It was a typical uninhabited island.
A towering mountain range rose at its center, wrapped in dense, primeval jungle. Jagged reefs ringed the shoreline, broken up by stretches of white sand.
Waves slapped the coast. Seabirds circled overhead. Everything looked quiet and peaceful.
But the moment Kael and his "problem-child squad" set foot on it, that peace shattered completely.
"Alright. Nice spot. Big enough. Should be plenty of room for you to mess around."
Kael stretched lazily, looked around, and nodded with satisfaction.
Behind him, five figures lined up shoulder to shoulder: Mihawk, Crocodile, Moria, Tesoro, and Doflamingo, each wearing a different expression.
Mihawk's gaze was razor-focused. He was already in combat mode, his aura locked onto Kael like a blade.
Crocodile had a cigar between his lips. Half his body had already begun to turn to sand, grains spiraling at his feet.
Moria let out a "kishishishi" cackle as his shadow stretched across the ground, warping into grotesque shapes.
Tesoro stood with hands in his pockets. At some point, the beach under his feet had become gold sand, countless flecks of glittering powder sparkling in the sunlight.
Doflamingo stayed at the back, fingers twitching lightly. Nearly invisible threads had already crept outward, linking to nearby trees and rocks.
Five people.
Five completely different, yet equally powerful presences.
Their auras intertwined until the air itself felt thick and sticky.
"Ready?" Kael asked with a grin. "Because I'm starting now."
The instant the words left his mouth, his figure faded where he stood, vanishing like a mirage under sunlight.
"Gone?"
"Where is he?!"
All five tensed at once. Their Observation Haki spread without restraint, like an invisible net sweeping every inch of the island in a frantic search.
"First one, I'll start with you, Doffy."
Kael's playful voice suddenly sounded right beside Doflamingo's ear.
Doflamingo's pupils shrank.
He hadn't sensed Kael approaching at all.
"Overheat Whip!"
Doflamingo reacted at an extreme speed, whipping his arm backward. Thick strands of string coated in pitch-black Armament Haki twisted into one, tearing through the air with a shriek as they lashed toward the source of the voice.
But the whip struck nothing.
"Good reaction. Too bad."
Kael's voice was calm, almost amused.
A palm settled lightly on top of Doflamingo's head.
Then an unstoppable, terrifying force slammed down.
Doflamingo didn't even have time to scream. He was driven straight into the sand, buried to the neck. Only his head remained aboveground, and his sunglasses shattered in half.
"Pfft!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth. The world spun. Every bone in his body felt like it had come loose.
One move.
Just one.
The infamous Heavenly Yaksha had been planted into the beach like a post.
"Doffy!"
"What?!"
"BOSS!"
Everything happened in a blink, and it hit Crocodile, Moria, and Tesoro like a hammer. Their hearts practically skipped.
"Don't lose focus at a time like this, fodder."
Kael's voice sounded again, and this time he was right in front of Tesoro.
"Golden Sea!"
Tesoro roared. The gold beneath his feet surged into a towering tidal wave, rushing at Kael as if to swallow him whole and assimilate him.
"A cheap trick."
Kael didn't even look at the wave.
He simply flicked a finger.
"Hmmm!"
A formless shockwave rippled outward.
The golden tsunami, hot enough to melt steel, froze the instant it touched that wave. A sharp crack rang out as it fractured from within, collapsing into glittering powder that rained down like gold dust.
Tesoro's body jolted.
He felt his connection to gold get severed by brute force.
"How is that possible?!"
In the split second his mind went blank, a fist expanded in his vision.
A plain straight punch.
Almost slow.
Bang.
A heavy, dull impact.
Tesoro's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. His body folded like a cooked shrimp as he flew backward, smashing through over a dozen thick palm trees before crashing into the ground and passing out cold.
"Kishishishi! Over here!"
Moria's eerie laughter rose from Kael's own shadow.
"Shadow's Asgard, Horn Blade!"
Kael's shadow was forcibly seized, stretching and twisting into a massive shadow scythe that sliced toward Kael's neck at a vicious, silent angle.
At the same time, Crocodile struck.
"Sandstorm!"
A sea of sand erupted, forming a massive tornado that swallowed Kael whole. Countless razor-sharp sand blades spun inside it at high speed, shredding everything within range.
One attack in the open, one in the dark.
Their coordination was surprisingly sharp.
Kael didn't move.
Not even a step.
"Too loud."
He spoke three words, almost like a sigh.
The next moment, an even more terrifying pulse exploded outward from his body.
"Hmmm!"
No earthshaking boom.
Only a hum that made the soul tremble.
Moria's shadow blade shattered midair, breaking apart inch by inch. Moria screamed and was violently torn out of the shadow itself, blood pouring from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as he slammed into the ground and went limp.
Crocodile's sand tornado was blown apart on the spot. He let out a muffled grunt, his face turning deathly pale.
"Is that all you've got, Little Sand?"
