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97.22% One Piece: Path to Power / Chapter 171: [171] Shards of the Past (IV)

章節 171: [171] Shards of the Past (IV)

[3740 words]

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[Polemos Island, Year of 1465]

A sad day graced the burnt-down island.

The fossilized fog that once protected the island had been left with a giant ravine, opening a path straight to the island.

Spandune's trace had brought him applause from even the Celestial Dragons, especially since Mors was targeting them. The price of a hundred million berries per Warborn had long been issued, too. 

Now, the last lights of the Zenora were four years old, but their living conditions left much to be desired.

"Asura, you pathetic child! Get up!" The sharp voice echoed through the remaining patch of forest that was used as a training ground. The forest was still quite big, filled with wildlife that would love to feast on human bones. 

Kali's venomous voice stung the air, his perpetually red marking still hissing. He glared at the dark-haired boy who crashed into a puddle of mud.

"Tch, I really can't forgive your mother for giving birth to such a failure!" Kali cursed, shaking his head.

Dismay flashed through the young lad's mind. Even with his face smashed into muddy water infested with larvae, he couldn't stop the nefarious voice of his guardian echoing in his mind. But it was then a young and firm voice called out to him: "Asura, here, take my hand!"

The tearful child looked up, snivelling, and saw his brother's hand reach out to him—he immediately took it. 

Soon, he stood eye-to-eye with his mirror image, his identical twin, Indra.

The helpful brother shook his head as he saw Asura stumble forward from a twisted ankle and crash once again with a thud.

.

"Useless pile of flesh," Kali gnashed his teeth with fury leaking from his pores. "You have more use growing back the burned forest with your corpse than wasting our food!!!" The wrinkly and lanky Elder spat at the fallen child, only to be stopped by Indra, who shielded his brother by standing between them.

"..."

Kali glared at the two.

Indra, the older one by three minutes, was confident, determined, and steadfast in his actions. Asura, the younger one, was timid, quiet, and indecisive in everything he did.

Indra was incredibly talented with the blade, while Asura seemed anything but, or at the very least, too hesitant to show otherwise.

The deranged Elder clicked his tongue, choosing to forget Asura's uselessness in light of Indra, the child he believed could fulfill the true purpose of the Zenora. Initially, he wanted to mould both into his weapons of mass destruction, but now, it seemed he had to make do with one.

'The glory of the Zenora will grace the seas. We will join you soon, Lord Mors!' Kali roared inwardly, his deep-seated hatred reflecting in his blood-red skin and burning eyes.

[Polemos Island, Year of 1475]

Another decade passed, taking the twins to their fourteenth birthday. Their childhood was filled with nothing but gloom. While the few other Zenora were busy taking down the bounty hunters through the years, the lads were forced to bear Kali's increasing impatience.

"Again!"

Clang!

"Again!"

Clang!

"Again!"

Clang!

"Again!"

"..."

Kali's boiling-red eyes glared to the side and saw a kneeling young teenager. The man gritted his teeth in anger. "Asura, you pathetic, insufferable, useless spawn!" he hissed.

Clang!

Nearby, an identical young man was cutting down a tree by the slash of his own palm. Such a sight brought some sanity back to the wrinkly old man's face.

"You leave me no choice… Line up, you two!"

*Whizz* Indra appeared in salute, his entire body emanating discipline as he stood straight like an arrow. 

On the other hand, Asura slowly crawled through mud and muck, clawing to his position. Although it looked depressing, the child's ability to get back up was admirable; however, Kali found it annoying. He'd much rather Asura fall dead right now, but it never happened. Outright killing him was also problematic as it could break Indra.

"You're training doubles tomorrow on," Kali said right before turning around and departing through the pouring woods, his seething body and the clacking of Konton to his waist ringing alongside him. 

"…"

The two brothers looked at one another with a grim expression. 

Asura had to bear the brunt of Kali's anger for tens of years and had a strong spirit, but his confidence was at rock bottom. While he loved his brother, he also couldn't help but envy his talents.

Indra shook his head, seeing his baby brother staring at the floor while mud covered his dark skin. 

"Come on, stop looking so defeated. We'll get through this together, like always!" 

"..."

Indra saw no response, leaving him to sigh. Then, a lightbulb lit up in his mind: "Here, look at this! I found this weird fruit the other day," he said, waving around a grey fruit to entice his brother's curiosity.

Asura slowly looked up, narrowing at the swirly fruit. "I-It looks rotten." He also noticed a bite missing: "Did you taste it?"

Indra sheepishly laughed, scratching his long, dark hair. "Hehe, well, I'll just say that the taste was three thousand times worse than rotten!"

