C49 : Eradication

• [Somewhere in the now-huge world] {Year : 21.10} •

A handsome young man with long shaggy black hair and blank green eyes stood and looked at the far distance. His presence emitted a sharpness that swords would have. Corpses of strange-looking beings littered around him on the island.

Pure white snow fell on the island, becoming dark blue colored when it touched the corpses. When the young man saw these, he looked as if he was used to it as he walked by them.

He slightly relaxed himself and his presence slowly became hidden like a sword being sheathed. His green eyes remained blank while he prepared to jump. In a brief moment, the young man looked in a direction and became a sword-beam towards it.

When he reached his destination, the green-eyed young man landed onto a largely-forested island. Not only that, his presence that had been recently sheathed exploded with immense sharpness that the residents on the island could practically feel it. He looked around with his blank green eyes.

The nearby residents didn't have time to panic while they instinctively brought out their battle form out. Most of them became donned with armors and weapons of their choice, but they all had one resemblance — a long pitch-black tail behind their hips.

One of them opened their mouth and spoke but the young man didn't understand nor did he care as he lightly rose his hand and waved it away.

*woosh*

In an instant, several of those beings became ashes before nothing was at where they were. The rest of surviving beings who wasn't on that side where he lightly waved were stupefied and some of them even wanted to think that it was just a mere dream.

"A mere human dares?!" A familiar-looking being suddenly roared out in the sky, looking down at the young man with green eyes. His presence had a tinge of familiarity when the young man looked at him.

'A Havoc Bringer...'

"All of you, assemble and eliminate him now! We have an order from the general to fulfill, why are you all being dumb fools?!" The yellow-scaled Havoc Bringer snarled at the dumbfounded black-tailed beings. This snapped them out of it.

They promptly moved in an orderly manner as if they had been trained to the point that their body would subconsciously know what to do. It was also the reason why they instinctively brought out their battle forms in an instant.

However, the yellow-scaled Havoc Bringer frowned. In the black-tailed beings were fear and discourage. The young man barely gave them a glance while looking up at the Havoc Bringer. He rose his hand once again, frightening the black-tailed beings into scatters.

"Do you think that'll work on me? Hah-"

*woosh*

The young man stared at the falling ashes slowly becoming nothing. His green eyes showed no changes, as if he had been looking at the sky.

*rumble*

An immense heat surged forth all of sudden. "...Who are you?"

A deep voice resounded in the whole island. Due to the immense heat, the heavily forested island began to catch fire. The green-eyed young man remained standing still when his head turned slightly to the source of the voice. It was also an another Havoc Bringer, but it wore red outfit, covering its scales and skin.

However, he didn't speak. The young man with green eyes simply looked at him with blankness. The red-clothed Havoc Bringer abruptly roared. "For a mere human to be this strong! Haha! What is your name?"

"..." The young man with blank green eyes remained mute and his presence steadily became sharper than before. It showed that he had been merely using a portion of his all-out.

Several invisible swords manifested and hovered around him. The young man gave a brief glance at the black-tailed beings and all of invisible swords charged at them immediately.

But like the other race he'd just eradicated on the past island, they seemed to have sensed those invisible swords as they tried to defend themselves.

*clang*

*sssh*

Most of them failed to defend because the invisible swords were far too quick and sharp, their corpse falling onto the ground as fire razed over the greenery island. The red-clothed Havoc Bringer frowned. The young man was simply ignoring him while eliminating the residents of the burning island.

"Why are you doing this?" The Havoc Bringer asked. He didn't really care about the black-tailed beings but he wanted to know why the young man was doing it.

"..." Blank green eyes met his inferno-colored eyes. The red-clothed Havoc Bringer abruptly closed his eyes.

"You...!"

A burning blood fell off one of his eyes. The red-outfitted Havoc Bringer felt it and became enraged. A mere human actually injured him!

"Rise, Inferno Vulcan!"

*rumble*

The burning island froze and shook, sending out waves. Slowly it rose and the burning greenery became even more furious as its flames became pitch red and blazed heavily. The island changed and became an gigantic being with inferno traits all over its body, burning flames all around. The sea evaporated into mist rapidly when they approached the gigantic being's heat radius.

"Humanity will perish in this century." The red-clothed Havoc Bringer sneered at the young man when he rose into the sky and continued to blankly look. The Havoc Bringer moved to the Inferno Vulcan and merged. "The general will be coming after all."

His already deep voice became more malicious and heavier when he merged with the Inferno Vulcan. The gigantic being originally hadn't seemed like it had life and was a doll, but when the Havoc Bringer merged, it was as if the doll became a alive being.

However, the young man before it also resembled like a lifeless doll. He merely rose his arm vertically, countless swords manifesting. They hovered everywhere around the Inferno Vulcan and the young man.

"..." The red-cladded Havoc Bringer within the Inferno Vulcan became speechless. He clearly knew the strength of those swords since they practically sliced through the armors created by a certain Havoc Bringer who was a famous blacksmith in their race. The blacksmith's creations weren't something that could be cut like they were human flesh.

