Fifteenth Chapter, Bloodshed!

Chuckle...!

When speed reaches a certain level, even harmless airflow can turn into a sharp blade. When speed reaches a certain level, blades become unstoppable!

With "Spoon" unleashed, the berserk zombies surrounding Kuro were instantly like live pigs thrown into a grinder. Blood splattered all over their bodies, and their tough bones and muscles offered no protection whatsoever. In an instant, limbs flew, and flesh was mangled.

One had to admit, Kuro was a genius.

An ordinary person's footwork during movement only had one chance to exert force, with speed depending on brute strength and posture.

This was common knowledge!

However, one of the renowned Navy Six Styles, the super-fast movement technique "Soru," broke this convention.

By stomping the ground dozens of times within 0.36 seconds, it generated explosive counter-force for high-speed movement, making it appear as if one had vanished from the enemy's perspective.

Kuro naturally didn't have the skill to secretly learn the Six Styles; in fact, few in the East Blue Navy even knew of this ultimate taijutsu.

His Silent Step employed a different technique. First, he'd burst into speed, and while moving, he'd continuously stomp, accumulating speed.

This shifted from instantaneous acceleration to sustained acceleration, naturally lowering the difficulty.

That's why when he used Silent Step, he had a cat-like tiptoeing motion, rising and falling... Only by compressing and stretching a spring could enough muscle power be generated to maintain this acceleration within a range imperceptible to ordinary people.

It was pure originality!

Just ask, could anyone else do it?!

If his fighting spirit were a little stronger, and he had constantly honed himself through battle, combined with his chillingly high intelligence, it's hard to say who would have been the most famous pirate in the East Blue three years later when Luffy first appeared.

"What a shame..."

Swish... Rattle!

With Kuro as the center, zombies splattered blood in a circle, dyeing the green grass red.

Lowett watched the battlefield ahead and murmured softly.

"You've... grown complacent!"

Chit...!

Chit...!

Chit...!

Because he had to maintain acceleration while moving, Kuro couldn't spare any attention to observe while using the Secret Technique: Spoon. As a result, he didn't even know what he was cutting.

However, the general direction was determined by his spatial awareness, something anyone could do.

Rumble!

At the edge of the forest, centuries-old trees snapped with creaking sounds. Following their fall, claw marks continuously tore through tree trunks, rocks, soil, grass, and sand, advancing towards Lowett.

The berserk zombies couldn't find Kuro's position and swung their bodies wildly as if drunk, trying to force the enemy out.

But against Kuro's astonishing claw techniques, they often ended up with their limbs severed.

"That's enough!"

When he no longer felt any obstruction at his fingertips, Kuro knew he had broken through the encirclement.

His phantom-like body left trails of afterimages, and he reappeared on the beach in a left-leaning posture.

Kuro's right claw hung naturally, while his left hand held up his glasses. He looked at Lowett, less than two meters away, and gently pushed.

"Found you."

With that, he vanished again!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Threads snapped rapidly, and a dense series of vibrations struck the eardrums and heart, making the blood boil.

Danger was approaching!

When the last blood thread near his flank snapped, a sense of crisis washed over his entire body.

Here it comes!

A red light flashed in Lowett's eyes. He raised his right hand, forming it into a blade, and sharply inserted it into the broken humerus of his left arm, letting blood gush out.

"Found you."

He uttered the same words, his fingers burrowing into the flesh as if grabbing something. Then, he pulled outwards and slashed horizontally.

Bone Magic: Bone Fang Sword!

Being approached was a disgrace for a mage, but it didn't mean a mage was a lamb to the slaughter when cornered.

Magic was ever-changing. When ambushed, other schools of magic would typically use defensive and counter-magic spells to protect themselves. However, mages of the necromancy school preferred to...

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!

Hum!!

Creak!!

Spiritual power erupted, buzzing loudly. With a chilling "creak" of flesh and bone, Lowett dragged a bone sword hilt stained with pinkish flesh shreds and turned to slash down.

In front of them, a bone greatsword over a meter long descended, scattering viscous blood mist in the air.

"What?!"

Kuro's eyes widened in horror as he instantly understood.

This was a trap!

It had already been proven that Lowett could find his location through peculiar detection methods, but his physical abilities weren't enough to catch him.

"So that means..."

The spiderweb was only meant to trap the prey; the real killer was the spider's fangs!

Glancing at the blood threads out of the corner of his eye, Kuro knew he had been careless.

And carelessness comes at a price!

Clang!!

A trembling shriek echoed through the air. Kuro's figure materialized from thin air like a phantom. A shockwave of vibrating energy spread outwards from the point where their weapons collided, the wind pushing the small boat, causing it to sway slightly.

"Such terrifying strength!"

Kuro crossed his claws to block the bone sword. The immense, strange power surging from the bone sword forced him to his knees, his kneecap sinking into the yellow sand.

