章 130: Bloodshed I

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Chapter 129: Bloodshed I

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"Mm, they went out looking for the Pantheon and someone by the title of the Stranger."

"Huh? Well, fuck." Yovan cursed, focusing on the tall lady before him, almost as tall as him.

The lady before him has long, white hair that is bound between orange rods into a ponytail at the back, which fades into aqua green and then blue the further down it goes and ends in rectangular locks.

She also has large, orange eyes with prominent eyelashes, and gold hoop earrings on both ears, and has horns on the top of her head which are mostly red, but gradually become more flesh-colored toward the base.

Her outfit is a sleeveless white garment with a diamond-shaped design on both sides and an indigo, wisp-patterned bottom half along with a pair of red hakama pants and sandals.

"Do you know when he'll be back?" Yovan asked.

"A day? A week? A month? Hopefully never," The lady shrugged, also sizing up Yovan from top to bottom.

"Hopefully soon," Yovan murmured as he scratched his head.

"Why are you here?" The lady asked.

"Just to fight a bit, you know?" Yovan casually said.

"Oh, I know," And she nodded, " But won't you just die?"

"Nah, I always survive," Yovan shook his head with a grin, "Yovan Night, the Stranger."

"Oh," The lady blinked in surprise as she walked around Yovan, sizing him up even more, "Oden," She introduced herself.

"Hmm?" Now it was Yovan's turn to size her up, "Daughter of Kaido?" He asked, having already investigated the Emperor a bit.

"Son of Kaido," Oden corrected.

"I heard your name is Yamato, no?" Yovan questioned with puzzlement.

"That's my other name," Yamato said, "If you're here for a fight, I can entertain you for a while."

"Nah, not yet," Yovan shook his head as he fell on his butt, on a seat of feathers.

"Why not?" Yamato asked with curiosity.

"Well, I don't feel any pain now, so I have to wait until her power's effects go out," Yovan explained as he further laid himself on the ground, resting comfortably.

"Huh? I don't get it?" Yamato said, sitting on the ground not far from Yovan.

"One of my crew members likes to suck the pain out of me... I don't like it. If we are to battle, I'd very much like to feel pain. It makes me feel alive, you know?" Perhaps Yovan did become a masochist.

"No? I just like to hit things, to fight." Yamato shook her head.

"Hmm, I can see the appeal. I also like to beat up my crew and others, feels good," Yovan agreed, and indeed, he's also a sadist.

"Huh? You're weird." Yamato remarked.

"Why do you have two names?" Yovan questioned curiously.

"I don't have two names. I'm just Oden, but some also call me Yamato," She corrected.

"Oden? Is there a reason you changed your name?" Yovan asked, finding her to be quite the weirdo.

"No, I'm just Oden," She shook her head.

"I don't get it, but ok," Yovan shrugged.

"Why do they call you the Stranger?" Yamato or Oden asked.

"Because I am stranger than imagination," Yovan responded with a chuckle, words coming out of his mouth with absolute confidence.

"Oh? How so?" Yamato asked.

"Things stranger than imagination are hard to explain," And that was Yovan's explanation.

"You're a weirdo," Yamato commented.

"Thanks, you too," Yovan appreciated the compliment.

"C-can you tell me about the sea? Your adventures? You're a pirate, right? How does it feel like to be a pirate? What do you do as a pirate? Is it the same as the other pirate?" Yamato's curiosity was starving for answers.

"Other pirate?" Yovan raised a brow as he asked.

"A friend I met long ago," Yamato didn't expand on that any further.

"Not all pirates are the same. Some just want to raid for treasures. Some seek fame. Some power. Some seek to become the King of pirates..." Yovan murmured calmly, "I seek to survive and live."

"Survive and live?" Yamato couldn't help but furrow her brows in bewilderment, "How do you seek to survive when you seek death?" He was here after all to fight her father, a monster in a league of his own.

"When death isn't the enemy," Yovan answered with a chuckle, "Misfortune is..."

