"It has to be that bastard Vander Decken…" he muttered, raising an eyebrow.
"A miserable fish dares to challenge me?! And he's got the balls to covet my woman?!"
The disdain was clear in every word, but what truly boiled inside him was a mix of annoyance and disbelief. Did that pathetic insect really think he even had the right to look at what belonged to him?
"What a joke."
Suddenly, something whistled through the air.
Three metallic flashes appeared.
But he didn't even flinch.
Tchak
In an instant, his hands moved. As if time had slowed down, he caught the three daggers between his fingers without a single scratch.
He looked at the weapons with disinterest, as if they were nothing more than rusty toys.
"This is the best he's got?"
Then, he clenched his fingers.
Crack
The muscles in his arm tensed, standing out like steel cables under his skin. The bones in his hands seemed to roar as they unleashed all their strength, and with a single motion, the three daggers bent, cracked… and burst into pieces, reduced to fragments of iron.
The remains fell to the ground.
Tiberion didn't even look down. He just raised his gaze, his eyes sharp and cold as death.
"Vander… if you really touch what's mine…" his voice dropped to a threatening whisper, "You won't die easily."
Quickly shedding his coldness, his attention locked onto Shirahoshi, whose presence now completely surrounded him.
As he looked her over, curiosity gnawed at him.
Would it retain structural similarities in its anatomy...deep inside...with humans?
If so...the size?
If it followed the proportion of the human body...then that could be impressive.
A perspective that made his pupils vibrate with flashes of amazement.
His gaze turned into an underwater exploration tool, scrutinizing every pearl-like fold until he finally located the "epicenter" of Shirahoshi.
And upon seeing it, reality shattered his expectations with a mace.
Shirahoshi's intimate sanctuary was protected by a mosaic of hexagonal scales, like Byzantine armor with a gap revealing tender pink folds.
None of the fleshy and scaly curves that his imagination had created.
But most of all, the size bewildered him: a tiny oval, barely distinguishable from the rest of the scaly surface.
His brain froze; this delicate opening seemed incapable of accommodating even his closed fist, let alone...
Perhaps this is a peculiarity of mermaids....
"This..."
The words got stuck in his throat, a mix of disappointment and perplexity.
His fingers traced circles in the air a few centimeters from the protective scales, imagining the cutting edge....
What would happen if those sharp scales sliced his little brother in one fell swoop...?
!
An alternative hypothesis emerged in his mind.
Perhaps those pelvic scales could retract freely.
The problem was that Shirahoshi remained asleep, and her body seemed to remain tightly sealed.
But what if he tried to force the scales in her intimate part to open them...?
Wouldn't that be too devilish?
While he was lost in thought, completely unconcerned about the presence of others, a sharp sensation ran down his neck.
Zap
"Hmm...?" he murmured, turning his head.
It turned out another dagger was flying straight toward Shirahoshi this time.
This is the last straw!
The muscles in his face tensed. His jaw cracked as it clenched, and his eyes lit up with fury.
"Again?" he said in a dry, restrained tone, his voice heavy with pent-up rage.
That wretch dares interrupt me again?
With an automatic motion, he extended his arm.
His fingers closed around the dagger mid-flight, and it instantly cracked under the monstrous pressure of his grip.
Crack
"Vander Decken…"
He looked around, scanning the area. That damned fish was still hiding, but one thing was clear: if he had thrown that dagger, and it wasn't aimed at the palace… then Vander had figured something out.
And if that was the case, he would show himself soon.
So he didn't move. He stayed right where he was, waiting.
And he wasn't wrong.
From the shadows, a pair of anxious eyes were watching him.
Vander Decken was approaching, though cautiously. He knew he couldn't act recklessly. First, he hid, only revealing half his face, observing silently.
He looked around, suspicious, searching for signs of traps or ambushes. But nothing. The area seemed clear. Only two visible figures...
"Bahohohoho!" he chuckled under his breath, struggling to contain his excitement, "Finally, princess… I've finally got you!"
