NOVEL WEB Chapter 278: 278 Demon Soldier
The black shadow pulled the long sword from its body but instead of bleeding, the wound filled with eerie ghost energy.
Now holding Demon Cutter, the shadow attempted to use it as a weapon.
Lynch watched silently, as if enjoying a good show.
Demon Cutter turns on its wielder.
Aside from Lynch, no one had ever held it and lived to tell the tale.
The last person to try, Smoker almost lost his mind from sheer rage.
Sure enough, after a brief moment, the black shadow began fighting itself.
Its left hand grabbed its right, trying to stop it from attacking its own body.
Bang!
Frustrated, the shadow finally threw Demon Cutter to the ground in disgust.
For a moment maybe it was just an illusion Lynch swore he saw an expression of pure misfortune flash across the featureless shadow's face.
Like it was thinking:
"What kind of cursed sword is this?!"
"Quack quack~"
Demon Cutter let out an eerie, grating laugh, the ghostly face on its blade flickering before it floated back into Lynch's hand.
Lynch smacked it down.
"Stop laughing. It's ugly."
The sword immediately quieted down.
With only the Skythorn Spear left in its hand, Hancock's small brain seemed to be working hard—where did the other weapon go?
"Ancestor? We don't mean any harm. Can you understand me?"
Taking advantage of the black shadow's momentary stillness, the Empress tried calling out.
The black shadow glanced at her then turned its attention to Lynch.
"Stop calling it that," Lynch said calmly. "She is no longer your ancestor."
He continued analyzing:
"To be precise, she's a being formed from the obsessions of your 91 ancestors after their deaths."
"You could say she's their 'child'… or the monster born from their remains. But she is not your ancestors."
It was clear that, despite having some intelligence, the shadow had no heart—no real sense of self.
It wasn't a living entity it behaved more like a program, running on the lingering obsessions of the 91 souls that created it.
Lynch suspected that those 91 individuals had left behind two powerful obsessions…
The first was to kill all men in the world.
The second was to protect the descendants of Amazon Lily.
That explained why the black shadow was so "gentle" to Hancock but so ruthless to Lynch.
Lynch felt his guess was spot on.
Perhaps realizing that the Sky-Moon Shield had been taken by a descendant, the black shadow did not pursue it. Instead, it gripped the Skythorn Spear tightly with both hands.
The spikes on the spear began to grow wildly.
What was once a short spear stretched into a long spear, its spikes twisting and extending like a Christmas tree covered in thorns.
From an outsider's perspective, the shadow now seemed to be holding a three-meter-tall thorn-covered Christmas tree.
The next second, it charged at Lynch once more.
The two figures clashed at blinding speed, darting through the dark cave like flashes of lightning.
Hancock couldn't keep up she could only tell where the light flickered, marking the direction of their battle.
"Stop fighting! Please, stop!"
She waved her flashlight frantically, shining it here and there, but she was too anxious to intervene.
Almost no human, except for a select few, can fight effectively in absolute darkness.
Even at night, there's still some ambient light, but here, deep underground, there was none not even a sliver of sunlight.
In the vast tomb, the size of a football field, the flashlight in Hancock's hand was the only source of light.
"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding~"
Despite being a massive three-meter-long weapon, the Skythorn Spear moved with the grace and speed of a sword in the black shadow's hands.
Using the spear as a natural shield, the shadow flowed behind it effortlessly.
Lynch still couldn't tell what the spear was made of, but it was as hard as Dragon Slayer.
"Two-Sword Style, Heart Thunder and Fire!"
Crack!
Thunder and lightning erupted, scorching the air and filling it with a burnt metallic scent.
Flaming lightning clung to Lynch's blades, like the first ray of sunlight breaking through chaos, slicing through the darkness and bringing dawn.
Not to be outdone, the black shadow spun the Skythorn Spear, the ghostly energy surging skyward, forming a vortex-like black sea around the weapon.
A flash of light, then it was gone.
Lynch had succeeded.
He sliced off a half-meter-long spike from the Skythorn Spear.
A moment later, the spike grew back.
Lynch: "..."
From the fight so far, the shadow's raw strength rivaled Kizaru's.
But with such low intelligence, it would never be able to defeat Kizaru.
However, with both the Skythorn Spear and the Sky-Moon Shield, if Kizaru didn't escape, there was a good chance he'd get beaten into the ground.
Leaving the Sky-Moon Shield aside, this Skythorn Spear was truly bizarre.
A good weapon can double a fighter's strength.
But this spear? It made an already powerful enemy nearly unbeatable.
Thankfully, Hancock had snatched the Sky-Moon Shield earlier. Otherwise, taking this thing down would have been even harder.
It seemed insane, but considering this was the legacy of a pirate crew as strong as the Rocks Pirates, it wasn't too surprising.
If anything, Lynch felt his expectations had been too low.
After all, the Rocks Pirates had seven or eight Admiral-level fighters, and Rocks himself was an absolute monster.
Merging seven or eight Admiral-level fighters after death—no wonder this thing was so strong.
Committing suicide at his peak and using a Devil Fruit to transform his soul... That was true insanity, even for a pirate.
Without the Skythorn Spear, Lynch could easily take down the shadow.
Even though it was made of ghost energy and souls, with no organs or weak points, it could recover endlessly by absorbing the lingering ghost energy in the cave. Practically unkillable.
But with the Skythorn Spear in play, Lynch had to make sure not to kill it outright—which meant the battle could drag on indefinitely.
Lynch was confident he could beat this monster, even if it could pummel Kizaru, but it would take forever.
It would be like the Marines grinding down the Red Earl—a slow war of attrition.
If he could drain all the ghost energy from the cave, then victory was guaranteed.
And that was fine.
Lynch had a mythical Zoan fruit and had eaten enough Sea Kings to keep going for months. One month? Two? Three?
No.
Too long.
There was another way.
If he couldn't kill the shadow, then he could seal it.
Lynch wasn't great at sealing techniques, and Cold Iron Body wouldn't work on a shadow that could turn into gas.
But Hancock could.
When it came to sealing abilities, Sweet Fruit was easily one of the top three.
Once petrified, the target would enter a hibernation-like state, causing no harm no matter how long they remained sealed. And best of all, they could be unsealed anytime.
"Hancock! I'll trap her temporarily—you turn her to stone." Lynch instructed.
"But… will she even be affected by my beauty?" Hancock hesitated, sounding almost resentful.
She had never worried about this before.
After all, it didn't matter if someone was man or woman, young or old, human or animal—even dogs on the street and camels in the desert—every living thing that laid eyes on her was captivated.
She was a woman who could make even a fish in the sea fall for her.
But ever since she met that fool Weevil, a crack had formed in her confidence— for the first time, she doubted her own beauty.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED
___________________
I've added an advanced chapter on P@treon, where you can read 115+ chapters ahead of everyone.
Link : patreon.com/MoonEater18