"Run! Pirates are coming!"
The once–peaceful commercial street erupted into chaos.
Disheveled, wounded townsfolk surged like a panicked tide, scrambling to escape.
Davy pushed against the current, moving upstream through the fleeing crowd.
His expression hardened as he looked toward the source of destruction.
Houses lay in ruins.
Metal objects floated through the air in a dark orbit, converging into a black, suffocating iron sky.
"Hey! Kid over there—yes, you! Don't go that way unless you want to die!"
A kind citizen tried to warn him.
Davy ignored it.
Green soul-fire erupted around him, and in the blink of an eye he was already hundreds of meters away.
The man who shouted froze mid-breath.
Ghostly faces twisted and wailed within the emerald flames swirling around Davy.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
And that was before the boy stepped beneath the iron sky—
Where the shadows swallowed him whole.
"H-He's… what is he…?"
He stared blankly as an entire army of semi-transparent spirits materialized in Davy's wake, marching behind him like a ghostly legion.
Beneath the Iron Sky
A thin, long-limbed old man—like a human-sized mosquito—knelt on one knee, coughing violently.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
His trembling eyes scanned the ruins of the once-familiar street.
Ahead, several fighters were desperately clashing with a red-haired devil of a man—
But they were clearly losing.
"Die!"
A roar thundered across the battlefield.
A metal arm the size of a house slammed down.
BOOM!
Several defenders were sent flying, smashing into already-collapsing buildings, turning the structures into clouds of debris.
Defeat was certain.
The old weapon-shop owner closed his eyes in despair.
They had bought time—
Hopefully enough for the townspeople to flee.
"Kid, are you insane? You plan to massacre an entire city?! Do you know what that means?!"
A marine who had been vacationing nearby shouted in fury and panic.
He had heard of Eustass Kid's reputation…
But this wasn't some nameless backwater village—it was a large, prosperous city.
Tens of thousands lived here.
Yet Kid was unleashing indiscriminate slaughter.
"You hurt my crewmate. This is the consequence!"
Kid grinned viciously as he advanced.
"This town has no stationed Marines! The strongest locals are already here! The killer wasn't from this place—we're innocent!"
A guard captain shouted desperately.
Kid sneered.
"I don't care. All of you will die to accompany my partner.
Blame the coward who ran away.
If he had stayed and slit his own throat, I might've killed only half of you."
He stepped forward, red hair whipping in the wind, a bloodthirsty smile splitting his face.
"You bastard!"
The guard captain sobbed in helpless rage.
"Why should we bear the consequences of something a stranger did?!"
Kid laughed.
"Yes! Good! Hate him!
Hate that masked rat hiding in the shadows!
Hate the coward who forced you to face my wrath!"
Something inside the guard captain cracked.
His eyes shifted.
After a few curses, he abruptly put on a fawning smile.
"K-Kid—Kid-sama! Spare me! I know every outsider who entered the city—I can find the culprit for you! Let me join you! Make me a proud pirate of the Kid Pirates!"
"Jody! Have you lost your mind?!"
"You disgrace the position the kingdom gave you!
You betray the people who respected you!"
Outrage erupted among the survivors.
"Shut up! I earned everything! I'm sick of being a damn dog!
I do all the work while useless nobles take the credit! I've had enough!"
Jody spat back, then turned to Kid with a dog-like grin.
"Kid-sama, I'm serious! Why be a slave here when I could be a free pirate?!
Point the way, and I'll charge forward without hesitation!"
Kid paused.
"You said you can find the killer?"
"Yes!" Jody nodded eagerly. "The higher-ups are all idiots—I do the real work! If I want to investigate, it's easy!"
"You really want to be a pirate?
Join the Kid Pirates?"
"Yes! I hate these pompous nobles!
I know where they live—I can lead you to kill them all and plunder their hidden treasure!"
Kid grew silent.
Jody felt hope rise like a tide and grinned wider.
He looked around at the glaring townsfolk with growing arrogance—
And then—
Kid stomped his head into the ground.
"You'll find the culprit? I don't need you.
I'll just kill everyone."
"You'll lead me to nobles? You think I need garbage like you to show me anything?"
A red slash glinted—
Jody's eyes froze.
His head rolled across the stone, bouncing twice before coming to rest beside a broken pillar.
Kid flicked the blood from his blade and kicked the corpse aside, expression full of contempt.
He turned his head…
And locked onto the next person closest to him.
The weapon-shop owner.
His execution would start—
But Davy had already arrived.
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