Not only that, some remnants scars of those swords from back then remained on the gigantic being's exterior too. There wasn't even any blazing flames over it like the 'veins' there were disconnected.

The Inferno Vulcan rumbled and the mist continued to appear while the countless swords shifted and aimed at the large gigantic burning lifeform. The young man suddenly seemed to have gained life as his green eyes glanced around.

His voice was finally heard. "So you ate a devil fruit as well."

"...You finally speak." The Havoc Bringer frowned even more deeper when the young man stated that he ate a devil fruit. It was indeed true, he ate Fire Fire Fruit : Model - Inferno, which was a branch of Fire Fire Fruit. "Care to tell who you are now?"

The young man with green eyes merely smiled. "I didn't think that I would see a Havoc Bringer again, after killing that blue one back then."

"...You are the one who killed Little Spark?" The Inferno Vulcan's facial couldn't be made out more clearly but disbelief was in its tone. "If you are, that means you wiped out a group of Havoc Bringers... not only that, Little Spark is also a descendant of the general too."

The young man rolled his green eyes. "Little Spark?"

"It's not me who named him. It was the general after all." The Inferno Vulcan muttered before its eyes glowed intensely. Pitch red flames burned even more as the merged Inferno Vulcan rose again. Soon, its body reached the sky and its hip was right above the sea. "Inferno Lotus!"

*WOOSH*

The mist that had been made over the brief time around them was abruptly sent away from them. Volcanic lava rumbled the sea floor and forced it to crack open for it to exit it. The sea floor finally gave up and opened several cracks and holes as volcanic lava splurged out of them. Those volcanic lava had hints of pitch red color, revealing that the merged Havoc Bringer had used his devil fruit to call it forth.

It didn't stop appearing and continued to rise even as sea clashed against it, only turning into fog. All of sudden, the massive island-sized volcanic lava changed into more liquid and exploded in every direction.

At that moment, the Inferno Vulcan roared heavily and moved to punch the young man.

*RUMBLE*

The young man curled up a corner of his lip. The intensity of the near-invisible swords hovering around them increased and immediately moved towards the Inferno Vulcan. They left no traces in their path, it was as if they flowed with the air's 'movement' as they closed in the large red flames-spouting being.

Countless swords pierced through the Inferno Vulcan and yet it seemed that it had boundless vitality as it continued to move. Pitch red flames burst on the Inferno Vulcan's fist and the heat it generated was so strong enough that the young man with green eyes felt his body growing hotter as it approached him.

However, the young man found it intriguing because he was merely a manifestation of the Solitary Pirate's Will. The fact that he could feel while in the manifestation who was a mere Sword Intent... Was he still growing stronger? To be honest, he didn't really find that exciting now than before.

After all, he now had loved ones and Ryu certainly didn't want to shorten their time together. It was fortunate that he didn't go himself, only sending a strand of his Sword Intent. Even though it was just a strand of himself, it was still able to use at least 75% of the original self's full power. This way, Ryu would be able to test the waters with the stronger Havoc Bringers.

Ryu didn't hesitate to immediately brandish his Sword Will contained within the clone, quickly piecing down the large fist that was rapidly approaching.

However, the Inferno Vulcan merely continued as if it still remained there. The fallen pieces of its arm suddenly blew up and emitted an intense red flames that rapidly returned to the Inferno Vulcan's missing arm. What appeared there was an arm composed of red flames, which seemed to be Inferno Fire as it sent off deep roars.

The green-eyed young man frowned and moved backwards, easily dodging the large fist. The Inferno Vulcan's blazing flames-arm suddenly exploded and sent off a lot of Inferno Fire everywhere around it. Ryu waved his hand, his invisible swords accurately striking them away from him.

The moment Inferno Fires made contact with those invisible swords, the Havoc Bringer sneered. "A mistake."

"Oh?" Ryu curled up his lip when he noticed what was going on. His invisible swords actually became aflame, burning with intensity. Those invisible swords manifested by his will was actually being burned. "It looks like you've mastered your devil fruit quite well."

"Hah, I only wish I found the Fire Fire Fruit instead. With it..." The red-cladded Havoc Bringer rumbled, shifting the Inferno Vulcan's arm with blazing red flames away. "...I could have achieved greater power than just Inferno Fires."

"Unlikely." Ryu rolled his eyes, while the Inferno Vulcan seemed to be annoyed with its eyes blazing even more intensely. "You are a Havoc Bringer. The Devils has never made any deals with your race or any other races than Humans. Let me guess, you were unable to eat Fire Fire Fruit : Model - Inferno in a normal way."

"..." The Inferno Vulcan didn't answer and only watched as its Inferno Fire burned the invisible swords to its dust.

"The humans are the only ones who are able to achieve the absolute mastery of their respective fruits... and you certainly aren't a human." Ryu curled up the corner of his mouth.

"I will not fail to surpass the Inferno Devil, I will soar beyond the Devil!" The Inferno Vulcan exploded with anger boiling its now-dark red flames. "I will become the Inferno Devil and better!"

The clone of Ryu snorted. "Looks like you're concerned about your power."