Kael walked through the drifting sand and appeared before Crocodile, then kicked him under the chin.
Crocodile launched into the sky, tracing an arc before crashing into the distant cliffside, leaving behind a human-shaped crater.
In less than a minute, four of the five had lost the ability to fight.
The entire process hadn't even lasted sixty seconds.
Only one person remained standing.
Dracule Mihawk.
From start to finish, he hadn't moved.
Those hawk-like eyes simply watched in silence as Kael crushed his "teammates" one after another with overwhelming ease.
There was no anger on Mihawk's face. No fear.
Only a near-fanatical hunger for battle.
In his world, only one man existed now.
"At last… it's my turn."
Mihawk's voice was low and hoarse as he reached back and gripped the hilt of the black blade.
Shing!
With a clear ring, the Supreme Grade Blade Yoru was drawn.
The instant it cleared its sheath, a sword intent so sharp it was terrifying shot straight into the sky, splitting the clouds open as if the heavens themselves had been cut.
"Come, Kael."
Mihawk held the blade with both hands, taking a starting stance. His spirit, will, and presence fused completely with the black sword in his hands.
Kael looked at him and finally showed a trace of approval.
"Not bad, Hawk. Your sword has gotten stronger."
"But it's still not enough."
Kael lifted his right hand toward Mihawk, fingers spread.
"Come on. Show me everything."
Mihawk inhaled deeply, his chest rising and falling. He poured his lifetime of swordsmanship, his will, his Haki, everything he had into this single strike.
A massive green slash tore through the earth, cleaved the forest, and howled toward Kael with the intent to sever everything.
Where it passed, the ground was plowed open into a bottomless trench, as if the island itself might be split in half.
Facing a slash that could cleave mountains and cut the sea, Kael only shook his head.
His open fingers curled gently into a fist.
"Spatial Wave: Distortion."
Hmmm!
Mihawk's enormous slash twisted into a U-shape ten meters in front of Kael, veering past him and carving a world-shaking scar into the land behind.
Mihawk's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Space…?
What was that?
He had never seen Kael use anything like it.
His proudest slash had been neutralized so easily?
"It's over."
Kael's voice sounded by his ear.
Alarm bells screamed in Mihawk's mind, but the sheer shock made his body freeze for a split second.
Just one split second.
A light, irresistible force struck the back of his neck.
His vision went black, and his consciousness sank into endless darkness.
Kael casually tossed the unconscious Mihawk aside, dusted his hands, and looked around at the "problem children" strewn across the island. He rubbed his brow as a headache came on.
Doflamingo was buried in the sand. Tesoro was half-covered beneath snapped palm trunks. Moria lay like a bloody rag. Crocodile was embedded in the cliff wall. Mihawk was out cold at Kael's feet.
Brutal.
Just… brutal.
Kael walked over to Doflamingo and yanked him out of the sand like pulling up a turnip.
"Hey. Wake up."
He shook him.
Doflamingo came to with a dazed stare. The moment he saw Kael's smiling face up close, he jolted like he'd been struck.
"K… Kael-sama…"
"How's it feel?" Kael asked cheerfully.
Doflamingo's face twitched.
Being planted into the beach like a signpost made him want to die on the spot.
Kael tossed him aside, then went around waking the others with various "gentle" methods.
The five gathered together, battered, filthy, bruised and swollen, staring at Kael who didn't even have a scratch. Their eyes burned with humiliation and unwilling rage.
"Too weak."
Kael shook his head, merciless.
"I thought the five of you together could at least warm me up."
"And what happened?"
He pointed at Doflamingo. "You. All you've got are little tricks. In front of absolute power, you're nothing."
Then Tesoro. "You. You rely on your Devil Fruit too much. Your martial skill and Haki are a mess."
Then Moria. "You. A rat hiding in the shadows. Do you not even have the courage to fight head-on?"
Then Crocodile. "You. Those clever schemes of yours, once they're seen through, are you left with nothing but this sand?"
Finally, his gaze fell on Mihawk.
"And you, Mihawk. Your sword is strong, but your eyes only see me as an 'opponent.' You forgot there are 'companions' beside you. A lone wolf will never reach the true summit."
Kael's words stabbed like knives, one after another, straight into their hearts.
They were all proud, all arrogant. When had they ever suffered humiliation like this?
Yet they couldn't refute him.
Because every word was true.
They fought separately. Scattered. Loose sand.
Kael broke them one by one with absolute strength.
"If I were your enemy, you'd all be dead already. And with this little skill, you think you can follow me and flip the world upside down?"
Kael's voice turned cold, carrying a lofty, judging weight.
"You disappoint me."
"Go home and farm!"
He turned and walked into the island's depths, leaving the five standing there in stunned silence.
Shame. Rage. Reluctance.
So many emotions twisted together, finally hardening into a determination they had never felt before.
They watched Kael's relaxed departing figure.
One by one, their fists clenched tight.