Northern Front Purgatory! Moria Fights the Holy Knights Alone, King Awakens Conqueror's Haki

Northern front.

The instant Moria's Shadow Horn Spear was whipped apart, he knew he was in trouble.

The member of the Holy Knights stood twenty meters in front of him, the black whip in his hand trailing on the ground like a sleeping snake. He was tall and wore a spotless white suit with a gold medal pinned to the chest. Round sunglasses covered his eyes, and his lips curved in the hint of a smile.

"Gecko Moria." The man spoke softly, as though reading an inconsequential document. "Bounty... oh, you don't have one yet. An unknown nobody dares come to God Valley?"

Moria didn't answer. He tightened his grip on his scissors, and his shadow slowly spread beneath his feet.

"Shadow Horn Spear!"

Black spears burst from the ground. This time there were five instead of one, stabbing at the man from different angles. Moria had learned to attack from multiple directions in his previous battles: one shadow spear was easy to dodge, but five were another matter.

The man moved.

With a flick of his wrist, he traced a circle in the air with his whip. Its black afterimage wrapped around all five shadow spears, and he gave it a sharp swing. The spears flew off, piercing the surrounding trees and ground and throwing up clouds of dust.

"Petty tricks."

Moria gritted his teeth and swept both hands out.

"Shadow Scatter!"

His shadow burst apart into a rain of countless tiny black needles that shot toward the man from all directions. Moria had practiced this move countless times. Every needle was as sharp as steel, and the attack covered a wide area, making it hard to dodge.

The man didn't dodge. He raised his left hand, palm forward.

Armament Haki.

A layer of black hardening covered his entire left hand like a black shield. The rain of needles clattered against his palm and bounced away. A few grazed his cheek, leaving two shallow streaks of blood, but that was all.

"That's it?" The man lowered his hand and touched the cuts on his face, his smile widening. "I thought Lin Yuan's men would be stronger than this. Looks like he's just a garbage collector, taking in every piece of trash he finds."

Moria's expression changed.

It wasn't because he'd been called trash, but because of the man's tone—that condescending tone that treated people like insects. He'd heard it aboard pirate ships, from the mouths of Celestial Dragon guards, and from every bastard who thought himself superior.

"I'm not trash," Moria said in a low voice.

"Oh?" The man tilted his head. "Then what are you?"

Moria didn't answer. He took a deep breath, and the shadow beneath him began to churn violently, like boiling black magma. He closed his eyes.

In the darkness, he felt his shadow. It wasn't a product of light, but an extension of himself. Lin Yuan had said that a shadow wasn't outside, but inside.

"Modified Shadow Box!"

The shadow rose from the ground, not as a wall, but as a massive black cube that enclosed the man completely. Every side of the Shadow Box was covered in Moria's Armament Haki. Though he hadn't mastered it yet, he could at least make the shadow a little sturdier.

"Hm?" The man's voice came from inside the Shadow Box, tinged with surprise. "Interesting."

The crack of a whip came from inside the Shadow Box. Once, twice, three times. Each lash left cracks in its inner walls, and Moria's Armament Haki trembled.

"Shadow Horn Spear: Chain Thrusts!"

Moria pressed both hands against the Shadow Box. Dozens of black spears grew inside it, stabbing at the man trapped within from every direction.

"It's no use."

A tremendous crash rang out.

The Shadow Box exploded from within.

It hadn't been broken by the whip, but smashed apart by a fist. The man walked out of the shattered shadows, several holes in his white suit and blood running down his left arm. The Shadow Horn Spears had hit him, but the wounds were only superficial. Dense Armament Haki covered his right fist, the black hardening as thick as armor.

"Fist Bone Impact." The man flexed his wrist. "I learned one of old Garp's moves too."

Moria's pupils contracted. This man could use Garp's moves?

"Who the hell are you?"

"Holy Knights, codename 'Whip.'" The man flicked his whip. "As for my name, you're not worthy of knowing it."

