Devil Bloodline

"Don't even think about running!"

Vlad roared, the light on his forehead growing brighter. His right arm shrank back to its original size, but remained covered in red fur.

This state was undoubtedly better suited to fighting opponents of normal human size.

He raced after him, his feet flying. Mr. 1 ignored him and kept his head down as he fled.

Neither of the two sprinting figures noticed someone carrying a little girl enter through the castle gates.

"Take care of that one, and you can rest."

"Okay~"

A Negative Hollow appeared again, passing through Vlad like a bullet before passing through Mr. 1 as well.

Their figures overlapped, so Perona did not steer the ghost around.

She was very tired now. Today's activity had already exceeded her limit.

Fortunately, the Negative Hollow's effects did not weaken with the number of people affected. Both men were now sprawled on the floor, beginning their embarrassing display.

"I can't even control my own arm. How could someone like me ever be king?!

I might as well go bury myself in the cemetery tomorrow."

"What a failure! I couldn't even complete my first bounty job, and every day I run whenever I see someone;

I'd be better off working as a peeler at a fruit shop."

The Kappa Army soldiers who had come at the noise were baffled at the sight of the two men sobbing on the floor.

"What's wrong with His Highness?"

"That boy is the target we're looking for, right?"

"Should we go help?"

"All right, don't stay here making trouble. Everyone out!"

At Dill's signal, the three Kappa Army captains led the bystanders away.

Only four people remained in the vast castle.

Dill first set the exhausted Perona on a sofa, then found the bathroom and brought out a bucket of water.

When Mr. 1 was thrown into the wooden tub, his entire body went limp. He raised his head and asked resentfully:

"Just who are you?"

Dill still wore his mask and did not answer the question.

He was more concerned about the barrel of ink in the secret chamber than Mr. 1.

By now, Vlad had also recovered, though his right arm remained in its red-furred beast form.

"Are you all right like that?"

The stitch line on Vlad's forehead no longer glowed. He shook his head, flexed his right claw into a fist, and said delightedly:

"Though it's much weaker than before, I can control my right arm in this state."

"Then let's not waste any time. Let's go."

Dill picked Perona up again. He would not feel at ease leaving her alone in the hall.

Vlad led the way. Every New Year, he returned here to keep the old king company, so he was familiar with the castle's layout.

He turned a mechanism in the master bedroom, and the wall parted to either side, revealing a staircase leading underground.

At the bottom of the stairs was a stone door. They only needed to push it open to enter the treasury.

There was not much treasure stored inside. Dill casually picked up a gem-studded crown and placed it on Perona's head.

Vlad tapped along the treasury walls and soon found the entrance to the secret chamber.

He raised his beast-transformed right arm to his forehead, drew a drop of blood from between his brows, and smeared it onto the wall.

Rumble!

The wall rose, revealing an enormous passage three meters wide and six meters high.

If it was only meant to let ordinary people through, a passage this enormous was clearly somewhat wasteful.

Dill guessed it was meant for the old king in his fully transformed beast form.

Without lingering, the three continued forward and reached another stone door.

Dill: "..."

Behind the bedroom wall was a staircase, at the bottom of the staircase was a stone door, behind the stone door was a treasury, behind the raised treasury wall was a passage, and at the end of the passage was yet another stone door.

"Don't tell me there's another stone door behind this one?"

"No, no, this is the last one."

Vlad smiled a little awkwardly, then drew another drop of blood from between his brows and smeared it onto the stone door.

The rumbling sounded again, and the stone door swung inward.

The lights came on. The square stone chamber contained nothing else, only a barrel of ink.

And an enormous bone sword embedded in the floor.

"It's huge~"

Dill looked up, his expression astonished.

The entire bone sword was bone-white. Half of it was buried underground, yet even the exposed portion reached the ceiling.

Its total length had to be around twelve meters.

Twelve meters was also the minimum height for an adult giant.

"Is this a weapon for giants?"

"I don't think so."

Vlad scratched his head, looking equally puzzled.

"It's definitely the same shape as Father's sword, but why is it so big?"

Did it grow after being planted in the ground?

He stepped forward and gently stroked the blade with his right arm.

Rumble!

The bone sword shook and actually began shrinking.

In the blink of an eye, it shrank to the size of a normal longsword and was held in Vlad's hand, leaving only a large pit behind.

Dill watched from the side, dumbfounded. Something was not quite right with this power system.

Was this some kind of family magic treasure?

He had always suspected that the Famous Swords in the pirate world could freely change size.

For example, Enma fit perfectly in the hands of Kozuki Oden, who stood over three meters tall, yet still fit perfectly in the hands of Zoro, who stood just over a meter tall.

But that was only a minor adjustment, not shrinking from over ten meters to normal size like this.

"Can I take a look?"

He held out his hand, hoping to handle the bone sword, but unexpectedly, Vlad shook his head.

"No. I can feel it. As soon as it leaves my hand, it'll expand back to its original size."

As he spoke, he tossed the bone sword away. It instantly expanded to its original size and lodged motionless in the pit.

Looking at Vlad's red-furred right arm, Dill guessed that this thing might go together with that barrel of blood ink.

"Look around first. See if your dad left any instructions or something."

There were only two things in this secret chamber: the bone sword and the blood ink.

And beneath that barrel of blood ink, there really was a note.

Vlad picked it up and began reading:

"Blood ink, used to seal the Devil Bloodline within members of the Wolf Family and help them slowly master this power."

By the time he finished that sentence, the smile on Dill's face had frozen.

Things seemed somewhat different from what he had imagined.

Seal the Wolf Family's Devil Bloodline?

A thoughtful look flashed through his eyes as he recalled the scene of Vlad's transformation.

The stitch line on his forehead had glowed, and his right arm had swollen to the size of a person.

What if the cause and effect were reversed?

The so-called Awakening of the Devil Bloodline made Vlad's right arm swell to the size of a person, and the stitch line glowed as it sealed the awakened Devil Bloodline.

"The bone sword was made from a devil's spine. Once a member of the Wolf Family masters the devil's power, they can freely control the bone sword's size."

"All right, stop there."

Dill waved a hand, feeling somewhat bored. Since it could not mass-produce super soldiers, this barrel of blood ink had very little value.

Conversely, Vlad's value had increased somewhat. He was not suited to holing up here as a king; he was better suited to fighting.

With a Devil Bloodline stacked on top of a Mythical Zoan, joining the ranks of the top fighters would not be a problem.

"Put that sword away. We're leaving."

"Yes, boss!"

Vlad put away the note, shrank the bone sword to normal size again, and turned to follow Dill.

As he walked, his brows involuntarily furrowed.

Dill seemed to be floating along ahead of him?