[Polemos Island, Year of 1481]

Two young men kneeled in front of an older one. 

Kali, who had gotten old through the constant activation of his Figures, had been reduced to skin and bones. Yet the devil's eyes were still visible, peering at the two in front of him enthusiastically, although mainly aimed at one of them.

"Ka-Ka-Ka! Almost done… The purpose of our people is almost fulfilled!" the old man laughed to himself. 

"Shiv, is it ready?"

The question was directed to another nearby man covered in blood-red markings. 

Shiv gave a tired nod.

"Go."

The other man left to do Kali's bidding. 

"As for the two of you," the Elder began, earning the attention of the two young men. "I've ingrained our people's true ideals into your minds these past twenty years. I expect you know that nothing but enemies lie beyond our island."

He gazed at the kneeling twins. Kali's eyes turned a menacing dark red as he then spat, "Your final task awaits you in the Forest of Death. Don't return till there's only one of you left."

"The one who survives will become the most destructive weapon of our people!"

Kali's declaration brought a cloud of apprehension to the young men.

Both had been hellishly trained over the past years, sharpening their minds and bodies into weapons. But now, they were given an order to return until one remained.

"…Asura, let's go," the older one spoke out, standing tall. The two looked at one another, identical in visage but distinctly different in terms of demeanour and expression.

Indra stepped toward the forest plagued with wildlife and carnivorous plants, his eyes unshaken. Asura trailed behind with uncertain steps.

Dealing with the natural predators within the forest was easy for the twin swordsmen. They cleaved them apart like butter, as they had done for years.

"!!!" Indra suddenly paused in his steps, glaring to the side.

His instincts built over the past decades were blaring like an alarm. He felt a presence from the far left, then another in the far right, one in front, a few behind. Soon enough, they were surrounded by dozens of enemies.

"Je-Je-Je-Je! When those monsters said they would let us leave after killing two others, I was scared… Now I see that those two are just brats, great!"

"Shalalalala! I can finally go back home after ten long years!"

"Let's kill 'em quick!"

*Whizz* Like a rocket, one hunter shot ahead, slashing his scimitar like a wild beast, aiming at Asura.

Clang!

Habitually, the younger brother raised his sword and blocked the attack. *Grrrrrr!* The metals began grinding against the sword, slowly overpowering the lad.

"Ew-Ew-Ew-Ew! You can barely even move that blade, boy!"

Asura gnashed his teeth as his boots sunk into the muddy soil. Sweat ran down his face while he pushed back with every ounce of strength. With a bang, the enemy was thrown back, crashing onto a tree that dropped him to the floor.

*Shing!* A blade was soon put at the hunter's throat, bringing the fear of death into his eyes. 

He met the young face of Asura, begging, "H-Hey, kid… I have a seventy-year-old mother and a two-year-old son back home. I just wanna go back!"

The heartfelt plea echoed in Asura's ears as he gulped in indecision. He knew deep down that the hunter was talking nonsense, but the thought of taking away life made him hesitate again and again.

"Die!"

The fallen hunter shot up, took out a dagger from his sleeve and dug it toward Asura's throat. The young Warborn couldn't react in time, forced to watch the dagger near his carotid.

Clang!

A sword suddenly appeared, blocking the dagger. Then came a slice of the air and a fountain of blood exploding onto the frozen Asura.

"You can't hesitate, Brother," a calm voice came from the side. "These insects will only behave in death."

Asura, whose body was dripping with blood, began breathing erratically at the sight of the fallen corpse. He gazed at the composed Indra, who had already killed a dozen hunters.

'I-I'm useless… He's always been so much better than me… Maybe it's best for me to die so he can get out?'

Indra ignored his baby brother's lost gaze and wiped Asura's face from the blood with a rag. "Here comes another wave. There's too many of them for me alone."

Asura picked up his brother's plea and nodded, straightening his blade. Fifty enemies soon swarmed in from all sides, moving like rabid dogs.

Clang!

Indra easily blocked five swords with his own, parrying them back. With a burst of power, he pushed them back, forcing them to stagger but also line up…

*Swish!*

With a single spin of the blade, five heads fell to the ground, blood spurting along Indra's boots.

.

Asura forced himself to calm down and began blocking and dodging attacks. His first few cuts were shallow, eliciting angry growls.

Though soon enough… A spurt of blood shot out from a man's throat as he fell to the ground, glaring at his attacker. The cold embrace of death brought great anger and despair to his eyes as he clawed at his wound, hoping to slow the bleeding.

Asura watched the man slowly die, his life draining away.

Clang!

Bam! 

Bang!

"Haaaah, huuuuh, haaah!" Bated breathing echoed through the forest as the two brothers cut down their enemies.

