"Protect Lord Momonosuke!"
Kin'emon shouted, while Kanjuro quickly pulled the recently awakened Momonosuke back.
Elior's sudden appearance made Kanjuro instinctively realize that this man was extremely dangerous—and clearly had hostile intentions.
Momonosuke trembled in fear, immediately assuming that Elior was one of his pursuers.
"Who are you?!"
Kin'emon drew his sword, eyeing Elior warily.
But Elior didn't respond. An ice blade formed in his right hand, quickly enveloped in Armament Haki.
In the next moment, Elior advanced toward Kin'emon.
Seeing this, Kin'emon didn't hesitate. He moved to strike immediately.
The young man before him had clearly come to attack — and Kin'emon could feel it in his bones. This boy wasn't just strong. He was terrifying. Stronger than even Kozuki Oden?
Impossible!
"How are Nekomamushi and Inuarashi?" Kin'emon asked while swinging his blade.
Elior effortlessly blocked the strike.
"You'll get to see them soon."
"You bastard!"
"I'll kill you!!"
Kin'emon roared with fury. He and the others from the Scabbards were sworn brothers. If Nekomamushi was dead, it was unforgivable!
Furious, Kin'emon's blade erupted into flames. Known as Foxfire Kin'emon, his swordsmanship could burn through even Kaido's Boro Breath.
With both hands gripping the hilt, he slashed fiercely at Elior.
But against Elior, what did that attack mean?
Wielding his ice blade, Elior was now a great swordsman.
As the flaming crescent-shaped slash flew toward him, Elior met it with a slash of his own—effortlessly disarming it.
Then, with a follow-up strike, he slashed across Kin'emon's chest. Blood exploded from the wound as Kin'emon was sent flying.
"So strong..."
"Is he a master swordsman?"
"His swordsmanship... is monstrous!"
Kin'emon was horrified.
And then Elior descended from the sky like a war axe, slamming down with another strike. The sheer pressure distorted the air itself.
Kin'emon, despite the pain in his chest, raised his blade to block. But Elior's sword cut straight through it—and into Kin'emon—without resistance.
Kin'emon's body was split clean from right shoulder to left waist.
SLASH.
He crashed to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood. His face turned pale. While it wasn't an instant death, his life force was draining quickly.
Five seconds later, in pain and anguish, Kin'emon breathed his last.
But before dying, he managed to murmur: "Protect... Lord Momonosuke..."
Elior couldn't help but sigh at his loyalty—but he didn't pity him.
"Kin'emon!!"
Kanjuro and Momonosuke cried out. They had already screamed several times by then.
Now, their cries were filled with heartbreak.
Kanjuro, seeing Elior approaching, could only charge forward in desperation.
He too was sliced in half—not vertically, but at the waist, which made his death even more agonizing than Kin'emon's. With his internal organs intact but severed in half, he struggled for nearly a minute before dying.
Each second felt like a year.
In the end, like Kin'emon, Kanjuro died in agony.
Only Momonosuke remained.
His face pale with terror, body trembling, a large puddle had formed beneath him.
"Did you actually wet yourself?"
Elior raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
"Please don't kill me!"
"Please... don't..."
"My father is Kozuki Oden...!"
Momonosuke collapsed on the ground, sitting in his own urine.
"Don't worry. I'll take good care of your sister."
Elior said calmly—and then swung his sword.
A crimson slash tore through the air. It cleaved Momonosuke in half—this time vertically, from head to toe.
Until his death, Momonosuke never understood why Elior wanted to kill him.
Nor did he understand what Elior meant by "taking care of his sister."
Before he could find out, his thoughts vanished, and his insides spilled across the floor.
"Killing a kid... a bit cruel, even for me."
The ice blade in Elior's hand vanished, and he disappeared soon after.
Meanwhile, Raizo had just been flung by Crocodile and landed in front of Sugar.
Raizo tried to get up—only for Sugar to act.
Reiju watched as Sugar held out her right palm. With a faint popping sound, Raizo turned into a toy in the next instant.
"Hmph! I'm strong too!" Sugar pouted with a child's voice.
"Uh…"
Crocodile was stunned. Raizo had been a pain to deal with—and just like that, he was neutralized?
"What's with this kid?" Cavendish and the others were equally shocked.
"You're the kids—your whole family's full of kids!"
Sugar glared at them.
"She's actually in her twenties… doesn't look it, though" Reiju said, surprised.
"You're the child!"
Sugar snapped, but with her petite height, she had to look up to meet Reiju's eyes—and take in her assets.
At that moment, Sugar felt like her heart had been stabbed by a thousand needles. Tears welled up.
"I ate the Hobby-Hobby Fruit... that's why I'll never grow up..."
WAAAH!
She burst into tears.
"Ah… I'm sorry!" Reiju tried to comfort her, but Elior stopped her.
"Let her cry. A grown woman bawling like that? How pathetic, Sugar."
"You...!"
Sugar's sobs grew louder.
But Elior paid her no mind. Seeing that, Reiju stopped trying as well.
Even Baby 5 didn't interfere. If their Lord said not to, that was final.
Sugar could only cry herself out.
"What exactly is this kid's ability?"
Crocodile looked at her in disbelief. Raizo, now a toy, was completely under Sugar's control—and could be crushed at any moment.
No wonder Crocodile was shocked.
Elior replied, "A troublesome ability."
"Crocodile, kill him. He's not worth the risk."
"Understood."
Crocodile didn't hesitate. Raizo, helpless and in despair, had his neck snapped—and his head ripped off like a doll's.
The ease with which it was done stunned everyone: Cavendish, Reiju, even Crocodile himself.
Sugar puffed out her chest proudly. All her earlier sorrow was forgotten.
But every now and then, she glanced at Reiju's physique... and then at herself.
A bitter sadness returned.
Would she really be trapped in this child's body forever?
Would she never grow up?