MARINES - A ONE PIECE story (ENGLISH) - Part I

CHAPTER CXXVII - A thousand spears

At the signal of their creator's clenched hand, Leroy's thousand spears had turned towards the flying ship, which they were now targeting. With a single command, they would pierce it from all sides.

Arthur,Jun, and Haru were standing on the wooden railing, ready to pounce at any moment. All three of them were in bad shape, exhausted from the fights that had gone on since the battle of Mukata. Their bandages and scars were evidence of their fierce struggles. But for now, they had to do what they could to protect the ship : Zell, Jorge and Jane were busy keeping it on course while Kegaro was preparing his men for a possible closed-range fight. All were remaining feverish, until Leroy gave the assault. It was a brief, almost imperceptible hand signal. Yet the spears, guided by their creator, immediately perceived it and, as if animated by his will, shot in numbers at the survivors.

- Now ! shouted Arthur as he leapt into the sky with the Moon Walk.

Jun and Haru immediately followed him. The three of them rose into the air, as their master had taught them, to place themselves between the enemy attack and the ship to be defended. Faced with the thousand sharpened spears of Leroy, they seemed like tiny insects. But their spirit did not waver. Arthur gave a knowing look at his two friends and together they shouted :

-Tempest Kick - Six-pointed Star !

Their legs struck the ether in a common motion, tracing three great blades of air in the sky that gathered into a bright star. Their attack hit Leroy's with a deafening crash, and a shockwave blew the clouds apart, shattering the spears and dissipating the air blades.

With the failure of his attempt, Leroy tensed up. "Those damnkids ! Do you see, from where you are Myr, how they use your teachings ?". Again, his wings flapped to pull him up to the ship, but a spark of gold flashed across the sky : rocketing at full speed with his Moon Walk, Arthur was charging at his opponent, sword in hand.

-After so much effort, shouted the admiral, are you going to sacrifice yourself so stupidly ? Do not be stupid, Arthur. You are not strong enough to oppose me !

But the golden knight knew this too well. His ambition was not to defeat Leroy, not even to equal him. In fact, he had no goal, no idea what he was doing. Against the advice of Haru and Jun, he was going to improvise. He had to find an idea to get rid of their pursuer.

So, pointing his golden blade forward, he shouted :

-Falcon flight !

Light, quick and powerful as a bird of prey, he pierced the air and struck the enemy head-on. But the admiral, far too fast, had foreseen thestrike : from his wings, two large clay appendages had grown, like two protective hands. Covered with haki, they were now protecting him, like an immutable shield. The golden blade screeched against the thick black shell, small sparks blazing in the sky. But where Arthur's attack was one of his trump cards, the one he was saving forthe toughest opponents, Leroy was not deploying even a tenth of his abilities. While Arthur was sweating and huffing, tested by the energy he was using, the admiral remained stoic.

- See the difference that separates us, my child. Believe me, it breaks my heart to have to come to this.

The two clay appendages turned into gigantic hands that closed on Arthur. At once, the clay became as hard as stone. But the wonder child had not said his last word : a golden bolt pierced it and split it opento free himself. And as he furiously returned to the charge, screaming like a banshee, Leroy tensed.

-You're worse than Hector : you really never give up !

A long clay blade formed around his arm, as strong as steel. He covered it with the darkest haki, as deep and shiny as jet, and as Arthur was charging him he counterattacked. The two blades collided with a deafening crash, releasing a shock wave that dissipated the clouds. Arthur fought as hard as he could, for many seconds, but the admiral was too strong : with a wide and firm movement of his blade, he swept the boy away, whose sword, once again, grated terribly. The successive attacks of Lorde, Edward and Leroy had damaged it too much. It was now only a step away from breaking.