Saint Charlos saw that Will was still walking toward him, and his eyes immediately cleared a little. He hurriedly shouted in a furious voice:
"Y-you... don't come any closer!"
By then, Will had already strode up to him. He kicked him hard once more, sending him flying.
Pfft—!
Saint Charlos spat a large mouthful of blood toward the sky, then crashed to the ground again, his whole body wracked with unbearable pain.
Watching Will continue to approach, he finally felt a terror unlike anything he had ever known rise in his heart!
Overcome by that feeling, he instinctively raised a hand and cried out:
"Stay back! Do you really want to kill me? I'm the most noble Celestial Dragon in the world!!"
Will ignored him completely and continued to approach, expressionless.
Seeing that the other man had no intention of stopping,
Saint Charlos realized that Will truly meant to kill him. He hurriedly braced his hands against the ground and scrambled backward in a panic.
At the same time, overwhelmed with terror, he began babbling incoherently:
"All right! I won't be a Celestial Dragon anymore! I quit!"
"And I promise you! I absolutely won't call a Marine Admiral to capture you ever again!"
"Please let me go! Don't kill me!!"
"You quit?"
Will raised his eyebrows at that, pointed at him, and said coldly:
"Remember this: once a Celestial Dragon, always a Celestial Dragon!"
Saint Charlos shuddered all over at his words.
Realizing that he might really die in this godforsaken place,
he stopped trying to act meek and struggled to his feet, his eyes turning vicious as he growled:
"You miserable insect! If you dare kill me, you won't survive either!"
"Neither the World Government nor Marine Headquarters will ever let you off... Ugh..."
Will had reached him and couldn't be bothered to listen to any more of this nonsense. He grabbed him by the throat and lifted him high, gradually tightening his grip.
Saint Charlos's face flushed red, and his eyes grew bloodshot. He choked out his words in fits and starts:
"Qu... quickly, let go... I... I can't breathe..."
Though he had once been utterly unwilling to breathe the same air as other insects, he now desperately longed to do just that.
Will looked down coldly at the Celestial Dragon struggling in his hand, the desperate will to survive in his words, and said in a low voice:
"Now you should understand a little of what pain is."
But by then, Saint Charlos's eyes were already rolling back. He couldn't answer at all, only pleading instinctively:
"Le... let go... release... me..."
Will's patience had run out, too. He prepared to deliver the final execution to the world's parasite in his hand.
He suddenly tossed the Celestial Dragon lightly into the air and let go.
Before Saint Charlos could open his mouth to breathe,
two red glints flashed in Will's eyes, and both his fists began to fly wildly.
Armament Haki: Hundred Rending Fists!
In the blink of an eye, his arms, coated in a layer of something like black ink, turned into dozens of crisscrossing afterimages!
They pounded relentlessly into the Celestial Dragon suspended in midair!
"Ah-dadadadadada—!!"
As Will roared in a burst of fury,
the Celestial Dragon seemed like a puppet at someone's mercy, shuddering violently in the air without pause!
His entire body was held suspended in place, unable to fall.
Crack—!!
In just two short seconds, every bone in Saint Charlos's body had been shattered!
The next instant!
Pfft—!
Saint Charlos's skin burst open all over, and blood sprayed outward like fireworks!
A few seconds later,
as Will's fists finally stopped, Saint Charlos, who had taken over a hundred blows in a short span, briefly floated in the air for another second.
Then—
Bang bang bang bang bang—!!
His entire body suddenly exploded in every direction! Clouds of blood and chunks of flesh burst outward and scattered!
It was as if countless bombs had just gone off inside him!
Saint Charlos then dropped to the ground like a battered rag doll,
his nerves still twitching in spasms all over.
The broken features of Saint Charlos's face had long since twisted into something as terrifying as a demon's!
It was easy to imagine the agony he was suffering.
That was only because Will had deliberately held back, allowing just a tiny amount of Armament Haki to penetrate his body.
He had wanted the Celestial Dragon to experience one last taste of excruciating physical pain before he died!
Otherwise, if Will had unleashed his Haki at full strength, the man's body would have exploded in an instant, leaving not even a scrap behind!
After suffering on the ground for several more seconds, Saint Charlos finally lost his last breath, his face contorted in agony.
Everyone around them had already been so shocked by the horrifying sight that they couldn't utter a word.
The Celestial Dragons' servants, meanwhile, looked at Will as if they were staring at a real demon.
After landing more than a hundred punches, Will threw his head back and smiled with obvious pleasure:
"Ah~ The whole world is finally at peace!"
But just then,
Will suddenly noticed the group of Celestial Dragons' servants nearby, all staring in shock. His smile vanished at once.
"Almost forgot. I still haven't dealt with you lot."
The moment the words left his mouth,
Shave—!
Will vanished from where he stood and charged into the group of Celestial Dragons' servants.
Iron Body: Thousand-Blade Shatter!
Before the servants could even react, he rapidly swung his arms in every direction while darting around at high speed.
A few seconds later, Will appeared outside the crowd, his arms slowly lowering.
The next instant,
Pfft—!!
Blood suddenly sprayed from every servant at once!
Only then did they realize in horror that, at some point, they had all been slashed with enormous wounds!
Will turned around and watched the servants collapse one by one, helpless to do anything.
Only after confirming that not one of them had survived did he turn his attention to the items they had been carrying.
He gave them a quick look.
Then he suddenly noticed a rather ornate treasure chest among the pile.
Will walked over, pushed aside the two servant corpses lying on top of it, and opened the chest.
There was no golden gleam, nor any scent of Berries.
It held no gold or silver treasures, but a small, ancient-looking chest and a plain, unremarkable book.
Will didn't look at the book. Instead, he took out the small chest first.
When he opened it,
a peculiar fruit appeared before his eyes. It was blue-purple, with spiral patterns on its skin.
"A Devil Fruit..."
Seeing it, a flicker of surprise crossed Will's eyes, and his expression turned thoughtful.
Then he seemed to think of something and slowly closed the chest, holding it in his hand.
Next, Will looked down at the book inside the larger chest.
He felt that if it had been stored together with a Devil Fruit, it must be important too.
So he took it out and put it in a relatively clean pocket.
The rest of his clothes still bore traces left by evaporated blood, and could easily get the book dirty.
Before you continue