Asura Demon, One-Eyed Owl

"As the eye, the heart is the eye; all things are the eye."

Long Yi lowered his head slightly and murmured.

Ignoring the pirates' utterly horrified stares, he gazed at the katana in his hand. Suddenly struck by insight, he casually swung forward. The blade cut through the air, forming a silver-white arc of sword light that shot forth.

"Get out of the way! Move!"

"What the hell is that?!"

"What are you standing there for?! Run!"

At the sight of that sword light, the pirates paled in terror and began shouting frantically.

The panicked cries reached Long Yi's ears, but there was not a trace of emotion in his clouded-white eyes. He looked like a detached outsider, neither sorrowful nor joyful.

"If I attach the power of fluctuations within me to the blade, I can create a slash that leaves the sword itself. Then... what about this move?"

With a quiet murmur, Long Yi immersed his mind in the power of fluctuations, utterly entranced.

He reined in his aura, drew upon the power within his body, shifted his movements, and swung his sword again.

"Asura Evil Light Slash."

As the words fell, the power of fluctuations erupted and sword energy surged in every direction. A blade of light four or five times larger than the last swept out, carrying the force to cut through everything as it howled through the air.

The unfortunate pirates had yet to recover from their previous shock when they were met by this massive sword light.

The silver-white sword energy became the last thing they ever saw.

The sword light swept past, its edge gradually fading away, leaving only a rain of blood drifting through the air.

"M-Monster! That demon is a monster!"

"How could this happen?! Wasn't he almost dead just now?!"

"Where's Boss Belik?! Hurry and save us!"

"Help! I don't want to die yet!"

The dead could no longer speak, while the pirates lucky enough to survive screamed hysterically, as though a sword hanging above their heads could fall at any moment.

Only those who had survived beneath that sword light could truly understand Long Yi's terror. In the pirates' eyes, he had become a demon wearing human skin. His earlier weakness and desperate struggle for life now seemed to have been nothing more than a disguise.

"You really took good care of me just now. Please accept my return gift as well."

Long Yi's lips curled into a cold smile. Before the pirates' terrified eyes, his icy vengeance began.

His body became an afterimage. Silver light flashed in his hand, the fluctuation blade slashed swiftly, and bewitching flowers of blood bloomed.

In an instant, the pirates' shrieks and wails echoed across the shoal, wrenching at the heart.

This was a slaughter with no suspense.

Yet just as they had never understood mercy, Long Yi had forgotten what forgiveness meant. The bloodshed committed by sinners would ultimately have to be washed clean with their own blood.

A long while later, after even the final scream had faded, Long Yi finally stopped moving.

Gazing at the hellish scene around him, he closed his clouded eyes. A breeze passed by, stirring his black hair, still clinging with beads of blood.

In the unseen order of things, good and evil were repaid in kind.

It was the pirates who had turned Long Yi from a kind village child into the Asura of the sword he was now. And now, the sword in his hand had finally struck back at those pirates.

"So this is your choice? Heh, how righteous of you. It's still slaughter. What makes you any different from my followers?"

Kazan's phantom emerged behind Long Yi. Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, he clicked his tongue.

Long Yi ignored Kazan's words. He took a deep breath and allowed the fluctuations in his heart to settle, as though trying to ease the violent aura left behind by the killing.

"Hey, demon. I'm talking to you."

Seeing Long Yi's attitude, Kazan could not help growing irritated, and his tone became heavier.

"Ending violence with violence. I have no regrets."

Long Yi spoke softly, opening his eyes. They had returned to their former calm.

As he looked at the bodies scattered across the ground, a trace of coldness flashed through his eyes. If he had not broken through the limits of his mind and awakened his Asura will at the brink of life and death, his fate would have been ten, a hundred times worse than that of the pirates lying here.

"Heh, nothing but a butcher's excuse. Just admit it. We are the same kind."

Kazan's phantom swelled until it became completely solid, seeming ready to engulf Long Yi. He grinned viciously and controlled cursed chains to coil around Long Yi's body.

"Become my follower and accept my gift."

Wisps of scarlet blood energy spread across Long Yi's left hand. Kazan licked his lips, greed written across his face.

"Begone!"

Long Yi barked sharply. The power of fluctuations burst forth, and an invisible impact shattered Kazan's cursed chains in one blow, instantly dispersing the ghost hand before it could fully take shape.

Kazan's expression changed. He looked at Long Yi with a dark face, but after a brief moment, he let out a cold laugh.

"Hmph! You got lucky this time. We will meet again."

As his words fell, the ghostly aura around Long Yi dissipated, and the demon god's phantom gradually vanished.

"We certainly will."

Long Yi neither confirmed nor denied Kazan's words. After a pause, he muttered softly to himself.

