September 26, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
"Huff, huff."
In a remote area of Flower Hill, Orion was training with his sword, trying to gain better control over the use of his new technique, "Dimensional Slash." Orion had developed this technique entirely on his own, blending his particular swordsmanship style with the use of his spatial attribute.
As for the sword technique he employed, it was one he had personally created, though it was reinforced by the system. Orion had begun his training in Swordsmanship independently, but once the skill had been registered within the system, he had used SP to enhance it.
In this way, the optimal framework for his future abilities had been established from Level 1 of the skill. At the system's initiative, Orion had determined the creation of thirty-six offensive and defensive sword techniques that would allow him to forge a style perfectly suited to himself.
For that reason, the first techniques developed by Orion were powerful attacks based on celestial bodies or mythological animals such as dragons—which, in Orion's mind, represented the pinnacle of power in any fantasy world.
Now, however, after many years without adding a new technique to his personal repertoire of sword attacks, he had created Dimensional Slash, thus opening a new chapter in the development of his swordsmanship.
Orion now dreamed of being able to wield multiple attacks imbued with the attributes of space and time contained within the system, and perhaps even of using the mysterious energy that formed the basis of Berserk Mode, an energy that was far more difficult to control.
Even so, he still had a long road ahead before reaching that point. His Swordsmanship was only just beginning to step into the realm of the masters of this world, and it was still very far from the level of people like Shanks or Mihawk.
While Orion trained with his sword in complete concentration, Viola was sitting nearby, using the powers of her Devil Fruit to search for the whereabouts of her older sister Scarlett, who was still missing.
Orion had searched unsuccessfully for an entire day, and Viola joined in the search whenever she could by using her abilities. At present, only twenty-two hours remained on the timer indicating the end of the Time Dungeon. Orion had already planned his final attack on Doflamingo in detail, and now he only needed to ensure that Scarlett and her daughter Rebecca were safe in order to move forward without worries.
Suddenly, Viola showed an expression of surprise and immediately grabbed Orion's arm, saying with concern,
"Orion, I found her! She's in danger!"
Orion immediately abandoned his training and moved closer to Viola, who once again activated the powers of her Devil Fruit, transmitting what she had seen just moments earlier.
Scarlett was in a town on the outskirts of the capital, a bit far from Flower Hill, slowly walking through the streets while trying to go unnoticed and keeping her face covered. Unfortunately for the beautiful princess, Doflamingo's men were nearby, and one of the three highest-ranking officers was even present at the location: Diamante!
If she continued moving in the direction she was heading, she would most likely be discovered by Diamante, and her fate would be tragic. Orion knew he could not waste a single second if he wanted to prevent Scarlett from being harmed, so he dashed off at full speed using Soru.
…
Scarlett had been hiding together with her little daughter Rebecca for two days. She had received news of everything that had happened over the past few days on the kingdom and she knew she was in danger.
Doflamingo's men were searching for her to eliminate her, as she was part of the deposed royal family, and that was why she had abandoned her cozy home in Flower Hill, hiding with Rebecca in one of the shelters she had prepared in advance in case of an extreme situation like the one she was now experiencing.
Even though she no longer officially belonged to the royal family, the education and habits she had developed during the first twenty years of her life were still there. Although she had not expected a tragedy like this to occur, she had prepared several hiding places in case they were ever needed.
Even so, these shelters were rudimentary, far from being true bunkers, and were little more than emergency escape routes. For that reason, she had no food to consume, and for the past two days she and Rebecca had gone without eating.
Scarlett herself was perfectly capable of enduring hunger for much longer, knowing how critical the situation was, but her heart was too soft to bear seeing her young daughter cry from an empty stomach. At times, a mother's love could push a woman to act somewhat recklessly, and that was precisely Scarlett's case at this moment.
Leaving Rebecca hidden in the shelter, she headed toward the nearest town in search of food for her little one, and she was now wandering through its streets. She knew she had to be quick and discreet, so without deviating from her path she went straight to the food merchant and bought enough provisions for several days.
With a broad smile, she took the food and turned around to return to her daughter, but at that very moment she came face to face with her worst nightmare.
"Oh? What do we have here? The dead princess of Dressrosa," Diamante said in a sarcastic tone, pointing a gun at her.
Doflamingo's crew knew that Scarlett was not dead, because Monet had infiltrated the royal castle as a maid in order to thoroughly investigate the situation of the royal family. She had served as a high-class spy, uncovering all the important information about the kingdom of Dressrosa, which of course included the existence of Scarlett and her family.
Scarlett visibly trembled upon hearing the pirate's words, but before she could react, Diamante pulled the trigger, and the burning projectile mercilessly embedded itself in her chest.
