“Hmm,” Olivier suddenly opened his eyes to meet Kaymin’s gaze.
Sparks imperceptibly flew as the two made eye contact, but that reaction only caused the prodigy sword saint to smile as his interest in this battle was finally roused. “So that’s Kaymin Banux?”
“That’s him,” General Lyrin answered gravely. “I didn’t expect him to come today.”
It wasn’t just him feeling nervous at the arrival of the general. Kaymin Banux wasn’t referred to as the ‘unbeaten general’ for no reason. Ever since rising to the rank of a general, he had never suffered a single loss, on any battlefield.
“I’ll handle him,” Olivier stated as his anticipation began to grow.
Though no one ever said it explicitly to his face, he knew that most of the general public believed it was General Kaymin that was the strongest mortal on the continent, but as one could imagine from a talent of his level, he had unwavering self-confidence in himself.
As far as he was concerned, after becoming a warrior at the peak of the ninth rank, Olivier believed it was he who was the strongest mortal on the Yulan continent, and he would prove it. First, by defeating the man standing across from him, and then he would go find and defeat the ape-man who fought him to a standstill all those years ago, despite being at a lower realm – Wukong!
Wukong was the only stain on his otherwise peerless record, and whilst it really had eaten away at him ever since, he also had to admit that it was because of him that he could reach his current level.
“I’ll go with you!” General Metria, the only female general on their side, stated calmly.
“No need,” Olivier rejected indifferently. “I can deal with him on my own.”
“Metria’s right,” Lyrin said seriously. “You don’t understand how much of a monster that man is. Whenever Kaymin has stepped onto the battlefield in the past, it took three of our generals to hold him off.
I know you’re stronger than the rest of us, but you should still take Metria with you. If not, and that monster gets passed you, that will be the end of all of us.
Not only will we be forced to retreat once again, but those Rohault bastards will be the first side in our nation’s history to have actually conquered any of our territories.”
Olivier didn’t respond immediately; he just silently glared unwillingly at General Kaymin.
As much as he still believed he wouldn’t lose, he knew that this battle was one they couldn’t afford to lose. If they did, not even he would be spared from punishment.
Not only was the O’Brien Empire one of the six great political organizations, but they were also one of the two strongest with a deity standing behind them; as such, any loss suffered on the battlefield would reflect poorly on their patron deity – the War God, O’Brien!
“Fine,” Olivier unwillingly acquiesced, glancing indifferently at the cold-faced general to his side. “But you’re only to support me. I don’t want you to interfere unless absolutely necessary.
Do you understand?”
Although they were all technically the same rank, due to Olivier’s strength and age, he was seen as the leader of the O’Brien’s generals. As such, General Metria could only nod her head, knowing that this was likely the biggest concession the young General was likely to make.
“As you wi…
What is he planning to do?” General Metria suddenly said when she noticed one of the five mysterious robed experts breaking rank to walk towards them.
“Ace?” Kaymin asked when Ace stepped past him. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything dangerous,” Ace replied calmly, his steps not stopping for even a second. “I just want to even the playing fields a bit.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Though the General didn’t know what Ace was planning, after everything he had accomplished on the battlefield whilst protecting his son, he decided to give Ace the benefit of the doubt.
Ace’s pace remained unhurried as he continued to stroll in the direction of their opponents.
His conversation the night before with Amira had done him more good than she could even imagine. His anger towards his biological father hadn’t receded in the slightest, but no longer was it hanging over him, threatening to consume him.
He no longer wanted to take the life of every person in the O’Brien Empire to sate his thirst for vengeance; his desire for retribution started and stopped with O’Brien himself!
The other change in Ace came in the shape of a change in outlook. After learning the truth about his mother’s past and his origins, he knew that if he wanted to achieve his goals of vengeance, the smart thing to do would be to remain in the shadows until he was strong enough to achieve his goals in one fell swoop.
