Pioneers of the Stars

Chapter 3

-A few days before the return of Kaido...

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Yamato tilted her head to the side, puzzled by the fact that Yuto had asked her to retrieve a boat's wheel, a jolly roger and a flint gun as well as food for the trip. "I told you the currents will sweep away the raft with us."

"It will work," Yuto said shrugging himself. "I've got all my power back."

There were three points that Yuto could exploit in his favour: the ignorance of the Beast Pirates, his knowledge of the Heroic Spirit's summoning and his power.

Kaido and his crew believed that Projection was the power of a Devil Fruit. For this reason, they decided to restrain him with chains built with Seastone, a mineral capable of nullifying the powers of the Devil Fruits. Hence the third weakness was that they would never suspect him of the gigantic construct that hung over Onigashima. Lastly, and perhaps the most important of the weaknesses, was his knowledge of the summoning and the recovered objects that were potential catalysts for a hero who knew how to command a ship.

Francis Drake, Blackbeard, and Bartholomew Roberts just to name a few. History was full of those characters.

Yuto moved his hand and, opening the dimensional pocket, pulled out a silver statuette that resembled a man with a tunic and a stick resting on his shoulder.

"I still don't quite understand the power of your fruit," Yamato looked curiously at the magic circuits.

"It allows me to transform natural energy into physical objects," he said rather vaguely not to arouse too much suspicion. He would have told her the truth if she had ever proved worthy of his trust.

Yuto observed the statuette he had found along with a strange, grey and white fruit on one of Kaido's pirate ships. Using structural analysis, he understood that it was something related to the Holy Grail.

"Now get out of here before they find you," he said before observing Yamato. "We will meet at the agreed point."

Yamato nodded before hitting Yuto with her weapon hard into his ribs. It was painful but he couldn't help it. They shouldn't have suspected Yamato.

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The plan was quite simple. The Sword of Damocles was the deterrent that served to buy time; however, just because he had gained time, it did not mean that running away had become easy.

Let silver and steel be the essence.

Let the stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.

That's why he needed more help than what Yamato offered. He was willing to keep his word, but her help was not enough. And here, his experience as a master would come in handy for his purposes.

Let white be the colour I pay tribute to.

The Heroic Spirit Summoning Ritual; the ritual used to summon heroes of the past and future of human history.

He had unrolled a carpet with a magic circle embroidered on the ground and placed the statuette in the middle and a pink flower that smelled of the spring breeze. He needed all his magical energy because the person he wanted to summon would leave him exhausted.

Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.

Let the four cardinal gates close.

Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.

The magic circle began to shine; tendrils of magical energy gushed from it hitting the walls of the cave.

Let it be declared.