Chapter 13: A Desperate Gambit
"Damn! Is that the outsider kid who killed Third Brother Bloodblade? His firepower is insane!"
The Fifth Brother watched as Kaizen Reiya waved his hands, sending swathes of bandits collapsing, and couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
"He's a one-man army! If we don't stop him, we're finished here!"
"Oh no, he's coming this way!"
The expression on Sixth Brother's face changed dramatically, and he quietly began to retreat.
He was no match for a kid who could even kill Third Brother Bloodblade.
"Sixth Brother! Why are you panicking?! With Big Brother here, no matter how fierce this kid is, he'll be brought to his knees!"
The Fifth Brother scolded.
"Useless trash, never reliable at a critical moment."
Higuma cursed.
He raised his hand.
Shiiing!
His sword left its scabbard.
"Triple Slash!"
Having watched Kaizen fight his way through, killing at least eight or nine thousand of his men, Higuma attacked in a furious rage.
Three slender arcs of sword energy shot towards Kaizen.
Ah! Ah! Ah!...
The bandits and the Windmill Village death squad members in front of Kaizen were shredded by the Triple Slash, flesh and blood flying.
The power of the Triple Slash didn't diminish in the slightest, still screeching as it sliced straight toward Kaizen.
When Higuma made his move, all eyes were drawn to it.
"My God, is this the power of a Level 20 bandit?"
"This is terrible! Not only Kaizen, but we're all going to die here!"
"Oh heavens, it's terrifying. It really lives up to the Level 20 bandit. This Triple Slash could shatter a small hill!"
"No wonder our village lost so badly last time."
"Yeah, the power of a Level 20 bandit can break mountains and split rocks. Besides the Triple Slash, Higuma has many other powerful martial arts."
"Oh God, what do we do? I wonder if Luffy's injuries have healed? If they have, he needs to get back to the village fast. Only Luffy can beat him."
"Let's run! If we're too slow, we'll all die here! No point dying in vain! We can't fight a Level 20 bandit! While Boss Kaizen can hold him off for a bit, if you can run, run! Every life saved counts!"
Instantly, the Windmill Village death squad fell into chaos.
A Level 20 bandit must possess the strength of ten thousand jin. Combined with his powerful sword skills, no one could stop him. If they retreated slowly, the entire Windmill Village death squad would be wiped out here today.
"We're doomed!"
"The great savior we finally pinned our hopes on has to die here? Do you think he can still save the village?"
In front of Kaizen, the three centurion captains he had appointed wore expressions of sheer terror. The arcs of sword light swept violently toward them. Their bodies were hacked to pieces, blood staining the ground.
Son of a bitch!
The centurion captains I appointed, killed just like that?
Kaizen's face turned cold, his gaze fixed intently on the figure in the brown-red coat, the circular patterns swaying in the wind. A cold light radiated from his eyes.
"You think you can just bully my subordinates so easily?!" Kaizen roared.
Swift Boots, eightfold speed!
Immediately, white light dazzled from his boots, like two suns, stinging the eyes of everyone present so they couldn't open them.
Kaizen's figure swished and vanished from before everyone's eyes. The Triple Slash landed where he had been standing, carving an X-shaped trench over a meter deep into the ground.
If Kaizen had still been there, he would have been shredded to pieces just like the three centurion captains.
Kaizen left a cyan afterimage in his wake. In just one breath, he appeared behind the Level 20 bandit, Higuma.
"So fast!"
"This is bad! No wonder Bloodblade died by his hand!"
Higuma's face was as white as paper.
A black cannonball, shimmering with immense killing intent, shot out from Kaizen's palm.
Higuma was a Level 20 bandit. Kaizen was only a Level 9 Player; he couldn't absorb power from someone more than ten levels higher. He had to use the Glue Cannon to blast him apart.
The black cannonball flickered with enormous energy, enough to collapse three floors of a building. If it hit Higuma, even as a Level 20 bandit, he would be blown to pieces instantly.
"How dare you kill my subordinates?!" Kaizen's furious shout rang out as the cannonball fell. Then, his entire body rapidly retreated.
BOOM!
The Glue Cannonball, containing immense violent power, exploded like a clap of thunder from the clear sky. The very ground shook.
Just as everyone thought Higuma would die...
His entire body gushed with blood, which strangely transformed into a streak of crimson light, flashing away. His body then rematerialized about thirty meters away.
"Silence!" "Deafening silence!"
Then, sighs of disappointment sounded.
"Damn it! He got away!"
"He used a one-time escape technique."
"What a shame. Kaizen almost had him."
"Still, a one-time life-saving measure like that can only work once."
"Next time Kaizen uses it, he won't be able to escape."
...
The people of Windmill Village, seeing a glimmer of hope, stopped their retreat. They decided to stay and fight to the end with Kaizen.
"Kaizen is fighting for our Windmill Village. I will fight to the end with him!"