NOVEL NEXT Chapter 349: You Wasted a Whole Minute of My Time
Blood sprayed through the air.
Kuma staggered back, face pale.
A burning pain seared through his palm—a pain he hadn't felt once since gaining the power of the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi!
"Go!"
"Restrain the prisoner!"
"He's injured!"
"..."
In that instant, the World Government soldiers and CP agents sprang into action, weapons drawn as they charged forward.
From the moment Bartholomew Kuma appeared, these cold-blooded, battle-hardened operatives had already secured Ginny without hesitation.
Under the aim of countless rifles, Ginny—already wounded and shackled—was nothing more than a helpless, vulnerable target. Kuma had no chance of sending her to safety first.
Shadowy figures darted forward. They unleashed "Soru," the high-speed movement technique of the Rokushiki, with impeccable precision.
Gritting his teeth, Kuma dropped his stance low into a sumo-like posture. In a blur, his arms lashed out.
"Tsuppari Pad Ho!"
His blood-stained paws became afterimages, launching wave after wave of compressed shock blasts shaped like bear paws. The shockwaves tore through the agents' bodies.
It was as if their insides had been crushed by an unseen force. The CP operatives let out muffled groans as they were blasted backward, blood spurting from their mouths.
But even before they hit the ground, a deadly killing intent closed in from behind.
Kuma's scalp prickled. Without looking, he spun and lashed out with another strike.
"Ursus Shock!"
A massive bear paw-shaped shockwave surged upward, crashing violently into the descending Western sword. The resulting explosion sent shockwaves roaring across the field.
Boom!!
An enormous blast erupted. In the swirling flames and thick black smoke, Kuma was hurled backward. His feet gouged twin trenches over a hundred meters long into the earth.
"I'm not going to let you get the chance to save her."
Michael's silver-white figure flashed out of the smoke like a streak of light. In a blink, he was already above Kuma, sneering as he slashed down with his sword.
Blood vessels burst across Kuma's eyes as his body vanished from where he stood.
Ssssh!
A silver slash carved across the earth, cutting a jagged scar that stretched across half the island—and then tore open the distant sea!
A kilometers-long fissure split the water's surface, smooth as glass, sending tidal waves crashing back with a deafening roar.
Michael's cold smile only deepened. Just as Kuma vanished, he moved again at blinding speed.
The next moment—
Clang!!
Only ten meters from Ginny, Kuma's figure was abruptly forced out by a vicious sword slash.
The silver-haired Celestial Dragon appeared without a sound, like a ghost, and drove his blade straight at Kuma again.
"The Nikyu Nikyu no Mi is fast, no doubt. But in a situation like this, your intentions are far too easy to read."
Michael's sword flashed with every swing as Kuma staggered backward, bleeding from countless cuts. A strange red light gleamed in his eyes as he spoke with a calm, mocking smile.
He looked at Kuma with idle disdain, as if all of this were nothing more than a game to kill time.
"Sometimes I truly wonder—are humans naive, or just stupid?"
"You knew that coming here would likely end in death, and yet you still came."
He cast a sideways glance at Ginny, still struggling against the guards restraining her.
"Of course, real despair isn't death."
Amid the Celestial Dragon's mockery and taunts, Kuma said nothing.
His face grew paler with each passing second as he continued to teleport faster and faster using the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi.
His silhouette blinked through space, desperate to break through the blockade and reach Ginny.
But every attempt was intercepted.
Every teleportation route was predicted and cut off by the Celestial Dragon—who remained relaxed and indifferent, as if toying with prey.
To the others, it looked like two flickering shadows—one black, one white—constantly colliding in midair and across the battlefield.
Kuma's form kept slamming into the thin Western sword, each strike tearing another wound across his body.
In less than twenty seconds, he was already drenched in blood, his body a canvas of wounds.
Slowly, his eyes turned blood-red.
Then, at last, Michael let out a soft sigh.
"So in the end, you really are just another foolish human insect..."
"I thought there might be others."
"But it turns out, you charged in on impulse—just to die alone."
Still swinging his sword one-handed, Saint Michael pressed Kuma back step by step. With his free hand, he pulled a military Den Den Mushi from his coat.
"Come out of hiding. Looks like he didn't bring any backup."
One second.
Two seconds.
No reply.
Michael's brow furrowed, and his tone turned ice-cold.
"Answer me. Before I lose my patience."
Then, a voice came through.
More accurately—it came both from the Den Den Mushi in his hand and from the sky above.
"No... it's you who doesn't have any backup."
The instant he heard that voice, Michael's pupils narrowed.
Bang! Bang!
Two pale figures dropped from the sky one after the other, slamming into the ground with a thunderous crash.
Dust billowed into the air.
The sudden development made Michael freeze for a moment. Around him, the World Government forces, still on high alert, turned toward the commotion with uncertain expressions.
As the smoke cleared, what came into view made every one of them stiffen in place. A chill shot down their spines, and their faces turned ashen.
Two corpses.
They wore the same variation of noble-style suits as Saint Michael—clearly World Nobles. But their faces were mangled beyond recognition, and each chest bore a gaping hole, as though their hearts had been pierced straight through by some vicious beast's claw.
"Saint Lujes!"
"And Saint Millrew!"
"Members of the God's Knights!!"
"How is this possible?!"
"..."
The moment they recognized the bodies, every CP agent and World Government soldier present gasped and looked up, scalp prickling in horror.
There, in the sky—
Two towering, inhuman figures stood side by side.
Shrouded in long, black, hooded cloaks that masked their faces, they exuded an overwhelming, oppressive aura.
From their loose sleeves, their right hands dangled—dripping with blood, fingers still curled, and fresh crimson still falling from their claws.
Identical, overwhelming pressure filled the air.
Ryusoken.
"The God's Knights really are strong... Like monsters, every last one of them."
One of the cloaked figures let out a low laugh.
His sharply defined jawline twisted into a vicious grin.
"...But you wasted a full minute of my time."
...
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