Mont-Dor stood atop an open floating book suspended in midair, using it to maintain control over the skies.
His face was pale. As a user of the Book-Book Fruit, his "ability," like Brûlée's, actually belonged to the spatial category.
Even he couldn't help feeling shocked by the sea of enemies below.
And when he saw Davy Jones, his terror spiked sharply.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—Davy Jones had gone off to find his mother and wasn't still lingering here.
Mont-Dor quickly calmed himself.
He wasn't part of the most central circle in the Charlotte Family, but thanks to his sharp mind, he often offered Mama strategic advice.
Seeing the chaotic battlefield before him, he was already thinking of how to break the stalemate.
Katakuri, Smoothie, Daifuku, and Oven were all locked in combat with opponents of equal caliber—Marco, Crocodile, Law, Alvida, and Crocodile. There was no way they could spare attention to coordinate with him.
These were top-tier fighters; even a moment's distraction could get them killed.
So it was all up to him now.
His gaze fell on Brûlée's unconscious form and the pink-haired girl manipulating the "ghosts" restraining her. He began analyzing.
If I can just rescue Brûlée, our side will regain control over the Mirror World. The Davy Jones Pirates will instantly fall into a disadvantage!
Mont-Dor grasped the key point immediately—but breaking through Perona's "Negative Hollows" was the real challenge.
I need her to walk into my trap on her own.
He floated directly above Perona. Without her noticing, he materialized a book and let it fall.
Plop.
The book landed before Perona, open to pages filled with adorable doll illustrations.
Hearing the sound, Perona turned, noticing the book and its cute pictures—something that instantly caught her interest.
Mont-Dor widened his eyes, watching her every move. His face, white as if painted, twitched in anticipation.
Closer… just a little closer… You're almost within the Book-Book Fruit's range. Then I can drag you into my "Book World" and imprison you.
His ability resembled Brûlée's, but where she excelled in traversal, he specialized in confinement.
Perona truly liked the illustrations, and her hand reached toward the book—only to stop halfway.
She remembered Alvida's warning before the battle:
"In a chaotic battlefield, don't touch anything strange that shouldn't be there. It could be bait from a Devil Fruit user."
Perona decided to heed that advice. She withdrew her hand, even backed away from the suspicious book, then looked around warily.
Mont-Dor watched from above, furious and anxious. Victory had been within reach—only for it to slip away!
Fine. Hard method it is!
He flipped open the book in his hand and slipped inside. In the blink of an eye, he emerged from the book lying before Perona.
Using his spatial movement, Mont-Dor closed the distance before she could react, pulling a pistol from his waist and aiming it at her.
It looked ordinary—but it was actually a flamethrower.
Flames roared from the muzzle like a serpent lunging at Perona.
Startled, Perona stumbled back and instinctively raised her arms to shield her face.
But no human body could withstand fire.
Just as the flames were about to engulf her—and likely permanently scar her arms—a figure burst in from the side.
"Man-Eater" Bartolomeo leapt in front of her, crossing the index and middle fingers of both hands. A transparent barrier suddenly appeared and blocked the flames!
"Just like Crocodile said," Bartolomeo grinned with a strange thrill.
"Someone did try to attack Miss Perona. He called it perfectly!"
Someone predicted my move?
Mont-Dor's eyes widened. The intense flames battered Bartolomeo's barrier without leaving so much as a mark.
I can't drag this out!
He quickly shut off the flamethrower and tried to summon another book to escape first and rethink the situation.
But Bartolomeo didn't give him the chance.
The "barrier" in Bartolomeo's hands expanded, curving into a dome.
Like a rolling wave, it swallowed both Mont-Dor and the lingering fireball, sealing them inside.
In an instant, a barrier sphere formed.
Inside it, Mont-Dor had one foot already stepping onto a book—but then he saw the book's corner ignite from the flames, burning rapidly.
Before he could process this, the fire interrupted his spatial movement, forcibly ejecting him and slamming him onto the barrier floor.
He stared in horror as the book burned.
Bartolomeo raised a brow.
"During the briefing we suspected fire was your weakness—but who'd have thought you'd carry a flamethrower? You're one weird dude."
Under Bartolomeo's control, the barrier sphere shrank.
Mont-Dor and the flames were pressed together.
"Aaahhhhhh—!!"
His screams were chilling as the fire consumed him. He desperately tried summoning more books to escape, but each one ignited instantly—destroying his last hope.
