Doran hefted his spiked mace and looked down with satisfaction at Lute's handiwork, a cruel grin spreading across his face.
"That's how it should be, exactly like that. Hahaha! These damned ants actually dared to destroy the Mad Beast's ship!"
He glanced at the sobbing Karina and sneered even more viciously.
"That little wench... Don't kill her yet. I'm going to make her beg for death."
Lute stepped forward, his eyes filled with malice.
"Why aren't you down yet? Is this how you're supposed to behave in front of a true powerhouse? You pathetic ants!"
He'd already slashed at them a few times, but it seemed another two strikes might kill them too quickly.
So he switched his blade for fists.
A storm of punches came crashing down on them like a raging hurricane.
Jack tried to raise his gun to shoot Lute, but the moment he aimed, Lite crushed the weapon with his bare hand.
Kadun tried to retaliate, swinging his arm—but before the blow could land, a single punch made it go limp, useless.
The fists kept raining down like hail, each blow searing with pain, every inch of their bodies overwhelmed. It was agony—deep, twisting, relentless.
The only thing keeping them on their feet was sheer willpower. They refused to collapse, refused to be looked down on.
"Fall already! Drop, you damn ants—both of you!"
Just then, a cold voice echoed from behind Karina.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself."
It was chilling. As if it had crawled up from the deepest part of the underworld, it carried with it a suffocating deathly aura.
---
"Weiss! Please, save Jack and the others!" Karina cried out in desperation.
"Don't cry. It's alright now. They'll be alright too."
Weiss gently patted Karina's head. His voice now bore no resemblance to how it sounded a moment ago.
As soon as Lute saw Weiss, a shiver ran down his spine. A surge of instinctual fear crept through him like ice. He tried to swing his fist again—only to find his target gone.
He looked up and saw Weiss had already rescued the two bloodied men and laid them flat on the deck.
Weiss used Observation Haki to confirm: neither Jack nor Kadun were in immediate danger. They'd simply lost a lot of blood and broken a few bones.
Fortunate, or perhaps unfortunate?
Because they were too weak, Lute had held back in his torture—lest he kill them in a single blow.
Whether that was luck or cruelty was hard to say.
"Since you two enjoy tormenting others so much... how about I give it a try?"
Once Weiss confirmed their lives weren't in danger, he asked Karina to bandage them, then slowly stood up.
An overwhelming pressure burst forth from his body.
A blood-red killing intent filled the entire Chris ship like thick fog.
What Lute had done to Jack and Kadun was now his own fate.
Only now, the fear was worse—much worse.
That boundless killing aura… it stretched like an endless abyss, a sea of blood that clawed at Lute's mind.
He couldn't move.
"Aaargh!"
Lute howled like a cornered wolf, struggling to stay on his feet. A crimson mist clung to his body like hands trying to drag him into hell.
"Oh? Still standing? Then I guess you're ready to die."
Weiss reached for the sword at his waist.
In an instant, the killing aura surged to its peak. Blood-red threads coiled around the blade, dyeing it crimson.
Lute gritted his teeth and gripped his broadsword, half-crouching into a defensive stance.
He knew—he could only defend. If he could survive the next few seconds, he might live a little longer.
"Auto attack—Thousand Strikes in a Flash!"
Weiss vanished.
Lute's face twisted in panic. He swung his blade wildly through the air, hoping somehow to block Weiss's attack.
Slash!
Slick!
Thousands of crimson sword lights flashed across Lute's body in an instant. The sound of blades tearing through flesh filled the air.
The slashes were like serrated knives, grinding into his flesh over and over.
"AAARGHHH!"
A blood-curdling scream tore through the sky.
A gust of wind passed.
Weiss now stood behind Lute, sliding his blade back into its sheath.
"One thousand cuts. No more, no less."
Spurt! Spurt!
As his words ended, blood gushed from Lute's body like a broken dam, splashing all over the deck. His throat gurgled—he was trying to speak, but nothing came.
The light faded from his eyes.
In his last moments, all he saw was Karina bandaging Jack and Kadun.
---
"Now… it's your turn." Weiss turned his gaze toward Doran—the towering brute over three meters tall. His killing intent was unmistakable.
Doran's expression twitched with madness.
He had already realized—after watching Weiss brutalize Lute—that he stood no chance.
But so what?
This was the open sea.
He had the power of a Devil Fruit. There was nowhere to run.
Fight or die.
Only through battle could he tear his enemies apart and live.
ROAR!
Doran let out a deafening howl. His human voice twisted into something bestial as his body expanded.
Muscles bulged, old scars stretched, and thick black fur sprouted, covering him in an instant.
Even his head transformed—becoming fully beast-like.
A monstrous black bear, over seven meters tall, now stood on the Chris's deck.
In one hand, he gripped a three-meter spiked mace.
This was the source of his title: Doran the Mad Beast.
He'd eaten the Black Bear Zoan Devil Fruit—gaining immense strength, thick defenses, and an enormous health pool… but at the cost of sometimes losing control in a berserk rage.
His massive body loomed, crowned with a huge bear's head.
His red eyes locked onto Weiss. He seemed… to hesitate?
ROAR!!
Another roar, this one to stir his fighting spirit. He raised his mace and swung it down with full force.
"Damn it! That's my deck! I don't even have a shipwright!"
Weiss, already furious, snapped.
You broke my damn deck?
Each step Doran took shattered more of the ship beneath him. By the time he reached Weiss, his momentum had reached its peak.
Just before impact, he bent his knees and leapt—raising his mace high above Weiss's head.
"You think you're Kaido or something, using a spiked club/mace?"
Weiss didn't flinch. He stepped forward, dropping one knee, and released his Armament Haki.
A dark, obsidian aura burst from within, flowing onto his blade.
He hadn't needed it before—his raw strength would've been enough—but he didn't want to break his sword.
CLANG!
Metal clashed against metal.
Weiss stood firm.
Doran, on the other hand, was pushing with all his might, trying to crush Weiss under his strength.
"A bear? You're far too weak."
Weiss restrained his power, doing his best not to destroy the Chris entirely. It wasn't like he could find a repairman out here.
If it weren't for how badly Jack and Kadun had been hurt, he would've finished this giant brute in a single move.
---
Currently at chapter 500 on Ko-Fi
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27