"Good work, Asura." Indra patted his brother's shoulder, leaking a smile. Suddenly, his eyes sharpened, and he felt another threat.

A black shadow rocketed from the shade of a tree, roaring toward Asura. Indra narrowed his eyes, stabbing at the coming enemy.

Yet surprisingly enough, the man made no attempt to dodge, taking the attack to his chest and spreading his arms to bearbug the young man. "Zahehehehe! Y-You'll die with me, kid!"

"Look out!" Asura yelled, seeing an archer in the trees.

*Zip* The arrow shot through the sky, zooming into the hunter's back and nailing it at the center. The projectile continued its advent, cutting right through his back and tearing into Indra's lungs.

"Guhh!"

Asura's heartbeat spiked at the sight of his brother collapsing with the dead hunter. Unknown strength surged through his veins as he held his blade like a spear, flinging it across the forest at incredible speeds.

The katana cut through the air with a shriek, stabbing the archer right in the heart, taking him off his feet and nailing him into a tree.

.

"I'll help you, Indra!" Asura broke the arrow between the two, ripping aside the hunter to free his brother.

He gently and quickly laid him to the ground, the arrowhead still stuck in his chest. 

"D-Don't, Asura…that arrow was laced in poison…"

The younger brother felt a storm take away his soul as he felt his brother's life slowly disappear. Suddenly, Indra's hand shot out, and Asura was grabbed by the shirt and pulled out.

"Asura! Y-You have to turn in my body to Kali!"

The desperate plea woke the young man up, and began breathing heavily.

"We can try and heal you fi–"

"It stuck in my heart; the poison is already running through my system," despair flashed in the older twin's eyes, alongside some tears of incoming death. But he forced past the pain, "You heard Kali. No matter what, if the two of us return alive, then who knows what he will do! It must be you; you have to kill me and turn me in!"

Indra's words came out with great pain as he began coughing blood. Purple veins popped all over, and his dark skin was filling up with dark blotches. Even at death's gate, the older brother was still looking after the younger brother of three minutes: "You can do it. You can fulfill our legacy and become the great weapon…" A final breath and a final statement: "Y-You were always the best of us…"

With that said, Indra's body fell lifeless, melting into his brother's hands, still staring at his mirror image with hope.

"..."

For a while, Asura's eyes were empty as he stared at his twin brother's warm corpse. A deafening silence fell like a blanket across the forest. The Warborn remained glued to his brother's body, his mind blurring and his body trembling.

Beyond the trees was a group of five people. All five of them were covered in blood-red markings, showcasing a particular ferocity about them. The thin, older one in the center was Kali, impatiently waiting as night arrived. A frown was stretched across his face as he narrowed his eyes. 

*Fuuu* An ominous wind picked up, sending whistles through the holes in the leaves and trees. 

"Finally," Kali muttered, feeling a presence walk toward him. 

He hummed, seeing a familiar face make his way out of the darkness of the tall forest trees. But what he soon realized was that the survivor was hurling a body, leaving a bloody trail in his wake. 

"You made me wait, Indra."

"…"

Kali suddenly froze up; it looked like he was hit with ice-cold water. He backed up with widened eyes and jaw-dropped gaze: "Y-You're not Indra…!"

The young twin didn't respond and gently placed his brother before Kali, offering him to mark his victory.

"It is as you asked. Only one of us survived; Indra is dead."

Kali, who was hit with confusion, soon turned furious. A scowl fell across his wrinkly face as he violently kicked at the corpse. "You were the one who was supposed to die!" 

The deep-seated frustrations in Kali for the past decades blew up with an explosion, sending the dead body of Indra soaring across with the kick. 

Bang!

It was a loud noise as the lifeless Indra was slammed onto a nearby tree, planting to the grassy floor. 

"!!!" Asura saw his only real blood relative being thrown aside like trash and fell under a cloud of anger. The young man loudly crunched his teeth, sending ominous echoes through the silent woods. 

A boiling rage spread through his body as he glared at Kali, "Indra believed every word you said, candidly following you for twenty long, gruelling years…how dare you kick him aside!"

The hate-filled tone earned a loud sneer from Kali: "He was just a useless piece of scum if he died just like that. I should have fed him to the Sea Beasts six years ago when he couldn't swim anymore!"

The old man's hateful words sent fury coursing through Asura's veins as he clenched his fists. 

*Krrr* The wind began to pick up, sending shivers down the other Warborns' spines. Meanwhile, Asura's breathing turned heavy as he felt a wave of rage pump through his body. 

*Hiss* The ominous sound forced Kali to take a deep breath as he saw the markings over the young man's body growing red.

All of a sudden, Polemos Island felt colder, darker and gloomier. 

