"Brat, you're getting way too cocky!"
The massive rhinoceros, eyes blood-red, suddenly burst forth with terrifying speed, tearing up the ground as it charged straight at Longinus.
But Longinus remained calm. He leaped lightly into the air—landing perfectly atop the rhino's broad back.
For a second, Alex froze. Shame then surged through him like wildfire, and he began bucking wildly, desperate to throw Longinus off. Yet Longinus' legs were steady as bedrock, rooted to Alex's back no matter how violently the beast thrashed.
Catching a gap in Alex's frenzied movements, Longinus drove a heavy punch straight into the rhino's vulnerable eye.
"MMOOO—!"
With a pained bellow, the beast abandoned its full animal form, shifting into a hybrid—an abomination with a bull's head and a single horn sprouting from its nose.
Longinus used the recoil to descend gracefully to the ground. Before Alex could adapt to the abrupt difference in body size and balance, Longinus' long leg whipped out like a steel lash, sweeping his waist and launching him hundreds of meters away. Trees shattered in a line before his body finally skidded to a stop.
"G-gulp…"
The invading pirates swallowed hard, chills crawling up their spines.
Even transformed… even like this… their captain wasn't his match?
"AAAHHH!"
Alex roared, eyes still crimson, white steam jetting from his nostrils—rage pushing him to the brink of madness.
Seeing him charge again, Longinus frowned slightly.
Zoan fruits really give absurd boosts in the early stages… and this one's hide is like iron. No wonder he escaped the Navy so many times.
Even in half-beast form, Alex towered over three meters, muscles knotted like steel cables. Every stomp sent tremors through the earth as though a living stone golem were rampaging.
Yet before Longinus, this raging minotaur was no more threatening than a papier-mâché toy. A precise kick shattered Alex's knee, and another heavy blow to the waist forced him onto one half-kneeling leg, roaring up at the sky.
The Devil Fruit gave Alex monstrous durability—but not agility. Against Longinus' footwork and precision, he was hopelessly outmatched.
But Alex refused to back down. He knew his advantage: he could take hits. Even if it took a hundred injuries for one opportunity, he would endure it. And in pure stamina, he refused to believe some twelve-year-old brat could outlast a Zoan user like him.
Crossing his arms to guard his face, eyes glowing savagely beneath the shadow, he seized his moment—
When Longinus' kick struck his chest, Alex forcibly swallowed the blood in his throat, thrusting out a huge hand and grabbing Longinus.
"Brat, I've got you!"
He gripped Longinus' fists, half-kneeling as though challenging him in raw strength.
"No. I have you."
Longinus' arms slowly pushed forward, like an arm-wrestler gradually forcing his opponent's hand flat.
"H-how… how is your strength…?"
Alex's eyes bulged. His exaggerated bravado couldn't hide the panic now.
Fsh!
A silver bullet sliced past Longinus' cheek.
"Not bad. A sniper? Any other tricks?"
Without even turning around, Longinus tilted his head, dodging the next bullet that streaked toward the back of his skull like a fiery comet.
"Impossible… absolutely impossible! How did you—how could you—!?"
Alex's shock now was real—not acting.
Someone sensed an attack from directly behind? From a dead angle!?
Quincy—the one labeled a "swordsman" but actually the sniper—was even more terrified.
He's still dodging while fighting the captain!? And my bullets are supposed to be completely silenced!
Under crushing fear, Quincy panicked and fired every round he had in rapid succession.
But—
"Interrupting my battle… means accepting death."
Longinus easily evaded every shot, even sparing a brief sideways glance at Quincy with the edge of his vision.
It was as if death itself had turned its eyes on him.
Quincy's blood froze. In front of everyone—pirates and villagers alike—he dropped his rifle and fled in blind terror.
Alex nearly burst a lung.
His own vice-captain… didn't trust him at all!?
The brat was still right in his hands—
Wait. Why was Longinus rising?
Why was the brat… flying?
"Vice-captain! Look out!"
"Quincy! Beware of flying projectiles!"
Hearing the shouts, Quincy risked a glance over his shoulder.
His pupils shrank violently.
Hurtling toward him was the most despicable, most deadly projectile in the world—
The Alex Missile!
Longinus had hurled Alex at extreme speed. Mass multiplied by velocity…
To the onlookers, it was indistinguishable from a cannonball.
"No… n-no…!"
The impact was catastrophic.
Alex smashed Quincy into a round, flat pancake of flesh and bone. The crowd collectively swallowed in horror.
Alex staggered up, and upon seeing Quincy's unrecognizable corpse, fear finally overcame him.
"B-Brat… you win. I'll let you go this time!"
He turned to flee toward the shore.
"You killed so many,"
Longinus' gentle voice came from behind him,
"and you think a single threat line will let you walk away?"
Alex froze.
"Don't push your luck, brat! You're strong, but you still can't kill me. Worst case, I'll fight you for a full day and night—let's see who drops first!"
"Evil must be eliminated completely. That's a truth I learned long ago."
Longinus dashed forward. The fight remained one-sided—Alex collapsed again and again, but his resilience only made him more confident.
"Idiot! I told you—you can't kill me!" Alex roared. "When you're exhausted, I'll slaughter those pigs behind you one by one, right before your eyes!"
Longinus suddenly stopped moving.
"You haven't noticed the change around us?"
A chill crawled up Alex's spine. Something about Longinus' voice… it no longer sounded human.
It was cold, hollow.
Like a specter rising from hell.
Steeling himself, Alex glanced around.
Their battlefield… had drifted toward the shoreline without him noticing.
"So that's your plan? Trying to use the sea against me? Nice try! I'm not stupid enough to let you force me into seawater!"
Relieved at what he thought he'd figured out, Alex braced and guarded his eyes again—ready to "tank" another barrage.
Then agony shot through him.
He looked down.
A long sword had pierced straight through his chest.
"Idiot,"
Longinus whispered beside his ear,
"What I meant was… now, no one will see my secret."
"You… why…?"
Alex's mind spun.
Where had the sword come from?
Why had his Devil Fruit-enhanced hide—harder than steel—been pierced like paper?
But these questions would never be answered.
His body collapsed. Blood seeped into the cracks of the earth.
His soul was devoured.
The sword's blade pulsed with a crimson glow.