilized for a while.

False Geppo!

"Thanks!" Nojiko only smiled at her sister as soon as she arrived at the ship, quickly starting to hoist the sails.

"You owe me one." Nami smiled at her as she entered the ship and approached a rotating lever to retrieve the anchor.

And in a matter of seconds, they got the ship running again and used a large amount of Spiritual Energy to push the ship forward.

And with that problem solved, another one came...

The fleet of Marine ships that was standing at the pier obviously saw all of this and immediately the ship's captains opted to prevent their escape.

"Cannons! Fire!"

And Nami, who was still inside the ship, only smiled satisfactorily when she entered the cannon room and started operating the firing mechanisms.

"Let's see which shot arrives first."

°°°

"They managed to steal the ship. Let's go." Noah watched with satisfaction as they brought down a fleet ship in front of them and escaped successfully, heading towards the rendezvous point.

Ryu, seeing that everything was fine to go, let out an excited roar as he stretched his majestic wings. The black feathers finally got a bit of sun after years locked in the cave and displayed their beautiful color. And his sharp tail swayed a bit from the excitement he was feeling.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The sound of his wings lifting off joined the large amount of winds that were raising and pushing away the dust. Even Noah's already messy hair was suffering quite a bit, his expression indifferent to each gust of wind that hit his face.

"ROOOARR!"

And with a roar of happiness, Ryu's body was lifting off the ground more and more. His body, which had long not felt the joy of flying, was slowly recovering memories of the past.

"Hahahaha, come on, Ryujin! You're flying, you really are flying!" Apis laughed with happiness, Ryu's 'whispers' being the happiest she had ever heard. It was as if he were a child again, saying how happy he was.

"ROOAR!" And with another roar, he finally stabilized in the air, making it much easier to fly.

Watching him finally fly, Noah had a sincere smile on his face, also happy to have fulfilled the old dragon's wish.

But, for all the fun, there was always the killjoy.

"Shoot the dragon!" Eric's thin voice echoed through the place as he gave the order to the line of sailors carrying the flintlock rifles. His shocked eyes showed that he did not expect this move and wanted to stop them from escaping.

And as said before. Killjoy...

Noah suddenly appeared in front of all the shots when he moved his hand down.

Wind Fall!

All the wind around seemed to have obeyed his command and an incredible wall of wind blew down, causing the bullets, as well as the marines, to be all squeezed on the ground by the incredible force.

Eric, resisting with difficulty the incredible suppression force, managed to look at Noah falling before a confident smile appeared on his face.

"So you're a Devil Fruit user, right? ... Good that I am too!"

Having eaten the Kama Kama no Mi (Sickle Sickle Fruit), he became a Sickle Man. As a Paramecia Devil Fruit, it gives the user long, sharp nails that they can use to create slicing air blades. And it was this power that he was going to use to get rid of the suppressive winds and attack Noah at the same time.

Managing to move with great difficulty, he opened his two hands and swung them towards him.

Kama Kama no Sharp Wind!

And as if by magic, several wind blades came out of his fingers while they destroyed the ground wherever they passed. The two waves of blades, each one coming from each of Eric's hands, were quickly approaching the place where Noah was going to land, threatening to destroy him as soon as he fell!

But with a sneering smile, Noah looked at the poor wind blades coming in his direction and mocked.

"Compete against me with that attack?" Feeling the wind stir around him, he landed on the ground at the same moment the blades were in front of him, "Then let's go!"

Shing!

Flying Slash Attack! TENFOLD!

As fast as the wind, ten blades collided with the wind waves that came, tearing them apart while destroying rocks and earth on their path, digging much deeper. A dust explosion filled the place, blocking everyone's view.

Swoosh!

Another wind explosion blew away all the dust as Noah sped towards Eric. His calm and indifferent expression showed that he was not even bothered by this blow, and now he wanted more.

"How?!" Surprised at how his attack was casually dismissed by the other party, Eric panicked as he saw that demon rapidly approaching. He raised his arms to continue his stroke.

But it was too late.

Wind Thrust!

With a quick and fluid movement, Noah focused his Wind Manipulation on the tip of the sword and struck directly at Eric's chest. His mind was calm and secure as he looked straight into Eric's glasses while feeling his sword lightly pierce his chest.

And then.

Bang! BOOM!

The wind bullet that pierced his heart kept going towards the ground and started to lift the earth wherever it went, destroying everything in its path. Another dust cloud rose among the shocked marines, who could not believe that this was actually happening.

But before they could say anything or rise to attack Noah, a roar made everyone's heart tremble.

"ROOOAARR!"

A wind swirled around the place and revealed Ryu, who was flying above everyone. His yellow eyes stared deeply at all the soldiers, making them not even dare to stand up. And with a fluid movement, he circled the air and descended towards the ground.

"I'm going!"

Taking one last look at Eric's lifeless body, he ran a bit before jumping high and soon the ground beneath him was replaced by a heavy feathered back.

"Noah! Sit here." Apis shouted at him with a smile as she saw him land on Ryu's back. She was completely unaware of the things that had happened below, as Ryu blocked her view most of the time.

"You're the boss..." Smiling at her, Noah took one last look back at the Lieutenant Captain who was running away in the distance, and ignored him.

With his gaze focused on the Black Artemis that was quickly approaching the meeting point, he wrapped him and Apis in a wind cover to negate the effects of acceleration and felt Ryu's flight stabilize as he enjoyed the descent from the cliff.

'Things are going to get quite interesting now.'