313 - One Piece: Red Dragon of the Rocks Era (Patreon)

313 - The First Pursuit Fails

The sooner he returned, the better. Leaving the young Imu to face what came next would be difficult, though.

He finally understood why the Imu he had met in his own era had reacted so strangely to their first meeting.

But he could not remain in the past. Once this matter was settled, he had work waiting eight hundred years in the future. He did not even know where that timeline stood now.

Night fell. Caius and Imu left the house and headed beyond the capital.

They had agreed to move together while Joy Boy's hunters made their attempt. Whether those hunters would actually come was another matter.

Joy Boy was powerful, but the independent limit-breakers serving the other kingdoms were not fools.

After a while, Imu broke the silence.

"Are you sure they'll come? It's getting late. Soon we'll be too far away for them to catch us easily."

The quiet troubled her. It did not fit the threat Caius had described.

"Joy Boy won't pass up a chance to kill me. If he tries, you'll have one more reason to bring him down. Don't let him decide the future of your family."

Caius gave her an encouraging nod.

He meant to provoke her resolve, not dismiss her youth. She still needed to grow stronger, although her talent might carry her to the limit-breaking tier sooner than anyone expected.

Something must have happened later to take her to a tier beyond limit-breaking.

Whatever opportunity lay ahead belonged to Imu. Caius had no reason to take it from her.

"You're infuriating," Imu said, "but you understand what's at stake. If Joy Boy attacks our plans, I won't let him get away with it. The Great Kingdom will fall."

She tried to sound flippant, but her promise was firm.

Her family's future no longer depended on the Great Kingdom. If Joy Boy chose to crush their alliance, Imu would help bring his rule to an end.

They crossed several islands. More than two hours had passed since they left the capital.

As they reached Laugh Tale, Caius sensed over a hundred pseudo-limit-breakers watching them, along with several fully fledged ones.

At last, Caius had a chance to fight in earnest. The stronger observers showed no immediate hostility, but they had come to watch him. He meant to kill them along with the rest.

Both stopped.

Caius glanced at Imu.

"It's starting. Are you afraid?"

"No. I know you can handle them."

She smiled despite the danger.

"Good. Then stay back."

Caius turned toward the men waiting ahead.

"Joy Boy sent you here to die. Don't expect me to spare you."

He drew the ancient sword Longquan and motioned Imu behind a safer line.

The air tightened. Longquan rang as Caius poured Conqueror's Haki into its blade. Sword intent surged across the island, gathering into a violent pulse of power.

He raised Longquan and struck.

"Endless Sky-Splitting Slash!"

Sword energy swept forward with a roar. Trees snapped in the wind, waves rose offshore, and the slash tore through the sky amid thunder.

The hundred-plus pseudo-limit-breakers combined their attacks. If they could stop this first blow, they might have a chance.

Their power broke against his slash. The force that remained crashed through them.

White light filled the island, followed by a towering cloud of smoke.

Seconds later, nothing was left of the attackers.

Imu watched, taking in what such power could accomplish.

Caius had proved his strength beyond doubt.

Her own remained far behind. She knew she had talent, but now she had a purpose for using it: the war ahead and the future she meant to claim.

"We'll continue to the place we agreed on," Caius told her. "More will come. The others are hanging back, and I won't waste time chasing them while we still have work to do."

He spoke to Imu over the fading noise of the battle.

He led her toward the secret base on the island.

The limit-breakers who had observed the slaughter exhaled when Caius passed without attacking.

"I told you we shouldn't take this job. Now do you believe me?"

"How was I supposed to know he was that strong? At least seeing that strike taught me something."

"He's stronger than Joy Boy. Why else send us? Charging him would be suicide."

"Then we don't charge. Joy Boy is our ally, not our master."

"Watch yourself. I've heard he wants our families gone."

"Let him try. I..."

The limit-breakers fell into an angry argument.

Caius and Imu were nearing the base when several dozen more pseudo-limit-breakers arrived. Caius sent her ahead rather than delay their plan.

He stayed behind and destroyed the second wave in minutes. They had been sent as expendable troops, and he treated them as such.

At the base, he checked on Toki, then sent both women away from the fighting.

