The Great General Appears

Shirakawa's somewhat slender frame stood in stark contrast to the opponent's burly build, yet their exchange appeared evenly matched—back and forth, attack and defense.

"If you keep dragging this out with me, your men will all be dead soon." Unable to find an opening in his opponent, Shirakawa could only try to distract him with words.

But as Shirakawa had said, though Shanks was struggling against the group and had a few cuts on him, they were all minor wounds that didn't amount to much.

On the other side, however, they had grown timid and hesitant, their attacks losing their edge. If not for their leader being present, they would have fled long ago.

"Damn it." Seeing his men fall one by one, the Mountain Bandit Chief's eyes turned bloodshot. Blinded by rage, he charged at Shanks without thinking, but that was exactly the opening Shirakawa had been waiting for.

"This is the moment I've been waiting for." Having already expended considerable stamina, Shirakawa felt it was time to end things quickly.

Now the chief's back was to Shirakawa, a field of openings in his eyes. Any strike could tear through flesh and bone.

At the same time, Shanks sensed a wave of danger and saw the Mountain Bandit Chief charging at him, his whole body tensing up instinctively.

Then a "bang" rang out—the sound of Buggy's gun firing. Buggy had seized his moment, the bullet striking true on the chief's right arm.

"Damn it." The chief turned his fierce glare toward Buggy, scaring him so badly he plopped down onto the ground.

"Get moving, you two!" Realizing his loss of composure, Buggy shouted at Shirakawa and Shanks to save face.

"You got it." Shanks swiftly dealt with the bandits surrounding him and charged at the chief, while Shirakawa closed in from behind.

Under normal circumstances, such straightforward attacks would have been easily blocked, but not now.

The chief had gone completely berserk, his weapon arm wounded. Perhaps the easy life of a bandit had worn away his willpower.

Seizing this hard-won opportunity, Shirakawa reached the chief's back before he could react and slashed from his left shoulder down to his hip.

A spray of blood burst forth with the fall of Shirakawa's blade. After landing the hit, he quickly retreated—such a wound was severe for anyone.

"Ah!" The chief screamed in pain, completely forgetting Shanks, who was poised to attack in front of him.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Shanks slashed across his abdomen. The chief doubled over, clutching his belly as he fell to his knees. Buggy seized the chance to fire another shot, hitting his thigh.

In that brief instant, he suffered three different degrees of injury, the back wound being the most serious. Blood gushed out without stopping, quickly staining the ground beneath him red.

"You're finished." Shirakawa pointed his blade at him.

Though it took the combined effort of three to subdue him, the Sword of Damocles above Shirakawa's head hadn't even appeared, showing he hadn't used his full strength.

Soon, the chief knelt there, silent.

"No way, is he dead?" Hearing no sound from him, Buggy stepped into the open. Logically, such wounds shouldn't have killed him instantly.

In this world, ordinary people had tenacious vitality, let alone a burly man full of blood and vigor.

To prevent any tricks, Shirakawa walked over and used his blade to flip the chief's body over, finding his eyes rolled back.

"Looks like he passed out from the pain."

"Passed out from pain? That's a first for me." Buggy shrieked.

"That's fine. Let him slowly bleed out here—it's a fitting punishment."

"Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful." Just as they were about to rest, a voice rang in their ears, accompanied by slow, leisurely applause, as if celebrating their victory.

At the sound, Shirakawa's body tensed up. The uneasy premonition that had faded surged back, stronger than before.

They all turned their gaze toward the house the voice came from. A figure slowly emerged, and the scene fell so silent that even the sound of his footsteps could be heard.

"What's wrong with you?" Kaiser Lynn asked Shirakawa, Shanks, and Buggy.

She noticed that the moment the figure appeared, their bodies froze, as if they had seen something terrifying.

"Run." After a long pause, Shirakawa forced out that single word.

As he spoke, the Sword of Damocles above his head materialized instantly. Shanks, Buggy, and Kaiser Lynn were covered in white light and lifted into the air, while Shirakawa planned to stay behind and hold the enemy off.

"Run, Shirakawa!" Shanks snapped back to his senses and shouted at him. "You're no match for him!"

"Oh? Planning to buy time yourself and let your companions escape? Truly a noble act. But I can't let you have your way."

With that, his figure vanished before Shirakawa's eyes—he couldn't even tell how he moved.

"Not good." Shirakawa immediately understood his intent and turned his gaze to the sky. The figure appeared beside Shanks and the others, punching down. They fell to the ground like shooting stars.

"Oh? I missed?"

Though Shanks and the others fell, it wasn't from the enemy's blow. Shirakawa had directly increased the gravity on them, forcing them down instantly.

They would still be injured, but far less than if they had been struck.

"Who are you?" Shirakawa asked, his tone heavy, as he watched the man descend from the air.

"You may call me the Great General. My name is Rogue."

"Great General? You're the one who ordered the massacre of the village at the foot of the mountain?"

"Rogue? You're the one known as the Fierce Tiger of the Kingdom?"

Two voices rang out at once—the first from Shirakawa, the second from Kaiser Lynn.

"That's right. It's me." This single sentence answered both questions, and the answer was the same.

"Kaiser Lynn, who is he?" From her tone, it was clear she was familiar with this man.

"The strongest man in the Kingdom of Kolun, without equal—a man everyone on the island calls the Fierce Tiger. I just wonder why a man like him would show up here."

"Is that so? Then this time, we really are in for a rough ride." Hearing what Kaiser Lynn said, Shirakawa finally understood where his uneasy feeling was coming from.

"As expected of a Princess, you know quite a lot. But I came here just to wait for you." Rogue naturally heard what Kaiser Lynn said.

"Wait for me? Why?"

"Because we can't just let a hostage as important as you go back so easily."

"Then why did you order the massacre of the people in that village?" This question was asked by Shirakawa.

"To lure you out, of course."

"Lure us out?"

"That's right. Since you were willing to escort Kaiser Lynn back to her country, it means you're the meddlesome type with a sense of justice. So when you came across something like that, I figured you wouldn't just turn a blind eye."