Kali rudely gestured to his few followers, "What do you think you five are doing standing around? Go and hold him down! I'm gonna have him spend the next few weeks in a cell with the corpse of his brother. Let him bathe in fury while that failure rots into the ground!!!"

"Ye– Augh!" One of the Warborns who took the initiative to strike had been shot back with the slash of a sword in the enraged young man's hand. Asura was skilled with the blade, yet his meek and timid demeanour made him hesitate. However, in his current fury, the boy was a killing machine.

*Whizz*

*Fwooo!*

*Vvoosh!*

The remaining four began frantically looking around, yet all they felt was the passing wind that hissed across their surroundings. The thick darkness made it hard to see, and the dead of night sent shivers of fright down the men's backs.

*Swish* A jet of blood and another Warborn fell.

"Ugh!" Another collapsed to the ground, his eyes shaken by the pouring blood from his missing arms.

"Auug-!"

The man's final cry was stopped by the fresh blood that suddenly spurted out from his throat, forcing him to choke and drown in his own blood. The helpless eyes were lifelessly open as they stared into the forest's darkness, slowly turning vacant.

Kali watched from the back, his crimson eyes narrowing at the harrowing display.

"E-Elder, help me!"

The last remaining Warborn under the old man's command came crying, his eyes filled with dread.

"Tch, here I thought activating your Figures by killing your father and brother would make you more useful," Kali sighed. "Useless fool!"

The man who had come running suddenly froze, "F-Father… B-Brother… you did it…!?"

Kali looked at him with disdain and shot out his right hand. Though the man was old and lanky, he hid great power in his emaciated body.

Air hissing around his blood-red markings as Kali's vice-like grip cupped the shocked man's throat. "At least your corpse can be useful in rejuvenating our burnt forests."

The indifferent man stared down the suffocating fellow Zenora as he casually threw him aside. While spitting at his people's uselessness, a slight breeze passed across Kali, his hair flying up and back from the sudden wind.

"Hmm? So you've come for me?"

The old man found the young Warborn's silhouette standing five meters before him. He tried to speak further, but the words didn't come out—only the opponent's voice echoed in his ears.

.

"One Sword Style: Beautiful Death."

.

Kali saw a bright flash before he suddenly fell to the ground, utterly incoherent from what had happened.

'His speed is beyond anything I've seen!' His dazed eyes looked around while his brain fired at great speeds, finally finding a source of pain.

"Ugh!" Kali's grunts boomed through the dark forest as he felt warm blood drain out from his lower half that was no longer connected to him!

The halved Elder could only remain on the ground, staring at the dark clouds above.

"..."

All of a sudden, the tense feeling that had welled inside of him for decades disappeared. A monstrous smile appeared on his face as blood escaped from his lips and nose.

"Ka-Ka-Ka! I carried a grudge for the hell that fell over our peaceful island over three decades ago… Such darkness clouding over our people, what a terrible fate…"

The dying man's dull voice is all that remained on the dark island, heard by the sole figure that remained standing. "The ones who doomed us here wanted a weapon… So I had to do it; prepare a weapon that I would carve to destroy them!!!"

The voice was filled with venom, encapsulating the decades of hatred and anger that had left Kali the monster he had become. A manic smirk stretched across his sunken cheeks, "The weapon… is finally born!"

His blood-red eyes looked to the left and saw the silent Asura standing perfectly still. "You will do what your brother could not…but you lack a master who can wield you. Until then, you remain weak!"

"Hehe, I'll see you in hell, boy!" Kali's obsessive gaze was followed by his psychotic grin, perpetually glued to the young Asura.

"..." silence ensued.

The reddened Asura lifelessly stared at the grinning corpse and then at the bodies littered nearby. 

He saw the remainder of Polemos, a shell of its former self.

The deafening silence was truly scary. The contrast of nothing and everything left the young man frozen. But one sight brought Asura out of his reverie.

Oddly enough, Indra's corpse was unnaturally warm, as if he was only asleep.

Asura took a few unsteady steps, his boots sinking into the ruddy soil. He knelt before his brother's body, his hands trembling. The overwhelming silence of the night, punctuated only by the rustling of leaves and distant howls, was suffocating. His mind swirled with the weight of what had just transpired—the betrayal, the bloodshed, and his brother's final words.

"All your life, you've protected me from Kali's wrath…" he murmured, his voice cracking. He reached out, gently tracing his fingers over Indra's bloodied face. His touch was careful, reverent, as though afraid to disturb the peace his brother had finally found.

"Your dream was to fulfill our people's purpose and bring them justice," he continued, his voice firmer now. "You always believed in a future I was too afraid to see."

