"Conqueror's Haki?"
"And he can freely control its area of effect?!"
The Celestial Dragon's bodyguard behind Tashigi and Hina finally showed a shocked expression. He lifted his gaze, astonished by the figure descending from the sky. It wasn't just that Arton had such powerful Conqueror's Haki under his command; it was that he'd actually dared to use it on the Celestial Dragon's retinue.
"Could it be…he's really willing to attack a Celestial Dragon?"
Recalling what Hina mentioned earlier, the bodyguard quickly looked over at her.
Hina, of course, heard the bodyguard's murmuring. She gave a slight nod and sighed, "My mission is already a failure. And you're about to fail your bodyguard mission as well."
Hearing Hina's words, the bodyguard felt his heart clench. At that moment, a dark silhouette appeared behind him. Instinctively, he spun and slashed with his blade. Yet, strangely, he felt an odd weightlessness at his neck, and his vision flipped upside down.
Next, he stared in horror at his own headless body.
"Ah—I've been killed…"
Accompanied by that final thought, the bodyguard sank into eternal darkness.
[Boa Hancock:] "He cut down the bodyguard without hesitation, in front of the Celestial Dragon? This Arton fellow really is…"
[Kujaku:] "Looks like we arrived too late."
[Hibari:] "What will happen to Hina and Tashigi now?"
[Stussy:] "Those two women—if the Celestial Dragon dies, even if Arton doesn't kill them, they'll be in for serious consequences afterward. Possibly put in Impel Down."
[Baccarat:] "Attacking the Celestial Dragon's bodyguard is dangerous, but I have to admit Arton is awfully attractive when he does this."
[Whitey Bay:] "If Arton really kills the Celestial Dragon, he'll be in major trouble. Linking up with him might drag the Whitebeard Pirates into it as well. But if he can save Pops and Ace, I don't care about the trouble."
[Smoothie:] "With Arton's power, even if the entire World Government or Mama's forces stand in our way, there'd be nothing to fear!"
"Psh, so you withstood my Conqueror's Haki, but that was all you had?"
"Couldn't even block a single sword strike."
Arton gave a disappointed shake of his head as he returned his blade to its sheath. Hina was silent. Seeing Arton again in such a scene, she didn't even know what to say. All the ideas she'd had for stopping him seemed impossible now.
Tashigi blankly looked from Arton to the body of the felled guard. "If I had that kind of strength…maybe those villagers wouldn't have died because of me…"
She jerked herself out of her thoughts, quickly stepping forward to plead with Arton, "Arton, help them. They were hurt because of me. If it's you, you can save them, right?"
She grabbed his arm, eyes desperate.
"You mean those guys?"
Following Tashigi's line of sight, Arton saw three villagers shot earlier because Tashigi had dodged.
"Unfortunately, if they were only injured, maybe I could help. But if they're already dead, there's nothing I can do." Arton shook his head.
Just then, with Arton's arrival, Kaya had begun to treat those villagers wounded by Nezumi's men—except for the first few who had taken bullets meant for Tashigi. Not because she didn't want to help, but they had already lost all signs of life.
"How could this be!" Tashigi stumbled toward them, dropping to her knees in misery at the sight of their vacant eyes.
Arton merely gave Tashigi a passing glance, then refocused on Hina. After all, they weren't Cocoyasi villagers; thus he felt only minor regret.
"Hina, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon," Arton said, turning to her.
"Later, you and Tashigi—we need to have a good, long chat. I'm really curious why you two are here."
He had barely finished speaking when a gunshot rang out. Arton casually lifted his hand and caught the bullet between his fingers.
"Huh? It didn't hit him?"
Finally snapping out of it, Saint Charlos frowned at Arton in confusion.
"Heh, are you blind? Didn't you see me catch your bullet just now?"
Arton sneered, crushing the bullet into a twisted lump right before Saint Charlos's eyes. Then, in an instant—too fast for the Celestial Dragon to react—Arton turned into a blur and was suddenly there in front of him. With one swift slash of his blade, he cut the Celestial Dragon's gun clean in half.