The Inferno Vulcan opened its mouth and, rapidly, a huge amount of Inferno Fire appeared in it. Few fell off as they were propelled towards Ryu's location. It was so large that Ryu stayed but looked calm.

When the 'beam' of Inferno Fire closed in, Ryu was immediately encased in it. The Inferno Vulcan didn't stop at that as it rose both of its arms to Ryu's location. It was going to clasp both of its hands with Ryu and Inferno Fire in it.

Ryu obviously wouldn't let that happen. While he was encased by the Inferno Fires, he was barely affected as his Sword Aura remained powerful. The invisible swords were demolished to the dust by those Inferno Fires but the Sword Aura was more stronger than them. It passively blocked out any dangerous attacks from Ryu, allowing him to easily prepare. He rose a hand and called out. "Diminish."

The Inferno Fires that had been blazing shook heavily, as if it became an object and a child foolishly shook it. Ryu's Sword Aura that had been acting passively began to explode out and was ready to move the moment Ryu thought for it.

"Just a warning, I will kill you the moment I see you." Ryu casually said to the Inferno Vulcan who slowly appeared in his sights. He chuckled. 'Since your complex is easy to handle with, I shall fight fire with fire...'

An immensely scorching hot sword manifested. It was so hot that even the Inferno Fires began to grow and yet diminish quicker. The large and tall Inferno Vulcan sensed danger from it, a mere burning sword when it was a fire giant.

The Havoc Bringer within the large fire giant growled. A mere heat actually scared him a bit... this simply just pricked his pride. "Little human, you will die here now!"

The Inferno Vulcan bellowed with an infuriated roar, suddenly exploding its body. The island that was used for the creation of a huge fire giant began to crack and fall off, slowly revealing the actual body of the Inferno Vulcan.

"I... will...!" The red Havoc Bringer within the Inferno Vulcan bellowed in a rage. He forcibly shouted as the Inferno Vulcan rose both of its arms horizontally and straight-lined. "...Become better!"

Shedded from the island, the large fire giant blazed with intense red flames, flickering. Not only that, the ocean that had slowly approached immediately evaporated and created deep mist around them once again. The Inferno Vulcan's immense heat continuously emitted like it did not have an end to it.

"Know my name, mortal! I will be the next Inferno Devil, Dante!" The Havoc Bringer within the large flaming giant declared, a twisted smile flashing his face despite the Inferno Fire hiding him from outside.

However...

*ziing~*

The moment Ryu was able to see the Inferno Vulcan after the Inferno Fires dispersed from him, he kept his words. The burning sword that had simply hovered in front of Ryu, immediately shot towards the fire giant. Despite realizing that, Dante, the red-cladded Havoc Bringer, couldn't react on time as the burning sword precisely went through the fire giant and neared his true body, the forehead of the Inferno Vulcan.

It was as if the burning sword was stabbing through a butter smoothly, only in this case, the fire giant's head was the large butter. The burning sword reached the red-cladded Havoc Bringer and it did not stop at all, piercing through his chest.

Dante spurted blood after the burning sword left the Inferno Vulcan's head, swiftly returning to Ryu's side. "You...!"

"And you're expecting to become a Devil when you are this weak?" Ryu scoffed. He waved his hand, the burning sword rotating to aim at the red-cladded Havoc Bringer within the Inferno Vulcan. "...Well, not like I know how strong real Devils are."

The dark-red Inferno Vulcan seemed to have slightly diminished due to its user taking harm. Dante growled while the pierced hole on his chest remained, unresponsive to Havoc Bringers' natural regeneration.

The green-eyed man merely stared at him. "Well? You claimed you would become a Devil, so why don't you do it?"

Dante remained silent. After all, he'd already Awakened his devil fruit but still didn't become a Devil. The Inferno Vulcan was a mere proof of his Awakening mastery, so Dante knew that he began to understand the process of achieving mastery of his devil fruit.

Ryu didn't waste time any further and said while the burning sword began to move again. "No matter, you still wouldn't be able to fight against me."

When the red-cladded Havoc Bringer in the Inferno Vulcan heard him, his eyes dulled. It was as if he was reminded of something he despised. He turned his eyes onto the human floating in the sky. "Is that so...?"

The Inferno Vulcan's flames abruptly blared largely and densely. Dante seemed to have relaxed within it, seeming to have lost interests. But Ryu frowned, the burning sword immediately went towards the Inferno Vulcan once again.

This time, Dante expected it but did nothing to stop it. Just right when the burning sword was going to pierce the Inferno Vulcan, Ryu halted. "You intended to absorb it?"

Dante gnashed his teeth but did not say anything as the Inferno Vulcan rumbled and moved towards Ryu, unhesitatingly. Due to its large body, it seemed slow.

"Well, I don't mind... if you can that is." Ryu shrugged slightly before the burning sword began to penetrate the Inferno Vulcan's body in an immediate speed.

The Inferno Vulcan froze when it tried to do exactly what Ryu predicted. Dante didn't seem to be feeling any harm because he was indirectly absorbing it. However, the Inferno Vulcan's body slowly became smaller. It even roared out loud, without Dante's control.

"What?!" Dante became confused.