The food she had bought for her young daughter fell to the ground as Scarlett collapsed onto the filthy market floor, bleeding out at an alarming rate. Diamante had shown no mercy, aiming directly for her vital organs, and she could feel death closing in on her at any moment.
In her final instant of consciousness, her only thought was that she would no longer be able to see the face of her beloved daughter, and that there would be no one left to protect her. After all, the kingdom was in chaos, and she was the only family Rebecca had.
Scarlett's eyelids closed as Diamante laughed gleefully like a maniac at a job well done, though he was unable to laugh for long, because a voice echoed behind him, like a specter emerging from hell itself.
"Kamusari!"
Diamante's blood ran cold when he heard his enemy's words, and he was unable to react in time to defend himself, taking Orion's attack head-on.
A horrific gash stretched from the nape of Diamante's neck down to his lower back, as blood exploded like a pressurized fountain, filling the air. Orion was not in the best state of mind at that moment, so his attack had been crude and savage, grievously wounding the pirate.
Even so, Orion paid no attention to Diamante—who had just collapsed onto the ground—or to the other low-ranking pirates present at the scene, because all of his focus was fixed on the beautiful woman who was bleeding out rapidly in front of him.
Without bothering to finish off the badly injured pirate right away, Orion ran to Scarlett and took her into his arms, then released his Conqueror's Haki, causing all the enemies present to collapse unconscious, unable to offer any resistance.
Only Diamante remained conscious at the scene, though due to the deep wound on his back he was unable to move and lay face down on the ground. Orion used Soru to retreat at full speed from the area, but not before pulling a pistol from his inventory and firing two shots coated in Armament Haki at the immobile pirate.
Both bullets struck Diamante without the slightest suspense, piercing his skull and ending his life instantly. Orion could not afford to waste the opportunity to eliminate one of Doflamingo's crew members now that he was alone at the scene.
Then, with no witnesses to his actions—since everyone else was unconscious—Orion moved a safe distance away before opening a door in the air and entering the Pocket Dimension, intending to treat Scarlett's mortal wounds.
The reason he had not entered his Pocket Dimension at the same location was simple: if Doflamingo were to arrive to investigate what had happened while Orion was treating Scarlett's injuries inside his parallel dimension, the pirate could be able to sense something abnormal at the site with his supernatural perception, and might even use his Devil Fruit abilities to breach the Pocket Dimension.
Although Orion had greatly improved his control over his spatial attributes, he was not confident that he could completely deceive such a powerful pirate, and he did not want to risk being attacked by Doflamingo while he was focused on treating the wounds of his beloved Scarlett.
He knew perfectly well that this Scarlett was not his wife, but a woman with a completely different history from the one in his own timeline, yet he could not help feeling deep concern as he held her bleeding body in his arms.
Inside the Pocket Dimension, Orion laid the unconscious woman on the operating table in his medical room and activated his Room ability. Fortunately for Orion, he had acquired this tremendously useful skill for performing medical procedures, because otherwise he would not have been able to save Scarlett from a fatal injury to her vital organs.
Little by little, Orion resolved the situation, stabilizing Scarlett's vital signs as he removed the bullet from her chest and sealed her wounds using the powers of his Room. The process was slow and complicated, but after several hours she would finally be out of danger, drastically altering the course of this timeline's history.
Meanwhile, in the small town where Scarlett had been buying food, a toy soldier rolled over on the skates attached to his feet. Approaching the spot where his beloved wife's blood still stained the ground, he placed his metal hand over the crimson puddle, yet he was unable to feel anything due to his condition as a toy.
Recalling the image of Scarlett being struck down by Diamante's shot, the toy soldier felt overwhelming helplessness, sensing that he had failed in his duty to protect his family. Fortunately, that mysterious individual had acted in time to rescue Scarlett, although given the state she had been in… she likely would not survive her injuries.
Kyros felt the negative emotions crowding into his small chest of metal and plastic, yet no matter how much he suffered, he could not shed a single tear for his wife.
Filled with rage, he turned to look at Diamante, who lay dead at his side, and as he approached him, he began smashing the pirate's face with his toy rifle, deforming it completely until it became unrecognizable.
Several minutes passed before the small toy soldier finally stopped, having released all of his pent-up negative emotions. At last, a trace of sanity returned to his agitated mind, and he began running toward the horizon as fast as he possibly could.
Even if he had been unable to protect his wife, at the very least he had to make sure that his daughter was safe; otherwise, he would have truly failed as a human.