Then his gaze fell on Tiberion, analyzing him.
"Looks like that human and I share the same desire…" he whispered with a mix of jealousy and spite, "But no. I won't allow it!"
His expression shifted. His eyes lit up with rage, and his voice became more possessive.
"She's mine. No one else will touch her. No one. If I have to kill them all, I will… Shirahoshi WILL BE MINE ALONE."
!
Then an idea struck him.
He pulled out one of his daggers and bit down on his index finger, which reeked of years of filth and neglect. Ignoring the pain and the thick blood that oozed out, he tore a filthy piece from his shirt and, with clumsy strokes, wrote a message in his own blood: Urgent reinforcements to the Forest of the Sea.
His safety net.
He held the message in one hand while preparing three new daggers with the other, licking his lips in anticipation of what he was about to do.
And finally, he showed his snout.
"Bahohoho!" he laughed with that nasal voice, "Human friend, thank you for bringing out Princess Shirahoshi."
He took a few steps forward, shamelessly.
"But… she's my prize. Has been for years. I hope you'll cooperate… and hand her over without trouble."
His smile twisted into something darker.
"Because if you refuse… I'll show you what happens when a single dagger can summon an army of thousands."
He stopped about ten meters from Tiberion.
A safe distance. Or so he thought.
"So you finally came…" Tiberion murmured, locking eyes with him.
Inside, he was boiling. That idiot had just ruined his moment. Interrupted him twice. And now he dared to demand something? To threaten him?
Tiberion Hanma was not a patient man. Especially not when someone treated him as an equal, or worse.
He wasn't a man. He was a beast.
Boom
His aura exploded. The ground trembled. His hair was blown back by the pressure. His eyes burned like embers, and a grin of pure sadism spread across his face.
He looked at Vander with the same gaze a starving lion gives a wounded gazelle.
!
Vander took the full force of the aura head-on.
Fear pierced through his body like a spear. His neck tensed, all four of his legs went stiff. His instincts screamed at him to run. To flee.
But he was paralyzed.
"W-What… what do you think you're doing…?"
He tried to sound firm, raising his voice awkwardly.
"I-I'm warning you, if you do anything, my daggers are already aimed at the New Fishman Pirate Group! I'm allied with them! There are over a hundred thousand of them! Think this through!"
But the moment he finished his sentence…
Tiberion was no longer there.
Shff
He vanished.
And by the next blink…
Pah
Tiberion was standing in front of him, arm raised like a sword.
Then, without saying a word…
He did it.
Chak
Vander's left arm was sliced off like butter.
A clean cut.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" His scream was pure agony.
There was no pride, no courage, not even a shred of dignity. It was the wretched cry of an animal being butchered.
The cut had severed his arm completely, and the blood gushed out like a fountain. His face twisted beyond recognition: bulging eyes, unhinged jaw, tongue lolling out.
He collapsed on his ass to the ground, bathed in his own blood, flailing all four legs like an insect flipped on its back. The soles of his boots scraped desperately at the floor, trying to get up, trying to escape.
But he couldn't.
Fear had paralyzed him.
"Y-You're not a man…!" he whimpered between gasps.
That's not a human… That's a monster! A demon!
He was clearly on the verge of losing his mind. He wasn't thinking about Shirahoshi anymore. He wasn't thinking about ruling the island. He wasn't thinking about ruling the seas. All he could think about was survival. Getting out of there alive.
And with trembling effort, he managed to get on his feet.
Staggering, he turned and bolted like a madman, tripping over his own legs, leaving a red trail of blood with every step.
Mid-escape, he threw a dagger into the air. It shot off toward Noah's Ark, heading straight for the Fishman District. His target: Hody Jones.
Hody and he had been allies for a long time. They shared the same dream of controlling Fishman Island. And since he'd once managed to touch Hody, he had marked him as a target with his Devil Fruit.
It was his last resort.
But it was useless.
