Clang. Clang. Clang.
The sound of clashing steel rang without pause across a deserted island not far from the Sabaody Archipelago. Two figures with wildly different builds were colliding and breaking apart at astonishing speed.
Every swing of Gecko Moria's massive western broadsword carved shrieking gales into the air, plowing deep furrows through the sand wherever the blade fell.
Yet the opponent in front of him, Kael Grylls, whose frame seemed almost "small" by comparison, fended off that storm of blows with nothing more than a standard issue longsword.
"Haaaah!"
Moria roared. Muscles bulged along his arms as he brought the greatsword crashing down from overhead. His shadow swallowed Kael whole.
At the instant the blade descended, Kael simply tapped his toes and drifted sideways like a feather on the wind.
His sword slid upward along Moria's blade, guiding it from below. Steel scraped against steel, throwing a cascade of bright sparks.
Screech.
That mountain splitting strike was led gently off course and slammed into the empty ground beside Kael instead.
Boom.
Sand erupted. The earth shook.
"Too slow, Moria." Kael's lazy voice floated to his ears as he appeared behind him. "Really now, you are riddled with openings."
Moria spun and swept his sword backhand at once, but Kael stepped in instead of retreating, his point landing precisely on the joint of the broadsword's hilt.
With a crisp clang, a strange force shuddered down the blade. Moria's arm went numb and his attack collapsed.
A short distance away on the beach, under a huge parasol, the air was completely different from the intensity of the fight.
"Lord Kael is amazing."
"Lord Kael, you can do it."
Sakura and Rin's big eyes sparkled with starry admiration as they pumped their tiny fists, cheering for Kael with all their might.
Wedged between them was a three year old in a frilly gothic dress, pink hair tied into twin tails.
Little Perona was copying them and waving her little fists too, but her allegiance was extremely unstable.
"Lord Kael, you can do it, knock him flying."
The moment she saw Moria getting pushed back, she immediately switched sides, cheeks puffed in anxiety.
"Moria-sama, you have to try too, do not lose."
Three year old Perona spent her time frantically bouncing between worry for Moria and worship of Kael, far busier than anyone actually fighting.
Out on the sand, the spar was drawing to an end.
Kael stopped dodging. When Moria thrust at him in a desperate all out charge, he did not move aside. His right hand simply lifted, sword turned flat, and raised the spine of the blade.
Ding.
The light tap sounded unimpressive amid the noise of their battle, but the will behind it allowed no resistance.
Moria's unstoppable thrust froze.
His greatsword was pinned on the flat of Kael's blade and could not advance an inch.
Time seemed to stop.
Moria's eyes bulged. His face twisted in disbelief.
While he was still stunned, Kael's left index finger had already extended and flicked lightly against the side of the massive blade.
Thump.
His fingertip struck just right.
Moria felt as if lightning had exploded in his hand. Pain lanced through his grip, and the broadsword he had carried for years tore free from his fingers, spinning end over end through the air before slamming into the sand in the distance.
The match was over.
"Lord Kael."
Sakura and Rin immediately ran over like two swallows returning to the nest. One held up a towel, the other offered a chilled glass of juice, fussing over Kael's forehead even though there was not a single drop of sweat on it.
On the other side, Moria dropped like a heap of scrap.
His legs gave out and he collapsed into the sand with a heavy thud, arms and legs spread in a great "X." He panted like a bellows, eyes empty, looking like he could not go on living.
Kael took a sip of juice, glanced at the Moria sprawled on the ground and commented lazily.
"You… what exactly have you been doing these past few years?"
Moria's body twitched.
"Your Observation and Armament Haki are a disaster." Kael shook his head. His tone was very serious. "Honestly, Karon's jaw is tougher than your Haki."
Bro, your Armament is like ultra thin black stockings.
"Pff…"
Sakura, who had been kneeling beside Perona straightening her little dress, could not help laughing out loud when she heard that, then hurried to clap a hand over her mouth.
Moria turned his face away. His huge body could not blush, but the shame and frustration flooding him made him want to dig a hole and bury himself in the sand.
Two months had passed since Moria had become Kael's subordinate.
Kael had not treated him like some disposable tool as he had feared.
On the contrary, this man took time every single day for high intensity sparring with him, mercilessly pointing out every flaw, forcing him to confront the physical techniques and Haki he had long chosen to ignore.
Sometimes, he was that figure seated upon a throne in the darkness, his will like a god's, absolute and oppressive.
Most days though, he was just a laid back man sprawled across the sofa, letting two little maids serve him afternoon tea while he spouted shameless lines.
That strange mix of overwhelming authority and easy approachability had quietly won Moria over completely.
He had begun to understand that true strength was not just overwhelming power. It was the unshakable confidence that you could hold everything in your hands.
As for the little girl he had brought back from Wano, Perona, she had long since become the villa's mascot.
