Mantis trying to stop a chariot

"You wanted me to make my appearances before you peasant. Here I am standing before you. Come on do something. Aren't you going to entertain this monarch?"

As he ended saying that, both began walking step by step toward's Dethel's direction, who pushed more of his spikes on his insect exoskeleton.

Yet the two Vlad's raised their swords and strikes him in opposite directions.

Both said at the same time in synchrony.

"Come, insect man, show me your valour. Don't just bark."

His feet began being covered in blood as he ended saying that. He moved even faster compared to his first dash.

Dethel could see the two Vlad's looking coldly at him while their feet gave out blood, making their steps clearly a [Blood Dash]

Grabbing the sword in his hand, he clashed with one of Vlad's swords. Before not long, another of his appearance stabbed him on his side body. Piercing his exoskeleton, making his bodily fluid gush out uncontrolled.

"Argh, you cheap bastard. That's the fair fight you're offering me?" roared Dethel while placing his hand on the opened wound.

Yet both Vlad's said together, a bit annoyed.

"If you can't even defeat them how can you face the last challenge? Go on insect man, my clones are just half of my strength."

Hearing that from both of the Vlad's who looked at him with disdain made him grit his teeth. His insect eyes turned out slightly red from fury before staring intently at both of them for any weakness.

Gripping his sword, Dethel pushed all his strength in his legs when suddenly he sprinted while his hand was ready to strike one of Vlad's [Blood Clones].

Moving at a great speed, he arrived in front of one of Vlad's clones in just some seconds while also swinging his sword to cut him apart.

But as he cut Vlad's body, a large amount of blood splashed from the clone on the ground, making his figure missing some mass and shape.

However unstable as the clone was, it still pushed its hand to pierce Dethel's body again in a cold manner.

Staring at Vlad's shattered body and at the cold body of the sword stabbing him on his stomach, he quickly stepped back to dodge the second Vlad attack.

"You got me with that one insect man. But let's increase the difficulty a bit." said the shattered clone, who only had a small part of his body and head while not long giving a sinister laugh.

The intact clone touched the shattered Vlad, and suddenly it devoured all of the blood in the shattered clone.

The second Vlad started transforming the noble clothing in a set of armor.

Vlad suddenly took a step on the blood floor from where he was, which quickly propelled him toward Dethel, to his imminent surprise.

'[Blood Swordplay - Flow of Blood]'

Thinking about this attack Vlad, manipulated the clone from the shadows using his mind to attack Dethel with a combination of cuts and thrusts, picking apart his upper and lower body.

'Sigh, this insect man is close to his road. Well, he did give me a surprising fight to push my basic form around so much. Even the simple blood powers were barely enough.'

'[Blood Swordplay - Blood's Wrath]'

Following the combo that was 'Flow of Blood', Vlad manipulated his blood clone to take a conventional sword stance from his first world, the wrath guard.

Using the Blood World's advantage, he pushed the clone, using the blood around its legs to give a finishing blow to Dethel.

Arriving in front of the pirate in brief moments, he already was slashing his sword from the Wrath Guard while the blade give out a blood stroke.

Dethel felt a chill run down his spine when he saw Vlad's cold eyes and sword that was approaching his head.

"NOOO, I'm not finished with you!" roared Dethel as he pushed himself from the sword range but still failing to dodge all the attack. His last mantis arm extension being chopped apart.

Gritting his teeth, Dethel tensed his entire body while pushing his arms in a sword form. His legs began giving popping sounds from the tension they were under while his body was giving off continuous insect blood.

Suddenly a sudden wave happened inside the blood world that pushed the blood under where his feet were seconds ago.

Dethel pushed himself toward Vlad's clone, drawing back his sword while his arms were prepared to strike.

Getting instantly in front of Vlad, Dethel strikes while slicing Vlad's head with one of his arms, and using his remaining arm, he stabbed in his heart. When entering Vlad's chest, he felt only coldness instead of a warm beating heart.

Taking away his arm, he began swinging his arms at Vlad's blood clone, chopping it in different pieces.

After that, he suddenly began taking deep breaths, similar to a person trying to recover his energy.

