The sound of snapping jaws rang out as Luo Ya sprinted away, with Ambuseton's crocodile jaws snapping wildly behind him.
After smashing through countless goods and buildings along the way, Luo Ya spotted his chance and turned. Ambuseton plunged headfirst into a pile of cargo on the dock.
While Ambuseton was buried beneath the clutter, Luo Ya drove the enormous Ryujin Jakka into the dock.
In an instant, dozens of pillars of fire shot up to the sky, surrounding him before converging toward the center.
The searing heat ignited the debris and countless sails on the dock. The onlookers, too slow to escape, had their clothes and hair set ablaze.
The dozens of towering pillars of fire converged and exploded in an instant.
With a thunderous roar, the entire dock turned to ash, leaving only a column of flame shooting into the sky before scattering.
"General Ambuseton!" Amid the crowd's cries of alarm, a gigantic, charred crocodile shot skyward and came crashing down toward Luo Ya.
The battered dock splintered under the impact, leaving only a small section barely holding together.
Luo Ya dodged the attack and gasped for breath as he looked at Ambuseton. Ambuseton's tail, which had gone unnoticed until now, was raised high before slamming down hard.
With a muffled thud, the crocodile shot toward Luo Ya like an arrow loosed from a bow.
At that speed, Luo Ya had nowhere to dodge. He could only brace himself with his sword. With a sharp snap, Ambuseton's jaws clamped down on the enormous Ryujin Jakka.
A sizzling sound rose, accompanied by wisps of smoke.
The pain drove Ambuseton into a frenzy. When he realized he couldn't crush the blade, he bit down on Ryujin Jakka and flung Luo Ya into the air.
Then the crocodile's jaws gaped wide as he roared at Luo Ya above him.
If Luo Ya fell into that mouth full of interlocking fangs, Black Flame's abilities might keep him alive, but it would certainly be no pleasant experience.
And there was no doubt that, given Ambuseton's bite strength, Luo Ya would take a long time to recover if he were chewed into mincemeat.
By now, the battle had lasted from day into night. Luo Ya didn't know when King Ambux would arrive to help, but judging by Ambuseton's strength, Ambux was certainly no weaker.
With that in mind, Luo Ya gritted his teeth. The sixteen fire swords all vanished. He twisted in midair and returned Ryujin Jakka to its sheath.
His sword intent surged wildly, gathering within the blade. Just as he was about to fall into the crocodile's jaws, he suddenly drew his sword.
Line-Cutting Void! A thin black-and-red line flashed by.
Luo Ya fell into Ambuseton's gaping jaws, but the terrifying mouth never closed. Luo Ya stepped on Ambuseton's lower jaw and landed on the ground.
He kicked the crocodile's upper jaw. The enormous creature in the middle of the battlefield split in two from that single kick, its upper half flying backward, severed at the mouth.
A great deal of blood sprayed out, soaking Luo Ya from head to toe.
Luo Ya wiped the foul-smelling crocodile blood from his face, lit a cigarette with a snap, and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
The crowd was so stunned by Ambuseton's gruesome death that they couldn't speak. They could only stare in disbelief at the half-corpse beneath Luo Ya's foot.
Under normal circumstances, Luo Ya really wouldn't have had a good way to deal with Ambuseton. Especially after he transformed into his full beast form and crawled along the ground, he kept his weak points thoroughly protected.
His terrifying jaws gave Luo Ya no chance to strike inside them.
But Ambuseton had thrown Luo Ya into the air and then opened his mouth to catch him. On top of that, Luo Ya's painstakingly honed Line-Cutting Void hadn't disappointed him. Its sword intent, condensed into a single line, had gained a tremendous boost to its unstoppable nature.
All those factors combined gave Luo Ya the chance to kill him with one strike.
Otherwise, with Ambuseton's stamina, the battle would likely have dragged on for a long time. It wouldn't have ended in just a day. The strong in this world were famously tough.