"I... Do not understand?" How could someone understand his plight, a force that grants him limitless potential but at the cost of tests that no one should be able to survive.

"You didn't need to think about surviving. That's for me to think about. The rest of the living can think just about living," Yovan remarked with a bit of seriousness.

"Why would the living think about living if they're already alive?" Yamato questioned, finding her curiosity burning ablaze like that of a little child.

"Because there is more to living than being alive," Yovan responded, "Think about how many people's lives were spent aimlessly. Worst yet, having goals yet not being able to achieve them, never being able to walk the walk themselves but waiting for someone else to carry them, someone that'll likely never come."

"I... I understand," Yamato murmured, her eyes losing focus in contemplation.

"Goals don't need to be grand, the simplest of things can make life complete, especially for simple people... I was relatively simple aside from my adventures," Yovan added after a while as he let out a yawn.

"Adventures?" That picked up Yamato's interest.

"When I was weak, the woods were my shelter, a hobby I picked up from my dad. If there was a forest correlated with danger, it was our destination, then my destination alone." Yovan casually explained.

"I don't seek Death, I seek the rush that comes from walking side by side with Death," He added with a genuine smile, "Now let me tell you about some of those walks."

They talked and talked, for a long while. Even when it started to rain, they didn't stop as an umbrella of feathers took shape above them, protecting them from the cold rain.

The wild thunderstorm was musing to their ears, and the falling drops of rain were the musical notes that complemented the scenery.

But there came a time when the talk stopped and Yovan stood up, feeling a resurgence of pain throughout his body.

Not once ever had he stopped using Kiryu Hasshoken on his own body, breaking his body to push himself beyond belief, so when Kalifa's powers were no longer in effect, he felt it clearly.

"How would you like me to address you? Yamato or Oden?" Yovan asked as he clenched his fists, Armament Haki surging through his arms.

"Hehe, if you beat me, whatever you wish," Yamato said with a grin, her confidence apparent on her face.

"Very well," Yovan nodded as he set his blade aside, letting Enyo rest for a bit, and Yamato did the same, accepting the challenge.

"I won't be going easy on you," Yamato warned, not lightly tapping the ground but breaking it to leap at Yovan... She lied. She was trying to go easy on him to gauge his capabilities.

Something Yovan noticed as a shockwave from the side of his head sent it to the side, evading her punch, albeit barely, barely enough to catch her hand as he sent her a kick.

Her other did catch the kick as she tried to head slam onto him only to notice something strange.

Their position had changed, Yovan being on the top, his kick serving the effect of slamming her to the ground despite Yamato catching it.

She noticed his way of movement to be strange, almost like he has telekinesis, thus why he was easily able to evade her other punch, instead, coming down upon her with his hardened knee, the shockwave of which formed a crater beneath them.

Yovan leaped back, not going any further, words reeking of bloodlust coming out of his mouth, "Don't go easy on me because I really won't... I'll break you."

He eyed Yamato as she slowly stood up, looking pretty much intact beside her messy clothes, a grin of excitement overwhelming her expression.

She didn't speak, rather she leaped toward him again, albeit seeming so much faster than before, and Yovan also did the same, leaving behind a shockwave.

Their hands came upon each other, almost like a Sumo fight which Yamato won, making her supreme physical prowess clear.

Yovan found himself being thrown away like a bag of trash, noticing that she used her force against him, and she followed after him while in the air, her claws seeking to grasp him.

However, like before, Yovan moved in the air strangely as he stopped instantly, frozen in the air but ever so slightly moving to the side, then flipping around as Yamato was passing right beneath him.

Yamato felt it, the sheer condensed Haki on his foot as it came upon her head, and most importantly, she felt something different hit her, something familiar that made the sky roar.

Some force akin to golden lightning erupted from his foot upon contact with Yamato, releasing such immense pressure it sent her deep into the ground... Haoshoku or Conqueror Haki.