Yet just as he was done chopping Vlad's clone, he saw the chopped parts suddenly turn into liquid and moving toward what was the center of this world, and also heard a cold laugh that turned almost sick.

"Impressive. You really are the real deal insect man. To think you'll even pass my clones test. But now, It's time for the real challenge to happen."

From the center of the blood world, the shadowy figure of a tall person appeared right in front of Dethel's eyes. He had a head almost entirely of white hair, his eyes were of abyssal color, while on his body there was a jet-black armor that was giving off some red lights."

Vlad looked at Dethel with emotionless eyes and while gripping Nemesis that was giving off a dark and red light.

He, not long after making his appearance, heard Dethel said to him, slightly exhausted.

"So you finally have come, you blood creep. Hmph, you think you can kill me easily after drowning my energy out. Just you wait."

Ending to say that, Dethel focused yet again his entire power on his muscles, tensing them even harder for the next attack.

The cracks on his exoskeleton happened rapidly as blood began drawing even more from him. Seconds passed, and Vlad still looked coldly at Dethel while his eyes were giving off a chilling atmosphere.

Dethel thought that Vlad was afraid of his next attack and pushed all his body strength even more into tensing all his muscles and dealing the strongest attack he has ever done.

Then suddenly, after no longer being able to tense his body, he lunged at extreme speeds towards Vlad while his fist was pushing on the air creating a great wind, without even releasing it.

"Mantis's Fury"

'Hoh, he wants to self-destruct himself and even kill me in doing so from the start. But while I'm in this form for at least one minute, I'm stronger than you'll ever imagine, insect man."

Taking the form of a Neben(Tail Guard), he instantly pushed the dark energy on his body and blood powers on Nemesis. The sword was covered and released a stream of dark smoke and red lights continuously. Then he thought for a brief moment at the following attack.

'[Dark Swordplay - Silent Death]'

As Dethel entered in his sword and body range while making the striking motion, Vlad immediately reacted and cut towards Dethel's torso.

A fist's impact was heard, but the screams of agony and pain were also heard, along with the sword cutting into flesh.

Vlad was sent flying after he slashed Dethel's torso, while similarly, the mantis man managed to land his strike successfully on his chest.

Crashing on the [Blood World] walls, even cracking the entire wall he crashed in, he felt his ribs broken, and even a part of his chest was messed up.

"Hah, hah. This mantis man sure pulled everything on the last strike. He even managed to crack the dark armor."

Ended Vlad saying after taking his time to breathe and recover what strength he had left.

Looking toward Dethel, he saw him screaming in agony while trying to touch the missing lower half of his body.

"My body! Where is my body!? Why this happened to me after only finding my source of power not to long ago. Curse you monster for what you did. I'll not let you go, not even when I'm a ghost."

Vlad heard Dethel's curses and cries of pain from his crashed position and only said coldly.

"You reap what you sow, pirate. Haven't you thought that raiding, pillaging, killing innocent people would start to accumulate, and at one point someone suffering from your doings would come to hunt you down?"

"What wrong do I have in a world that only the strong can dictate the rules. I only did what others also did!" screamed Dethel in pain towards Vlad, while his head and rest of the body turned back to his human appearance.

"Your right on something pirate. But I don't have an answer yet for you, but probably other people like you will find out about my answer and will come to tell you in hell."

"What, hell? You crazy fuck. There's no such thing, hell or heaven. It's just stories to make kids obedient." said Dethel with a weakened voice while still having some clarity in himself.

As he said that, it caused Vlad to laugh hysterically instead. His white hair began turning back to his jet-black while the dark armor also started turning to ash. Yet along with those changes, Vlad was still laughing at Dethel's comment while touching his ribcage and chest.

Dethel, who kept on losing blood, asked with a weakened and confused voice.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Ahh, man. Don't mind me, I was laughing at myself since you really reminded me of a period in time that I was also asking myself those questions."

His laugh only lasted for a while before slowly silence installed in the blood world. The minutes passed when finally, a voice was heard.

"Have you... found the answer to that question?" questioned Dethel with what could be his last breath

Sensing the dark mark on his chest pulsating while staring with his dark green eyes toward Dethel.

"Don't worry, you will find out on your own when you close your eyes." replied Vlad with a cold tone while touching his chest, feeling the small pulsating mark on his chest.

