"Saint Jaeger…"
Among the three women who had just arrived, Esdeath only exchanged a light nod with Jaeger.
Their history needed no words. Scathach offered a casual greeting, as was her way.
But Karuizawa Kei—she stood stiff, her eyes glued to the floor, too shy to meet Jaeger's gaze.
Jaeger gave a small smile and gestured toward them.
"You all probably know Esdeath," he began.
"This is Scathach, Princess of the Kingdom of Shadows, and its future queen. And this timid girl here is Karuizawa Kei."
"This woman… is dangerous."
Akainu's eyes locked onto Esdeath. There was a clear heat in them—not of desire, but battle-lust.
"She defeated Dark King Rayleigh," he said, clenching his fists, "and even crushed Aokiji—who shares her element."
"Defeated Aokiji and Rayleigh?"
Gion's lips tightened as her gaze swept over Esdeath's striking figure.
The woman's beauty was one thing but that icy arrogance, the natural queen's presence, it stirred something bitter inside her.
She hated how Jaeger looked at her.
Kaido, meanwhile, had his eye on someone else.
"That purple-haired one... The Kingdom of Shadows, huh? Never heard of it. But her aura... she's born to rule."
"Rule, you say?"
Gion's interest sharpened as she turned to Scathach. Her hand hovered near the hilt of her blade.
"You don't look like a Devil Fruit user," Gion said. "Are you?"
Scathach tilted her head, her voice calm and laced with confidence.
"Devil Fruit? No. I use spears. Two of them."
"Spears?"
Kaido raised an eyebrow. Gion narrowed her eyes.
"The seas are filled with swordsmen. But spearmen? That's rare. Interesting," Gion said, drawing her famed sword. Her eyes sparkled.
"We're both weapon-users. Want to test whose reach is deadlier?"
Scathach glanced at Jaeger, seeking his opinion.
Even though she was royalty in her world, this wasn't her domain. And clearly, Gion's relationship with Jaeger was... complicated.
If she injured Gion too badly, would he be displeased?
Jaeger smiled, pulling Yamato into his lap while sitting beside Olvia, who was trembling slightly from the cold.
"Go ahead. Don't hold back. Let her see just how vast the skies are."
Scathach's eyes gleamed, and two blood-red spears manifested in her hands with a sharp shimmer.
"A space ability?"
Gion was taken aback as the weapons appeared from thin air. The blood on their surface pulsed faintly, as though alive.
Her jaw clenched.
Am I being underestimated?
She couldn't allow that. Not in front of Jaeger. Not when she'd fought her way through the Grand Line to earn her place.
"Soru!"
With a blur, she closed the distance, unleashing dozens of razor-sharp slashes, each wave of pink sword energy roaring toward Scathach like tidal waves.
But Scathach didn't budge.
In the blink of an eye, her twin spears danced, intercepting every blow mid-air with chilling precision. Sparks erupted. Metal sang against metal.
"Your form is impressive," Gion admitted, leaping in with a downward slash aimed to bisect Scathach from shoulder to hip.
But Scathach's left spear shot up—faster, stronger—parrying the strike with brutal efficiency.
"So fast!"
Gion's pupils contracted as she twisted her wrist, trying to follow with a second attack.
Too late.
The right-hand spear lunged forward, forcing her to block. The impact rang out like thunder, and she staggered back under the force.
High above, Jaeger quietly activated the chat group's livestream.
[Group Chat - Live Broadcast]
Uchiha Miyuki: Wait… is that Gion fighting Scathach? Why??
Jaeger: It's just a friendly spar.
Nakiri Erina: FRIENDLY?! She's bleeding all over the deck!
Uchiha Miyuki: Relax. It's totally normal. Jaeger-sama once split the Shinigami old hag in two during "friendly sparring." Jibril's been killed hundreds of times too.
Nakiri Erina: …What kind of training arc is this??
Jibril: And each death still haunts me…
Tohsaka Sakura: Miyuki-san, stop reminding them of their trauma...
Scathach: Jaeger, should I hold back? She looks close to breaking.
Jaeger: No need. If she can still stand, she can still learn.
Scathach: As you wish.
Back on the ship, Gion's breathing grew ragged. Blood soaked through her uniform. Her hands were numb, arms heavy.
"This… this can't be happening."
Her Observation Haki was outpaced. Her Armament Haki was being overwhelmed.
Zephyr-sensei said Haki was everything... but this—this woman doesn't even use it! How?!
Her thoughts fractured as another spear strike pierced her thigh, spinning her sideways.
She screamed, but pushed through the pain, deflecting another blow with the edge of her blade before leaping back.
"Hah… hah… Alright… I admit it. In close combat… you win."
She held her sword defensively, panting hard.
"But you're not a ranged fighter… and that's where I shine."
She slashed forward, sending a wave of condensed sword energy roaring across the deck.
Real combat doesn't care about pride. Only victory.
However, Scathach's pretty face bore an unreadable expression—subtle, strange, unnoticed by anyone else.
"Do you really think spearmen are only good at close combat… and not long-range attacks?" she whispered coldly.
As hundreds of sharp sword energies surged toward her, the two spears in Scathach's hands suddenly shimmered with an ominous crimson light—like a divine blessing twisted into a curse.
"Pierce… break through!"
She spoke low but with terrifying power, hurling the blood-red spear in her left hand with such speed that it tore through the air like a meteor—faster than lightning, faster than thought.
Even gods of the Age of Myths would have struggled to react in time.
Gion barely had time to gasp.
Her body was impaled by the spear with brutal force and slammed into the wall behind her.
"Ugh!"
Blood erupted from her mouth, and her stunned eyes turned bloodshot.