"You filthy wretch, how dare you chop my gun? You're finished! I'll make you my slave for life. I'll see you humiliated until you die!" Saint Charlos stamped his foot in rage, jabbing a finger at Arton.
"Oh, really," Arton said calmly, "and how exactly will you make me your slave? With those bodyguards behind you?"
He threw a scornful look at the small group of black-clad guards who had managed to remain standing despite Arton's Conqueror's Haki. Those guards stiffened under his gaze, recalling what became of the one who had tried to challenge him. They knew precisely who Arton was, and how strong he was, from rumors of him defeating Shiki and Mihawk. They weren't confident they could handle him—and it was clear this man had no qualms about killing them.
Right then, as Arton's fierce gaze swept over those bodyguards with obvious killing intent, they realized that if they didn't act now, they might never get the chance.
"Take him down!"
At the head bodyguard's order, the seven remaining guards split into two teams. Three charged at Arton, while the other four dashed toward Kaya, who was busy tending the wounded villagers not far away.
"Bastards!"
Arton narrowed his eyes. In his hand, Nichirin Blade suddenly ignited with raging flames. Then, his body turned into a blazing fire dragon and swiftly hurtled past the three men lunging at him.
"Breath of the Sun – First Form: Dance!"
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out...and in an instant, the three bodyguards' heads separated from their bodies, immediately swallowed up by roaring flames.
Witnessing that, the four men who had gone after Kaya felt a stab of dread.
"We have to take that woman hostage. Only then do we stand a chance of threatening Arton!"
They'd fully grasped now that Arton was not just aiming to harm them—he clearly had zero regard for Celestial Dragon Saint Charlos either. If they failed to capture who they believed was the weakest member of the Flameblade Pirates, then all of them—along with the Celestial Dragon—were likely done for!
Meanwhile, every holder of a Diary Copy was staring intently at their own live feed from Arton's newly begun video titled [Encountering the Celestial Dragon Again].
Indeed, from the moment Arton had shown up, he'd begun recording. Having run across the very Celestial Dragon who once ordered his ship bombarded, how could he not document the scene?
[Boa Hancock:] "That man Arton, how decisive. Not bad!"
[Belo Betty:] "Hehe, this is quite a pleasant spectacle."
[Koala:] "Perfect—then the Marines can't recruit Arton anymore, right?"
[Smoothie:] "So what if the Marines found Arton first—there's no way they could stay on the same side with him."
[Black Maria:] "Those female Marines are probably crying right about now."
[Ulti:] "Three attacked Arton while the other four targeted Kaya? Trying to use her as a hostage? How stupid—Kaya's not that weak."
[Baccarat:] "And besides, Nami, Karina, and Uta are all there too."
[Gion:] "This situation is really, truly bad!"
[Kalifa:] "Yes, it seems the Marines and World Government truly can't stand in alignment with Arton. If Arton grows in power, maybe even the World Government won't be able to handle him. Would staying in CP9 put me in danger?"
At that instant, Kalifa—just a minor agent of CP9—felt deeply uneasy.
"Got her!"
The four who rushed at Kaya thought she was too frightened to move, so their hearts all leapt with delight.
They had read the news on Arton's fight with Mihawk at the Baratie. Naturally, they had noted the intel on Arton's companions too: Nami, who could even cross swords with Mihawk (though quickly beaten, it showed her strength). Coupled with how she and Arton merged forms to unleash overwhelming power, the guards believed Nami was dangerously strong.
Next, Carina and Uta had combined efforts to stave off a tsunami, also displaying formidable might. Thus these bodyguards judged that Karina and Uta were both extremely powerful as well.
Only Kaya, they reasoned, possessed powerful healing but little combat ability—making her the perfect weak link. She was the easy target for hostage-taking to threaten Arton.
That assumption, however, was dead wrong.
It could not have been more off the mark.