Another World Noble

Seeing Lucci defeated so easily by the samurai, the masked man realised he was going to have to make a move to accomplish his task.

He started walking towards Shunsui who he believed to be the biggest threat present. When he covered half the distance, Bulat (Roman) shot towards him like a cannon. When he saw the masked man charging at him he frowned slightly because he discovered that this man was also incredibly powerful. Every step taken by Bulat created a tiny crater in the earth.

When Bulat was close enough to him he thrust his spear forth creating a faint roaring sound as it moved. For a second the masked man felt as if the roaring came from a genuine dragon. Even though he was slightly surprised by the power of the attack, he still reacted calmly. His right arm turned black as he coated it in a layer of haki, but just as he was about to block the spear thrust he noticed 2 throwing knives shooting towards him. One was aiming to pierce the space between his brows and the other was flying towards his heart.

[They're quite strong and seeing how well they work together they should be an S Rank adventurer team in the federation.]

His other arm shot out like lightning catching both throwing knives between his fingers. It was then that Roman's spear finally collided with the masked man's right arm only forcing him back one baby step.

Seeing how calmly he blocked both attacks Roman and Shaya were thinking exactly the same thing.

[He's too strong to beat without using our devil fruits.]

The man glanced at both Shaya and Roman and for the first time since arriving he opened his mouth.

"You 2 are quite strong…

But you're far from enough!"

He was preparing to move when the sound of Shunsui clearing his throat could be heard. As he turned around he saw the samurai holding his sword to St. Charloss' neck.

"Ahem. Mr. CP operative, don't you think we should bring todays proceedings to an end. I don't want anything to happen to a World Noble, but if I were to see you take a step towards my friends the shock 'might' be too much to handle and my sword 'might' end up cutting the neck of Mr. World Noble over here."

The masked man glared at the samurai and released a dense killing intent to pressure the samurai.

"You wouldn't dare!"

Shunsui didn't seem to feel the killing intent as he looked directly into the eyes of the masked man. His expression was light, but the masked man could see unwavering resolution.

"Try me!"

Just as tensions reached an all new peak another world noble appeared from inside the gate. He was holding a giant club over his shoulder as he walked. He looked at Otohime and said apologetically.

"I'm sorry I'm late Queen Otohime, I intended to meet you here at the gate, but I was 'held up'. Please forgive me!"

As he said the words 'held up' he looked towards Charloss indicating Charloss was the one who had him delayed.

Queen Otohime shook her head with a breath taking smile as she replied.

"St. Mjosgard, you don't need to apologise. As you can see I'm okay but unfortunately my protectors have run in to some trouble with some of your associates."

"If you're worried about them being punished then you can put down your worries. They were simply protecting my personal guest when Rob Lucci of CP9 and Cipher Pol's head instructor Kildred overstepped their bounds by attacking you in the first place. Both will be heavily reprimanded."

Hearing his name mentioned the masked man glared at St. Mjosgard but ultimately didn't dare to say or do anything.

As Mjosgard spoke he walked towards Charloss who was still trembling under Shunsui's sword.

"Samurai, lower your sword. Holding a Celestial Dragon under duress could be seen as crime."

Shunsui didn't pay attention to the almost order of this newly arrived Saint as he wasn't sure whether or not he could trust him. Even though he knew Otohime had saved him in the past and he was acting as if they were on the same side, bar his mother no World Noble he'd met so far had been good news.

Knowing Otohime had the ability to see the true nature of a person he glanced in her direction. She understood what his look meant and gave him a gentle nod indicating it was ok. As Shunsui lowered his sword, Mjosgard arrived before the shaking Charloss.

"As for you Charloss…"

Bang!

Mjosgard sent the shivering World Noble flying with a hit from his club.

"I already warned you, if you try anything with my guests today you'd regret it. Try anything again and I'll crush you!"

He then turned to Otohime and smiled.

"Queen Otohime would you and your guards like to follow me? I'll get them settled in temporary accommodation before we depart for Mary Geoise."

As he said that he lead Otohime and her party through the gate and 15 minutes later they ended up at a quiet yet good quality inn. He turned to Shunsui and said almost as if he wasn't giving Ori a choice.

"The owner of this inn is a personal friend of mine, I've already warned them of your arrival. You'll stay here for the next 48 hours until we return from Mary Geoise."

When he said that Shunsui turned to Otohime and said.

"Your majesty, can I have a word with you privately for a moment?"

Otohime nodded and lead him aside.

"Aunty Otohime, are you sure you can trust him?"

Otohime smiled and nodded as she replied.

"Although he comes across somewhat arrogant, he's not a bad person, my life will be safe in his hands. Plus, the true higher ups in the World Noble won't easily make a move on me in the open. Although we of fishman island can't compare to the World Government overall, they know that if it were to really come down to it our armies are enough to substantially weaken their forces especially as they mostly travel over the seas which is our turf."

Ori nodded knowing that she wasn't wrong. Fighting against the Fisher Tiger and the Sun Pirates was one thing as they didn't have the authority to mobilise the army of Fishman Island but killing or capturing Queen Otohime would effectively be declaring war on Fishmen everywhere.

"That man Kildred, he should be as strong as if not stronger than Akainu. With his power he should hold a prominent post in the government, how could he dare to be so brazen when making a move against you?"

Otohime let out a sigh as she looked up to the sky and said.

"Kildred is the head instructor of the World Government's most lethal force, he's very highly regarded in the World Government. Years ago when he was but an ordinary CP0 operative he was tasked with assassinating Whitebeard but at the time Whitebeard and my husband Neptune were very good friends. They spent a lot of their time together creating a storm in the New World.

When Kildred and his team made contact with Whitebeard, my husband who was with him refused to stand by and watch. In that battle Neptune and Whitebeard killed off Kildred's team and Kildred was forced to flee on his own. Since then, the 2 people Kildred hates most is Whitebeard and Neptune. Kildred probably saw this as a chance to take revenge.

As for why he felt so confident about doing it in the open, you should've realised that you couldn't feel his presence when you tried to scan him with your haki. Well that's because of his mask. The masks worn by CP0 and CP9 operatives prevent observation haki from scanning them.

Being one of the leading members of CP0 his mask is top quality to the point where even I couldn't see through it! It wasn't till Mjosgard said his name did I realise who it was. He knew that with the mask no one would be able to trace his identity."

Ori was shocked when he heard about the functions of Cipher Pol's masks.

[I had no idea Neptune was so powerful in the past. In the canon he was already weakened by his age and old injuries, so even though I knew he was once fairly powerful, I never expected him to be that powerful.

And those masks… To think they could neutralise peak level observation haki. Incredible!]

Ori nodded knowing that since he missed the best opportunity to capture Otohime he more than likely wouldn't risk try again!

Shunsui and Otohime walked back to Mjosgard and the other disguised Heavenly Demons. Seeing their return Mjosgard said.

"I've sorted their accommodation out, are you ready to leave yet?"

Otohime smiled ignoring the mans impatience and said gently.

"I'm ready.

Shunsui, you and your team should take this time to relax. I'll be back in 48 hours."