Demonic Beast, Forest Vulcan

"Brother Hughes, where are you from?" A soft, sweet voice came from behind him. Lisanna, who wore her hair like Dora, was in a fine mood. She had spent most of the journey skipping and hopping along without tiring.

Hughes, walking at the front, yawned. His tone was hard to read. "Me? I'm from Cang City Psychiatric Hospital!"

"Huh? What kind of place is that? Are there a lot of people there?"

"Oh! It's a place where people get treatment. People? There are plenty of talented people in there, especially Mashima. He speaks so pleasantly and provides great emotional value."

Lisanna didn't understand what Hughes was talking about, but the sound of Sister Mira and Elfman walking close behind her made her very happy.

So the skipping girl asked another curious question from behind him. "Then, Brother Hughes, how much longer until we reach Magnolia Town? And why can you make flames come out of your body?"

"You sure have a lot of questions, kid! Even a chatterbox might not talk as much as you. Your Brother Hughes only knows the broad strokes about some things. There are even things you might know more about than I do!"

"Ah!"

Hughes stopped walking, and Lisanna, unable to react in time, ran straight into him and staggered backward.

"Brother Hughes, why did you stop?" Lisanna steadied herself, then ran up to ask him.

Hughes waved behind him, signaling for Mira and Elfman to come over too.

"Do you think we've been caught in illusion magic?" Hughes stared at the tree to his right. He thought he had seen it three times...

"Uh, Brother Hughes, weren't you looking for something just now?" Elfman scratched his head. They had already gone around here three times.

There was only one straight road ahead. If someone wasn't looking for something, they normally wouldn't turn off it while walking, only to turn back again.

"You got lost on a straight road..." Mira, who was hiding inside her cloak, said with absolute certainty.

"Lisanna, you can have two portions at our next meal. Elfman, you lead the way!!"

Hughes rubbed Lisanna's little head, then took the bundle of money off Elfman's back and added it to Mira's load.

"Come on, let's keep going. Our destination is Laugh Tale... Oh, wrong show. Our destination is Magnolia Town!"

The group continued on their way, though their formation had changed considerably: Elfman went first, followed by Lisanna and Hughes, with Mira bringing up the rear.

The talkative girl started asking questions again. "Brother Hughes, why can I have two portions?"

"Because someone else isn't getting any!"

"Ah! Brother Hughes, why aren't you eating?"

Hughes: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

"So I'm the one who isn't getting any??"

"Brother Hughes, you can't go without eating! Sister Mira is a really good cook. I'll have her make you something later, okay?"

"Shut up. Keep making noise and you'll be the one going without food!" Hughes pinched his forehead. Lisanna's chatter was giving him a headache.

Damn it, the anime never said she was a chatterbox! Her noise was making his head hurt. His mental illness was about to flare up!

[Task "Defeat the king of Mount Colubo": exactly nine days remaining!]

[Task "Defeat Oars the Demon" has been activated!]

Two notifications flashed past Hughes's eyes in quick succession...

Huh?? When did a new task get activated??

At his command, a phantom panel that only Hughes could see slowly appeared.

Hughes noticed that the task entry on the panel, [Defeat Oars the Demon], had also lit up.

Oars the Demon?

[Defeat Oars the Demon: A giant demon whose name shook the world 500 years ago. After his death, his corpse was found by Gecko Moria, one of the Shichibukai, who had the brilliant surgeon Hogback repair it.

Oars has now been implanted with the shadow of Luffy, the king. He is extremely powerful, so please proceed with caution.

Note: Rubber is the truth. This system does not acknowledge the power of making a mockery of things!]

Hughes turned to look at Mira, who was walking silently behind him with her head down. If he remembered correctly, she would also earn the title of "demon" in the future.

So the Oars the Demon the system mentioned is Mira?

But, system, how about opening your eyes and taking a look? Is this right?

Never mind that the abilities don't match. The species doesn't even match! Even Zhao Gao calling a deer a horse wasn't as blatant as you.

And Oars the Demon is on Thriller Bark. In the last task, you said this was Mount Colubo. Damn it, system, your tasks contradict each other!

[Ding! Considering that the host has currently completed only the task "Drive away the mountain bandits" and is weak, this task is rather difficult. If the task is accepted now, the reward will be upgraded to mastery-level Tekkai. Would you like to view the task target?]

[Task reward: Ultimate art · Tekkai (mastery)]

[Task penalty: Loss of host's shadow.]

Wait! Tekkai again, and at mastery level at that? Are you that eager to send me to my death?

Thirteen years old, without a shred of common knowledge about magic, afraid to use magical abilities, with psychological problems... The more Hughes thought about it, the more things came to mind, and he raised an eyebrow.

[Ding, task "Defeat Oars the Demon" accepted. Countdown: ten days!]

Ahem, Hughes was merely curious about what Oars the Demon looked like!

He clicked "View task target!" after the task description that had appeared.

A gigantic red monster appeared, with enormous horns, rough facial features, and a mouth full of fangs. It was rampaging around, shouting, "Rubber, rubber!"

"It's you, Mira. That fierce appearance has to be you." Hughes immediately concluded that this was a message from the subconscious of his system, which had ended up in the wrong world.

As for what would happen if he guessed wrong? No, there was no chance he had guessed wrong...

Hughes gradually slowed his pace until he was walking alongside Mira.

"Mira, are you sleepy? Do you need to get some sleep...?" Hughes, dressed in psychiatric hospital clothes, moved closer and asked very gently.

He only had to knock Mira unconscious to complete the task.

Joking aside, who wouldn't want mastery-level Tekkai? This was a version of Tekkai he could use while moving, instead of having to stand motionless in place as if he had activated a golden body.

Mira stopped walking and shrank farther into her cloak. Her teeth bit tightly into her inner lip, and her body trembled.

Her blue eyes were filled with regret and the miserable expression of someone confronted by a pervert.

"Please let Lisanna and Elfman go..."

Mira's eyes slowly closed. Tears ran down her cheeks and fell silently to the ground.

"Huh?" Hughes tilted his head as a huge "?" appeared above it. Then realization suddenly struck, and he waved both hands frantically.

"Hey! Hey! Hey, Mira, that's not what I meant!"

"Sister Mira, Brother Hughes, watch out on your right!"

A huge figure sprang out of the forest beside them, five fingers as thick as iron pillars striking straight at Hughes and Mira ahead.

Hughes glanced sideways. The figure was covered in thick fur, and its enormous hand moved so fast that it gave the two of them no time to react.

The palm struck with a mighty gust, instantly scattering Hughes into flying sparks. The monster's five fingers closed like a cage, passing through Hughes and easily seizing Mira.

"Mage, mage..."

It was a gigantic, green-furred gorilla, as large as a hill, with a massive body and a shoehorn-shaped beastly face. Its bare, sharply protruding head and chin were especially prominent. It sprang excitedly up and down through the forest, its enormous palms pounding its chest again and again as booming sounds reverberated.