Following the fallout of the battle at Griffinfort, the Church of the Night formally disbanded the Dark Legion. Recalling all clergy and paladins, they completely abandoned the Bivins Kingdom as a parish.
These twin revelations sent shockwaves through the world; every major newspaper ran the stories as front-page headlines. With the Revolutionary Army, the Noble Council, and the Church of the Night having fallen, collapsed, or retreated in succession, it meant that only one power remained on the soil of the Bivins Kingdom was the Chris Pirates.
Speculation ran wild. Many wondered if the Chris Pirates would seize the opportunity to annex the entire Bivins Kingdom, making it an extension of the Clifford Kingdom.
Whether that would happen remained to be seen, but while the Church had "abandoned" the parish, they had not yet fully escaped the island. Fearing a concentrated ambush by the Chris Pirates during their retreat, they broke their forces into a dozen smaller units, moving only under the cover of night toward a specific coast.
Aeridar didn't pay much mind to the fleeing remnants. A crippled Church of the Night was no longer a threat. While they had managed to force Malha and Ryūkawa away and even injure them, that battle had left the Church itself mangled beyond repair.
Aeridar's focus was locked entirely on Malha and Ryūkawa. The moment their exact trail was found, he intended to lead Oliver and Enel in a direct decapitation strike.
Of course, Aeridar didn't let the Church off scot-free. He ordered his Officers to lead separate squads, hunting down the fleeing religious factions along multiple routes. With thousands of Church members scattered, he didn't expect a total wipeout; he simply sought to crush their main body of strength.
On this day, the Chris Pirates struck from multiple directions. Each squad was led by at least two Officers, guided by the precise intelligence of the Chris Investigation Bureau's External Affairs Department. They hunted the Church of the Night with predatory fervor.
"Hahaha! Slaughter every last one of these Church scumbags!"
"The Captain said it himself, the more you kill, the bigger the reward!"
"Take them down! A bunch of religious fanatics think they can challenge the authority of the Chris Pirates?!"
Crazed laughter echoed from the pirates as they swung their blades and fired their guns. Across desolate plains, barren mountains, thick forests, and riverbanks... the bodies of clergy and paladins fell one by one, their blood staining the earth crimson.
The Revolutionary Army had failed. The Noble Council was extinct. The Church of the Night was in full retreat. With the royal family dead and the nobility largely purged, the Bivins Kingdom had officially become a relic of history.
For the time being, the island belonged to the Chris Pirates, to Chris T. Aeridar. Whether they would plunder and leave or swallow the entire island whole depended entirely on their appetite.
In a barren mountain range a short distance from Griffinfort, a large group of mercenaries had gathered, nearly half of them wounded. Most were survivors of the bloodbath at Griffinfort. Some had been lucky enough to escape unscathed; others had barely crawled away with grievous injuries.
Even unluckier were those who couldn't flee during the battle and only managed to slip away after the two "monsters" had departed. Among them were members of the pirate dispatch organization Buggy's Delivery. Some had survived by playing dead, while others, beaten to a pulp, had been dragged to safety by their comrades.
This included the giants led by Hajrudin. They had all been knocked unconscious by Enel's lightning, surviving only due to their immense giant-race vitality.
"Talk about an eye-opener... whether it's 'Thunder God' Enel or 'Golden Ring' Aeridar... pirates of that caliber are literal monsters," muttered Calotte, known as "Moonlight's Smile," shaking his head as he sat on a wooden stool.
"Monsters..." Galdoy shuddered. Wrapped head-to-toe in bandages, the "Aesthetic Bounty Hunter" had lost every shred of his former grace, his eyes wide with lingering terror.
While many mercenaries survived, men like Galdoy had been mentally broken. The next time they even heard the names of those two "monsters," they would likely be scared half to death.
…
A Strait on the Coast of Dorona Island.
Known by locals as the Devil's Strait, this was the highest and most treacherous coastal pass in the kingdom. The waters were choked with jagged reefs; only small, local fishing boats could navigate it with any semblance of safety. Vessels longer than ten meters wouldn't dare approach within two hundred meters of the shore.
In the woods atop the cliffs overlooking the strait…
Crackle, rustle...
Leaves brushed aside as two sturdy men wielding machetes stepped out from the brush. They were followed shortly by twenty more.
Malha, in his black trench coat, glanced at the wide clearing ahead. "This is it. Let's take a moment to rest," he said flatly.
At his words, Ryūkawa Jiku's posture relaxed, and he plopped down onto the grass. "Yo-he-he-he~ I'm absolutely spent!"
Four men immediately moved to the perimeter to stand guard, while the rest sat down to recover. Malha beckoned, and a man in dark-green combat gear ran over.
"Go to the cliff edge. See if the ship is in sight."
"Understood!"
The man nodded, grabbed another subordinate, and disappeared into the trees. Silence returned to the woods, save for the chirping of birds and the crashing of waves below. The men drank, ate dry rations, or sharpened their weapons in silence.
Ryūkawa looked around the environment and suddenly spat, "Damn it. Those bastards from the Chris Investigation Bureau are like leeches. They just won't let go!"
"Sigh... our identities were exposed this time. We'll be lucky just to get out of here," Malha sighed helplessly. "If Aeridar or Enel catch us, there's no walking away."
Because of their Devil Fruit powers, both the "Golden Ring" and the "Thunder God" possessed terrifying mobility and combat strength. They could strike anywhere in the world on short notice, let alone across a single island. If their trail was found while they were still on this island, escape was impossible.
"I know... it just feels pathetic," Ryūkawa grumbled, his teeth gritted in hatred. "And those bastards from the Church of the Night... one day, I'm going to pull their headquarters up by the roots!"
"Great idea! I was thinking the exact same thing!"
Suddenly, the sky darkened, as if a massive object had blotted out the sun over the forest. A playful, mocking voice drifted down from the heavens.