"Arrogant."
Saga was thoroughly enraged by Ryan's casual attitude. The crimson in his eyes nearly solidified into substance as he roared, the veins on his arm gripping the Seven Star Sword bulging violently. The blade, wrapped in green mist, swept horizontally toward Ryan's face at a speed several times faster than before.
"Too slow." Ryan sneered, suddenly crouching down. The cold gleam of the Seven Star Sword brushed past the top of his head, the resulting gust of wind stirring the stray hairs on his forehead.
Before Saga could retract his move, Ryan used the momentum from his crouch to spin around, his right fist cutting through the air with a sharp whistle before slamming hard into Saga's abdomen.
"Ugh..." Saga bent over like a shrimp hit by a heavy hammer, vomiting a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. The Seven Star Sword flew from his grasp and landed with a clang in the soil nearby, the blade still trembling slightly under the sunlight, radiating unwilling malice.
Before Saga could even cry out in pain, Ryan swiftly raised his hand, his five fingers clamping tightly around Saga's neck and lifting him completely off the ground. Dangling helplessly, Saga futilely grabbed at Ryan's wrist, his face turning purplish-red from lack of oxygen as gurgling whimpers escaped his throat.
Ryan's eyes were icy cold, his palm already applying pressure. With just a little more force, Saga's neck would snap.
"Stop!" A piercing cry cut through the air.
Maya had rushed over unnoticed, running up to Ryan and gripping his arm tightly with both hands, her voice hoarse from urgency: "Please... spare him. He's being controlled by the curse, he didn't mean it!"
Ryan paused his motion of twisting Saga's neck, his gaze slowly shifting from Saga's pain-contorted face to Maya. His eyes held undisguised scrutiny as they swept over Maya's slightly heaving chest from her run, slid over her wind-tousled blue hair, and finally settled on her eyes, reddened from anxiety. His fingers twitched, but the Strength gripping Saga's neck didn't lessen in the slightest.
"Spare him?" Ryan's voice was low, carrying a hint of amusement. "That can be arranged."
Just as a glimmer of hope ignited in Maya's eyes, Ryan continued: "But there has to be a price."
Maya stiffened all over. The other's gaze was far too blatant, instantly making her understand what he meant by "price." She instinctively shrank back, her cheeks flushing bright red before rapidly draining of color, turning pale as paper.
But when she glimpsed Saga hanging in mid-air, his breathing growing fainter, and saw the lingering pain and struggle in his eyes, the humiliation and fear in her heart were suddenly overwhelmed by a stronger emotion.
Maya took a deep breath, as if making an enormous decision, and lifted her head to meet Ryan's gaze. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and though her originally clear eyes were misted with unshed tears, she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
"...Any price will do." Maya's voice was soft but exceptionally firm, each word seeming to be squeezed through clenched teeth. "As long as you let him go."
Ryan stared at Maya for several seconds before suddenly letting out a low chuckle and releasing his grip on Saga's neck. Saga fell heavily to the ground like a broken puppet, landing with a dull thud and immediately losing consciousness. The slight rise and fall of his chest indicated he had narrowly escaped death.
Maya scrambled over on her hands and knees, trembling fingers reaching for Saga's breath. Only when she felt the faint but present pulse of air did her tense body suddenly relax, collapsing to the ground as if drained of strength. She gasped for air, the back of her clothes already soaked through with cold sweat.
Ryan clapped his hands lightly as if brushing off dust, his gaze falling upon the Seven Star Sword embedded in the earth. He took a step toward it, but after just two paces, the sword suddenly emitted a sharp, piercing hum, its blade vibrating violently in the soil as if it had come to life.
The Marines brought by Saga seemed pulled by invisible strings, their hollow eyes suddenly glowing red as they raised their rifles in unison, the dark muzzles aimed directly at Ryan's back.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Gunshots exploded through the quiet village, bullets whistling through the air toward Ryan. The villagers screamed and covered their eyes in terror, while Maya instinctively ducked her head. But the next moment, a scene that left everyone stunned unfolded before them.
The bullets struck Ryan's body as if hitting solid steel, ricocheting off one after another. Some even shattered into fragments upon impact, falling to the ground with sharp, metallic clinks.
"What... what kind of monster is this..." Maya's eyes widened as she stared at Ryan's completely unharmed back, her heart pounding wildly.
Ryan walked over to the Seven Star Sword and bent down to pull it out.
"Don't touch it!" Maya suddenly snapped back to reality, struggling to her feet, her voice trembling with tears. "It will control you! That's what happened to Saga..."
"Who do you think I am?" Ryan paused mid-motion, glancing sideways at Maya with a mocking smile curling at the corner of his lips. "To be controlled by mere demonic energy?"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Ryan's fingers closed around the hilt of the Seven Star Sword. The moment his fingertips made contact, the sword suddenly erupted with dense green mist that crawled furiously up his arm.
As the mist passed over his wrist, goosebumps broke out across his skin as if icy insects were crawling beneath the surface, and even the flow of his blood seemed to slow.
The veins on Ryan's hand bulged as he gripped the hilt, yet he remained motionless. Looking down at the writhing mist, his lips curled into a cold smile. His voice dropped to a low, menacing tone. "Who do you think I am?"
The mist seemed enraged by this challenge, churning even more violently, nearly swallowing his entire arm.
"I'm a demon crawled back from hell. I've tasted death itself—no one gets to trample over me." Ryan's eyes suddenly turned sharp. His fingers tightened abruptly, making the sword's hilt creak under the pressure. "You think a cursed broken sword can control me? Dream on."
With those words, Ryan let out a sudden roar, condensing all his presence into a single focus. The soil at his feet cracked with fine fissures, and the falling rice husks around him froze mid-air. That overwhelming Conqueror's Haki shot out like invisible steel needles, piercing directly into the densest part of the mist.
"Scatter!"
With Ryan's furious shout, the condensed Haki exploded like thunder through the mist. The green fog visibly disintegrated inch by inch, vanishing into the air in an instant without leaving even a trace of its chilling presence.
Ryan's arm returned to its original skin tone, the sunlight falling upon it as if the earlier entanglement had never occurred. Only the Seven Star Sword in his hand continued to tremble violently, as if terrified by this power that looked down upon the world.
"Is this all you've got, and you dare call it a curse?" Ryan raised the sword before his eyes, its blade reflecting his icy gaze.
Maya stood rooted to the spot, her legs weak. She clearly saw how the curse's power—which even Saga couldn't break free from—had proven so utterly insignificant before Ryan.
More terrifying than a Monster.
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