The Strong and the Weak

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Of course it hit!"

Krieg spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, grabbed his massive spear, and eyed Gawain with utmost wariness.

"A hit like that doesn't count to me. I was planning to cut your arm off outright."

Gawain spoke calmly, as if merely stating a fact.

"But it doesn't matter."

"Neither that guy nor I had gotten used to each other's abilities just now. I more or less know how much strength to use for the next slash."

"Arrogant fool!"

With that, Krieg swung his massive spear again and charged at Gawain. The pain in his arm only made his mind clearer.

He couldn't let him use that kind of attack again. This time, it had struck an armored arm; next time, it might be his exposed head!

With his build, a single hit would be enough—no, it wouldn't even need to hit. The explosion triggered by the spearhead alone could send him to his grave!

Thoughts surged through his mind.

Krieg's face was filled with chilling murderous intent.

Even clad in heavy armor and sprinting with a massive spear weighing over a ton in hand, Krieg was still far faster than any ordinary person.

In less than a second, he crossed the distance between them. The heavy spear came crashing down on Gawain like a hammer.

"Die!"

Krieg's speed might have seemed lightning-fast to ordinary people, but in Gawain's eyes, it was as slow as the tortoise in the tortoise and hare race.

Slow!

Far too slow!

Slow enough to make one weary!

He shifted slightly aside, dodging the sharpest tip of the spear. Then Kansei Masamune, its blade over 1.2 meters long, came down in a diagonal slash.

Kansei Masamune's edge swept over the enormous, hardened spearhead and continued on to cleave through Krieg's breastplate, sinking deep into his flesh.

Yet throughout the entire process, Gawain felt not the slightest resistance. Kansei Masamune was clearly sharper than anyone could have imagined.

Sshk!

Blood sprayed from Krieg's chest and abdomen. His body, which had still been charging forward, toppled backward, while the agony left him dazed for an instant.

Not only had Gawain's slash cut straight through the thickest and toughest part of his breastplate, it had also sliced through the massive spear Krieg regarded as his secret weapon, which slowly broke apart from the cut at its tip.

Bang!

After the heavy crash came the sight of black powder spilling from the broken spearhead like dust.

Judging by the total amount of black powder stored in the spearhead, it would have been enough to destroy a warship if it all exploded. Yet now, it drifted away on the sea breeze blowing through the harbor.

Only when the scattered black powder struck his face did Krieg finally realize what had happened.

"How is this possible?!"

The scene before him, the man standing impassively before him—his strength had already surpassed the limits of Krieg's understanding.

In nearly forty years of life experience, only two words could accurately describe the man before him...

"Monster!"

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Just an unremarkable pirate with his sights set on the Grand Line."

Gawain's tone was so indifferent that it even carried a trace of pity.

Krieg, nearly disemboweled, lay on the ground gasping heavily. Still, gritting his teeth, he forced out the final question in his heart.

"A monster like you... there can't be many of you even on the Grand Line, right?"

"Monster?"

Gawain gave a soft laugh.

"In a world like that, someone like me doesn't count as a monster."

"Compared to those who can destroy islands or even nations at the drop of a hat, I am as insignificant as dust drifting through the air."

"You're lying!"

Krieg spat out blood, his face turning visibly pale.

"If... if even someone like you can't run rampant on the Grand Line, then what meaning do all the weapons I forged for survival have?"

"Survival?"

The pity in Gawain's eyes deepened, yet it was like a sharp blade stabbing straight into Krieg's heart. It was a pain far more unbearable than any wound to the flesh.

Krieg clenched his teeth tightly as Gawain's indifferent voice reached his ears.

"How could the strong forge weapons merely to survive?!"

Krieg's pupils contracted. His mouth opened, but he could not find the words to refute him.

Gawain continued.

"Only the weak forge equipment to adapt to their environment. The strong change their environment until they shape the world into what they want."

"Whether you are willing to admit it or not, from the very beginning, you have been nothing but... weak!"

Gawain's words seemed to pass final judgment on Krieg. The faith that had sustained the man collapsed at that moment, and his expression was almost exactly the same as it had been at Restaurant Baratie in the original story.

Only this time, the one who had handed him this crushing defeat was not Hawk Eyes, but Gawain. And unlike Hawk Eyes, Gawain had no habit of playing cat and mouse. He preferred to cut the grass at its roots.

Swish!

Gawain flicked the blood from his blade and walked toward Krieg step by step.

It took only a few seconds, but to Krieg, it felt as long as a century. Never before had death felt so close.

The cowardice branded into a weak man's bones was completely awakened at that moment. Tears burst from his eyes, and snot ran from his nose.

"Spare me, please! I have money! I can be your subordinate! I have a huge fleet..."

"I..."

Gawain shook his head.

"It seems you still do not understand. The moment you set foot in Raven Port and attacked me, this outcome was already decided."

Gawain raised Kansei Masamune high overhead. Yet in his eyes as he looked at Krieg, there was only indescribable pity and boredom.

An opponent like this could no longer stir his interest.

If he knew of Kuro's former thoughts, he would surely understand why Kuro had made that choice.

Boredom.

It really could drive someone mad.

Once everything became dull and meaningless, rather than drifting across the sea, it was better to find a quiet village and wait for death.

Fortunately, Gawain knew that on the Grand Line, in the New World, countless mountains still awaited his ascent.

At some unknown point.

His purpose for coming to this world had changed in a way even he himself had not noticed.

Certain things hidden within his genes, suppressed in the civilized society of his previous life, were gradually awakening alongside power and slaughter.

"There is no place for the weak on this sea!"

As his words fell.

The silver-white blade in Gawain's hand came down, only to halt the instant it touched the skin of Krieg's neck...

"Wait!"

"Trade my life for his!"

Akin, who had somehow awakened while lying in a pool of blood, knelt on the ground with his head nearly pressed into the dirt.

With the combined damage from Kuro's Claw Blades and the poisonous gas, his body was only one step away from death. The only reason he could still speak was because his powerful will was forcing him to endure.

"As long as you spare the captain, I will give everything!"

"Please!"

At that moment, not only did Gawain stop his blade, but even Krieg was briefly stunned. Yet in the next instant, he returned to his former cold and ruthless self.

The moment Gawain's attention was entirely drawn to Akin, Krieg rose to his feet, leaped toward Akin, grabbed his arm, and hurled him at Gawain.

"Don't blame me, Akin! I want to live!"

"In your next life, don't get on my ship!"