"So fast... What a terrifying throw!"
The pain was immense, but Gion fought through it. She gritted her teeth, reached for the spear embedded in her abdomen, and tried to pull it out—only to discover something horrifying.
She wasn't simply nailed to the wall—no. She was locked in space itself, completely immobilized, as if the spear had pinned her existence rather than her body.
Meanwhile, the pink sword energy that surged toward Scathach should've been unavoidable.
Yet Scathach barely blinked. With chilling calm, she twisted her spear-hand, and with the right arm, she readied her second magical spear.
Both crimson spears shone violently, and she intoned their True Names aloud.
"The Spear That Pierces Death—!"
"Whoosh—!"
The demonic spear launched into the void, not in a straight path, but zigzagging like a reflection of light warped by the world's very fabric.
A heartbeat later, it shredded every strand of sword energy aimed at her and shot directly toward the helpless Gion's heart.
This wasn't the weakened version of her Noble Phantasm from the Servant state.
No. This was Scathach at her peak—the Queen of the Shadow Lands wielding a god-killing weapon.
A spear that had once slain beasts from the Age of the Gods. Titans. Even divinities.
"Am I... going to die?"
As the tip of the spear hovered an inch from her chest, time seemed to slow. Gion's thoughts ran wild, eyes clouded with regret.
She hadn't become the world's greatest swordswoman yet.
She hadn't fulfilled Sister Tsuru's commission, hadn't earned Jaeger's full trust, hadn't made a real difference in the navy.
She hadn't even beaten that damn Yamato yet.
Was this how her story ended? So full of dreams, and now… to die like this?
Gion was no battle junkie. She didn't believe in "glorious deaths." She was young.
She had dreams. Responsibilities. A future. And she didn't want it to end like this.
In a moment of desperation, she cried out the only name she could think of.
"Jaeger! Help me!"
It was instinctual. Reflexive. Out of everyone present, she felt he was the only one she could truly rely on.
A soft chuckle echoed near her ear.
"Haha… You really do trust me, huh?"
Jaeger's voice was calm. Confident. Familiar.
Suddenly, Gion felt an arm wrap gently around her waist. The warmth of Jaeger's embrace calmed her frenzied heart.
Despite not knowing whether he could stop that terrifying spear, just being in his arms made her feel safe.
Is this what it means to rely on someone strong? Just being held like this… calms everything.
Her mind was racing—and then, a sharp ding echoed in her ears.
She looked up.
Her eyes went wide.
The spear—Scathach's demonic, god-slaying spear—was frozen just before her chest. And it wasn't because of a magic barrier or divine shield.
It was because Jaeger… had stopped it with a single finger.
Just one finger.
No force. No theatrics. He simply pressed his index finger against the weapon's tip, and the seemingly unstoppable magic spear halted—like a toy halted by an adult.
But Gion knew what that spear could do. It wasn't just a weapon—it was destruction incarnate. It had pierced her. It could pierce mountains. It was something she had never experienced before.
And yet… Jaeger stopped it. Just like that.
How strong was this man? This aloof Celestial Dragon?
Even Scathach was stunned.
After receiving her peak power through the chat group, she had slain gods, become the symbol of fear and awe in the Shadow Realm. She knew what her spear was capable of.
Jaeger stopping it wasn't impossible but stopping it with one finger?
Absurd.
Just then, a notification rang in her ear.
Uchiha Miyuki: "Scathach, it's the blessing of the Sky God—the Eye of Horus. Saint Jaeger is completely immune to all long-range attacks. Even a solar explosion wouldn't scratch him. Don't be too surprised!"
Scathach: "…I see. Thank you."
She quietly pulled up the Eye of Horus details in the chat group and quickly skimmed.
It wasn't just the Sky God's protection. It also granted control over solar energy, flight, anti-flight domains, and other terrifying sun-based abilities.
Ridiculous.
Jaeger's Noble Phantasm was very...how to say it op? Even many people in Type Moon with powerful Noble Phantasms might complain.
Gion, still curled up in Jaeger's arms, muttered weakly, "I lost…"
Yet she didn't sound sad. If anything, she looked… content. Happy even. More like a victor basking in comfort than a defeated warrior.
"Damn that woman…"
Yamato growled from afar, clenching her fists. She was furious. In her eyes, Gion was just putting on an act to get closer to Jaeger.
Scathach retrieved her blood-colored spears with a strange look in her eyes.
She could tell Gion had misunderstood the nature of her relationship with Jaeger… but she didn't correct her.
Why bother?
Besides, she didn't actually dislike Jaeger. In the Age of Gods, romantic chaos was normal. Strength covered all sins.
Meanwhile, Jaeger casually asked Jibril for a Senzu bean in the chat group and handed it to Gion.
Scathach and the others stared in disbelief.
The moment Gion ate the small bean, all the bloody wounds across her body vanished in an instant. Her skin was flawless again, as if healed by divine magic.
"This is…"
Gion looked at Jaeger, dumbfounded.
"Senzu bean," Jaeger said with a smile.
"Heals any injury. Doesn't work on disease though. Feel free to tell Vice Admiral Tsuru and the others."
"Uh… okay…"
Even though she'd expected him to treat her like a "spy," hearing it so casually still made Gion blush.
Is… is getting injured Jaeger's love language?
Yamato, watching Gion cuddle up to Jaeger, suddenly narrowed her eyes and seemed to realize something vital.
"So that's the secret to winning his heart!"
She raised her mace and roared, pointing at Esdeath, Karuizawa Kei, Akainu, and her own father:
"You! Blue hair! Blondie! Purple girl with the spear! Lava man! And my old man! I'm fighting all five of you right now!"
•••
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