Ritter couldn't help but laugh.
Seriously?
Imu was already fighting before I even dragged Barrett into the Blood Prison Scroll.
I finished my fight ages ago...
And he's still going?
"Heh."
"Guess I'm stronger after all."
Helping the other royal families?
That thought never even crossed Ritter's mind.
If anything, he wanted more of them to die.
The more people died...
The more Life Force he could harvest.
His figure flashed through the ranks of Pilurka's soldiers.
Black Tide never even left its sheath.
The crimson mist swirling around him swept across the battlefield, and soldiers clad in gleaming silver armor collapsed like wheat before the scythe.
Streams of Life Force flowed from their bodies, pouring into the invisible vortex surrounding Ritter.
"Ah..."
"Life is so fragile."
"Come..."
"Become one with me."
"Help me break through."
"Yes..."
"Just like that."
"A little more..."
His crimson eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
His inner chuuni soul was fully awakened.
Honestly, his cultivation style resembled some demonic Eastern cultivator more than anything else.
If this were the Naruto world...
Massacring an entire city would probably make him stronger.
This kind of efficient, risk-free harvesting was addictive.
No wonder everyone hated demonic cultivators.
Ritter deliberately avoided the powerful Alliance warriors who were locked in battle with Pilurka's commanders.
Instead...
He bullied the weak.
It was shameless.
Normally, in the One Piece world, battles followed an unspoken rule.
Kings fought kings.
Commanders fought commanders.
After defeating your own opponent...
You immediately rushed over to help your comrades.
Everyone understood the principle.
Better to cut off one enemy's arm than merely wound ten fingers.
Ritter understood it too.
He simply didn't care.
If they die, they die.
What's that got to do with me?
"Damn you, Mist Lord!"
"Have you no shame?!"
One of the Lava Kingdom's royal warriors, who was desperately fighting Photon Lyselin, caught sight of Ritter's antics and exploded with rage.
They were risking their lives against Pilurka's generals...
Meanwhile, Ritter was happily farming ordinary soldiers in the back lines.
To his surprise...
The first person to criticize him wasn't Pilurka.
It was one of his own allies.
Ritter turned around with a bright smile.
His teeth were dazzlingly white.
Almost refreshingly youthful.
"So what?"
"Can your sense of honor be eaten?"
"Good luck."
"I'm rooting for you guys."
He disappeared again.
Another wave of Pilurka soldiers silently withered into dried corpses as every ounce of Life Force was drained away.
Yet...
As the slaughter continued...
The smile on Ritter's face slowly faded.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The amount of Life Force he was absorbing...
Was far below what it should have been.
Thousands upon thousands had already died on this battlefield.
Normally...
The released Life Force should have been enough to drown him.
It should have felt like guzzling an ice-cold two-liter bottle of premium liquor on a scorching summer day.
Instead...
It felt like drinking a warm half-liter bottle of cheap booze that had somehow gone up in price.
Awful.
He could clearly sense it.
The moment most of the Life Force left a corpse...
Something intercepted it.
It didn't return to nature.
It didn't flow into him.
Instead...
It was drawn somewhere else.
Somewhere deeper.
Somewhere hidden.
It was as if an invisible funnel hung over the battlefield...
Quietly stealing what should have belonged to him.
Ritter stopped killing.
His crimson eyes narrowed.
His perception spread across the battlefield.
The blood mist scanned every inch of the war zone.
He could see it.
He saw the souls crying out as soldiers died.
He saw tiny motes of Life Force rising from the corpses like countless fireflies.
Then...
As though pulled by an invisible force...
They streamed toward Pilurka's royal capital.
Not dispersing naturally.
Being actively harvested.
Ritter's expression darkened.
"Heh..."
"I knew it."
"There's no way Pilurka would willingly play defense without having a backup plan."
"So this is it."
"They're using the entire battlefield..."
"Even their own soldiers..."
"As sacrifices for some ritual."
His gaze pierced through the chaos and landed upon the silent royal capital hidden beneath its massive energy barrier.
Something inside...
Was greedily devouring the endless tide of Life Force.
No wonder they insisted on making the battlefield right here...
Ritter licked his lips.
Instead of anger...
His eyes burned with excitement.
And killing intent.
"Interesting..."
"Trying to steal business from me?"
He ignored the ordinary soldiers completely.
His body shot into the sky.
The blood mist surrounding him no longer harvested lives.
Instead, it spread outward like an enormous radar, carefully tracing every strand of escaping Life Force.
"Let's see..."
"What exactly are you?"
He genuinely wanted to know.
What kind of thing...
Had the audacity to steal food from the bowl of the Mist Lord?
At that very moment...
Iron Fist Galvan, who was still battling Imu, suddenly received some kind of transmission.
A stream of data flashed across his electronic eye.
He threw a massive punch that forced Imu backward.
Then...
Without pressing the attack...
He immediately retreated toward the royal capital.
Photon Lyselin...
And Dr. Alpha...
Did exactly the same.
The three remaining generals of Pilurka all abandoned the battlefield simultaneously.
The Alliance froze.
"They're..."
"They're retreating?"
One royal warrior shouted in disbelief.
"No."
"It's a trap."
Black Hawk Gars' expression turned grim.
His instincts screamed that something was wrong.
Imu slowly turned his white mask toward the royal capital.
A ripple passed through his mental voice.
"...It has begun."
Ritter watched the three generals disappear into the capital.
At the same time...
The torrent of stolen Life Force became even stronger.
A wide grin spread across his face.
"So..."
"The real star of the show is finally coming out."
"Or maybe..."
"They're finally letting their carefully raised pet out into the sunlight."
He rested Black Tide across his shoulder.
Blood mist billowed behind him.
"Works for me."
"Saves me the trouble of hunting it down myself."
Then...
He suddenly stopped.
Charging into the capital now would mean fighting three generals at once.
He wasn't stupid.
He could clearly sense the monstrous concentration of Life Force gathering inside.
Then he glanced toward his vice-captain, who remained safely protected within his blood mist.
A thought struck him.
...Maybe I've finally figured out how to keep her alive until my own era.
Imu would undoubtedly honor the promised payment.
Ritter never doubted that.
But now...
He wasn't so sure he would ever leave this era.
Which meant...
He couldn't afford to work too hard.
Some of these royal families needed to die.
Ritter had always been perfectly clear about one thing.
He had never considered himself part of the Alliance.
To put it bluntly...
He was nothing more than a double agent.
The moment the Alliance showed even the slightest sign of defeat...
He would turn around and leave without looking back.
The true objective...
Was finally revealing itself.
This war had already evolved beyond a simple siege.
It had become something else entirely.
A struggle...
To seize the same prey.
----------------------------------
Hooked already? Let me know what grabbed you leave a review and fuel the journey forward! and if we hit every 250 Power Stones, a bonus chapter drops!
Things are just heating up. Read ahead in Unbound Evolution and stay ahead of the crowd.
[email protected]/_tey
Change @ to a.