He took a step forward.

He was nearly twice as fast as before. Moria saw only a white afterimage before the whip struck his chest. Armament Haki barely covered his vital areas, but the force of the whip penetrated the hardened layer like a blunt blade hacking into bone.

"Argh—!"

Moria flew more than ten meters and slammed into a large tree. It broke, and he fell to the ground, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

"Too weak." The man shook his head and walked toward him. "Why would Lin Yuan take in someone like you? Is he that desperate for manpower?"

Moria pushed himself up from the ground, braced his hands on his knees, and gasped for breath. His shirt had torn open at the chest, revealing a red, swollen welt on his skin. Bruising was spreading beneath it.

It hurt.

But he could still stand.

"Shadow Horn Spear!"

Another black spear shot out. The man didn't even bother dodging. He casually whipped the shadow spear apart, then lashed Moria across the shoulder.

"Ah—!"

The blow tore through the clothing on his shoulder and split his flesh. Moria dropped to one knee, blood running down his arm and dripping onto the ground.

"You're still standing?" The man frowned. "You're tough. But for trash like you, being tough won't help."

He raised his whip and aimed it at Moria's head.

"One last lash. It's over."

Moria lifted his head and looked at him.

He didn't close his eyes. He didn't beg for mercy. He wasn't afraid.

He remembered his comrades. He remembered how they'd died—surrounded and slaughtered by an established pirate crew, falling one by one until he alone remained.

In the past, he would have run.

Now, he wouldn't.

"Shadow—Horn—Spear!"

Moria used the last of his strength to slam both hands against the ground. His shadow surged upward, not as a spear, but as a giant black fist that rose from the ground and smashed toward the man's face.

The man froze for a moment, then dodged sideways. The fist brushed past his shoulder without hitting him.

But Moria hadn't been trying to hit him.

He was buying time.

Because he'd sensed it—a familiar fiery presence was approaching rapidly through the air.

The man sensed it too. He raised his head and looked at the sky.

A black figure descended from above.

King.

The flames on his back traced a golden arc through the air like a falling meteor. His right fist, covered in pitch-black Armament Haki, came crashing straight down from thirty meters up.

The man hurriedly raised his whip to block.

"Clang—!"

Fist and whip collided with a tremendous metallic crash. The ground beneath the man's feet cracked, and his feet sank five centimeters into the earth. His arm trembled—the force of King's punch was no weaker than Kaido's iron club.

"A remnant of the Lunarian race." The man gritted his teeth and looked up at King. "A piece of trash from an exterminated race dares come to God Valley?"

King's gaze turned icy in an instant.

It wasn't anger. It was something deeper than anger—hatred that had frozen a thousand times over, solidifying into ice.

The Lunarians. The Celestial Dragons had hunted them for hundreds of years, and his people had been almost completely wiped out. His parents, his siblings, his neighbors, his friends—they were all dead. He alone remained.

He'd been held on a laboratory table on Punk Hazard, dissected, injected, and electrocuted like a lab rat. He had survived not because he was lucky, but because he didn't want to die. He didn't want to die at the hands of the Celestial Dragons.

"I'm not a remnant." King's voice was so calm that it scarcely sounded like he was speaking. "I'm King."

The flames on his back erupted.

Instead of burning steadily as before, golden flames shot from his back like a volcanic eruption, lighting up half the sky. Their temperature was terrifying. The surrounding trees began to smoke, the grass curled and blackened, and even the air warped in the heat.

Then a terrifying aura burst from within him.

Dark red lightning.

It wasn't like Lin Yuan's Conqueror's Haki, which covered three hundred meters. This lightning was more concentrated, more violent. Dark red bolts spread outward from King, snapping trees and cracking the ground within a hundred-meter radius. The air filled with the smell of scorching.

The man barely kept his footing amid the lightning, covering his entire body in Armament Haki to withstand the impact of the Conqueror's Haki. But the CP Agents behind him weren't so lucky. Their eyes rolled back, foam spilled from their mouths, and they fell stiffly to the ground like harvested wheat.