Noticing Lowett's scarlet eyes, Kuro's heart leaped.

"Not good!"

Who said spells used on the undead couldn't affect the living?

Pressing down with his right hand still holding the sword, his eyes, filled with brutal bloodlust, retained a chilling cruelty. His empty left sleeve whipped backward, and with a "clang," a bone sword, only a blade in length, regrew from the severed limb, glinting in the sunlight.

Then, like a viper striking, it pierced through his abdomen with lightning speed.

Even this was the result of Kuro enduring the pressure and desperately trying to shift his body.

Hiss... Splatter!!

The bone sword, its blade lined with serrated branches, born purely for slaughter, exited his body. With its gruesome design, flesh was torn away without even needing to be pulled out, and blood gushed forth.

"Hah!"

Pain and fear sent his adrenaline soaring. Kuro's eyes were bloodshot as he pushed hard.

The giant bone sword was deflected to the side, kicking up sand. Ignoring the half-blade sticking out of his stomach, Kuro roared and lunged forward with his claws.

Lowett possessed ranged attack capabilities!

If he didn't close the distance and kill him now, with a blade in his gut, he would have no chance to fight back.

However, at this moment, blood threads surged from the pool of blood, blocking the space between them.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Thwack...

With tearing sounds, Lowett slowly retreated, dragging the bone sword out.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The bloody silk strings snapped and vibrated with a dense, rustling sound again. But more threads pierced Kuro's elbow, cheek, ribs, and thigh from the sides. He continuously tried to close the distance to Lowett, but the blood threads kept him from advancing.

Finally.

Bang!!

A blood spike plunged into his temple. His eyes, filled with madness and killing intent, instantly widened in shock.

Staring at Lowett, less than ten centimeters away—truly less than ten centimeters—Kuro's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something.

But no sound came out.

The next second, his pupils dilated, and his head drooped heavily.

Splash...

The sea water tirelessly lapped at the beach, soaking the yellow sand, bringing coolness, and washing away the faint crimson.

Blood flowed from his abdomen, dripping down his pant legs. Kuro stood on the beach, silent.

"...Seven more years, and I returned from Yangzhou to my uncle's house, asking about him, and was told, 'He's indistinguishable from the common folk.'"

Hoo...

He let out a long sigh, the redness in his eyes slowly fading. Lowett was drenched in cold sweat, his brow furrowed with exhaustion. He murmured softly.

"The day you grew tired of fighting, your ending was already sealed."

His arm trembled slightly. The bone sword, deprived of mental energy, rapidly eroded and disintegrated. After the magical effect wore off, a bone-deep exhaustion washed over him like a tide, making it difficult to even move a finger.

But Lowett still slowly turned his head, facing the sea.

"In this ocean, how many can survive without killing?"

"Don't want to kneel, but still want to earn money. How pathetic!"

In the forest, the roars of the undead chasing prey echoed one after another. Through the mental link, Lowett knew that five of the twenty-seven undead soldiers had been eliminated, but fortunately, the remaining enemies were fewer than them.

Frowning, Lowett glanced at the scarred berserk undead and took a deep breath.

"Go, kill them."

The Navy would be here soon, there was no time to dawdle.

"Roar!!"

The berserk undead received the order and, limping, even crawling, advanced into the depths of the forest.

Without thought, only hatred for the living, they felt no joy for their master defeating opponents, nor humiliation for their master's cruel orders.

This was what it meant to be a tool.

Plop!

Having done this, Lowett sat down on the wet sandy beach, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples.

"Next..."

His eyes slightly opened as he looked at Kuro's corpse, a smile curling on Lowett's lips: "Are you ready? My Black Knight!"

The fourth intended use...

More than fame, Lowett valued Kuro himself... valuing this well-trained, proportionally balanced material whose physical condition was comparable to an extraordinary Knight King.

Why was his bestowed title "Black Count"?

There were hundreds of titled Mages, but none were called "White Count" or "Red Count" to correspond.

The reason was that he once commanded an invincible undead army in the Mage world.

Black Profound Heavy Armor, Dragon-patterned Banners, followed him as he rose from the ruins, slaughtering the Nether Gate, breaking through the Ancient Realm, and destroying the God Tower.

The Black Dragon Legion, composed of countless Black Knights, fought on all four sides, even burning the then most powerful Holy Auckland Magic Empire for a thousand miles, leaving scorched earth everywhere.

"The Black Count of the Black Dragon Army," this name loomed like a nightmare over the heads of countless people in the Mage world. That tidal wave of black legions was the thick, unresolvable deepest dark night!

That was why he was "the closest to the Ten Saints under the Stars"... Only when the night fell could people look up at the starry sky.

"However, the title 'Count Francis' has stayed with me my entire life."

Recalling the sloppy things he did in his previous world, Lowett chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"The Ten Saints, sometimes they have such wicked tastes!"