Slowly, Asura slid his fingers over Indra's eyes, carefully closing them. The action felt final, a symbolic passing of the torch between brothers.

"Zenora Indra, brother, I will carry your will with me…" Asura's voice dropped to a whisper, his resolve hardening. "Both in heart and in name."

The air around him seemed to shift as Asura stood, placing Konton, the blade passed down through generations and stolen by Kali, in his brother's hand. 

His red markings hissed faintly, the rage still simmering beneath his skin. But now, there was something else—a quiet determination that cut through the chaos within him.

With the weight of his brother's legacy on his shoulders and his own identity shattered, Asura, now known as Indra, began to walk away from the forest. The glow of the blood moon followed him, casting long shadows as the island of Polemos, the birthplace of so much pain and despair, faded into the distance.

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

Asura has chosen to carry his brother's will in every way. But as the dying Kali said, even the greatest weapon is weak without someone to wield it.

Images are available on Discord alongside other niche details: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q


next chapter

章節 172: [172] Union of Disasters

[3155 words]

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[Present Time]

"'Heart and name'... so the meek and timid Asura is…"

"Me," Indra finished Damien's sentence.

The latter hummed, watching a complicated look flash by lightning pirate's eyes.

"My brother Indra was everything Kali ever hoped for. The final embers of the Zenora; a blessing amidst a cursed few decades."

A brief silence passed as the two young men sat still while a cool breeze zoomed on, ringing a gentle hum through the forested land.

Indra took a deep breath, glancing at the bright moon in the background. "Polemos was already in flames, left in shambles from decades of battle and war by the hands of the World Government."

He continued, "That day, I cast away my old self, throwing aside my chains and weaknesses to become Zenora Indra."

Damien leaned back, nodding at the newfound information. "That was in 1481, five years ago now," the undying pirate said.

Indra nodded, "I spent the first two years drifting across the New World, slowly sharpening my skills. But even then, I was still stuck in a vortex of loss, unable to find anything to anchor down to."

A self-deprecating smile thinly stretched across Indra's face as he went on to say, "Kali was right. He spent twenty years ingraining our minds to become a weapon for himself. He made sure that no matter what, we would always be incomplete without someone to wield us."

"My mind was subconsciously curious toward impressive pirates," he revealed. "During that period of numbness, I heard whispers of a monstrous pirate crew emerging from the shadows of the Three Overlords. A crew that broke every taboo known to the seas, the Rocks Pirates!"

"It was right after the fall of Esso Borealis that they had begun recruiting more pirates into their Divisions."

Damien chuckled at the memory. It felt so long ago when he was as weak as fodder. "Hehe, Shakky-nee threw me hundreds of pirates to pick and choose someone worthwhile… the time when our paths crossed."

Indra's eyes met Damien's, glowing with a solemn glint.

"I have fought many battles in the Fourth Division's name. But against Xerxes, it happened. I fell into my Figures—something I had resolved myself against doing…"

Damien remained silent, letting the usually quiet Indra continue. "All our people fell into madness by those exact Figures. Starting from Mors to Kali, both lost in their rage, spelling doom for our people."

"Although I was trained to master them, I lost that confidence after the real Indra's death. Even now, I can feel their influence gnawing at my mind."

The voice was riddled with deep anger and self-loathing, something truly rare for the reticent Indra to do.

.

"You wanted to disprove that old hoot's claim," Damien's relaxed voice echoed in his ears, drawing him to silence. "Kali wasn't wrong; the greatest strength of your people lies in that incomplete gene…"

Indra's eyes fell onto Damien once more, wavering ever so slightly.

"That's it, isn't it? You don't hate Kali. Instead, you hate that he was right all along."

The words were blunt and to the point. "Kali saw Asura to be a weak excuse of a Warborn, living in his brother's shadow."

Damien shot up from his seat, standing across the lightning human. Both pirates towered over most others, creating long shadows from the creeping night.

"You became Indra and slowly began fitting into the picture Kali painted. Now that you have activated your Figures after five years, you can't get that out of your own head."

Damien smiled slightly as he saw Indra shut his eyes and lower his head in thought.

"..."

The silence was loud.

Damien cupped his chin, knowing exactly how to proceed: "Activate them."

He met Indra's confused eyes and remained unshaken: "Do it. Let the hate flow through you."

The words forced the long-haired pirate to take a deep breath. After seeing that Damien was genuinely serious, he followed through after a brief moment of hesitation.

Indra closed his eyes, concentrating on his breathing.

*Hiss* It was a whistle-like sound leaking from the man's body. Slowly but surely, the moisture in the ambient air began to evaporate, creating a smoke-like effect.

