Chapter 14: Spiritual Pressure
“So ruthless!”
Fingers pinching that slender rapier.
Elus clicked his tongue in amazement, “To aim straight for my kidney, don’t you have any swordsman’s honor?” He looked at the somewhat pale-faced Venkura and questioned.
“You······”
Venkura felt like he was dreaming.
He looked at his slender rapier pinched between two fingers, feeling like he hadn’t woken up yet.
His sword wasn’t a famous great grade sword, but this rapier, which hadn’t even been named, was no less sharp than those so-called great grade swords.
The so-called supreme great grade swords, great grade swords, good grade swords—these were famous items forged by ancient swordsmiths of Wano Country, gaining such high reputation due to their long history and years, but in reality, there are no shortage of swords today that can rival those ancient famed items.
Like the sword in Venkura’s hand, it was forged by a renowned swordsmith in the New World, bought by Umit at a great price and bestowed upon him. Apart from lacking the fame accumulated over years, its sharpness was actually no less than those great grade swords.
But today,
He was somewhat doubting if his rapier could really rival a great grade sword.
Even after he used Armament Haki to empower it, his sword was still easily caught by someone, and with just two fingers.
“Victory is a swordsman’s honor; losers only have shame······ Moreover, no one said swordsmen can’t strike at the enemy’s kidney, right?” Just as he retorted, Venkura suddenly released the hilt, his right hand’s five fingers gathered together like a sharp long sword, thrusting fiercely toward Elus’s chest.
However,
His right hand was caught.
But this time it wasn’t with two fingers, but tightly gripping his right wrist.
That terrifying force almost crushed his wrist bone, the intense pain making his face even paler. Fortunately, his willpower was strong, holding back from crying out, but the stormy waves in his heart could not be calmed.
Too fast.
The reason he was called Ghost Sword was because of his sword-drawing speed and bizarre swordsmanship, with his extraordinary sword-drawing speed being the foundation for unleashing those bizarre sword techniques. But now, his proud sword-drawing speed was completely crushed by someone.
Utterly defeated in speed by a prince who intelligence claimed was skilled in political intrigue but average in martial power.
Two sword strikes, both blocked.
The second one even directly crushed his wrist bone.
“Oh! Quite a tough guy!”
Elus released his hand.
The hand, deprived of wrist bone support, dangled down at an unnatural angle.
“I don’t dislike guys with backbone, but unfortunately, backbone isn’t an all-purpose miracle drug. Shattered bones won’t regrow just because of willpower. Consider yourself lucky this time. Go back and tell Umit that I remember his offense. Tell him to wash his neck clean and wait—it won’t be long before I take his head.”
The moment the words fell,
“Whoosh!”
A mass of crimson light shot out from Elus’s palm.
Fast as lightning.
Only a sound like a ripe watermelon smashing was heard, and the headless corpse softly tumbled down from the top of the tower, landing at Venkura’s feet. Crimson hot blood spilled along the way, a few drops landing on Venkura’s face, the scorching heat almost suffocating him.
Dead.
Bounty of 120 million Beli, the only ability user in this operation, the Magic Ball Sorcerer, died just like that—without even a chance to show up, truly no chance to show up, his head completely blasted away.
A chill rose from the bottom of his heart,
It seemed he had made a mistake somewhere.
Casually taking out a pirate with a bounty over 100 million, plus the intense pain from his wrist,
The mistake wasn’t just his.
Lord Umit seemed to have also misjudged the situation in Eckmond Kingdom.
This wasn’t an easy bone to chew.
Perhaps this time, Lord Umit really kicked an iron plate, maybe even losing a few teeth.
“The game ends about here.”
Elus boldly exposed his back to Venkura’s eyes.
He leaned on the battlement, carefully scanning the crowded crowd below. Those who were supposed to come had all disembarked; waiting longer wouldn’t yield more gains. It was time to close the net.
“Watch closely! This lavish feast.”
Elus laughed loudly.
He spread his arms in an embracing pose, two massive black wings extending from his back, two pale curved horns appearing on his head. His inhuman appearance clearly indicated his Devil Fruit ability user identity.
And what made Venkura’s eyes widen the most was,
The moment those two massive black wings fully spread, an invisible, intangible, unseen and untouchable yet clearly perceptible massive pressure erupted, surging like a tsunami in all directions, covering dozens of miles around.
The 20,000 soldiers and pirates marching toward Whale Tail Island’s port town fell to the ground like wheat in the autumn harvest, collapsing uniformly.
In the unseen realm, over 20,000 fresh souls floated out from their bodies, dazedly hovering in the air. Before they could head to the underworld, a massive suction from the tower pulled the souls flying over.
The Hogyoku embedded in Elus’s chest churned with a blue-black glow like rippling water waves.
Over 20,000 fresh souls—even if most were low-quality goods, stacked together they still made for a quite decent feast.
“Conqueror’s Haki?”
Venkura wasn’t stunned unconscious by this pressure.
With stubborn willpower, he withstood this mental impact. He gazed at Elus, his eyes full of shock and fear.
Having roamed the New World for so many years, he knew well what Conqueror’s Haki meant. There weren’t few strong persons in the New World with Conqueror’s Haki, but each was a famously ruthless character, with the top ones being the four Sea Emperors.
“Nope!”
Elus raised his index finger, shaking it lightly, denying Venkura’s guess.
Then,
He gave the answer.
“Spiritual Pressure.”
“Spiritual Pressure?”
Venkura repeated this enigmatic term.
He looked at Elus in confusion; from the term alone, he couldn’t figure out what it signified.
“You don’t need to know too much. Knowing too many things you shouldn’t will get you killed.” Elus didn’t explain, nor was there need to explain too much to a defeated subordinate. It wasn’t for secrecy; he just found it troublesome to explain.
Spiritual Pressure was a special ability of the [Bat-Bat Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Black-Winged Great Demon Form], like Marco the “Phoenix”‘s “Regenerating Blue Flames.” “Spiritual Pressure” was Elus’s Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit’s special ability.
Things like “Steel Skin,” and the “Bala” just used to kill the Magic Ball Sorcerer, as well as other unshown means, were basically byproducts of Spiritual Pressure.
There were quite a few such byproducts.
The Hogyoku followed Elus’s will, almost perfectly recreating the power of the “Black-Winged Great Demon.”
Granting Elus the power to live freely in this world!