He should be as careful as physically possible so as not to reveal anything that could blow back on him or his family and friends. Still, after reconciling the turmoil he’d been suffering in his heart for over 30 years, he realised something. ‘I won’t hide my edge anymore. I’m the son of the King of the Pirates! I’m the son of Gol D. Roger!
He came to a stop just over 100 meters in front of the O’Brien Army, and at that moment, other than Killian, Amira, and Leonel, who already knew what he was planning, there wasn’t a single person present who wasn’t in shock.
A proud and confident smile suffused his lips as he slowly removed the cloak from his body, allowing everyone to get a good look at him. At the same time, an ethereal energy exploded out of him, crashing down on every single person in the O’Brien Army.
Everyone, from the four generals at the peak of the ninth rank to the ordinairy foot soldiers at the fourth rank, felt something crashing on their psyche, threatening to knock them out.
Those at the sixth rank and above were able to shake it off with relative ease, whilst those at the fifth rank had to fight tooth and nail to stay conscious, with some of those with weaker wills even falling to their knees, but all those at the fourth rank directly collapsed.
“What was that?” General Fuscor asked incredulously, unable to wrap his head around what just happened. “Some sort of spiritual attack?”
“I thought only saint-level mages could use their souls to attack directly like that?” Lyrin asked, no less confused than his fellow general.
“I’ve suffered a spiritual attack in the past,” Metria frowned as she turned around to see that over half of their subordinates had fallen unconscious. “That was no spiritual attack!”
“Just who… No, what… What is this kid?!” Fuscor asked as he stared cautiously at Ace, standing leisurely before them.
“Lyrin,” Olivier called out, staring intently at the dark-haired youth in complete and utter disbelief. “Is that boy the same fire mage you said had reached the profound level of comprehension?”
“I can’t be 100 percent, but going off his height and build, it should be,” Lyrin said hesitantly.
“This… How’s this possible?!” Olivier muttered to himself, still staring intently at Ace.
“What is it?” Fuscor asked upon sensing the extent of Olivier’s shock. “Is he a saint-level expert after all?”
Not only was Olivier the most O’Brien Generals present, but he also had the most powerful soul, matching that of a ninth-rank mage. As such, if anyone was able to tell if the mysterious youth was a saint in disguise, it was him.
“No, he’s definitely a mortal,” Olivier confirmed, his eyes not moving from Ace. “But he’s only a fifth-rank warrior and a mage at the peak of the third rank.”
Olivier felt like his eyes had to be deceiving him. The youth before him looked no older than 15, and yet, if the rumours about his powers were true, this teen had already accomplished something many fully grown adults never do – himself included – his comprehension had reached the profound level, and if that wasn’t hard enough to believe, he appeared to be an even stronger warrior than he was a mage.
Olivier’s statement brought the group no small shock, but Ace didn’t care in the slightest. Despite standing in front of several figures far stronger than him, his focus was on something else all together.
‘Did you see that, pops?’ Ace thought to himself as a cheerful smile spread across his face, looking up at the clouds in the sky, the face of the man who took him under his wings and treated him as a son appearing in his head. ‘I can finally use it; I can finally use [Conquerors Haki].’
Ace and Whitebeard both knew that Ace had the qualities of a king after having seen Ace use it on a subconscious level whilst in a tricky situation in his last life. The problem was, for reasons unknown to him at the time, he hadn’t been able to learn to control it.
Still, Whitebeard made sure to teach him everything he could about it in case he wasn’t around at the time when he was truly able to awaken it, and it was a good thing he had.
With the strength of Ace’s soul now, his perception was tens of times more powerful than it was in his last life.
Even though he had only awakened it last night, he was almost instantaneously able to control it to the point where he could use it to attack specific targets in a crowd.
It was at that point that he heard Olivier’s voice bringing him back to reality.
“Who exactly are you?!”
“Me?” Ace asked, a confident grin appearing on his face as he flicked his wrist, summoning his glaive, ‘Newgate’, from his storage ring. “My name’s Gol D. Ace!”