Fifteen minutes…
Wait for fifteen minutes…
Kai's message, which rang not only in Red Sun's mind but also in Meg, Moraine, Spawn, and Tina's through him, was neither a promise nor a command.
It was a death knell.
Kai hadn't added words to it more than he had needed.
But after spending years with Chaos' lone Glitched Contestant, they had begun to unravel a hint of his nature.
Wait for fifteen minutes… His Majesty meant. … and if you can't, then — die.
There was no cruelty in Kai's words.
There was no remorse or lack of reason, either.
Power was what the Captain of the White Serpent Pirates acknowledged, and he had been nothing but open about it to them since the very beginning. It was just that, unlike everyone else, their Captain was much straightforward with it, instead of hiding behind shameless double standards.
If His Majesty had asked for them to wait 15 minutes, he meant that if they didn't even survive that long against the enemy, then…
All the joy of finding that Kai had returned to the timeline vanished before it could have even bubbled in their hearts.
It was especially so for Red Sun, whose face had paled beyond recognition.
15 minutes, against Herpo the Foul, felt like a lifetime as he thought about it.
Far from him, standing on the head of Two-tailed Matatabi, Meg, Moraine, Spawn, and Tina thought so, too.
In front of them, the humongous Jormungandr was coiling around behind the revived King Ghidorah. A storm, filled with hundreds of bolts of lightning, raged around the two beasts, gaining a greenish hue by the second.
Soon, the golden lightning became fully green, the beastly eyes of Kaiju gaining the same hues.
Slowly, Herpo the Foul, carrying the Basilisk Staff, descended from the storm's eye, levitating between the two beasts.
His slitted eyes fell upon the ladies, the beast under them, and the man who had yet to show himself.
"Time…" Herpo the Foul hissed, his face lacking any humor. "Time after time… years after years… ages after ages… I have seen your kind devour my worlds, butchering the people and their ideals alike."
A chill ran right through all bodies.
Years of fighting had instilled an instinct within these Contestants when it came to surviving. This same instinct was screaming now, letting them know that… something bad was coming.
"Why?" Herpo the Foul demanded, frowning. "Why must we suffer for the sins of our forefathers? If they are already dead, then why must the Great Old Contract continue… generations after generations…"
Something stirred within Meg's mind, making her hold her head.
It was like forgetting a task she was just about to do… and failing to recall it after reaching the spot.
Next to her, Moraine, Spawn, and Tina held puzzled faces, too.
"Look at you…" Herpo the Foul hissed. "So oblivious… But if I were to so much as utter giving you all a Hidden Mission, then you wouldn't think twice before killing children for it… no? Children! Do only your children count as children, and not ours?! Do only your lives count as valuable, not ours? Do only you have the right to live, prosper, and enjoy, and not us?!"
Crack!
The green bolts of lightning came thundering out of the storm, covering the entire space within the Bounded Field.
Tina's knees wobbled.
Spawn and Moraine managed to keep their spines straight, despite their visions darkening.
Only Meg and Red Sun got away with a big frown on their faces, the tips of their fingers throbbing, a nauseating feeling welling up in their hearts.
"… Haoshoku Haki…" Meg gasped, feeling the dryness of her lips. "How…"
She had known that some Storyline Characters could develop the Supreme King Haki on their own, transforming their Will. But she had no idea that Herpo the Foul, a Magician, was one of those abominations.
15 minutes…
The same words rang again in their minds.
Their Captain might as well have commanded them to die!
"An example must be set," Herpo the Foul said, raising his staff higher. "For the rest of the world… for all your kind… I will take it upon myself to do what Death must have done years ago. I am quite lucky that I was called upon when the vilest creature I have laid my eyes on is plaguing the Bubble… You all and your Yellow Warlock, that coward, are an infestation. As the Protector of this Bubble, I will purge you… right here and now! Soul Purge!"
Green motes of light began gathering at the fanged mouth of the Basilisk Staff.
In only moments, the entire dusty storm raging in the vast sky overhead began to glow green, as if the air molecules had gained color.
Bolts of lightning, as thick as massive towers, snaked within the storm.
And then, a snake did take shape, all the lightning condensing in one form.
It was more like a dragon, and less like a snake, more than a mile long, with a ghostly green appearance. Every inch of its body was crackling as if its scales were made of beaten sheets of lightning.
Then, slowly, Herpo the Foul pointed the staff down.
There was no need to point the staff at anyone specific, though.
If the snake fell, it was bound to cover the entire space and all beings, robbing and purging their souls.
A loud CRACK boomed as the snake lifted its head, pulling back.
Then, with another CRACK, it shot down, replacing the entire world in the ladies' eyes.
Meg sighed within, knowing not even one of the Paper Clones, using her Origami Creation Master Ability, would survive. The attack would bypass them, attacking souls directly.
Spawn thrived in consuming souls because of Blessing. But, as she looked at the incoming attack, she felt that it would consume her first, before she even tasted it.
The Wings of Grim Butterfly hummed on Moraine's back. Her modified Iron Man Armor was brimming with fuel, but without a sword, how would she use her Elegant Breathing Art? And even if she had a sword, would it have changed the outcome?
Tina… felt small.
The serpent opened its mouth, carrying two crackling bolts of lightning as its fangs.
But, just as the Herpo the Foul's Spell was about to rob them of their souls, a figure appeared between the green-lightning snake and the ladies…
… with a long-ass white, futuristic weapon as his right arm.
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