He crossed to a deserted island nearby.

Joy Boy would come. He had spent too much creating these fighters to ignore the loss.

A handful of pseudo-limit-breakers would have been bearable. This many were not.

Caius had killed 178 across the two waves. Joy Boy would feel that loss before he sent more.

The surviving limit-breakers could keep watching for now. Caius saw no need to pursue them.

Joy Boy might kill them himself. Caius had no illusions that the coming battle would be easy.

Imu and Toki needed time to carry out their plans. Wounding Joy Boy here would give them that time.

On another island, Joy Boy had watched the fighting from beginning to end. The loss showed on his face.

He had spent resources diverted from powerful families to build those fighters. Now they were gone.

Worse, the limit-breakers assigned to the mission had refused to attack.

He had expected them to die wearing Caius down. Instead, they had survived, and Caius was unharmed.

Joy Boy had kept them alive because they might still be useful. Now he would test that assumption one last time.

He appeared before them.

"Why didn't you join the attack? You volunteered for this mission."

He made no effort to hide his anger.

The men bowed before answering.

"Joy Boy, he's too strong. We'd have died. Bring more limit-breakers and we'll reconsider."

Their courtesy disguised a refusal. Joy Boy could no longer summon enough willing fighters to satisfy them.

He had once won loyalty by sharing hardship. He had proved unwilling to share the rewards.

Many former allies had already broken with him over that selfishness.

So much for the Great Kingdom's sun.

Joy Boy heard the insult beneath their words and gave a humorless laugh.

'Fine. Then you're no use to me.'

He activated a hidden mechanism. Pain seized the hearts of four limit-breakers. They stared at him in disbelief and died.

"I have no use for men who refuse to act. I hadn't intended to kill you so soon, but you made the choice easy."

His contempt was plain.

He steadied himself and looked toward the deserted island. Caius waited there, smiling as if Joy Boy's actions held no surprise.

Joy Boy crossed the distance in an instant and faced him.

"When did you notice me following you?"

"Notice? I knew you'd come from the start. That little display was worth watching, though."

Caius smiled at him.

He would have been even more ruthless in Joy Boy's position. But Joy Boy had chosen a path that could not deliver what he wanted.

"I see."

"Honestly, I don't want to fight you. Not because we're kindred spirits; there's simply no need for it. But your existence threatens my rule, so you have to die."

Joy Boy drew a deep breath.

"Then show me what you can do."

Caius stood ready, smiling still.

Joy Boy lunged with an unfamiliar western-style sword. His sword intent became almost tangible; his swordsmanship had broken past its limits.

Conqueror's Haki coated the blade as he put his full strength behind the thrust.

Caius met him with Longquan, his own blade coated in Conqueror's Haki. He drove off the ground hard enough to leave a crater.

They traded more than a hundred blows. Neither could settle the fight.

Mountainsides, trees, and fields vanished around them. Their Haki clashed beneath the sun, though Caius's Conqueror's Haki was clearly superior.

Joy Boy found himself pressed back and attacked with greater ferocity.

...

By the seventh day, Joy Boy had shown Caius everything he had. Caius still had half his stamina left. He pressed harder, forcing Joy Boy into retreat.

"Impossible! You should be at your limit!"

Joy Boy shouted as he fled.

He had calculated for an enemy several times stronger than himself. Caius's endurance overturned every calculation.

His unusual constitution gave him reserves Joy Boy had not anticipated. Forcing Caius to spend even half of them was an extraordinary feat.

Apart from the adult Imu Caius knew in his own era, Joy Boy was the strongest opponent he had faced.

"You lasted seven days against me, Joy Boy. Be proud of that. No one else has managed it. Among limit-breakers, you're the strongest beneath me!"

Caius laughed.

He fought without restraint, delighted by the challenge.

Rocks, Roger, and the others had never pushed him this far.

Joy Boy deserved that much recognition.

All the more reason to leave him unable to interfere with Imu's and Toki's plans.

Kill Joy Boy, though?

That was another matter. Caius felt the will of the world pressing against him, offering a compromise.

"You may gravely wound Joy Boy, but do not kill him. I still need him. The world's timeline cannot be thrown off course yet."

...