Crazy Woman

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The situation was getting worse.

Seeing Kazt and Aibe on the verge of fighting, the pirates in the tavern who had nothing to do with the mess could no longer sit still.

They wanted to leave, but all they could do was stare longingly at the front door blocked by the Sharp-Horn Pirates.

With the door blocked, leaving was impossible.

They could hardly shout for Kazt, who was clearly about to explode, to make way.

Technically, someone could do it.

The question was: who would step forward?

There was another exit, the kitchen passage beside the counter, and it probably led to a back door.

But reaching it meant crossing the line of sight between Kazt and Aibe.

So the same question returned.

Who would step forward?

No one wanted to. All they could do was edge closer to the walls and hope they would not be caught in the fight.

If they could not use the front door or the back, the only remaining option was to break through the wall.

The walls of the tavern were harder than ordinary wood, but they were still wood. Breaking them would not be too difficult.

Coincidentally, Corvin was thinking along the same lines as those pirates, with absolutely no awareness that he had caused the whole disaster.

Breaking through the wall was one of the escape routes he was considering.

As for the kitchen passage, which was closer, he had no intention of using it.

It was not because he feared hurting the tavern staff. He was more concerned that whoever stood behind Mad Hatter Town might come after him afterward.

'Come on. Fight already.'

While guarding against Aibe, Corvin glanced from the corner of his eye toward Kazt and his men near the door, then toward the dozen strong pirates who had come with Aibe.

Compared with Kazt in his rage, Corvin felt that Aibe, right in front of him, was more dangerous.

That sudden thrust had taught him a little more about how vicious she was.

Using a lunatic like this as a shield had been his only option.

Aibe stared at Corvin with a blooming smile, as if she could read his thoughts.

She was smiling, but there was murder in her eyes.

With her back to Kazt and the others, she held her foil in her right hand and slowly raised her left.

Then she snapped her fingers.

The clear sound was strangely sharp in the tension.

At the snap, her dozen subordinates drew their blades at once. They ignored the skunk hiding under the table and closed in around Aibe.

At a time like this, a pet was not worth their attention.

Kazt's people had already drawn their weapons the moment he entered his beast form.

Led by Wells, one of the Sharp-Horn Pirates' cadres, several men raised their guns without hesitation and aimed at Aibe's group.

Any pirate crew with sense kept members skilled with guns, and the Sharp-Horn Pirates were no exception.

By contrast, none of Aibe's people carried firearms. Every one of them favored blades.

In this setting, the Sharp-Horn Pirates had the advantage in both numbers and equipment.

The tension stretched like a band pulled to its limit.

A fight could break out at any second.

Seeing the situation turn bad, Wolf Rat instantly pulled back his emotions.

In the calm before the storm, he did not want his overly professional crying to draw both sides' attention.

He quietly edged toward Corvin.

He kept the distance delicate. He did not enter Aibe's attack range, but he did not move too far from Corvin either.

At that distance, he could step in and help Corvin at any moment.

'Why do I have to do this?'

Wolf Rat felt deeply unwilling, but he had no choice.

He had already cried. If Corvin failed to survive this, then he would have cried for nothing and gotten himself tangled in trouble for no reason.

So even if it felt like swallowing filth, he had to endure the disgust and help Corvin escape.

Everything was for the sake of finishing the mission quickly.

That was what he told himself.

Corvin had no room to notice Wolf Rat's goodwill. After Aibe snapped her fingers, he no longer had the energy to pay attention to Kazt's group.

Because Corvin realized that even with Kazt pressing her people, Aibe was ignoring him completely.

Her eyes were only on Corvin.

"Boss Aibe, staring me down won't help you. It'll only get your men killed faster."

Corvin's warning struck the key point.

"I think so too, handsome Usopp."

Aibe's smile grew even more seductive. The arm holding the foil swelled slightly.

"But who told you to toy with me?"

Before the words had even settled, Aibe stepped forward. The foil in her hand turned into a streak of light and attacked Corvin again.

Triple Resonance.

The narrow blade split the air, vibrating with a humming note.

The flash of the blade seemed to divide into three, aiming at Corvin's throat, chest, and lower body.

'This crazy woman...'

The pressure arrived with the blade light. Corvin's face shifted slightly as he barely turned sideways, trying to avoid the point driving straight toward him.

Three lines of sword light swept past, fast enough to leave only afterimages.

Rip.

The clothes across Corvin's chest and near his navel split almost at the same time.

If the cuts had gone any deeper, he would have bled.

Still half-turned from the dodge, Corvin drew a flintlock and fired without hesitation at Aibe's face, which was almost within arm's reach.

Bang.

A lead ball shot through the smoke toward Aibe's face.

It struck only an afterimage.

The bullet passed through the fading shape and hit an unlucky pirate behind her.

Aibe's speed startled Corvin.

In a place like the West Blue, she truly deserved a bounty of thirty-eight million Berries.

Realizing that he had no way to gain an advantage over Aibe with his current strength, Corvin changed plans at once. He retreated quickly and put the flintlock away.

He would not use the other loaded pistol lightly.

From this point on, he could not afford to care about other threats. He had to focus everything on defense.

As long as he kept Aibe tied down, Kazt's men would wipe out her subordinates in a short time.

The longer this dragged on, the worse Aibe's position would become.

Even if Kazt realized something from the fact that Aibe was willing to sacrifice her men just to kill Corvin, he would still probably seize the chance to take her down along the way.

Corvin had to force Aibe to give up on attacking him.

In that flash of thought, his path became clear. His focus on Aibe sharpened to the limit.

He drew on Listening with the Spirit.

As his concentration rose, Corvin used the Hunter-world perception technique that resembled the earliest effects of Observation Haki.

His sight locked onto Aibe.

The intent behind each strike, the tremor of her limbs, the path of each thrust.

Every piece of information was gathered into Corvin's eyes in an instant.

Just as Aibe only had Corvin in her eyes, Corvin now saw only Aibe and the sword in her hand.

He had no other choice.

The condition for using Listening with the Spirit was that all of his attention had to be gathered on a single target.

Aibe sensed something keenly.

For one instant, she had the strange illusion that Corvin had seen straight through her.

She did not dwell on it. She drove her foil forward and unleashed another continuous Triple Resonance at Corvin.

Her true killing move was the ability to send out high-speed thrusts without pause.

To kill Corvin as quickly as possible, she held nothing back.

A storm of sword strikes immediately swallowed Corvin.

Yet Corvin shifted back and forth inside that storm, avoiding every thrust Aibe sent at him.

In only a few seconds, more than a dozen of Aibe's attacks missed.

Her expression changed.

Not far away, Wolf Rat stared in shock.

He had been ready to support Corvin at any moment, but Aibe's sword was faster and sharper than he had expected.

All he could do was watch the net of sword strikes fall over Corvin.

For an instant, Wolf Rat almost saw Corvin being pierced full of holes.

What appeared before his eyes instead was Corvin moving freely through the sword storm.

"Ka... Kami-e? No, that isn't Kami-e...!"

"And that bastard was hiding his strength!"

Thinking that he had to deliberately approach someone like this, Wolf Rat felt a chill rise in his chest beneath the shock.

He was supposed to be the one lurking in the dark.

So why did he feel this way?

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