And behind "Blood Axe" Barton stood four more pirate officers, their auras just as vicious. One of them, a burly man wielding a massive iron hammer, radiated especially strong presence—clearly not someone to take lightly.
They seemed to be using this remote back alley as an escape route out of the fortress.
"Hm?" Barton caught sight of Rain and Rosinante in the alley. He froze for a heartbeat, then grinned savagely as he recognized their Marine uniforms.
"Ha! Two lost little Marines?" He pointed his blood-red axe at them, turning to his officers with a twisted smile. "Perfect. Don't kill them yet."
He licked his lips, eyes gleaming with sadistic hunger. "Break their arms and legs first. Drag them along. Once I'm safe, I'll 'entertain' them properly. Can't let them die too cheaply."
"Hehehe, captain's got taste!"
"Yeah! The Marines need to learn what happens when they cross us!"
The officers drew their weapons, laughing cruelly as they closed in.
Their eyes held the same look one gives two lambs on the chopping block.
Rosinante went white as a sheet, instinctively raising his gun—but his hands shook too much to aim.
Big fish at last, Rain thought, a cold smile curling in his heart, even as he showed the perfect amount of "panic" and "despair" on his face.
He suddenly shoved Rosinante toward the bend in the alley. "Run! Go find Commander Dal! I'll hold them off!"
"Rain! No, you can't! They—!" Rosinante cried. He knew Rain had grown stronger under Gion's guidance, but this was an 80 million–Berry pirate captain and four officers.
In the moment Rosinante stumbled back and the corner of the alley blocked his view—
Rain's "panic" vanished.
In its place came a chilling, emotionless calm.
His black eyes turned into bottomless, frozen pools.
"Break the brat's limbs first. Move it!" Barton snapped, waving impatiently and sending two officers at Rain.
They rushed in with feral grins. One swung a blade at Rain's left arm, the other reached for his right leg with a steel claw. They moved fast.
Rain moved faster.
He began with the same basic stance Gion had drilled into him—
But in his hands, that foundation erupted with murderous sharpness.
Soru.
His body blurred, leaving an afterimage behind as he vanished.
The two officers only saw their vision flicker, and then—
A cold killing intent coiled around their throats like a snake.
Shnk! Shnk!
No wasted motion. Just two impossibly fast, precise cuts.
So clean they seemed to leave no trace.
The two officers—each worth tens of millions—didn't even get the chance to scream. Lines of blood opened across their necks, bone-deep, and they toppled backward, eyes wide.
["Iron Claw" Hook]
[Overall Rank: R8]
[Sin Index: 9180]
…
["Quick Blade" Simon]
[Overall Rank: R9]
[Sin Index: 6500]
…
"What?!" Barton and the two remaining officers flinched, pupils contracting sharply.
They hadn't even seen what happened. This ordinary-looking Marine recruit… how?!
"Your turn."
Rain turned calmly, blade tip angled toward the ground, rain sliding down its edge. His cold eyes rested on them as if he were already looking at three corpses.
"Bastard! Kill him!" the remaining officers roared and charged.
The hammer-wielding brute howled, muscles bulging as he swung his weapon down like a meteor, aiming to crush Rain's skull.
The other officer's chains whipped out like snakes, lashing for Rain's legs.
Rain didn't dodge.
Vmmm—!
A layer of inky-black Armament Haki surged over his blade.
Facing the descending hammer, Rain stepped in instead of retreating. His sword swung up from below at an impossible angle—
Once again, just Gion's basic technique: a rising diagonal slash.
But backed by [Top-Tier] swordsmanship and [Top-Tier] Armament Haki, this stroke became a bolt of lightning tearing through the night.
CLANG—!!!
The impact rang like thunder, sparks exploding outward.
The vice-captain felt a monstrous force rip through his hammer. The weapon that could smash steel plating—
Was cleaved in half by what looked like a standard-issue Marine sword.
"Impossible!!" he screamed, voice cracking.
And the blade that had cut the hammer didn't slow—it glided on as if slicing tofu and swept across his neck.
Shhk!
His head flew into the air.
["Iron Hammer" Grom]
[Overall Rank: SR5]
[Sin Index: 32,000]
…
At that exact moment, the other officer's chains wrapped around Rain's ankle.
Rain still didn't even look at him.
He flexed his leg slightly.
Crack!
Armament-clad power exploded outward. The steel chain shattered into fragments around his ankle.
"What?!" the officer gasped, terror surging. He spun to run—
Too late.
Rain's sword snapped backward like a striking viper and drove straight through his back.
[Kasa]
[Overall Rank: SR2]
[Sin Index: 22,000]
…
In the blink of an eye, only Barton was left standing.
His face was frozen in sheer horror.
He finally realized this was no "little Marine" in front of him, but a monster in a lamb's uniform. A god of death.
He hadn't even properly seen the man move, and his four trusted officers… were gone.
"W-who the hell are you?!" he shouted, hands shaking as he gripped his axe, voice fierce but hollow.
His answer was a cold flash of steel.
Rain appeared in front of him as if he'd teleported, blade wrapped in even denser, pitch-black Armament Haki, swinging down with the force to cleave anything.
No trick, no flourish. Just the simplest, most direct attack—
A vertical cut.
"Don't underestimate me, I'm Blood Axe Barton…!!!"
Barton roared in despair, pouring all his strength into raising his massive war axe to block.
CRRRRACK—!!!!!!
The sound scraped at the teeth.
His prized blood-red axe, said to split warship armor—along with his muscled body and armor—
Was sliced cleanly in half by that single stroke.
Blood and organs poured out like a waterfall, drenching the alley in red.
["Blood Axe" Barton]
[Overall Rank: SR8]
[Sin Index: 50,000]
...