Indra's heart was pumping rapidly, sending vast currents of fresh blood through his arteries. With that came the ruddy glow across his markings—the ominous red glowing brighter and bloodier by the passing second.

*Huuu* Indra released a deep, foggy breath, slowly losing his calm composure. He gritted his teeth, opening his blood-red eyes to glance at Damien.

"Let's see how tough a Warborn really is…"

The Sin Incarnate then struck without giving Indra even a second to think.

*Krrrr* Black lightning began to spark through the pirate's arms, crackling wildly with deep anger.

BAM!

The attack came at a speed faster than sound, easily shattering the sound barrier with a resounding boom.

Indra, who was at arm's length, was just as fast.

Bang!

A roar of thunder, and the hissing pirate disappeared into loose electrical sparks, dissolving in mid-air.

"Pretty fast," Damien commented.

He felt a presence appear not too far away and shot ahead once more. "Don't worry, I used my powers to destroy the air particles surrounding where the others are sleeping; they won't hear a thing!"

The voice was lax, yet it came with a crushing punch wrapped in thick Haki.

Indra, who had retreated previously, chose against retreating. 

*Crackle* The once blue lightning turned red, the colour of blood!

It echoed through the skies. Some loose arks of electricity even rang through the clouds, bringing a bloody hue and emulating God's wrath.

The thunderous fists met like two unstoppable forces blazing ahead.

BOOM!

A colour burst of black and red crashed throughout the island, creating quite the spectacle left unseen by others.

Indra frowned as he felt his crackling arm beginning to waver, ever so slowly being pressed by the weight of a mountain.

*Crack* It was instantaneous; the ulna bone shot right out of its position, tearing through the elbow skin and protruding outwards. The blood splashed out, unveiling the white of the bone. 

Damien's strength threw him back through the air, leaving a crackling trail of blood-red lightning.

"Hmm?"

The Sin Incarnate narrowed his eyes as he saw Indra casually press his protruding bone back into the arm with his left palm, putting it back into place.

"So that's what it looks like when I do it," he muttered, watching Indra heal the injury within moments.

"Lunarians had incredible resilience and recovery. It translates through your incomplete gene even better than I expected."

.

The booming roars of thunder voiced out, sending shivers through the island. The red lightning's zapping and cracking continuously increased.

Shing!

The Sacred Blade Tenmei was unsheathed; soon enough, it, too, was bathed in white currents of electricity. 

Indra lifted the blade, pointing it to the skies above. The combination of blood-red and holy white was quite the stark contrast.

His thoughts mandated the clouds to churn and warp as Indra desired. The loose electricity began moving as he wished, slowly materializing into a giant divine hand spanning hundreds of meters, pointing out a sole finger.

.

"Rumbling Sword Style: Hand of God!"

.

The white-red hand fell from the heavens alongside the majesty of Tenmei, both crashing onto the infamous Sin Incarnate.

Damien smirked, feeling the budding threat moving at the speed of lightning, striking in a fraction of a second and leaving destruction in its wake.

A red light flashed past Damien's eyes as Indra unsheathed his weapon, readying the divine attack.

In response, Damien tried something new.

*Krrrr* *Sz*

The air began to revolt under the pirate's Haki. It went from a pristine black to a sizzling red. The frenzy-like Haki began steaming and fizzing through the air, sizzling with tiny red particles dissolving from the coat.

Alongside the Armament were thick currents of black lightning that thundered out and into the open air—Empyrean Haki!

*Whizz* Damiens shot to the sky, meeting the incoming godly strike with something that could only be considered legacy.

.

"Warstrike!"

.

BOOOM!

A resounding and deafening explosion was followed by a bright flash of light that lit up the dark skies with a morning glow. 

The shockwaves quaked through the air and rang across the nearby tectonic shifts, creating dull tremors that birthed powerful tides. The howling winds were strong enough to rip the trees from their roots and take them to the skies.

Alongside the blinding flash, a spectacle of red, black, and white lightning coursed through the shrieking air.

.

Indra, who brought down a thunderous attack, was on the defending end. The opposing Haki from Damien was far more devastating than he thought. 

The rippling pain through his arm forced a frown across the swordsman's face as he gritted his teeth. 'Is this the Infusion of Haki? Not just that, his Haki has turned far more paralyzing than before… almost to the point of buried rage…'

Damien, who was essentially being bathed by what some would consider the wrath of the gods, was awfully unfazed.

The volatile and violent lightning that crackled with millions of amperes of current was barely able to penetrate the shredding Haki and was dispelled without difficulty.

BAM!

The punch forced itself forward, shattering the giant hand into dust and then some.

The sizzling Haki-clad fist slammed onto Indra's chest, ringing it with incredible power. Infusion and Empyrean Haki, both running in synergy to echo through the Warborn's chest. 

