"Graow!" Grendel let out a massive roar as he slammed into Kale with a wild and frantic slash with long blood caked talons, with immense reflexes the swordsman quickly reversed the katanas into reverse grip to easily block the wild haymaker. This position would be unwise for any swordsman, but luckily as a superhuman fighter, such esoteric techniques can be viable in certain situations!
With one blade still upside down, Kale used The VI to sliced pressurized air into the cloaked face of the beast! For only a moment, its hollowed eyes that shown like cataracts with red beneath showed! Its face, this thing that looked like a man and was said to be a son! Had a distorted large face that was lopsided and gnarled with mangle welts and boils!
"One ugly motherfu-" Before that thought was finished! Grendel dashed forward with a massive roar and claws bared at his side ready to slam into Kale!
"Nitoryu! Shūen Shita-Kiri!" Crossing his two blades in front of him! He dashed forward, concentrating his strength, hitting into the creature and slicing hard! Twisting and flicking his wrist as he cut to deliver a second blow! Finesse and strength! He created pressurized air through the wound with the flick as he followed through
As the blood sprayed, a golden torrent of wind seemed to appear through sheer force and concentration of the man's swordsmanship!
This course of events caused Grendel to be sent flying back and deny the thing of its attack!
He was once born, like any normal child. But he had the unfortunate twist of checkered fate to be born to a witch of a bog grove swamp in the outskirts of an island that's name was only etched into history from the mother and sons occupancy
They were the legends that many legends of 'Boogeymen' are based from. Such visceral fear and primal horror can only be based off of something that existed in some form. And all other stories that came after?
Can be described as nothing more than understatements
From kidnapping children in the night only for their bodies to be found on the edge of the bog in a form that could barely be considered a body.
No one ever entered that boggish swamp that was filled with nothing but them. Even the animals that were within were hunted to extinction by the duo. Gluttoness, greedy, taking any and everything they thought that was theres.
Anything that they thought as a threat was met with brutal responses that would result in any perpetrator's death.
It got so bad that entire villages on the Island became ghost towns, and then was overtaken by the swamp magic that Hilda utilized, turning the barren ghost towns into bog marshland.
If it wasn't for the lone hero that had just so happened to stumble up the island. It was certain that in only a matter of decades, the entire island would be nothing but marsh.
And if they had actually wanted to do just that? It'd be done far, far quicker.
It was a blessing that their bodies had been revived, they were far weaker than when they were alive, this gave the Crew an edge and a viable chance of victory
"Natsu Koshi!" Kale screamed as he re-orientated his blade and began to flick slash after slash at Grendel! Large pressure flying slashes cut deep gashes into the Mark Stepper!
A roar of pain was released, grendel slamming his hands into the ground! Sending a fissure straight at the First Mate!
Leaping into the air, Kale rose his swords over his shoulder and then, with extreme strength, bounced off the air and rocketed towards Grendel! He needed to end this quickly, there was no point in drawing out these fights, just as there was no point in wasting too much energy!
"Kaibutsu! Hikisaku!" The Second he reached the Shadow Walker, Kale sliced. Hard. The blades connected with the shoulder of Grendel, he was met with extreme resistance as he pushed! Eventually, only within a millisecond, the flesh gave way and began to tear!
Kale with such astonishing strength, sliced from the shoulder all the way through the to the bottom rib! Bisecting the monster in two!
But that wasn't all. The force that Kale carried, caused a rush of wind to be created, that much like the projectile that Hilda created, to slice all the way through the granite! And then slicing through a dozen trees after that!
"Grendel!" Hilda screamed as she was in the middle of evading a blow from Noir! "You! You Wretched fiends! You dare hurt my only son!" She said in the manic tone that had forged myths from its very tone
"I'll make you pay!" She screamed with such force that it caused the crew to be blown back!
"Grosse Sumpfmangrove!" With her palms face down she gesuted as if she was pushing something down, and then began to raise them into the air! A resistance behind the push, but the ground began to rumble and quake!
The Granite wall began to fracture and explode! Thick roots began to protrude from them and shot into the ground as water began to flood the chamber! Trees in the shape of mangroves began to sprout and bloom around them! The scream seeming to empower the growth as the ceiling exploded open!
The thick foliage had destroyed many of the walls around, turning the cave chamber that had only been 5 meters around, to 20 meters around! It was no longer a cave, but now a raging swamp bog!
"Argh!" Leroy groaned as the water began to reach above his ankles quickly, sapping him, Raven, Jeanne, and Eddie of their strength. Calli however had bounced into the air and caused herself to levitate by balancing on a sheet of metal she controlled
"Damn…" Jeanne swore "Why'd you four just sit around and let that happen?" Calliope asked, metal hands picking each of the Devil Fruit users out of the water and putting them onto their own floating platforms
"I didn't see it comin'!" Leroy said with a groan. "Neither did I" Eddie added
"Don't worry you four. I think we can handle this…" Noir said as he flicked his length of tobacco into the water.