From Flower Hill, Viola witnessed the entire sequence of events, and while holding back her concern for her older sister, she continued to observe the toy soldier who had appeared so suddenly. His actions had been highly peculiar, and she sensed that there was something important about this mysterious toy. Perhaps if she kept an eye on him, she might gain a pleasant surprise.
…
Scarlett's operation lasted nearly three hours, and by the time Orion finished treating her wounds, he felt thoroughly fatigued. Although his Room ability was extremely powerful, it consumed a great deal of mental energy, and Orion felt the need to rest for a while.
He still had to face his final battle with Doflamingo, so he needed to be in the best possible condition when that moment came.
Lifting the beautiful princess into his arms, Orion carried her to the large bed inside his Pocket Dimension and laid her down so she could rest. Scarlett was now out of danger, but she remained unconscious and would need plenty of rest to recover.
Orion did not even know whether he would be able to see her awake before the time limit of the Time Dungeon expired, since only 19 hours remained before the end of this journey through space and time.
After making sure that Scarlett was comfortable on the bed, Orion left the Pocket Dimension and headed back to where Giolla, Viola, and King Riku were waiting. Even though they were in a fairly remote area, there was no guarantee that they would not be found and attacked by Doflamingo's men, who were scouring the entire kingdom, so he did not want to leave them alone for too long.
The speed at which Orion returned to his allies' location was much slower than when he had rushed to find Scarlett, due to his fatigue, and it took him nearly another hour to reach them.
Finally, when he arrived and saw that they were safe, he was able to let out a sigh of relief, though Viola immediately ran to his side and, taking hold of his arm once more, asked,
"Orion, how is Scarlett?"
Viola's voice was filled with concern, since even with her ability she was incapable of observing another spatial dimension, and thus had been unable to see what Orion had been doing inside the Pocket Dimension over the past four hours.
Orion gave her a gentle smile and, with a wave of his hand, opened a door in the air, allowing everyone present to enter the Pocket Dimension and see the sleeping Scarlett.
Viola and King Riku rushed to Scarlett's side and embraced her with tears in their eyes, thanking the heavens for the miracle of finding her alive. Viola had seen her sister take a gunshot to the chest, and over the past few hours she had been mentally preparing herself for the worst possible outcome.
Now that she could feel the warmth of her older sister's body and hear the soft beating of her heart, her emotions finally stabilized once more, realizing that even in the face of the greatest tragedy, there was still hope.
As a result, Orion's presence grew immensely in the minds of Viola and Riku, and they began to feel that perhaps, with his help, they might truly have a chance to confront the Warlord.
"Did you find Rebecca's whereabouts?" Orion asked, interrupting Viola's thoughts. She nodded and replied,
"Yes, she's safe for now, but it would be best if we go get her as soon as possible."
She then activated the powers of her Giro Giro no Mi, showing him the location of little Rebecca, who was currently in the company of a toy soldier.
After Orion had entered the Pocket Dimension to treat Scarlett, Viola had been carefully monitoring the toy soldier, and to her surprise she had eventually seen that he had found Rebecca in a well-hidden cave, not too far from the town where Scarlett had been buying food.
"Very well, you stay here," Orion said as he stepped out of the Pocket Dimension and headed in the direction where Rebecca was located, according to Viola's vision.
As he did his best to control his fatigue, Orion noticed several notifications that had appeared on the system screen, ones he had not noticed before.
*Ding*
*The anchor point of the Time Dungeon is in danger. If the anchor point is eliminated, the Time Dungeon will close immediately, remaining incomplete.*
*You have restored the stability of the anchor point: Named Character Scarlett.*
*You have obtained the special item "Golden Ticket (1)."*
Orion looked at these notifications and gained a clearer understanding of how this new ability called Time Dungeon functioned. Apparently, the reason he had been able to travel through time and dimensions to this Dressrosa was his connection to Scarlett, who served as his anchor point in this place.
As long as Scarlett remained present, he would be able to stay within the Time Dungeon, and now that Orion had managed to bring her to safety, he no longer had to worry about the Dungeon closing prematurely.
As for the special item "Golden Ticket," Orion read its description and his eyes widened in surprise. This item allowed him to bring someone from this dimension back with him to his own world.
Orion had not expected such a thing to be possible, but after a brief moment of shock, his emotions settled once more, since for now there was no one he wished to take back with him to his own timeline.
Choosing not to dwell on it too much at the moment, given that there were still 18 hours left before he would have to make a decision about it, Orion refocused on his current plans.
Pulling a Den Den Mushi from his clothes, he called someone who would never have expected a call from him in this world, since they had no idea who he was.
"Hello?" came the familiar voice through the snail.
"Dragon, I need you to listen carefully," Orion said, ready to set his plan for Dressrosa into motion.