Tiberion didn't even look his way.
With a completely cold face, void of emotion, he activated Soru with a light foot movement and vanished in an instant.
As a man with a talent level of four hundred, who also understood the principles behind the Marines' Rokushiki, and who had mastered the martial arts and physical abilities of Yujiro Hanma to 30%, executing moves like Soru came as naturally to him as breathing.
"GYAAAAAAAHHH!" Vander's shriek was even higher than before.
Tiberion appeared in front of him out of nowhere, like a shadow.
And without giving him time to react, without space to beg, he raised his arm and with a single ZAS, cut off his other arm with the same clean slash.
The scream Vander let out wasn't human.
He fell to the ground, rolling over himself, writhing in mud and blood, thrashing like a fish out of water. All four legs kicked aimlessly, his mouth drooled, and only broken sounds came from his throat.
"AAAAHHH! MY ARMS! MY AAAARRRMS!" he cried, sobbed, and pissed himself.
Watching him, Tiberion calmly walked forward. Unhurried.
He looked at him for a moment. Then grabbed him by the neck with one hand, lifting him effortlessly into the air.
Vander writhed, kicked, spat blood, but he had no strength left. He couldn't fight. All he could do was scream.
But not even that.
With his other hand, Tiberion twisted his wrist.
Paaaah
A devastating slap shattered Vander's jaw. His neck cracked like a dry twig. And in the same motion, his head was severed from his body.
The head flew off like a ball. It bounced on the ground several times before coming to a stop, eyes wide open and mouth frozen in an expression of pain and terror.
Finally dead, Tiberion tossed the corpse aside like garbage.
Silence.
Only the soft wind could be heard.
And that's when he turned around.
A few meters away, nestled among a patch of seaweed, Shirahoshi had woken up.
She was sitting down, trembling, her hands clutched tightly to her chest. Her wide eyes were soaked in tears. She had seen everything, from the very first cut to the brutal end. Her body trembled so much she could barely breathe.
Tiberion looked at her.
And for the first time in a while, he smiled.
A soft, delicate smile.
As he took a step toward her.
And then another.
"Come with me. I want you to be my woman."
Those words, spoken with a certainty that seemed to blend strength and tenderness in equal measure, made Shirahoshi tremble.
Her entire body shivered, as if every fiber of her being was bracing for an unexpected revelation.
She was on the verge of tears, but in that very instant, something inside her lit up—an unusual mixture of relief and happiness.
For years, terror had been her nightly companion.
The Fishman they had just seen die wasn't just anyone, but the monster who had relentlessly harassed her, the unyielding shadow that had invaded her nightmares again and again.
She remembered every detail of those nightmares with horror.
Now, however, before her very eyes, that grotesque being had been defeated in the most brutal and absolute way imaginable. The image was still etched in her memory: seeing his arms severed, and in a moment that felt suspended in time, watching as his head flew off his body with a single blow.
Never in her life had she witnessed something so raw.
The horror of the scene mingled with her disbelief, creating in her a feeling as contradictory as it was intoxicating.
Despite the overwhelming fear, Shirahoshi struggled to remain upright. She wouldn't allow herself to break down, even though her eyes begged to release the flood of repressed emotions. The thought that the human beside her might grow annoyed, or even hurt her—for showing such vulnerability held her back.
What if her crying… reignited a rage she couldn't control?
So, with a firm gesture, she pressed her lips together, swallowing every drop of terror and doubt. In that act, she began to feel the oppressive shadow of fear slowly dissipate.
Little by little, a soft warmth began to rise in her chest. And it was then that something became clear within her: this human, despite radiating an aura of savagery and overwhelming strength, carried flashes of tenderness that made her heart beat differently.
When he smiled, she found an unexpected sweetness in it. That crooked smile gave her a powerful sense of safety, as if she could trust this strange protector completely.
In his gaze and in his actions, there was no trace of threat; rather, it felt as though she somehow knew, without a doubt, that he would never harm her.
________
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