Hearing that from Vlad finally made Dethel close his eyes. Slowly his life was taken away from his body.

Looking at the pirate's body, Vlad saw a slightly twisted, smoky appearance exiting his body and rushing out from the blood world without even being stopped by his blood construct.

This left him surprised, making him look at the sky that twisted thing broke out.

"What was that thing just now?"

As he asked that, he began thinking of what he saw coming out from Dethel's body, but he couldn't conclude even after spending 15 minutes in silence.

"Sigh, forget it, maybe I will see this phenomenon again in the future and check it for good. Now let's take care of the rest of the pirates and take the kids with me to Picodras and recover."

Getting on his feet from where he was, the first thing he felt was an excruciating pain assaulting his body coming from his ribs area. Even his chest hurt when he moved just a little bit.

"Argh, this time I broke 5 ribs. Haha, good job insect man, you really did me good." said Vlad as he stared at Dethel's split body when he got on his feet.

Raising his hand, the [Blood World] suddenly began to open up, opening the enclosed world to the sunlight.

"Look guys, that blood cube finally opened up. Get your weapons ready because as much as I want the captain to win, that monster is too creepy."

Finally, after one minute, the cube turned into a blood puddle that was circling around Vlad's legs.

The first thing Vlad saw when canceling his ability was 16 or so pirates pointing their guns at him. Some were shaking in fear while others bravely or in a way ignorantly faced him with their guns.

The pirates didn't shoot Vlad, as if waiting for Vlad to say something.

"You're still using your brain, good. If you were to shoot me as soon I was canceling my ability, I would without any remorse kill you."

Still pointing their guns at Vlad, one of the calm pirates asked Vlad.

"What do you want from us now, if not to kill us?"

"Simple, I'm offering you an opportunity to payback for every single wrong you have done in your pirate lives. A job."

"A job? What do you mean? We're confused, are you trying to mess with us?"

"As I said, I will offer you a job that will consist of using your sailing capabilities, but you have to submit to me first. Work for me and see a new life full of prosperity, or die here like an insignificant ant, just like your captain lying there split in half." ended Vlad saying coldly while pointing at Dethel's dead body from the distance.

The pirates noticed their captain's dead body and then looked again at Vlad's cold yet collected face, who quietly stared at them. They looked at one another, some were a bit angry, while others had resigned expressions, and only after some minutes the pirates dropped their weapons and dropped on the ground with raised hands.

"We'll agree to work for you. We only ask for humane treatment."

Hearing their answer, Vlad tapped his leg a bit on the pirate ship deck before saying to them.

"As much I want to treat you in a harsh manner for pirating there's this consciousness of mine who doesn't let me. I can also understand your circumstances. The low class suffers while the higher class gets privileges and doesn't have to worry about resources or the next day. And here comes you guys pirating on the seas, some are doing it to feed their families, others are doing it for the fun of killing and terrorizing people or simply are forced into doing this. "

Making a pause as he stared coldly at each individual pirate to see their faces containing some remorse or even a slight indifference. They felt slightly alarmed by Vlad's delay but didn't dare to look at his face.

Tapping his leg on the deck again, he continued in a tone that was returned to his youthfulness.

"But I live with the belief that any person deserved a second chance at better when I don't see that person antagonizing me, so you better hear me out. When you're working under me, If I ever hear a complaint about you, any extortion or crime you can directly say your prayers. Also, don't think that you are all free to roam around without restrictions."

Extending his arm toward the pirates, the blood puddle around his legs rushed toward the dropped pirates, splitting into more sections and circling with a line around their necks.

The pirates saw the blood approaching their necks. Some tried to take it off but failed and even suffered some strangulation, while others received it calmly.

"You better don't try to force your way and take those restrictions on you. I can sense it from a great distance, an end you directly. This is just a warning." ended Vlad looking coldly at the guys who tried to take those slaves like collars.

"Understood, sir. However, I have a question. If we prove our worth would you release this restriction on us?"

"If you're obedient I will release these restrictions after some time. Now get up and start sailing the ship toward the caravel."

When he ended saying that, he stared at the pirates, who looked a bit at him dumbfounded, and after one of the pirates, who had a calm face raised on his feet, moving toward the steering wheel, the other pirates also moved along to their stations.