At the speed of lightning, he was sent hurtling through the air and crash-landing into the uninhabited North End of Mortem, ringing the entire landmass with tremors.

.

The darkness reappeared fast, hiding away the blinding light that had lit up the clouds moments ago. Damien, effortlessly floating in the sky in his Logia-like form, looked to the side, noticing a certain presence.

"The tsunamis will ripple through and crash hard on nearby islands," came a woman's voice.

In return, the male pirate scratched his cheek, "Maybe I went a tad bit overboard…" He looked toward another person who had arrived: "Kuzan, since you're awake, go freeze them the waves."

"Ehh? Can't you just bop them?"

Damien hummed, looking in the boy's direction with crossed arms. "I could, but making kids do all the work is more fun."

*Zap* The air whistled with the sound of pixelation as the stream of crimson particles reformed behind the inconspicuous Kuzan.

"Here, I'll give you a headstart."

With that said, Damien picked up the ice boy by the neck and flung him through the skies, shooting him at incredible speeds. The howling winds masked any complaints from Kuzan as he disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Damien dusted his hands with a clapping gesture, almost as if having done some excellent task.

.

Aurora walked up to Damien's side, her attention fixed on the distant crater at the northern mountain range. Darkness was her ally, and Indra's state was easy to read.

"It's no wonder the Government is so envious of Lunarians. Even what they considered a 'failed experiment' is able to stay conscious after your attack."

Damien slowly nodded, his eyes locking onto the motion a few kilometers away. 

With the roar of thunder, Indra was before them, revealing a somewhat miserable state—his chest was purple with a noticeable depression in the shape of a fist. Clearly, a rib or two had broken inwards, piercing the left lung and slicing the heart.

The Warborn, his body still hissing, absently placed his right hand over the injury, feeling his internal system working overtime. He even added in lightning to speed up the process!

*Crack* Click*

It was like hitting the undo button—the broken ribs snapped back into place while the electricity encouraged the flesh around to heal faster. The fractured bones were fixed within a minute, and the bleeding stopped.

'It pairs well with my lightning,' Indra thought. He still remembered using his Figures to heal from Kali's abuse for years on end. Yet it was significantly faster now!

The only thing remaining was the spanning purple bruise and a nasty ache.

'His body is only a level or two from Kaido's in toughness,' Damien examined. 'The recovery alone is only a stage below mine.'

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<

[Zenora Indra]

[Age: 25 years, 2 months, 13 days]

[Status: Thriving]

[Height: 11' ] (3.35 m)

[Devil Fruit: Rumble-Rumble Fruit (Nigh-Advanced Mastery) ↑]

[Fruit Rating: 6.5 Stars]

[Weapon: Tenmei of the Supreme Grade Series]

[Skills: Figures of War, Absolute talent in swordsmanship, One Sword Style, Rumbling Sword Style, Moonwalk, Shave, Heightened Observation (Rumble-Rumble Fruit)]

[Haki: Observation Haki (Nigh-Advanced Mastery), Armament Haki (Nigh-Advanced Mastery) ↑, Conqueror's Haki (Intermediate Mastery) ↑]

[Strength: Pseudo Yonko ↑]

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<

'His strength is even to the likes of the original Yonko's top dogs. And that's without his Figures activated,' Damien thought to himself. 'But his Haki remains subpar.'

It was a very quick and dirty evaluation but satisfied the Captain. It only meant that Indra would take a few years to bloom into a monster.

.

"Well, how was it?" Damien questioned the swordsman. "Purposefully activating your Figures after all these years?"

Indra looked down at his arms, veins throbbing a fiery red. "It's a rush of strength as before, but far more intense than I remember."

Damien narrowed his eyes, watching Indra pause in thought. "...I always felt as if it was incomplete."

"Much like the Lunarians genes you were born with?"

Indra's gaze snapped up to meet Damien's, where a knowing, almost playful smile lingered. The pirate strode forward with a light grin.

"Nature is relentless, Indra. It doesn't settle for imperfection—it adapts, evolves, and overcomes. You were created with an incomplete blueprint, a piece missing from the puzzle. Yet here you stand, alive and unyielding. That means your body has been fighting every moment since you were born to fix that error."

Damien now stood at arm's length, his voice softening into an almost reverent tone. "Life always finds a way."

As if on cue, faint sparks of lightning coiled around Indra's arm, unnoticed by the swordsman himself.

 His brows furrowed in confusion. 'I didn't release that electricity purposefully,' he thought.

"The Lunarians regulated their system by switching between the fire ignited over their body," Damien continued, his voice steady and sharp. "Swapping between nigh-invulnerability and incredible speed. You lack that outlet. That fight within you turns inward—into rage, into chaos."