When the flames finally died down, only a charred corpse remained inside the shrinking sphere.
"Killer Warrior" Killer had just slain two women of the Charlotte Family when two more targeted him.
These were the "Serpent-Head Quartet," and the two he killed had been the third and fourth sisters, Ashu and Efferet.
Fish-men, Longarms, Longlegs, Serpent-Heads…
Killer practically saw every race in the world represented in Big Mom's family. He silently lamented that Big Mom truly didn't discriminate—she'd slept with every type of man.
And worse, in a family bound tightly by blood, killing the younger ones meant the stronger ones always came for revenge.
The eldest sisters, Monde and Amande, were now relentlessly hunting him down for killing their siblings.
One fat, one slim—both top-tier swordswomen. But between them, Amande's technique, as the Nut Minister's sister and wielder of the famed blade Shiro-Uo, was superior.
Soon, Amande, wearing her enormous hat and holding Shiro-Uo, blocked Killer's path with her sister Monde.
"You dare kill our sisters…?" the obese Monde growled, drawing her sword.
"Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable," Amande added coldly.
Killer struggled to handle two sword masters at once. He scanned the battlefield—not seeing Kid—but spotting someone else.
Someone… unreliable.
But there was no room to complain now. Anyone from his side who could fight was good enough.
Killer shouted through his mask:
"Hachi! Over here! Take one of them!"
The octopus fish-man Hachi had just chopped down a giant-sword wielder named Highfat. Hearing Killer's cry, he turned and saw him besieged by the two sisters.
Killer danced through their alternating fast-and-slow strikes, dodging by a hair's breadth each time.
"I'm coming!"
Hachi rushed in, his six swords sweeping fiercely. He intercepted Amande's Shiro-Uo.
They locked eyes and recognized instantly: the opponent wielded named blades—their aura was unmistakable.
"I see… Half of your six swords are named blades," Amande murmured.
She no longer underestimated him. No matter how silly he looked, anyone who collected that many named swords was no weakling.
And this proved true immediately.
Her sword style relied on slow, heavy strikes.
But Hachi, empowered by his "Contract Mark," enhanced all six swords with "Burning Heat" and Armament Haki—boosting his Six-Sword Style dramatically.
Their blades clashed again and again, ringing across the Mirror World.
But Amande soon grew anxious—her sister Monde was losing badly to Killer, covered in wounds from the Punisher Scythe.
Monde was her last remaining sibling. Amande couldn't watch her die.
I can't waste any more time. I must finish this octopus quickly…
Hachi sensed the sudden shift in Amande's rhythm. The woman known for slow, crushing attacks was now aiming for a swift kill.
PFT!
Without hesitation, Hachi spat a mouthful of thick ink directly onto her face, gluing her eyes shut.
Amande cried out, stinging pain burning her eyelids.
She had to close her eyes and rely on Observation Haki—but that always came with margins of error and heavy expenditure.
Hachi's blade Kashu found an opening at last—cutting across Amande's slender torso, flames bursting bright as the blood sprayed out.
Clutching her abdomen, Amande flipped Shiro-Uo downward and stabbed it into the ground to keep herself upright, panting heavily.
"Amande—!" Monde cried, noticing her sister's struggle—but she herself was overwhelmed.
Killer, now fully realizing the power of the Contract Mark, moved like a storm. His scythe slashed in rapid arcs, a whirlwind of blades.
"Now's not the time to worry about others, is it?"
He flipped backward, landed, then sprang up again—breaking through Monde's guard in an instant. His scythe spun—
Slish—
A slicing wind blade took Monde's head clean off. Her eyes still held shock.
Amande, still struggling against Hachi's six blades, suddenly felt her sister's presence vanish.
Her mind went blank.
Calling out her sister's name earned no reply—only the relentless clash of Hachi's swords.
Even Monde is dead…
Amande's spirit broke. She let her hand fall away from her abdominal wound, letting it bleed freely. She stood still, motionless.
Hachi paused in surprise—only to see Amande plant Shiro-Uo into the ground and open her arms toward him.
"Do it…"
Hachi didn't hesitate. He sheathed five swords, raised Kashu alone, and delivered a blazing Fire Blade, severing Amande's slender serpent head.
PS: Access the complete/finished chapters/series at Patreon: NanamiTL
Please drop some power stones support me at my Patreon