"Conqueror's Haki?!" The man's pupils contracted sharply, and the smile finally vanished from his face. "How could a remnant of the Lunarian race possibly—"

"I told you," King interrupted. "I'm not a remnant."

The flames on his back formed a golden fire dragon that lunged at the man, claws bared. Its body was made of fire, but its surface was covered in a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki—a combination of flame and Haki, hot enough to melt steel.

The man hurriedly swung his whip to block. It struck the fire dragon with a hiss, and its tip melted in the flames. Charred strips of leather fell to the ground.

"This... impossible..."

King gave him no time to react. He stepped forward and drove his right fist down again. This time, Conqueror's Haki wreathed his fist—not covering it, but coiling around it. Dark red lightning danced across his knuckles, intertwining with Armament Haki to form a new, even more terrifying power.

The man raised both arms to block.

"Boom—!"

The crash was deafening. The man flew like a cannonball, smashing through five trees before striking a boulder. The boulder shattered, leaving him embedded in the rubble, coughing blood, the bones in both arms broken and his white suit reduced to rags.

"Cough—cough, cough—"

He tried to stand, but his limbs wouldn't obey. His sunglasses had shattered, revealing bloodshot eyes. He couldn't believe it—a remnant of an exterminated race, someone he'd thought was trash, actually had Conqueror's Haki and had beaten him into this state with a single punch.

King walked up to him and looked down at him.

"Go back and tell the Celestial Dragons," King said. "The Lunarians aren't extinct yet."

The man gritted his teeth and said nothing.

King looked away. He turned and walked over to Moria, then held out a hand.

Moria sat on the ground, wounded all over. The welt on his chest was still seeping blood, and the flesh on his shoulder was split open, but he was alive. He looked at King, shock and something else in his eyes—not jealousy, but admiration.

"You... Conqueror's Haki?" Moria's voice was hoarse.

"I just awakened it," King said. "Can you stand?"

Moria took King's hand and let him pull him up. He couldn't keep his balance and had to lean against a tree to stay upright.

"Thanks."

"No need," King said. "Lin Yuan said we're not alone."

Moria paused, then smiled. It wasn't a broad smile, but a bitter one born of surviving a brush with death.

"He was right."

In the distance, Lin Yuan stepped out of a door and landed on the ground. He swept his gaze across the battlefield—the fallen CP Agents, the shattered boulder, the wounded Moria, and King standing beside him.

"I'm late," Lin Yuan said.

"No," Moria said. "Just in time."

Lin Yuan looked at King, then at Moria.

"King, you awakened it?"

"Yeah." King looked down at his fist, dark red lightning still lingering at his fingertips. "Just now."

"How does it feel?"

"It hurts," King said. "My head feels like it's going to explode."

"That's normal. Awakening Conqueror's Haki is always like that." Lin Yuan walked over to Moria and checked his wounds. "Can you walk?"

"Yes." Moria gritted his teeth and straightened up. "I won't die."

"Then let's go. Kuma's rescuing people in the east, and Bullet's on his way here. Kaido's still fighting on the western front. We need to withdraw before Rocks and the Marines enter the battle in full."

Lin Yuan raised his hand and opened a door in front of the three of them. Beyond it was the eastern coastline, where Kuma was using the Paw-Paw Fruit to send civilians flying.

"Let's go."

Moria was the first through the door. King followed him. Lin Yuan entered last, and the door closed behind them.

The northern front fell quiet again.

All that remained were the shattered boulder, broken trees, CP Agents sprawled across the ground, and the member of the Holy Knights embedded in the rubble, barely clinging to life.

He looked at the sky and murmured to himself.

"Conqueror's Haki... the Lunarians... Lin Yuan... what exactly are you trying to do?"

No one answered.

In the distance, gunfire continued across God Valley.

(End of Chapter 38)