Hi, I hope you're all well. I just want to say that you're changing Trinity's photos in the character section, in case you want to check them out.
And I also made a pilot, if you can call it that, for another fic, in case you want to check it out too. There are also some parts where I explain some important things. It's also your business if you read it, but I still want to promote myself since I don't ask for power stones, and, therefore, my fics won't appear on the ranking board, so I just ask that you bear with this for a bit.
With nothing else to say, let the fic continue.
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The day has been quite pleasant. Nothing serious has happened; the kingdom has been quite peaceful and quiet. It makes you want to stay here forever.
Trini: "We don't have anything to do, right?"
Arthur: "So, the log pose will be ready in three more days, so technically we can do whatever we want. We had that fan meeting yesterday, if you will, so the people outside are calmer and won't interrupt us as much."
Sulli: "How far do we plan to go?"
Dante: "Honestly, I don't know. I imagine we'll have a moment where we'll have to stop, even if it's just to rest, like a vacation, but for everyone."
Isis: "I think you two should take a break to fulfill your parental responsibilities."
Dante: "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. First, we can't enter Amazon Lily for no reason, and having a child with an Amazon doesn't count; all that's left is to wait for the children to be old enough to travel by ship to a nearby island."
Trini: "That's an excuse. There are babies born on ships, and nothing happens to them."
Dante: "And if you just shut up."
She was right; I didn't want to go, not for Luna, but for Tritoma. If possible, I'd like to stay as far away from that woman as possible.
At that moment, an explosion was heard not far away. That caught everyone's attention.
Dante: "Hun, go check this place out."
Hun: [Understood]
And with that, he flew off.
Dante: "Who's going?" I said, looking at the four of them.
Arthur: "I'm going. I want to stretch my legs a bit."
Isis: "I'll support him, just in case it's something more complicated than hitting the pirate on duty."
Trini: "I'll keep an eye on the scene."
Sulli: "I have to go help the wounded; it's my moral code as a medic."
Dante: "Yeah, good luck," I said, sitting down in the armchair, waving goodbye.
So, the four of them left for the scene of the explosion.
I waited until they were far enough away to act. Trini will most likely notice I've left, but I don't care. It's my chance to see the dirty laundry of this kingdom.
So, I set off for the darkest places, far from the masses.
First, I went to a bar; obviously, I concealed my appearance as much as I could. There, I found some workers who were drinking, so I bought them some drinks; this was to build their confidence and get them drunk as quickly as possible; that way, they'd open their mouths faster.
It turns out that both the nobles and the royal guards weren't very kind to the citizens of this country; you could say they tolerated them only because they needed subjects. There was a certain level of abuse from all of them. Something they didn't like. Now it made sense for him to ask me if I was going to see the king to fix things here.
They also told me some places where one shouldn't go. So I said goodbye to them and headed there.
I arrived at some warehouses that looked abandoned, but there were guards there, and there were people inside. So I slipped away and entered the place without anyone seeing me.
Once inside, I realized what was going on. It was a very poor-quality factory, both in terms of the products and the conditions the people were in. But there was one thing that bothered me, and that was seeing small children working.
I could destroy this whole place right now, but I need more information about this place, since maybe this labor isn't forced labor and it's the only way these people can get money to keep eating. Something that disgusts me, but I can't do anything, at least not now.
Weapons ready for use were stored in the empty warehouses. Entering an office without anyone seeing me, I discovered that these weapons are for illegal sale, more specifically for shipment to the underworld.
I have no idea who the current leader of the underworld is, but from what I learned, it was Hades who sold and distributed the weapons there. Looking at the records, sales stopped during the time Hades died, but they gradually returned to normal. That meant two things: They found another distributor to sell the weapons, or someone in the underworld is already taking Hades's place.
This is something we'll have to look into, but that's for later.
I continued looking around the kingdom for the rest of the day, but I found nothing but weapons factories, of which there were three in total.
And so I returned to the place where we were staying.
When I arrived, everything was already there waiting for me. Something must have happened for me to look so serious.
Dante: "What happened? Who died?" I heard Arthur sigh, just to give me a letter.
Arthur: "We were invited to the royal palace for helping with the country's rebel problem."
Trini: "Apparently, some rebels were carrying out terrorism in the capital because they weren't happy with the current king." She looked at me with a complicated expression.
Dante: "There's something else, isn't there?"
Arthur: "The invitation is mostly for you, and it was emphasized by the royal guards, and that's strange considering you weren't there, so the recognition would be just for you."
Isis: "Also, some rebels managed to escape from us; the tricky thing is that Hun found them later, along with some royal guards and high-ranking officials."
Sulli: "That doesn't make sense. They should have arrested them right away, but they didn't. It's as if they were cooperating."
Trini: "And if they're cooperating and they specifically called you to the palace, that just means..."
Dante: "That they want me. That attack is just an excuse to call the palace as a way to reward me." I said, looking at the invitation, which said that for my great contribution to the kingdom, they were inviting me to receive a reward from the king himself. "This was done before," I said, throwing the invitation to the floor.
Sulli: "The question is: are we going? This sounds like a trap to me."
Dante: "Even if it's not a good idea, we should go."
Trini: "It doesn't make sense. Why risk it?"
At that moment, I decided to share everything I'd learned while I was outside.
