'This method of ultra-long-range pentagram teleportation should be some kind of Devil Fruit ability.'
If it weren't a Devil Fruit ability but some kind of technology or magic, the fundamental style of this world would become rather strange.
The Seastone embedded in this Celestial Dragon's forehead was actively interfering with the teleportation, which proved that the ability was indeed related to Devil Fruit powers, or at least inherently connected to them.
"Devil Fruit... Devils?" Cyrus looked down at the dragon-headed human who wasn't completely unconscious and was now panicking.
A story from his past life about a certain tree-planting wife suddenly surfaced in his mind.
She planted a tree and gave birth to two sons, only to be sealed away by those very same sons.
She was called the Progenitor of Chakra, and all chakra originated from her body, or rather, from the tree she planted.
There was a distinct sense of déjà vu.
But now it appeared that regardless of whether the source was a fruit or actually a tree, it was still fundamentally affected by Seastone or seawater.
This intelligence was quite valuable, meaning at least this operation yielded some concrete gains.
After glancing at the fallen Celestial Dragon, Cyrus turned his attention to Doflamingo.
The Warlord, who had been watching Cyrus closely, tensed up immediately when their eyes met.
"Wanting to live isn't impossible," Cyrus's voice rang out.
Killing Doflamingo wouldn't be difficult, and wiping out the entire Donquixote Family would be equally effortless.
This presented no challenge for him, as the gap between the current Doflamingo, including his entire crew, and himself was simply too vast.
However, he was still a Warlord and had fully mastered Fruit Awakening, meaning simply killing him outright would be somewhat wasteful.
After all, he was considered one of the rare masters on the seas.
Hearing Cyrus's words, Doflamingo relaxed slightly, but he understood that this guy surely had more to say, and the following words would determine whether he could truly keep his life.
"In six months, I'll be hosting the Hunter Exam," Cyrus spoke unhurriedly, his voice not particularly loud.
Doflamingo naturally knew about the Hunter Exam Cyrus mentioned.
Although he wasn't clear about the specific details of the event, the World Economy News Paper had indeed published news about it.
'Does he want me to participate?' Doflamingo wondered to himself.
"You have six months. Twenty Celestial Dragons—that should be plenty of time," Cyrus's voice rang out once more.
'Celestial Dragons?' Doflamingo was momentarily stunned before fully understanding Cyrus's meaning.
"You mean, exchange our lives with the lives of Celestial Dragons?" Doflamingo asked with a grave expression.
"Correct. Twenty Celestial Dragons' lives in exchange for yours. Of course, you could also use this time to simply go into hiding," Cyrus said with a smile, his expression rather indifferent about the matter.
But Doflamingo understood this was a strict warning.
If he didn't comply, unless he truly hid forever... since that was impossible, the next time they met, there would be no second chance.
"I understand," Doflamingo nodded.
He had no room for choice: death or acceptance.
Naturally, he would choose to accept Cyrus's terms—twenty Celestial Dragons' lives in exchange for his own survival over the next six months.
Doflamingo also understood that by doing this, he would immediately become a primary target for the World Government, or rather, the nobles.
At that point, the secrets he held about the Celestial Dragons would no longer protect him.
"Dressrosa!"
Doflamingo looked at Cyrus and spoke, his tone questioning.
"Return it to the former royal family. The Donquixote Family has three days to leave. I intend to establish a Hunter Guild branch here."
As he spoke, Cyrus turned and kicked the Celestial Dragon lying at his feet directly toward Doflamingo.
"This counts as one. Consider it my gift to you."
Doflamingo watched the flying figure and raised his hand to create a net of strings that safely intercepted the incoming body.
Around the Dressrosa palace, the still-burning flames transformed into dozens of orange-red fire trails, extending from all directions to converge smoothly on Cyrus.
Moments later, the flames completely vanished, but what had disappeared within those flames would never reappear.
Only when Cyrus's figure disappeared from view did Doflamingo truly relax.
He never expected that the minor incident back in the East Blue would lead to such enormous trouble.
A fatal trouble.
Now he had no choice but to accept Cyrus's demand to carry out assassinations against the Celestial Dragons over the next six months.
However, given what Cyrus had done at the Sabaody Archipelago and Mary Geoise, these Celestial Dragons were probably already terrified, and they might not recover within six months.
This meant that to accomplish this task, he might need to actively infiltrate Mary Geoise itself.
As one could imagine, this would be extremely dangerous. But acceptance meant possible death later, while refusal meant certain death right now.
The choice was easy.
Having reached this conclusion, Doflamingo's gaze fell upon Killingham, who was tightly bound by his strings.
After Cyrus's departure, Killingham, who had appeared panicked earlier, now glared furiously at the Warlord.
"Release me immediately! Remove the Seastone from my forehead!" Killingham's voice was full of threat.
"Fufufufu!"
Hearing Killingham's threats, Doflamingo suddenly laughed.
His laughter grew louder and louder.
A single, razor-sharp string wrapped around Killingham's neck.
"My apologies, but he's still watching. You're my test from him, and only by killing you can I truly survive."
The string tightened.
The sharp thread drew increasingly tighter, slowly cutting through the flesh of Killingham's neck.
It seemed rather slow, perhaps because Killingham's Awakened body was too resilient.
Of course, it could also be that Doflamingo was simply venting his pent-up frustrations.
In the distance, several executives of the Donquixote Family watched as Doflamingo attacked the Celestial Dragon, none of them daring to speak.
Killingham's head separated from his neck and rolled onto the ground.
Yet, even with his head severed, Killingham still did not die.
Instead, the black flame clouds above his body suddenly intensified, and a massive pentagram reappeared beneath his torso.
Then, the body entangled in strings vanished directly into the pentagram.
"Ahhhhh, I'm still here!" Killingham's severed head emitted a sharp, piercing shriek.
'What a bunch of lunatics,' Killingham thought, his eyes burning with rage. 'Why transport my body when my head is still here?'
However, this anger did not last long.
Though Killingham had previously survived being cut apart without dying, after his body was transported away, the unnatural vitality in his head began to fade rapidly.
The light in his furious eyes also dimmed.
"Hmm, so that works too? If the severed body parts are far enough apart, does this ability vanish?" Cyrus's voice rang out once more.
Doflamingo abruptly looked up and saw Cyrus standing nearby, casually holding a woman in each hand.
No one knew when he had returned.