Rayleigh slowly drew the rapier at his waist, its blade gleaming coldly in the moonlight.
"You nearly killed Shakky back then-and I've never forgotten that grudge."
Cold sweat trickled down Saint Shepherd Sommers's forehead, but he still put on a brave front. "Don't think I'm afraid of you. If I hadn't let my guard down back then, I might not have lost to you."
"Besides-" Saint Shepherd Sommers raised his voice, seemingly trying to bolster his own courage. "The Holy Knights and the Five Elders are all here. Once someone comes to help, you're dead!"
Rayleigh and the other pirates laughed at his words.
Their laughter inexplicably irritated Saint Shepherd Sommers. "What's so funny?"
"Your reinforcements aren't coming," Rayleigh said leisurely. "They all have their own 'guests' to entertain-"
Saint Shepherd Sommers felt a chill of alarm. Did Rayleigh mean there were more than a dozen other fighters on the island as powerful as him?
But how was that possible?
"You won't be getting any other backup, but you can wait for mine." Rayleigh smiled toward the other end of the alley. "Old friend, looks like we're fighting side by side again."
Heavy footsteps approached from the distance, and a small old man carrying a massive axe emerged from the shadows.
"G-Gaban?" Saint Shepherd Sommers's face instantly went deathly pale.
Both of the Pirate King's right- and left-hand men were here, along with several officers of the Four Emperors. Even a Holy Knight like him couldn't handle that lineup!
Deep in a valley in the Sorbet Kingdom, fierce winds swept up sand and dust, howling past the jagged rocks.
Ochoku lay sprawled miserably on the ground, his right arm twisted at an unnatural angle, blood continually spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Teach's foot pinned his chest down, and