"Heh. Your king didn't come himself, fine, but why didn't he send anyone to help? Did he run away?"
Luo Ya exhaled a puff of smoke and walked toward the crowd, asking them. After all, it was hard to understand why the king hadn't come to help unless he'd run away.
"King Ambux will avenge his brother!" "You evil pirate!"
Once they'd recovered, the crowd roared furiously at Luo Ya.
A few sword waves flashed by, and most of the onlookers were cut into pieces, lying on the ground and wailing.
"Are you always this brave? Don't you know I know how to fight?" Luo Ya scratched his head, looking puzzled.
Just then, something changed among the wailing crowd. Most of the people had wolf-and-dog marks on their faces.
Their bodies were enveloped in blue-black light. Men and women, young and old alike, grew long, upright ears, and their mouths and noses jutted forward.
They turned into wolfish, doglike figures, just like the marks on their faces.
When the light faded, a great many kobolds stared at Luo Ya with glowing blue eyes. They watched him until he began to feel uneasy, then spoke in unison.
"Black Flame Swordsman Luo Ya, I am Ambux, the king of this country."
"Heh. What a strange ability. Looks like I'll have to kill everyone on this island to take you down."
"I have no interest in pointless conflict. That fool Seton is dead. I can let you take his place. You came here because someone hired you, nothing more.
"Whatever reward he offered, I'll pay you twice as much."
"What a generous king, Your Majesty. Heh."
"I have a feast prepared at the palace. I'll be waiting for you." After those words, all the kobolds returned to their original appearances, their bodies once again becoming the severed forms Luo Ya had left them in. Clusters of blue flames flew through the air toward the palace.
Luo Ya soothed the trembling Ryujin Jakka and looked toward the palace, murmuring, "Looks like his ability has something to do with souls, too."
He casually stamped out his cigarette and raced toward the palace at full speed. After all, there were countless strange Devil Fruit abilities.
Luo Ya understood the principle of giving your all, even against a rabbit when you were a lion.
With countless kobolds watching him, Luo Ya raced all the way to the palace. Everyone he saw along the way had already turned into kobolds with glowing blue eyes.
He reached the palace without obstruction and felt his way into a hall.
The table was laden with food and drink. A handsome, dashing man sat at the head of it, with a short golden beard on his chin. A gold, collar-like piece of armor covered his chest. His upper body was bare, his muscles sharply defined.
"You're here sooner than I expected. Take a seat." Ambux gestured.
Luo Ya scratched his head and plopped down without ceremony. After a whole day of fighting, he was genuinely hungry, so he didn't bother with formalities and started eating heartily.
Ambux shook his head, picked up a glass of wine, and drank it elegantly.
Only when Luo Ya had nearly finished eating did he ask, "Have you made your decision?"
Under Ambux's gaze, Luo Ya leisurely drank a glass of beer before finally replying.
"You think you can buy me off with this little food? I didn't realize you were so short but so ambitious." In reality, Ambux wasn't short; he was at least about the same height as Luo Ya.
It was just that in a world where the average person stood well over two meters tall, he did look small.
"First, whatever reward the person who hired you offers, I'll pay twice as much. Second, I'm a Mythical Zoan user who ate the Anubis Fruit.
"All those commoners outside are under my control. Finally, that fool Seton couldn't have lasted this long against me."
Ambux spoke slowly as he swirled his glass.
Ambux's words were a carrot and a stick. He offered generous terms while making it clear that Luo Ya would die if he refused to submit.
He'd also used Seton to show off his strength, implicitly threatening Luo Ya. At the same time, he'd very candidly revealed his Devil Fruit ability.
An ordinary person might really have agreed.
Unfortunately, Luo Ya wasn't ordinary. Ever since he'd seen Ambux, Ryujin Jakka had been trembling wildly in his mind.
If Luo Ya hadn't been holding it back, it would have leapt out long ago to slash at Ambux.