Sakura and Rin adored this delicate little doll so much that their greatest joy each day was digging through the tribute that Karon sent, picking out the fanciest, cutest gothic dresses and outfits to dress her in. Then they would parade her all over the house like a prized collectible.
Over time, even Perona herself had become accustomed to changing into several new outfits a day.
Now, as Moria lay there devastated by Kael's latest round of mocking, he felt a light tug on his clothes.
He turned his head and saw Perona squatting beside his face, dark eyes wide with worry.
"Moria-sama, are you alright?"
The little girl's soft, sticky voice was like a cool spring flowing through his battered heart.
Moria was silent for a moment before rasping out, "I am fine."
He just had a feeling that tomorrow's training load would be doubled.
Kael passed his empty glass back to Sakura and strolled over to where Moria lay, nudging his huge arm with the tip of his shoe.
"Hey, still alive? Quit playing dead. We are not done yet."
Moria's eyeballs rolled. He did not even seem to have the strength to raise his lids. A wordless grunt scraped out of his throat instead.
"Kishishishi… alive…" His laugh was dry. "It just feels like… I died again."
"Perfect, then die a few more times. You will get used to it."
Kael replied carelessly, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The impact of that line was no less than that of their training. Moria's body stiffened once more.
He pushed himself up on his arms with some effort, his massive frame casting a sagging shadow on the sand.
He said nothing for a long time, as if searching for the right words and the courage to speak them.
"Kael…" he finally rasped. "Back at Marineford, when you left at the end and swung that strike at Garp and Sengoku…"
He did not finish the sentence, but the bloodshot eyes staring at Kael were full of awe, confusion, and a faint, inarticulate hunger.
That blow was a force beyond mortal understanding, a shape of destruction that could overturn the world.
"Ah, that." Kael laced his hands behind his head and glanced up at the sky. "That was Haki infusion, Haoshoku coating."
"Ha… oshoku coating?" Moria repeated the unfamiliar term, completely lost.
"A technique only a handful of Conqueror's Haki users can grasp." Kael shot him a sideways look, the corner of his mouth curling into that familiar arc. "You cannot use it. Your Conqueror's Haki is too weak."
"…"
Moria felt like someone had stabbed his heart twice more for good measure.
He had only just awakened Conqueror's Haki, had not even had the chance to enjoy the 'one in a million' thrill before being told his talent did not even qualify him to sit at the table.
Bro, in the New World Conqueror's Haki users are everywhere.
Kael seemed to think he had not piled on enough yet, so he added, perfectly straight faced.
"With the level of your Conqueror's Haki right now, the best you can do is clear out small fry or maybe scare little Perona a bit."
"Little Perona is not scared at all."
Not far away, Rin, who had been tying a bow on Perona's parasol, immediately puffed up her cheeks when she heard that.
Perona nodded hard in agreement, tiny fists clenched.
Moria's face fell apart completely.
Watching him sag like that, Kael finally dropped the joking tone.
"Anyway, that technique is really rare. Do not set your sights too high too soon. Build your foundation. Focus on Haki first. Garp's Armament, in terms of pure destructive power, is not much weaker than Conqueror's coating."
Garp.
The name made Moria's pupils contract slightly.
The Marine hero whose fists alone could drag the "Flying Admiral" down out of the sky. He represented another extreme of power altogether.
"Instead of thinking about things you cannot reach yet," Kael continued, eyes sliding back to Moria,
his golden gaze glittering as if he could see straight through him, "you should be thinking more about your own power."
"My… power?" Moria looked down at his hands on reflex.
"The way you have developed the Shadow Shadow Fruit is criminally wasteful."
Kael's judgment was blunt and merciless.
He did not bother explaining. Leaving Moria to stew in his thoughts, he turned and headed back toward the parasol where the girls were waiting.
"Alright, my lovely ladies, outdoor class is over. Time to go home for afternoon tea."
"Yes, Lord Kael."
Sakura and Rin answered brightly and started packing up with swift, practiced movements.
The setting sun washed the beach in warm orange light.
Kael took Sakura's hand with his left and Rin's with his right. Perona perched on his shoulders. The four of them walked along the sand, their shadows stretched out behind them, growing longer and longer.
On the empty island, only Gecko Moria remained.
No one knew how long he sat there before he slowly lifted his head and stared at the shadow the sunset cast beneath his feet.
The eyes that had once been filled with nothing but despair and regret now burned with a fire he had never felt before.
"Kishishishi…"
The low laugh rose again, no longer dry and lifeless, but tinged with the feverish excitement of something newly born.
He stood up. His towering frame seemed unshakably firm in the sunset glow.
He did not go to retrieve the sword stuck in the sand. Instead, he lifted his right hand, fingers splayed, and aimed his palm at the shadow beneath him.
Under his will, the shadow began to twist, writhe, and rise.
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