Spirit Pressure

"How ruthless!"

He held the slender Flower Sword between two fingers.

Aleus clicked his tongue in admiration. "You actually went for my kidneys. Don't you have even a shred of a swordsman's honor?" He looked at Venkura, whose face had gone somewhat pale, and challenged him.

"You..."

Venkura felt as though he were dreaming.

He stared at the slender Flower Sword caught between two of Aleus's fingers, feeling as if he hadn't yet woken up.

His sword wasn't one of the renowned Great Grade Swords, but this Flower Sword, which he'd never even given a name, was no less sharp than those so-called Great Grade Swords.

The Supreme Grade Swords, Great Grade Swords, and Good Grade Swords were all famous weapons forged by ancient swordsmiths in Wano Country. Their long histories had earned them such lofty reputations, but in truth, there was no shortage of swords today that could rival these ancient masterpieces.

The sword in Venkura's hand, for instance, had been forged by a renowned swordsmith in the New World. Umit had paid a hefty price to buy it and give it to him. It lacked only the fame that came with age; in terms of sharpness, it was no inferior to the Great Grade Swords.

But today,

he was beginning to doubt whether his Flower Sword really could rival a Great Grade Sword.

Even with Armament Haki reinforcing it, his sword had still been caught with ease—and with just two fingers.

"Victory is a swordsman's honor. The only thing a loser has is disgrace... Besides, who ever said a swordsman couldn't go for his enemy's kidneys?" As he retorted, Venkura abruptly released the hilt. He brought the fingers of his right hand together like a sharp blade and viciously thrust them toward Aleus's chest.

However,

his right hand was caught.

This time, Aleus didn't use two fingers. He clamped his hand tightly around Venkura's right wrist.

The terrifying force nearly crushed Venkura's wrist bone. The intense pain made his face grow even paler. Fortunately, he had a strong will and managed to keep from crying out, but the turmoil in his heart refused to settle.

Too fast.

He was known as Ghost Sword because of his speed and his unorthodox sword techniques. His extraordinary speed was the foundation of those strange techniques, but now his proudest asset had been utterly outclassed.

He had been completely beaten for speed by a prince whom the intelligence reports described as skilled in political maneuvering but mediocre in combat.

He'd struck twice, and both times his attacks had been stopped.

The second time, his wrist bone had been crushed outright.

"Oh! You're a tough one!"

Aleus let go.

Without the support of its broken wrist bone, Venkura's hand drooped at an unnatural angle.

"I don't dislike men with guts, but unfortunately, guts aren't some miracle cure. A broken bone won't mend just because you're stubborn. You're lucky this time. Go back and tell Umit that I won't forget his offense. Tell him to wash his neck and wait. It won't be long before I take his head."

The moment the words fell,

Whoosh!

A mass of scarlet light shot from Aleus's palm.

Fast as lightning.

There was a sound like an overripe watermelon being smashed. The headless body slumped and rolled off the top of the Tower, landing at Venkura's feet. Hot scarlet blood spattered along the way, and a few drops landed on Venkura's face. Their scorching heat nearly stole his breath.

He was dead.

The Magic Ball Sorcerer, the only Devil Fruit User on this operation, had a bounty of 120 million Berry. He'd died just like that, without even getting a chance to show his face. In fact, he really hadn't gotten that chance—his head had been blown away.

A chill rose in Venkura's heart.

It seemed he'd gotten something wrong.

Aleus had dispatched a pirate with a bounty over a hundred million so casually. Combined with the agony in Venkura's wrist,

he wasn't the only one who'd been wrong.

Lord Umit seemed to have misjudged the situation in the Ekmondo Kingdom as well.

This wasn't a bone that would be easy to chew.

Perhaps Lord Umit really had kicked an iron plate this time. He might even chip a few teeth.

"The game's just about over."

Aleus openly turned his back to Venkura.

He rested a hand on the battlement and carefully surveyed the packed crowds below. Everyone who was supposed to come had already made landfall. Waiting longer wouldn't yield anything more. It was time to close the net.

"Watch closely. This is going to be a grand feast."

Aleus burst into laughter.

He spread his arms in an embrace. Two enormous black wings unfurled from his back, and two pale, curved horns appeared atop his head. His inhuman appearance made it clear that he was a Devil Fruit User.

But what made Venkura's eyes widen most of all

was the moment those two enormous black wings spread fully. An immense pressure erupted—intangible, invisible, impossible to touch, yet unmistakable—and surged in every direction like a tsunami, covering dozens of miles.

The twenty thousand soldiers and pirates advancing toward the port town on Whale Tail Island toppled to the ground in unison like wheat at harvest time.

In a realm beyond ordinary people's sight, over twenty thousand vivid souls floated out of their bodies, drifting blankly through the air. Before they could pass on to the underworld, a tremendous force of attraction from the Tower tugged at them, pulling the spirits toward it.

The blue-black light within the Hogyoku embedded in Aleus's chest rippled violently like agitated water.

Over twenty thousand fresh souls—even if most were of mediocre quality, all of them together still made for quite a feast.

"Conqueror's Haki?"

Venkura hadn't been knocked unconscious by the pressure.

He'd endured the mental assault with sheer force of will. As he stared at Aleus, his eyes were full of fear.

He'd spent many years in the New World and knew exactly what Conqueror's Haki meant. There weren't too many powerful fighters in the New World who possessed it, but every one of them was a notorious hard case. The most outstanding among them were the Four Emperors of the Sea.

"No!"

Aleus raised his index finger and gently wagged it, rejecting Venkura's guess.

Then,

he gave him the answer.

"It's Spirit Pressure."

"Spirit Pressure?"

Venkura repeated the mysterious term.

He stared at Aleus in confusion. Judging by the term alone, he couldn't begin to understand what it meant.

"You don't need to know too much. Knowing things you shouldn't can get you killed." Aleus didn't explain, nor did he need to waste time explaining himself to a defeated opponent. It wasn't because he wanted to keep it secret; he simply thought explaining it would be a hassle.

Spirit Pressure was one of the special abilities granted by the Bat Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Black Winged Great Demon Form. Just as Marco the Phoenix had his "Resurrection Blue Flames," Spirit Pressure was a special ability of Aleus's Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit.

"Steel Skin," the "Hollow Bullet" he'd just used to kill the Magic Ball Sorcerer, and other abilities he hadn't yet revealed were all essentially by-products of Spirit Pressure.

There were plenty more by-products like those.

The Hogyoku followed Aleus's will, recreating the power of the "Black-Winged Demon" almost perfectly.

It had given Aleus the power to live as he pleased in this world!