"But next time, I will not become your follower. You will become my power."

He had crossed countless mountains, with only one ridge left. The band of pirates had been executed, leaving only one man.

"Belik, I'm coming."

Looking toward Guya Village, Long Yi tightly gripped the chipped katana in his hand and spoke in a low voice.

Walking through the deserted Guya Village, Belik's expression was so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water. He had ultimately arrived too late, allowing the villagers to flee with that Devil Fruit.

"Damn it, if not for that cursed demon!"

Belik gritted his teeth, wishing he could slice Long Yi into a thousand pieces. As his emotions surged, his one eye suddenly turned a dim amber yellow, looking utterly terrifying.

"Boss Belik, what do we do now?"

Dorok was burning with anxiety as well, but he did not dare provoke Belik at a time like this. He could only ask cautiously.

"What else can we do? Those villagers ran faster than rabbits. So much time has passed—how are we supposed to catch them? Damn it, we're going back. I'm going to skin that demon alive!"

Belik cursed furiously, a savage glint flashing in his lone eye. At this moment, those words were clearly no joke.

"Let's go, Boss Belik! We'll head back!"

Though his heart was bleeding, Dorok did not dare reveal his regret and resentment too openly, afraid of arousing Belik's suspicion.

He echoed Belik's words while putting on a vicious expression, cursing as he turned around. What met him was a flying slash of sword light cutting through the air.

Without any warning, Dorok's life came to an end. Even in his final moment, his face retained its vicious expression, though a trace of confusion flashed through his murky eyes.

He seemed to be wondering why everything before him had suddenly gone dark.

"Dorok!"

Belik froze, then immediately cried out like an old cat whose tail had been stepped on.

But he was, after all, a formidable figure who had roamed the North Blue for years. Even with his trusted companion dying right before him, Belik did not let his emotions take control. Instead, he instinctively entered a combat state and guarded himself with complete focus.

The pirate captain did not even spare Dorok's corpse another glance.

"Whoever you are, I'll take your life!"

His dim amber eye stared fixedly toward the direction from which the sword light had come. Belik's voice was like an old owl's cry in the night.

"I can tell he wasn't some ordinary lackey. Let me guess—your brother?"

Long Yi spoke calmly as he approached step by step from afar. The blade in his hand still trembled faintly, as if humming soundlessly.

"How could it be you?!"

Belik had never imagined that the one who had unleashed that sword light would be Long Yi, the demon he had already pronounced dead in his heart.

Yet the next instant, a chill rose in his heart. Then endless fury ignited within his chest as he imagined what had become of his crew.

"My crew, all my hard work... I'll kill you!"

Watching the crazed Belik, Long Yi raised his katana and answered with a cold smile.

"You should be grateful you were far from me just now... But what a coincidence. My thoughts are exactly the same as yours."

This was a battle that could not be avoided. At this point, no amount of words could mean anything. Only a fight with real blades and real weapons could serve as the weightiest declaration.

"Die!"

With a roar, the enraged Belik abruptly pulled the trigger. A flash of fire burst forth as a large bullet tore through the air toward Long Yi's head.

"You're the one who'll die, Belik!"

Long Yi stared fiercely at the speeding bullet and roared. The power of fluctuations erupted from within him as he swung his katana with all his might, sending a silver-white blade of sword energy flying forth.

The sword energy and bullet collided precisely in midair, but the result exceeded Belik's expectations.

When he saw the sword light easily split the bullet apart, the pupil of Belik's lone eye contracted. In his panic, he let out a cry that did not sound human. He discarded his scimitar, and his arms transformed into wings as his body shot into the sky, evading Long Yi's fatal strike.

"What? A Zoan-type ability user?!"

Belik's unexpected trump card finally changed Long Yi's expression, and a hint of unease appeared in his eyes.

"You should be proud to die after seeing me like this, demon!"

Belik cackled strangely in midair.

His appearance had changed completely. Feathers covered his entire body, making him resemble a gigantic monstrous bird in flight. Even his feet had burst through his boots, transforming into sharp bird claws.

"Bird-Bird Fruit, Owl Form."

Belik revealed his greatest secret with a vicious grin. In his eyes, Long Yi had already become his prey.

"So what if you're an ability user?"

Steadying his mind, Long Yi activated Wave Imprint. His eyes turned into a murky, deathly white.

An invisible shock spread from Long Yi's body. Belik's expression dazed, as though he saw the phantom of a blindfolded Asura slowly open its eyes behind Long Yi. Its face was savage, blue-skinned, and fanged.

"Today, either you die or I do!"

Neither the pain in his body nor the exhaustion in his mind could stop the flames of vengeance burning in Long Yi's heart. Only one person was destined to survive this battle.