novelnext Chapter 209 Artoria vs. Quinn
Chapter 209 Artoria vs. Quinn
Chapter 209 Artoria vs. Quinn
The smoke from the battlefield had not yet dissipated, and the air was filled with the smell of blood and burnt food.
At this point, Kaido was already facing off against Shiraha, while Unohana, having dealt with Jack, was now up against King.
After Jack fell, the Beasts Pirates' henchmen scattered and fled like a pack of rabbits chased away by a tiger.
But the deserters stopped abruptly after running less than two hundred meters.
It wasn't because of courage.
It's because of fear.
A person stood before them.
It was a young girl.
She wore a set of silver-white armor, inlaid with blue patterns that shimmered softly in the morning light.
Her golden hair was tied up in a bun, with a few strands hanging down from her forehead, swaying gently in the breeze.
She held a sword in her hand.
The sword was enveloped in transparent wind, obscuring its shape. Only the wind could be seen flowing across the blade, as if an invisible dragon were coiled around it.
Her eyes were emerald green, as clear as two pools of spring water.
But there was no gentleness in those two springs.
Only perseverance.
"This road is blocked."
Her voice was very soft, so soft that it sounded like she was stating a fact.
But it was just that one simple sentence that made the deserters' legs begin to tremble.
Because they sensed an even more terrifying aura emanating from her.
That aura wasn't murderous.
It is sacred.
It is a kind of sanctity that makes people dare not offend, dare not approach, and dare not look directly at.
"Who—who are you?!"
A member of the Beasts Squad mustered his courage, raised his gun, and aimed it at her chest.
The girl did not answer.
She merely turned the sword in her hand slightly, and the wind flowed along the blade, producing a soft sound.
The member's finger pulled the trigger.
The bullet flew from the gun barrel and shot towards the girl's chest.
The girl did not dodge.
She simply raised her sword, and the wind surged from its blade, forming an invisible shield in front of her.
The bullet struck the wind wall with a muffled thud and then fell to the ground.
The member's eyes widened suddenly.
"Monster!"
He threw down his gun and ran away.
The others followed suit, scattering like a group of frightened rabbits.
The girl did not chase after him.
She simply stood there, sword in hand, watching their retreating figures, her eyes as calm as a still lake.
"Deserting yourselves in the face of battle? You damned bastards."
A hoarse voice came from afar, carrying a hint of mockery and cruelty.
Those deserters who were trying to escape had run less than fifty meters before their bodies suddenly froze.
Their skin began to darken, their lips began to turn purple, and their eyes began to become bloodshot.
Then, one by one, they fell down.
Their bodies twitched a few times on the ground, then remained completely still.
The girl's brows furrowed slightly.
She looked up and gazed in the direction from which the sound came.
On the other side of the battlefield, a huge figure was walking towards them.
The figure was very tall, at least three meters tall, twice the height of an average person.
His body was very fat, round like a ball, but it wasn't just puffy fat; it was solid fat covering explosive muscles.
He wore sunglasses on his head, and behind the sunglasses were small eyes, as small as two green beans, but those two green beans gleamed with a cunning light.
He had a cigar dangling from his mouth, the smoke drifting out and swirling in the air.
His hair was blonde and styled in a strange way.
He wore a gold necklace with a skull pendant hanging from it, and two rubies were inlaid in the teeth of the pendant.
He was wearing a black leather jacket, which was open, revealing his hairy chest underneath.
He held a gun in his right hand; the gun was so big that it could fit an adult's fist.
The gun was engraved with intricate patterns, and purple liquid, like some kind of venom, flowed from the gaps in the patterns.
He held a knife in his left hand. The knife was very long, at least two meters long, and purple liquid was flowing from its blade.
He had a small bottle hanging from his waist, filled with a green liquid that swirled around inside, as if it were alive.
"Plague" Quinn.
The Beasts Pirates' main signboard.
A monster with a bounty of 1.32 billion Berries.
He walked over to the fallen deserters, glanced down at them, and a smile spread across his face.
"Tsk tsk tsk, they really don't listen."
His voice was hoarse and deep, as if he were complaining, yet also as if he were enjoying it.
"I already told you, you're not allowed to run away."
He raised his right foot and stomped on a deserter's head, grinding it hard. The deserter's head exploded like a watermelon, splattering blood and brain matter all over the ground.