Damien gestured at Indra's arm. "You ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. You not only create lightning, you are lightning. And now, your body—forced to endure this incomplete state—seeks to release that rage in other forms."

Indra's dark pupils widened as realization set in. "You mean, I can emulate the Lunarians, not through fire, but through lightning?"

"You can, or you will eventually," Damien said, crossing his arms. "Nature evolves past its hurdles, but it takes time. More time than I'm patient enough to wait for. So, why don't I just rid you of that biological delay?"

Without further preamble, Damien raised his arm, its surface shifting to a grey hue with luminous white cracks.

.

"Genesis Deprivation."

.

Indra felt weightless as his instincts went haywire. His sturdy frame trembled, his very insides bubbling as if liquefying.

"!!!" The sensation wasn't pain but a deep, unsettling awkwardness. Something intangible was leaving him—a flaw embedded within his very being.

Damien hummed a low tune, collecting the dull stream of energy into his palm, inspecting it as if it were a rare gem. "As perfect as Mother Nature is, she tends to take her time."

He dissipated the energy into the night air, his gaze now locked onto Indra. "Don't fight it. I removed the obstacle to your evolution. Let it do its thing."

Indra remained still, his entire body teetering on the edge of an unknown precipice.

Then it struck.

Decades of pent-up rage and chaos erupted, a storm detonating from within him. A primal scream tore from Indra's throat, reverberating through the ground and sky alike.

*Krrr!* *Rumble!*

The earth roared in answer. Massive shards of jagged metal tore free from the ground, their sharp edges gleaming like jagged teeth in the sparse moonlight. They converged toward Indra in a frenzied, magnetic dance. Sparks of static flickered through the air, carrying the promise of an unfathomable power.

Damien glanced toward Aurora, whose usually calm demeanour cracked in stunned silence. A massive metal claw had erupted mere inches beneath her, displacing even her ethereal Logia form.

Her voice was a whisper of astonishment. "He pulled it from deep within the earth…"

Above, Indra's form began to shift, his body dissolving into pure lightning, coursing like a storm around the jagged metallic display.

"Magnetic control?" Aurora murmured, her words trembling with the weight of their significance.

[Spectacle Image (in Discord)]

Damien's brows knitted in speculation. "A man of lightning, now capable of controlling metal?"

As the energy settled, Indra reformed, his towering eleven-foot frame crackling with red lightning. His Figures glowed a deep crimson, his eyes burning with unshakable clarity.

With a single wave of his arm, another pillar of raw metal surged upward from the earth. Another wave refined the shape.

*Rumble!*

After half a dozen attempts, a perfectly rounded metal pillar stood erect, three meters tall. A mere push of his hand sent it retreating into the ground, followed by the rest of the shards. The battlefield cleared as if nothing had happened.

.

Indra's voice was laced with awe. "This is… evolution."

His hands flexed as the power coursed through him, the answer echoing in his mind. "My lightning control has grown sharp enough to attract and repel anything magnetic. The rage from my Figures is also gone, releasing passively with this new power. And my mind… it's clearer than ever before."

Damien's smirk widened at the sight of Indra standing taller—physically and spiritually. The light in the swordsman's eyes spoke of a man reborn, unshackled from his past.

"You are no longer a failed Lunarian," Damien said, his voice deliberate.

Indra's gaze sharpened as his past surged through his thoughts—years under Kali, the death of his brother, and the transformation from Asura to Indra. All the pain and chaos had crystallized into something unshakable.

"I'm the first perfect Warborn, the weapon they engineered us to become," Indra declared, his tone resolute.

Damien's eyes gleamed with approval as he extended the invite to the man who had been his right-hand man for the past few years, ready to make it official. "So, become the most destructive weapon in my hands, Zenora Indra."

The weight of those words hung in the night air, filling Indra with a sense of purpose he hadn't felt in years.

With a measured step, Indra unsheathed the Sacred Blade Tenmei. He held it with reverence, one hand on the grip, the other supporting the blade—a swordsman's vow of loyalty.

"..." No words passed between them. The night's cold breeze bore silent witness to this union of disasters—a camaraderie that would shake the seas to their core.

To Be Continued…

----------------------------------------------

Author's Corner.

When the Rocks Pirates ended, so did the Fourth Division. It should not be assumed they will join Damien's incoming crew just because they were under him when he flew Xebec's flag. That's why we saw Pablo and Akai depart. In other words, Indra was left in a limbo state. Now, alongside newfound spirit, Indra is officially a pirate under Damien's soon-to-be-declared crew.

Images are available on Discord alongside other niche details: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q


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