Hum—
A sudden, low vibration rippled through the air, warping the very atmosphere. Just as the people in the hall sensed something was wrong, a blinding white radiance erupted.
BOOM!
Buildings shattered, and the earth groaned as it cracked open. A tidal wave of impact force tore through the hall's roof and walls, engulfing everyone inside.
"Shockw—!"
Bank roared in horror, but he only managed to squeeze out one word before the shockwave slammed into him, sending him tumbling through the air.
The others in the hall didn't even have time to react. Caught in the sudden blast, they were sent flying, coughing up blood before being buried deep under mounds of pulverized brick and stone.
Plumes of dust surged into the sky, and the once-grand inner keep of the hall was reduced to a smoldering pile of ruins. Within seconds, hundreds of square meters had been leveled, leaving the surrounding guards paralyzed with shock.
"Wh-what happened?"
"The hall was attacked! Was it a bomb?"
"What was that white light just now?"
"The lords are still inside! Find them, quickly!"
"Look! Someone's in the sky! Is it an ability user?"
The guards finally snapped into action, but the scene was pure chaos. Some stood frozen, others clawed at the rubble looking for survivors, and others scanned the perimeter for the assailant.
High above, a 'mysterious guest' had made his entrance.
Rumble…
Stone shifted and a half-broken wall was shoved aside. Bank and Leog, covered in thick gray dust, crawled out from the debris. Slowly, more stones were overturned as one person after another struggled out of the wreckage.
Despite the sudden impact, most of the mercenary leaders had survived, albeit with various injuries. The pampered nobles, however, fared much worse; several were dead, and only two had survived thanks to the protection of Bank and Leog.
"Who did this?!" Leog growled, shaking the dust from his body, his voice trembling with fury.
Bank looked toward the sky, his face turning an ashen shade of pale. "He actually came here himself... Golden Ring Aeridar!"
In all of the Bivins Kingdom, there was only one person capable of unleashing a shockwave of that magnitude: the Impact-Impact Fruit user, Chris Aeridar.
"Gulp... L-look at the sky!"
"Damn it, why is that man here?"
"Hey... a big shot like him, coming here solo... Does he think he's Kaido?!"
"We're finished. Are we all going to die here today?"
The crowd below looked up, terrified. Many were so shaken they hardly dared to breathe.
"Well, well... what's this? I heard you all wanted to resist me?"
Aeridar stood suspended a hundred meters in the air, looking down at the crowd with a playful, mocking smile. A low, arrogant laugh rumbled from his throat. "Heh heh heh heh…"
…
Five minutes earlier, on a massive bell tower five hundred meters away from the inner keep, Aeridar had been sitting cross-legged, watching the mercenaries mill about the streets below.
He had already identified seven or eight well-known S-class mercenaries, along with several notorious mercenary bands.
"Tsk, tsk... these noble lords are quite loaded, aren't they? Hiring this many people," Aeridar mused, his eyes gleaming.
The Bivins Kingdom had built its wealth on the lucrative export of saltpeter and iron ore. These greedy nobles had lined their pockets for generations. Even so, Aeridar realized he had underestimated just how deep those pockets went.
Whoosh…
Mina appeared silently behind Aeridar, her arrival marked only by a gentle breeze.
"How's the situation?" Aeridar asked without turning around.
"Captain, the Church of the Night arrived this morning. They've already formed a pact with those parasites in the Noble Council to resist us," Mina said with a slight, contemptuous smile. "They're all in the inner keep right now for a meeting, including the mercenary leaders." She paused, gesturing vaguely toward the castle. "It seems they're busy bribing and soothing the 'difficult' ones to ensure they stand against us."
"Just a pack of rabble," Aeridar waved his hand dismissively.
At his level of strength, destroying a nation single-handedly was trivial. Weaklings couldn't compensate for their lack of power with mere numbers.
"And the others? Has Sriya arrived?" Aeridar asked.
"Everyone is in position. They traveled downriver; they were very fast," Mina nodded.
"Then I suppose we can start the party?" Aeridar's lips curled into a smirk.
"Indeed, Captain. We can begin," Mina replied, her eyebrows arching with amusement.
"Once Sriya sees me make the first move, tell them to start the operation," Aeridar said, his smile widening. "Also, notify Enel. He can head over now."
"Understood."
Mina pulled a small, long-eared Den Den Mushi from her pocket. Once the connection was established, she spoke a single sentence: "Enel, move out."
"Is that so? Yahahaha! I'll be there in a flash. Tell the Captain not to kill all of them!" A boisterous, arrogant laugh crackled through the receiver.
Click.
"Honestly, that guy..." Aeridar muttered with a chuckle, shaking his head.
"With your strength and Enel's, plus Sriya and myself leading a hundred warriors from the Elite Strike Team, we have more than enough to level this place," Mina said as she tucked the Den Den Mushi away.
After the Grand Flying Fleet wiped out the forces at the Red River Wasteland, the ambitious factions within Bivins had panicked, leading to this hasty alliance between the Church and the Nobles.
Naturally, such a massive shift didn't escape the pervasive reach of the Chris Investigation Bureau. To prevent this alliance from solidifying and to crush their combined strength, this surprise raid was launched.
The Chris Pirates had been fighting back-to-back battles. After eliminating the Revolutionary Army, the Grand Flying Fleet moved to Ronalfort to rendezvous with Sriya and Andrei's group, while also accepting the surrender of the local nobles.
To maintain the element of surprise, they hadn't moved the entire fleet. Instead, they deployed the Elite Strike Team. Sriya's group had utilized specialized small steam-powered boats to travel down the Laende River, reaching Griffinfort, located downstream, within a single day.
Aeridar, capable of instantaneous movement and supersonic flight, had brought Mina along to arrive ahead of the team. As for Enel, his movements were too loud and flashy; he was to depart only at the start of the mission. Given his lightning speed, he could reach Griffinfort in less than ten minutes.
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