After 5 minutes, the pirate ship arrived close by, letting Vlad look down on the caravel.

[Robert POV]

*Since the moment Robert and Aerius ended the fight, and since he bound the last pirate to board the caravel, Robert, who was seated on a luxurious chair outside the officer's quarters, said to himself.*

"After Aerius and I ended the pirates and even bound one of the pirates, I found a bit more after questioning the pirate concerning the situation inside South Blue."

"This part of the world is actively influenced by pirates, even having a pirate called William Kidd whose bounty is at 200.000.000 𝔅. This pirate from what this guy had said, rules the seas of South Blue, even the marines inside South Blue don't have luck fighting him and his fleet." (A/N: Foreshadows, guess who is this guy mentioned)

"Hah, I can only sigh at the idea that this pirate would get into conflict with Vlad over some stupid thing. Barely now after 2 months are we starting to live decently, but from what I've heard Vlad say, he plans to fight the nobles of his kingdom soon. So this pirate might also have some connection to the nobles."

*Then suddenly, he saw while looking with his binoculars as the blood walls began dispersing.*

"Ohh, that blood ability of Vlad finally ended after 5 minutes. Argh, this pain is really annoying. I really need him to take this bullet from my leg and to those operations he talked about from the books he read. Wow, I can see some oozing coming from the wound. "

*Not long, as Robert stared in the distance, he saw as the pirate ship approached the caravel. The size between the ships was great, for the pirate ship, which had 26 meters.*

"Robert, did night already come, why it's all of a sudden dark on the ship?"

Hearing Aerius said that instantly made me scold him. However, I left him to stare dumbly on the main deck to see what was blocking the sunlight in his direction.

Then not long after, Aerius asked that I heard a cold snort coming from the pirate ship, where not long after that, a blood stairway was formed linking the pirate ship and the caravel.

"This bastard is arrogant again, but seeing how he made this stairway down, he also got hurt in his fight, otherwise he would just jump down on the ship."

[General POV]

"Hmph, if you're calling me arrogant bastard again, I'll increase your training load, and I'll happily watch you suffer, little bastard." replied Vlad when he heard Robert's comment from the officer's quarters.

"I think you've misheard me. I was worried about your safety out there."

"Yeah sure. Did this moron pushed himself too much again to fly?" asked Vlad while looking at Robert and simultaneously pointing at Aerius lying on the main deck like a dead rat.

"Haha, he's just like a dead rat, just leave him be. At least is quiet on the ship."

"Curse you Robert, I'll teach you a lesson when my body heals up. Boss, can you patch me up pretty please?"

Staring down at Aerius, Vlad responded with a smile on his face, saying.

"We'll sail first to Picodras since it's minutes away from here, and I'll repair what I can repair on your bodies. You Robert, what's your problem?"

"My leg got shot by those pirates, so I should be the priority, not that dead rat." replied Robert while pointing at his wounded leg while staying in his chair with spread-out legs.

"I understand. Well, I'll take over the steering wheel then and move to Picodras." Turning toward the pirate ship, he said in a loud voice.

"You guys take the lead toward Picodras, while I'll follow. Don't do anything stupid such as shooting your cannons toward the island, or I'll make your head explode."

"Yes, sir."

After finishing his order, he canceled the blood stairway, and suddenly the blood began entering his body. Walking toward the stairway at the mizzenmast zone, Robert could see that even Vlad was walking with careful steps as if to not stir up some wound.

"How many?" asked Robert when Vlad reached the steering wheel.

"Five ribs and the chest."

"Wow, and you can still walk with those bones broken?"

"Don't ask me brat. You should see the inside of my body, I constantly use my blood powers to keep things stable. If I cancel my power I'll probably drop on the floor and cry in agony from the pain."

Taking the steering wheel, Vlad pushed his blood powers and made a rope that began moving toward the mainmast to unfurl it.

It took him around some minutes to unfurl open the mast. After that, he began steering the caravel following the pirate ship, which no longer had a pirate flag.

"Let's see how welcoming those Picodrians are to their savior." chuckled Vlad while sailing the ship for the first time.

.......

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