Ain's Resolve

Bridge's battle began as well.

His opponent was Ain, and he was in a rather bad situation.

Ain was the user of the Rewind-Rewind Fruit. She could attack by generating purple flames; any living creature or object touched by those flames would revert to the state it had been in years earlier. It was an incredibly overpowered Paramecia Devil Fruit, one that naturally countered Bridge's close-combat fighting style.

Fortunately, Ain had not yet developed her Devil Fruit ability to the extent she would in the Movie Version. She could not yet fire purple flames from a distance, and even if someone was hit, they would only be rewound by five years.

Bridge had carelessly taken a hit at the start of the fight, reverting physically to his seventeen-year-old state. The impact was not too severe, but he did not dare attack recklessly again. He had retreated to a corner of the arena, searching for an opening.

Ain stood opposite Bridge, holding a ball of purple flame in each hand as she guarded against his attacks. Bridge had touched her shoulder during their earlier exchange. If she let her guard down even slightly, his attacks would strike her.

Dragging things out was actually extremely unfavorable for Ain. Whether in physical ability or Taijutsu, she was inferior to Bridge. She could only rely on her Devil Fruit ability to seize the right moment and end the battle in one blow. Bridge had already been rewound once; if he took another hit, he would revert to a twelve-year-old boy. No matter how strong his physique was, he would not be able to make much of a difference at that age.

Bridge was starting to lose his patience. He activated his Hook-Hook Fruit ability again, turning his right hand into an outward-curving hook that shot toward Ain at incredible speed. Ain did not dare take it head-on and hurriedly used Shave to evade.

Bridge was highly proficient in Shigan, the Six Powers technique best suited to him. His flying hook could carry the effects of Shigan as well. If she touched it with her Rewind-Rewind Fruit ability now, she would surely suffer severe injuries, perhaps even lose the ability to fight.

Ain appeared elsewhere in the arena, but Bridge's attack followed close behind. This time, Bridge intended to stake everything on one move. Even if he had to take another Rewind, he would end the fight.

Using Shave over and over drained her stamina immensely. After narrowly dodging the hook claw yet again, Ain staggered and nearly fell to the ground. Panting heavily, she watched the hook claw come at her once more. It was as though she had made some decision. This time, Ain did not dodge. She suddenly thrust her shoulder forward.

Pfft! Blood sprayed as the curved hook pierced Ain's shoulder and locked onto her. Her other hand clamped down on the hook in her shoulder. She let out a pained groan and lowered her head, seemingly passing out.

Bridge had not expected Ain, a woman, to have such resolve—to take his attack head-on with her shoulder. But there was no room for hesitation in battle. On a future battlefield, no one would go easy on an opponent just because she was a woman.

In his eyes, Ain had suffered such a severe injury that even moving would be difficult for her. Activating her Devil Fruit ability should have been an immense struggle. So he exerted force with his right hand, dragging Ain's body toward him with the hook. Once she was pulled over, Bridge believed he could end the battle with a single strike.

However, things clearly did not go as smoothly as Bridge had expected. Ain, who should have been dragged over by the hook, stopped moving after being pulled only a short distance. The nearly unconscious Ain suddenly raised her head. Purple flames ignited around the hand resting on the hook as she activated her Rewind-Rewind Fruit ability. The purple flames instantly spread from Bridge's hook-shaped hand through his entire body.

"Fuck!!!"

The moment Bridge saw the purple flames, he immediately tried to deactivate his ability, but it was already too late. Purple light flared from his entire body. After letting out several awkward, strange cries, he turned into a chubby blond kid.

Bridge glared at Ain with eyes even smaller than before. Even though his body had reverted to his twelve-year-old state, he did not think he had lost. After all, Ain was not in much better condition herself.

But what happened next filled him with despair. Ain saw through his thoughts and forced a faint smile onto her pale face. Trembling, she raised her uninjured arm. A light-purple flame, visibly much smaller than before, appeared in her hand. Ain pressed it against her body. Within seconds, the bloody hole in her shoulder disappeared, while her appearance and build barely changed.

Although Ain could not yet increase the number of years rewound, she could reduce it. Used on herself, it allowed her to return to an uninjured state. As expected of a Paramecia Fruit related to time.

Bridge saw that Ain was now practically fine, then looked down at his own height, which only reached her waist. He gave a bitter laugh. He understood that he had lost this time. The key was that he had underestimated Ain's willpower because of her gender, and he had not thoroughly analyzed her Devil Fruit ability either. In short, he had lost fair and square.

In truth, he was not as obsessed with the tournament rewards as the others were. He had already eaten a Devil Fruit and was not a swordsman. What he had been looking forward to most was meeting Graves in the competition, beating the hell out of that guy, and openly winning the right to enjoy cigars for a year. Then he could watch Graves call him big brother with a constipated expression while having to light his cigars for him!

Now, it could only remain a regret. Bridge shook his head, then straightforwardly raised his hand and conceded. Seeing that he had surrendered, Ain deactivated her Devil Fruit ability, and Bridge returned to normal.

Back in the lounge, Ain slumped into a chair. From the moment the hook had pierced her shoulder until now, both her stamina and physical condition had been completely exhausted. At that moment, a roommate who had just finished her own match returned to the lounge. Seeing Ain in that state, she hurried over.

Upon closer inspection, the roommate saw that Ain's face was pale, sweat constantly beading on her forehead, and a bloody hole remained in her shoulder, blood flowing continuously from it. Ain's Devil Fruit ability had automatically deactivated due to her lack of strength.

The roommate hurriedly called for medical personnel, then turned to Ain and said with distress, "It was only a match. Did you really have to push yourself this hard?"

Ain forced herself to retain the last trace of consciousness. A tall, slender figure appeared in her mind, and she murmured dazedly, "If I can't even do this much, how can I ever reach his side?"