"The price of running away is death."
His grin widened, and the cigar fell from his lips, landing in the pool of blood with a hiss before going out.
The girl frowned even more as she watched this scene.
"Who are you?"
Her voice was still soft, but there was a hint of coldness in it; clearly, Artoria disliked this kind of person.
Quinn looked up at her, a hint of curiosity flashing in his small eyes behind his sunglasses.
"Oh, that's exactly what I was going to ask you."
He picked up a new cigar, lit it with a lighter, took a deep drag, and exhaled a smoke ring.
"Little girl, who are you? Dressed like a knight, are you cosplaying?"
The girl did not answer.
She simply gripped the sword tighter, and the wind whistled faster across its blade.
Quinn's eyes narrowed slightly.
"wind?"
He squinted, carefully examining the sword enveloped in the wind.
"Interesting, your sword—it's no ordinary sword."
He paused, then exhaled a smoke ring.
"Are you an ability user? Or a swordsman? Or both?"
The girl still did not answer.
She simply stood there, sword in hand, looking at him, her eyes as calm as a still lake.
Quinn's lips curled into a smile.
"You're not going to tell, are you?"
He raised the gun in his hand and aimed it at the girl's chest.
"It's okay, I don't need to know your name."
His finger pulled the trigger.
"Because the dead don't need names."
The bullet flew out of the gun barrel with a sharp whistling sound, heading straight for the girl's chest.
That bullet wasn't an ordinary bullet.
Its warhead was coated with a purple liquid that evaporated in the air, emitting a strange, sweet smell.
That's poison.
"Plague" Quinn's poison.
The girl watched the bullet flying towards her, her eyes remaining calm.
She gently raised her sword, and wind surged from the blade, forming a wall of wind in front of her.
The bullet struck the wind wall with a muffled thud.
But this time, the bullet didn't fall to the ground.
It stopped in front of the wind wall, suspended in mid-air, spinning at high speed.
The purple liquid on the warhead evaporated under the impact of the wind wall, turning into a cloud of purple mist that drifted toward the girl's face.
The girl's brows furrowed slightly.
She swung her sword suddenly, and a burst of wind erupted from the blade, scattering the bullet along with the purple mist.
Quinn's eyes widened suddenly.
"Are you controlling the wind? The Wind-Wind Fruit?"
The girl did not answer.
She simply gripped the sword tightly, the wind flowing over its blade, producing a low rumble.
Quinn's lips curled into a smile.
"Interesting, very interesting."
He threw away the gun in his hand and picked up the long knife in his left hand.
"If guns won't work, then we'll use knives."
His body suddenly lunged forward at an astonishing speed, completely unlike a three-meter-tall, several-hundred-pound fat man.
In three seconds, he rushed to the girl's side.
The long sword swung down suddenly, aiming for the girl's head.
The purple liquid flowing from the blade traced an arc in the air, leaving a trail of purple afterimages.
The girl did not dodge.
She raised her sword and blocked the blow.
The swords clashed with a loud bang, sparks flying everywhere.
Quinn was so powerful that the ground beneath the girl's feet cracked, sending stones flying in all directions.
But Artoria's sword did not tremble.
Her arms did not tremble.
Her body did not tremble.
She stood there steadily, blocking Quinn's knife with her sword, without budging an inch.
Quinn's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Little girl, you're quite strong."
A smile spread across his lips, a smile tinged with cruelty.
"But is being strong useful?"
He abruptly withdrew his knife, then swung it out again.
This time, it wasn't a single cut.
It was ten cuts.
Ten swords were swung out simultaneously, each aimed at the girl's vital points.
Head, neck, chest, abdomen, waist, arms, and legs.
Each strike was as fast as lightning, and each strike was as heavy as a thousand pounds.
The girl's eyes remained calm.
Her body began to move.
No, it's not moving.
It's dance.
Her body weaved through Quinn's flashing blades, like a white butterfly fluttering in a purple storm.
Her sword twirled in her hand, each twirling precisely deflecting Quinn's strike.
A knife.
Two cuts.
Three knives.
Four cuts.
Five cuts.
Six cuts.
Seven cuts.
Eight cuts.
Nine cuts.
Ten cuts.
After the ten rounds, the young man had no wounds on his body.
There wasn't a single scratch on her armor.
There wasn't a single crack on her sword.
