Demon Sword Seven-Star Sword

Brook and his two companions reached the altar at the summit and stepped inside the ancient stone structure.

A massive stone chest sat upon a pedestal, appearing perfectly seamless without a single crack.

Brook gathered his strength and shoved hard against the chest, but it refused to budge, leaving him feeling rather awkward; Silvers and Shakky tactfully pretended not to notice.

With a soft huff, Brook drew his Cane Sword and unleashed a sharp slash of sword qi, splitting the lid of the stone chest before the energy was exhausted against some unseen, hardened resistance.

An eerie green light emerged from the sword mark, and as the glow intensified, the seal on the chest seemed to break; the stone began to turn a pale gray, and Brook kicked the lid away.

A long, slender, and sinister green sword appeared before the trio, its blade covered in green patterns and marked with seven glowing points, arranged exactly like the ladle of the Big Dipper.

It was a Chinese-style double-edged sword, rather than the single-edged katana common in this pirate world, which suited Brook's aesthetic perfectly.

The eerie green light seemed to possess a hypnotic quality, as Silvers and Shakky began to walk slowly toward the Seven-Star Sword as if under a spell.

"Hmph!"

Brook let out an angry snort and released his Underworld Ghost Qi, the bone-chilling cold snapping Silvers and Shakky back to their senses.

"Captain Brook, this really is a cursed sword; it actually tried to lure me into picking it up."

Shakky spoke with lingering fear, while Silvers looked livid; as a sniper, being bewitched by a sword was a source of utter humiliation.

Brook prepared to reach out and take the Seven-Star Sword himself to see if it could bewitch a man of the underworld who had returned from the dead.

"Do not touch the Seven-Star Sword! It will bring disaster!"

Elena screamed in terror, as if witnessing a horrific scene of darkness descending upon the earth.

But Brook remained unmoved, grabbing the hilt of the Seven-Star Sword directly, and the sinister green aura immediately crawled up his arm and spread across his entire body.

"Oh no! The horror is about to descend upon the world!"

Elena immediately pulled out the three sacred orbs she carried, chanting ancient sacrificial rites; the orbs emitted a gentle white light, attempting to purify Brook.

As the sinister aura of the Seven-Star Sword infected Brook, it found no blood energy to consume; instead, it was assimilated by Brook's Underworld Ghost Qi, its malevolent energy devoured and merged into his own.

The eerie green Seven-Star Demon Qi fused with the pale Underworld Ghost Qi to become a deep, ghostly blue Underworld Seven-Star Demon Ghost Qi, and the Seven-Star Sword, possessing a faint consciousness, surrendered to the man who had returned from hell!

With a casual swing, Brook unleashed a massive, ghostly blue Demon Ghost Sword Qi that cleaved both the stone chest and the pedestal in two, displaying immense power.

"Haha! A fine cursed sword indeed; here, take this Cane Sword for yourself!"

Brook tossed the Cane Sword to Shakky and examined the Seven-Star Sword with satisfaction; he hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. The sword was practically made for him, as its demonic aura was born from the fusion of blood and death, making it easily assimilated by his own resurrected Underworld Ghost Qi.

Even the nascent consciousness of the cursed sword had been cowed by his Hell Underworld Qi, trembling in submission.

"You... you weren't controlled by the Seven-Star Sword! Does this mean our tribe's thousand-year-old guardianship and legacy finally ends today?"

Elena cried out in excitement; it was because of this legacy that they had avoided contact with the outside world, leaving their village impoverished and lagging far behind.

"Indeed, the Seven-Star Sword has submitted to me; you no longer need to worry about it wreaking havoc on your people!"

Brook was already considering what materials he should use to craft a scabbard for the Seven-Star Sword.

"Elena, don't be afraid, I'm here!"

A young Marine wearing a commander's cloak rushed up, followed by dozens of soldiers who surrounded them.

"Sadu, it's over; we don't have to guard this place anymore!"

Elena happily shared the news with Commander Sadu, as the two had always been close.

But Commander Sadu's eyes remained fixed on the Seven-Star Sword in Brook's hand; it was a cursed sword capable of granting immense power, and hadn't he used his status as a Marine to pursue Elena precisely for this weapon?

He had tried to sneak up here before, but he could never open the stone chest; hadn't Elena said the seal would only break when the Red Moon was about to descend?

Why had this legendary sword of Asuka Island been obtained by the man before him?

"I am Marine Commander Sadu! You pirate, you have stolen the island's ancestral treasure; I arrest you in the name of justice!"

Commander Sadu immediately drew his standard-issue sword and charged at Brook, ignoring the pirate's status, desperate to seize the Seven-Star Sword.

"Sadu, what are you doing? Why are you attacking?!" Elena shouted in alarm from the side.

"Elena, they are pirates! As a Marine, it is my duty to capture them!"

Though it was unclear if the commander was acting out of true justice, Brook wasn't about to stand by while being attacked; he swung the Seven-Star Sword, sending Commander Sadu flying dozens of meters away, where he spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

"Such terrifying power! Is this the power of the Seven-Star Sword?"

Even while severely wounded, Commander Sadu stared at the blade, convinced that Brook's strength came solely from the sword, a thought that fueled his uncontrollable greed.

"Commander Sadu, that pirate is the Supernova Brook, a pirate with a bounty of 160 million berries! Run!"

A Marine intelligence officer shouted at Sadu, leaving him in disbelief that a pirate of such high caliber would appear on such a small island.

"You really are a pirate!"

Elena retreated toward the Marines in fear, staring at the Supernova the soldiers had described.

Brook didn't bother to finish off Commander Sadu, instead appearing instantly before Elena.

"These three orbs are quite nice; I'll take them as payment for resolving the crisis of the Seven-Star Sword!"

Brook felt the orbs possessed magical properties and were worth keeping, so he took them from Elena's hands and began walking down the mountain.

Silvers followed with his sniper rifle on his back and his revolver at his hip, while Shakky happily swung Brook's former Cane Sword, testing its chill before hurrying to catch up with her captain.

Commander Sadu watched with resentment as Brook walked away with his prize; the Seven-Star Sword should have been his!

At the thought, Commander Sadu vomited blood again and fainted, terrifying the soldiers, who rushed to carry their commander back to the Marine Branch and report the incident to Marine Headquarters.