"What incredible power!"
Feeling the astonishing strength emanating from his opponent's leg, Cross looked at the somewhat frenzied Siren in surprise. He hadn't expected that a mere transformation would genuinely enhance his strength so much.
"I am... Randy Mathias!!!"
Siren glared with reddened, beautiful eyes, like a madman, growling and repeating his other name, then launched a flurry of punches and kicks at Cross.
"Alright, Siren! No problem, Siren!"
Cross replied perfunctorily, his eyes filled with regret. Such a beautiful... transvestite, yet a lunatic.
But his hands didn't slow in the slightest. He continuously swung the sharp and heavy Shusui, clashing with Siren's fists and feet. At this moment, Siren appeared to be an incoherent madman, yet his strength was far greater than before. Just by striking Shusui's blade with fists and feet imbued with Armament Haki, he could precisely block all slashes and even counterattack.
Suddenly, Cross dodged sideways. Siren delivered a high kick, chopping down like a steel mace, heavily stomping on the ground. With a loud boom, immense power erupted, instantly causing the castle rooftop to crack under the overwhelming force.
Immediately after, dozens of dense cracks rapidly spread in all directions. The entire roof, spanning nearly ten meters, completely collapsed, sending a large amount of debris into the rooms below, causing a series of rumbling sounds and kicking up clouds of dust.
Fortunately, Cross reacted in time, directly using Geppo to leap into the air, returning to the safe zone beside Duke Attawa and Countess Shanna. The endlessly self-proclaimed "Randy Mathias" Siren also reacted swiftly, or rather, it was more like a combat instinct. Before the roof collapsed entirely, he executed a backflip, escaping the danger zone and landing on an intact corner of the eaves.
"Soru!"
Immediately, Cross pushed off his feet, and his entire being shot forward as if disappearing into thin air, even forming a sharp trajectory in mid-air. He arrived before Siren almost instantly. Shusui chopped down on Siren's head. However, at the critical moment, the opponent split into two individuals. Not only did they split the slash, but they also simultaneously threw punches at Cross, one from the left and one from the right.
"Spiky Shadow Lizard!"
Scáthach, in her female shadow form, solidified into a black-purple long spear. It extended with incredible speed, piercing through Siren's true body like a black bolt of lightning. Furthermore, the shadow spear's momentum didn't diminish, carrying Siren's body with it. With a boom, it impaled him firmly onto the outer wall of a castle tower a hundred meters away.
Almost simultaneously, Cross also blocked a Siren clone's punch with his hand, then twisted his wrist. The tightly gripped Shusui slashed horizontally at the opponent's waist. With a soft whoosh, it bisected the clone. This Siren clone stared intently at Cross as its upper and lower halves fell limply downwards, vanishing into nothingness in mid-air.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound pierced the air. Cross instinctively kicked at the empty air beside him, shifting his body mid-air using Geppo. A copper metal fragment, like a cannonball, whizzed past him at extreme speed, stirring up a biting wind that flapped his Marine coat. It quickly disappeared into the sky.
Then, Cross landed on an intact rooftop, looking back in the direction of the attack's source, only to find it was Viscount Solmen from the open-air garden.
Viscount Solmen, previously in his Carnotaurus form, had reverted to his human-beast form. The ground around him was littered with fragmented metal pieces of the Mushussu statue. It seemed the tenacity of the all-metal Mushussu statue had somewhat exceeded the Viscount's expectations, taking him quite some time to tear it to shreds.
"Bastard! I'll smash you to death!"
At this, Viscount Solmen glared furiously at Cross on the rooftop. He bent down and picked up another metal fragment of the Mushussu statue, preparing to hurl it at Cross with all his might.
Cross waved his hand, stating calmly, "Apologies, but I don't have time to stall any longer. Perhaps we'll meet again!"
With that, he turned and ran towards Duke Attawa and Countess Shanna on the other side. However, he hadn't run more than a few steps when he saw Marquis Mankervis, who had appeared on the rooftop at some point, standing not far from Duke Attawa and Countess Shanna.
"You actually found such a useless person to kill Father King. It truly makes me look down on you even more!" Marquis Mankervis spoke, his back to Cross's direction, as he slowly walked towards Duke Attawa and Countess Shanna.
"Ma-Mankervis..." Duke Attawa was also very surprised to see his younger brother appear. He regained some composure and retorted, "That's because Captain Cross is too formidable! Even a top assassin from the underworld wasn't his match!"
"He only has a bit of skill, nothing extraordinary!" Marquis Mankervis scoffed dismissively, staring intently at Duke Attawa. He said coldly, "But this is no longer something for you to concern yourself with. Just obediently come with me!"
With that, he reached out to grab Duke Attawa's shoulder. Duke Attawa was startled at first, but then immediately reacted, believing that this half-brother was not much stronger than himself, and prepared to resist.
"Bastard! How dare you underestimate me! You don't know how strong you..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Duke Attawa's shoulder was seized by Mankervis's right hand. Before he could even resist, a powerful force emanated from the latter's five fingers, as if to crush his bones.
"Aaghh! It hurts! It's killing me! Let go!"
Duke Attawa shrieked, his expression filled with pain, almost collapsing to his knees. The sudden change startled Countess Shanna beside him, and her clever mind immediately realized that her half-brother had definitely hidden unknown strength.
"Is that so? Then let me see what you're capable of!"
Suddenly, Cross appeared beside Marquis Mankervis like a ghost, the Shusui in his hand thrusting straight towards the opponent's head like a venomous snake.
"Hm?!" Marquis Mankervis's expression changed slightly. He let go of Duke Attawa without hesitation and retreated swiftly.
"Missed!"
Cross let out a soft sound of surprise, sensing that his attack had surprisingly missed this seemingly arrogant and pampered individual.
"Hmph—"
At this moment, Marquis Mankervis snorted coldly. His eyes, as he looked at Cross, had astonishingly turned into golden vertical slits, his gaze cold and arrogant. Around the corners of his eyes, there even appeared fine, snake-like golden scales.
The next second, his body swelled and grew, tearing through his white shirt. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a gleaming golden monster. This creature was slender and agile, as if cast from gold, appearing to be a unique being composed of several real animals. Or rather, only legendary creatures possessed such a form, beautiful yet elegant, and within that elegance, brimming with power.
Most importantly, whether it was Cross, a Marine Captain, or the noble Duke Attawa, or even the intelligent and courageous Countess Shanna, upon seeing this peculiar creature that Marquis Mankervis had transformed into, they all couldn't help but gape, their faces filled with expressions of disbelieving horror.
"Mu... Mushussu..."
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