She remained standing there steadily, sword in hand, looking at Quinn with eyes as calm as a still lake.
Quinn's eyes widened suddenly.
"impossible."
His voice held a hint of disbelief.
A flicker of anger flashed in Quinton Farton's small eyes behind his sunglasses.
"Who exactly are you?"
The young man looked at him and remained silent.
Then, she spoke.
"Artoria Pendragon".
Her voice was very soft, so soft that it sounded like she was stating a fact.
"The King of Knights of Britain"
Quinn's eyes widened suddenly.
"The King of Knights?"
A smile spread across his lips, a smile tinged with mockery.
"Are you the king?"
He paused, then exhaled a smoke ring.
"A place I've never heard of before."
His laughter was so loud that it could be heard throughout the entire battlefield.
"Hahahaha, this is hilarious, it's absolutely hilarious!"
He laughed so hard he bent over, and tears streamed down his face.
The young man looked at him, his eyes remaining calm.
She is not angry.
There was no anger.
There is no shame.
She simply stood there, sword in hand, watching him smile, without making a move.
Quinn finished laughing, straightened up, and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"Alright, King of Knights."
A smile spread across his lips, a smile tinged with cruelty.
"Let me see just how capable you, the king, really are."
His body suddenly swelled up.
This is not ordinary expansion.
It's the power of a Devil Fruit.
His eyes turned into vertical pupils, with a yellow light flashing within them.
"Zoan type, Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Paramecia, Brachiosaurus form".
His voice became hoarse and low, like the roar of a beast.
"This is my true strength."
He opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar.
The roar was like a bomb exploding on the battlefield, stirring up a gust of wind that blew away the rubble and corpses on the ground.
The young woman's hair flew wildly in the wind, but she did not step back.
She remained standing there steadily, sword in hand, gazing at the enormous Brachiosaurus, her eyes as calm as a still lake.
Quinn charged toward the girl in his giant wyvern body, each step shaking the ground and leaving a deep footprint.
He was incredibly fast, much faster than a beast weighing tens of tons.
In three seconds, he rushed to Fa Shaohuo's side.
His right claw lashed out, striking the young man's body.
The force of that claw strike was enough to smash a house to pieces.
Shao Yi did not dodge.
She raised her sword to block Fa's claw.
The sword and claws clashed with a loud clang, sparks flying everywhere.
This time, the young man took three steps backward.
Beneath her feet, the ground cracked open into three deep ravines.
Her arm trembled slightly.
But her sword did not tremble.
Her eyes remained calm.
Quinn's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Blocking method?"
There was a hint of surprise in his voice.
"One of my claws is enough to smash a warship."
A smile spread across his face.
"Interesting, very interesting."
He retracted his right claw, opened his mouth, and bit at Artoria.
Artoria's gaze remained calm.
She leaped up abruptly, dodging the bite.
Then, she thrust her sword toward Quinn's eye.
Wind swirled around the sword, condensing at its tip to form a spiral-shaped wind cone.
Quinn's eyes widened suddenly.
He tried to dodge, but it was too late.
The sword tip pierced Fatah's right eye, and blood gushed from his eye socket, staining half of Fatah's face red.
"Aaaaaaah!"
He let out a scream, his body jerked backward, his right paw covering his eyes, blood flowing from between his fingers.
The young man landed on the ground, gripped his sword, and looked at him with eyes as calm as a still lake.
"You are very fast, very strong, and have a strong defense."
She paused, speechless.
"You rely too much on your physical methods and your senses."
"This is your weakness."
Quinn covered his eyes, looking at her with a flash of anger and madness in his eyes.
"weakness?"
A smile spread across his lips, a smile tinged with cruelty.
"You're saying I have weaknesses?"
He released his right claw, revealing Fa's pierced eye.
But that eye is healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In less than three seconds, the eyes were completely healed, without even leaving a scar.
"The regenerative abilities of ancient Zoan-type characters are stronger than you imagine."
His grin widened even further.
"Your attack, to put it bluntly, is just a tickle."
His body swelled up again, becoming even larger and more terrifying.
His method of making his tail grow longer.
His voice became hoarse and deep, like the roar of an ancient beast.
"In this form, my attack power, defense power, and recovery power are all three times that of my normal form."
He opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar.
"Little rascal, you're dead."
His body lunged forward at a speed that was too fast for the naked eye to follow.
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