Killing each other was not easy. As Mich expected, you've grown stronger, so different from the first time she tried to kill you. She may have the upper hand from time to time but you were able to attack her back and hold your ground.
You breathe heavily after spitting the blood inside your mouth. Mich's kick a while ago was strong but not enough to kick a tooth inside your mouth. She, on the other side, just glanced at the tear on her right sleeve. Your sword reached her arm, cutting through her uniform and to her skin but it wasn't deep enough for her to worry about.
Once more, you charged towards her. While attacking her, she remained standing in the same spot. It implies that she could fight back without the need to move much. That's a pretty insult so you aimed to make her step back or move her from that spot.
(credits to myarmoury)
It took several attacks before you found an opening. Like what you did in the past, you purposely aim your sword at her where she can easily block your attack and slide your sword downwards.
(credits to u-007)
You immediately flip your sword to reverse it back, the sharp blade aiming at the target. With the risk of your wrist, you slid your sword upwards through her sword. Your speed and how unusual of an attack it is caught Mich off guard. The tip of your sword drew a line from chin up to her eyebrow. If she delayed a few seconds to step back, it would've sliced deeper catching her eyeball. She now has a broken thin line of blood on her face.
"Fffffuck." Her fingers touched the wound in her face. She looks at you deadly as she licks her own blood from the tip of her finger.
The transponder on her marine coat pocket rang. She took it from her pocket and answered the call without breaking eye contact.
" Captain Mich!" a male voice shouted while his rough panting could be heard. He seems to be running in panic. " I obtained the devil fruit but all of the 50 pirates... I think they were killed one by one after I ran away!"
You're eyes widened because of the devil fruit mentioned but was also thankful that your crew was able to fight such numbers.
" What?! We tried to separate them to lessen the Kid pirate force on the ship and 50 didn't handle them?!"
" Some were alive but as I was running to your location, a few who followed me were now gone! I-I, I don't know how it's possible."
" Where are you!" Mick shouted.
" I'm running in your direction, east of our ship."
" Keep running, I'll meet you halfway."
You swung your sword aiming at her neck when she countered it with her sword. Her gaze became darker as well as her expression but she was smiling. Judging by that conversation, she's only aiming for the devil fruit and now that the Kid Pirates are killing her men one by one, that made the situation bad for her.
" Well, that was rude." She pertained to you interrupting her call. She placed her transponder snail back in her pocket and started running east.
" Wait! " You shouted.
" I'll play with you once I take a bite of that devil fruit." She said and started running east.
You ran after her as fast as you could. She's not supposed to take the devil fruit or even take a bite.
As you chase her down, your peripheral vision captures the surroundings. Bodies lying on the ground along with their bloody weapons.
To your relief, none of the lying bodies are familiar.
Mich held her transponder snail again but you cannot understand what she's saying. After the call, she took a different route.
' They're changing meeting place.'
Mich kept her distance well but when you looked past her, someone appeared running in her direction. A man in a marine uniform holding a bag in his arms as he aims to meet Mich halfway. Your eyes widened as you cursed multiple times. That's your sling bag and in it is the chest box of the devil fruit you've been protecting.
" Captain Mich!" He shouted as he ran to meet her halfway.
You placed your sword back in its sheath and concentrated your mind on catching up to her before her comrade could reach her.
" Shit" Mich was taken aback when you appeared next to her, about to smack her face with the back of your hand.
Just in time, she caught that hand and tried to yank you and throw you away. However, your other hand grabbed her hand that was holding you. You planted your feet nicely positioned on the ground and used her momentum to yank her instead and slam her on the nearest tree with her back hitting it.
You didn't spare seconds. While she groaned from the impact, you kicked her stomach.
Her hands with haki caught your foot so you took your sword from its sheath. It wasn't even fully out of the sheath when a hard force pushed you. And because Mich was holding your foot, you slammed painfully on the ground face flat. Luckily, there were no bumpy stones or rocks scattered to injure your face.
It was the marine boy who caught up and pushed you to help his captain. He was also covered with cuts and bruises like he barely got out alive after taking the devil fruit from Victoria Punk ship.
Before anyone could react, a loud rhythmic shout mimicking Tarzan but in a female voice echoed around the surroundings.
Eyes searched for that voice but shortly, the marine boy got kicked by someone who swung from the dead vines.
' She killed the vine dude?' You thought.
" Y/N! Take care of Mich!"
" Masclara!" You were happy to see her alive and well. She let go of the vine and landed near the marine boy.
" I'll take care of this." She said.
Mich got up and wanted to go after them but you blocked her way. She stopped and glared at you intensely.
There were explosions in the background. Some were screams from afar. Everyone is occupied with their own opponents.
In a blink, you unsheathed your sword and blocked her attack. For just seconds of deadly stares, swords started to collide creating a spark as wielders tried to push one another.
You tried your best to go toe to toe against her. Not just to hold her back but to defeat her.
Mich smirked when she found an opening whenever you attack with your sword.
She stepped backward on purpose to let you gain space to send her a full-force shockwave with your sword.
' It'll take her seconds to regain her stance no matter how fast she tries.' She thought.
As she expected, you did slash your sword into thin air to send a full-force shockwave.
' Shit'
Your eyes widened when Mich surprisingly appeared on your side where your hand with a sword is still up.
Then, you realize you're already flying after she kicked your side. To make it worse, your body broke 3 trees before the fourth one barely kept its body after you landed on it.
You breathe roughly while shaking the dizziness of your vision. You're on fours on the ground, clenching your teeth and your eyes are shut to bare with the pain in your body.
Raising your eyes, she wasn't aiming for you. You were sent slightly far and Mich is satisfied with you being away and weakened.
You follow the direction where she is heading and to your horror, she's approaching Masclara who is fighting the other marine.
Although the marine boy is almost done for, he can recover and buy time once Mich interferes.
" Masclara!" You shouted.
Thankfully, she heard you. She can't see where you're at but she saw Mich approaching.
Mich smiled at Masclara like a devil. Masclara had to close her eyes as her illness started to ache. She's also exhausted from multiple fights and now, she's about to face Mich who stands in front of her.
" I'll give you time to run away. Consider it as a gift to your dying soul since you used to work for the marines." Mich said.
Masclara opened her eyes and smiled back but warmly.
" I wish I had the time to create a solution for a corrupted mind like yours, you would've been a great marine."
" I guess you don't have enough time to do that. Vegapunk couldn't even extend your time, you could've been a great scientist."
Publishing date: April 20, 2024
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