When the image of Klein flashed through the Marine soldier's mind, for some reason, he suddenly calmed down.
'I choose to put unwavering faith in Lord Klein! Loyal Orange!'
The Marine soldier looked down at the scroll in his hand labeled S-Class Ninjutsu: Divine Departure, and immediately stood tall, shouting,
"Everyone, don't panic!"
He suddenly flung the scroll into the sky.
Whoosh—
The scroll unfurled mid-air, growing in size.
Strange symbols and characters came into view—Bagua diagrams and obscure, mystical pictographs.
It gave off an aura of the arcane.
Bzzzt—bzzzt—
Black and red lightning surged from the scroll, crackling across the sky like a rampaging beast.
"What is that!?" Shiki stared wide-eyed in horror, feeling as if he'd fallen into an icy abyss, his entire body going cold.
A terrifying slash, like one that could rend heaven and earth, erupted suddenly from the center of the scroll.
"Seriously!?" Shiki's face twisted in shock, his eyeballs nearly popping out. "A slash... came out of the scroll!?"
"What kind of joke is this!?"
In that instant, all the hair on his body—from his skin's follicles to his golden mane—stood straight up in alarm.
In his line of sight—
That horrifying airborne slash radiated tendrils of black-red lightning, like a giant sword piercing the sky.
Shing-shing-shing—
The slash effortlessly tore through the air, pulverizing the golden slashes Shiki had released into glowing dust.
They scattered like fireflies across the heavens.
Witnessing this, Kong's pupils dilated suddenly, his face filled with disbelief.
"That slash... what the hell is that slash!?"
He didn't understand, but he was utterly shaken.
"And that Conqueror's Haki—that's Klein's! What in the world is going on!?" Kong was left speechless by the sheer destructive power of that slash.
His mind went blank, as if his soul had been ripped away.
"Zanpa!!" Shiki grit his teeth. He didn't even care about the cigar hanging from his mouth—his eyes were locked on the incoming slash, and he felt a powerful premonition of death.
"Damn it, damn it... there was no sense of danger from the warship, and this slash—"
His dazzling golden slashes were mercilessly torn apart by Divine Departure.
Shiki's eyes bulged with rage as he roared in his mind:
'How!? I refuse to accept this—!'
He crossed his dual blades in front of him.
Squelch—
A spray of crimson burst from his chest, blooming like a scarlet rose in the sky.
His body plummeted from the heavens.
"Urgh—!" Blood gushed from his mouth, sending the cigar tumbling after it. His eyes were glazed over.
"Who...?"
"A slash that sharp, imbued with Conqueror's Haki..."
"A Marine!?"
He couldn't even imagine who could possibly pull that off.
A single slash!
And the user didn't even show up in person—yet his proud dual-blade style couldn't offer even the slightest resistance!
All his pride, all his arrogance—utterly crushed by that one technique: Divine Departure.
Pain and humiliation gnawed at his will, dragging him into despair.
'How... how could the world be so far out of reach—!?' Shiki was going mad inside.
A scroll, just a damn scroll, released a slash that defeated him...
What was the point of all his hardships and struggles!?
Shiki's pupils suddenly refocused.
"No—I refuse to accept this!"
Just ten meters above the ocean, he halted abruptly.
"Cough cough—" Shiki clutched his twin blades. A massive wound slashed across his chest, nearly cleaving him in two. Blood soaked his mangled body.
Hair wild and disheveled, Shiki looked utterly pathetic. The blood oozing from his wound, and the viscous gunk he coughed up, splattered into the sea and diffused in murky trails.
Pain!
The wound throbbed with agony—the slash had nearly struck his heart, and it felt like it would end his life.
But even worse than the pain... was the shame!
Shiki's expression turned grim, his face dark enough to drip ink. He cast a deep, vengeful glance at the warship.
"No matter who you are... one day, I'll make you pay for this tenfold!"
Sensing Kong's approach, he knew he had to retreat.
He turned and took off, as if he'd made a firm resolution, without sparing a single glance back.
Defeat.
In the dictionary, it means being bested by someone else.
But...
'TMD I don't even know who the hell did it!'
In that moment...
Shiki seemed to understand what it meant to be truly defeated!
Like a dog with its tail between its legs, he fled from the waters in disgrace.
On the pirate ship—
The buoyancy vanished.
The ship plummeted from the sky, and the sudden freefall filled every pirate aboard with sheer terror.
"No—Boss Shiki, take us with you!!"
"Help!!!"
"Boss Shiki! We're your loyal crew—you can't abandon us!!"
"You bastard! You promised to bring us glory and riches, and now you're running off alone!? What kind of pirate are you!?"
"Shiki!! May your son be born without an asshole! I hope the Marines throw your ass into Impel Down!!"
"······"
In just a few seconds, the cries for help turned to furious curses, as the ship rapidly plummeted toward the sea.
Shiki never looked back—but the flood of insults made his chest burn with rage, and blood spurted from his mouth again. His face turned as black as the shadow of a ravine.
This wreck still thinks it can lead the way.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it..." Shiki's eyes turned completely red—even the whites.
"I will find out who it was—"
His teeth gnashed so hard they cracked. The broken bits either dropped to the sea or were swallowed down with his blood.
Back on the warship—
Thump.
The scroll landed on the deck.
The previously petrified Marine soldiers finally snapped out of it, erupting into thunderous cheers.
"Holy shit! Lord Klein is straight up the god of ninjutsu!"
"Hahaha—these so-called great pirates are nothing! Just one move from Lord Klein's ninjutsu and they're wrecked!"
"Golden Lion? More like Golden Mouse—bwahaha!!"
"Fzzzt fzzzt fzzzt—Golden Mouse!"
"Yo, Golden Mouse, if you've got the balls, come back and fight me 300 more rounds!!"
"······"
The deafening roars of celebration nearly made Shiki black out. He staggered mid-air, nearly falling again.
Huff— Shiki tried to take a deep breath, but his throat and lungs burned. The air felt like knives scraping his insides, making him break out in cold sweat.
"Klein!!??"
A news clipping flashed in his mind.
"That Marine genius—the greatest in history!?"
"It's him!?"