Dante: "I have to see this king. Once I know what he looks like, I can decide what to do in this kingdom. Even if it's a trap, we can escape. I'll just call Skidbladnir, and we can fly out of this place. We'll just be lost without recharging the log pose, but that's a worst-case scenario."
After some further discussion, they agreed to go see the king. We just had to be prepared for the worst.
*The Next Day*
We'd been waiting for about 10 minutes for the guards to let us into the palace. The invitation said to be there at 2:00 PM, and it was already 2:10 PM. We even brought the card that proved we were supposed to be here, but they still wouldn't let us in, saying they needed authorization from inside.
Trini: "And if we destroy this place, I don't think anyone will complain."
Arthur: "I really like your idea."
Isis: "I think we should just leave."
Sulli: "Yeah, better to avoid trouble."
Opinions diverged again. Luckily, a guy who looked like a butler appeared to greet us.
Butler: "Excuse us, Mr. Dante and your companions; we were just preparing some details to welcome you in the best possible way." He seemed very nervous; I thought he was going to stutter at some point.
This gives me a bad feeling.
We spent a good while looking around the palace; there weren't many guards; most of them must be at the illegal factories, or it wouldn't make sense.
After looking at expensive paintings that make no sense at all and expensive things that, if dropped, shatter into a thousand pieces, we reached the door to the living room.
Trini: "It's a good thing we got here; my legs were already hurting. I just hope they're not welcoming us with desserts and drinks."
Arthur: "Do you think so?" he said sarcastically.
Just then, the large doors opened. We wasted no time and entered.
I can say it looked like a generic throne room, but there was something that set it apart: where the throne should have been, there was a screen that blocked the view of what was happening on the other side.
Royal Guard: "Kneel before Her Majesty."
The five of us looked at each other with a slightly odd look. We've been before other royals, but never before someone so arrogant as to ask this without even showing their face.
I shrugged them off, letting them know that no matter what, they should get on with the show.
The five of us knelt, staring at the floor, some more reluctantly than others.
At that moment, the screen that revealed the throne opened.
I couldn't see the king, as he was looking down at the ground, but I felt he was there, looking at us.
???: "Raise your head, little brother."
My eyes widened in shock. I knew this voice. It hadn't changed at all this time. The moment I looked ahead, I felt a diagonal cut across my chest.
Despite the cut and the blood that flowed from my chest, I still saw him. Tall, blond, blue-eyed, and with the same facial features. There was no doubt; the person standing in front of me was my older brother, Ramses Manmayer.
Trini: "Dante, are you okay?"
Arthur: "How do I attack you without a sword?"
Sulli: "Let me see the wound."
My companions were talking to me, but I ignored them; I was only looking at Ramses, and he was doing the same. That's good, since he's not interested in others; he's only focused on me.
Dante: "Go away," I told them.
Trini: "What the hell are you saying? Do you want us to leave you alone?" she said with some anger in her voice.
Dante: "Exactly. They must already know his lineage, so no one can touch him without suffering death or enslavement, except me." They all looked at each other and nodded. "This is going to get ugly, so rescue the civilians."
Ramses: "Enough of your nonsense, I'm getting bored," he said, drawing his two swords.
At that moment, I decided to use Haki as quickly as possible. One second lost is a chance we'll all die here.
At that moment, I saw Trini open her eyes.
Trini: "Everyone move fast." The warning was heeded, but they couldn't move as fast as they should have.
I used Armament Haki to protect myself from the attack, even though it cut my chest, but it would only leave a scar, and that was all it was worth.
Arthur didn't act quickly enough, and his left arm was severed entirely. Trini was quick enough to act, resulting in only a cut on her face. Isis was sliced in half; lacking Armament Haki, she couldn't stop the cut. And Sulli ended up sliced in half.
And so I watched as two of my five friends were killed by my brother, using his Devil Fruit, aided by his swords.
At that moment, I snapped back to reality.
I was standing in front of Ramses, ready to attack; the others hadn't been hurt yet, so without thinking, I lunged at him with my sword.
Using the momentum, I sent Ramses flying from the room. Just to send the others back.
Dante: "What are you waiting for? Leave now, NOW!" And without waiting for a response, I went to where I felt my brother.
I had to get him as far away from the others as possible. I hadn't thought that vision of the future would come true for any reason; I'd rather be dead than that.
I didn't have to wait long, as he was also running towards me.
Ramses: "That's the attitude. It will be very painful to kill you without a good fight first."
Dante: "Is it that serious of your intention to kill me? The others know about this."
Ramses: "Only the father knows the rest," he said, thrusting his sword at me and then pointing his finger at me, only for a slash to appear, which I barely managed to dodge. "The others don't need to know."
Wasting no time, I launched another slash, which I managed to parry with my sword. But the moment I parried one attack, another was already coming after it.
The way I am, I might not achieve anything, I thought, a little nervously. Ramses's fruit is very dangerous; I don't have to wait for him to get serious before I do too.
*In Mary Geoise*
Third-person POV.
A girl of about 15 years old came walking with quick, heavy steps. She had long blue hair, like her eyes.
After walking, she came to a door where, unceremoniously, she entered without warning anyone.
???: "Father, when are we going to go find elder brother Dante? The deal was finalized a year ago, and only Ramses has been allowed to go find him; he should let us go too."
???: "You're too young for that. Maybe I'd let Alexander go, but it's not necessary right now."
The two people in the room were Dianna Manmayer, the youngest daughter of the main Manmayer family. And the other was Ares Manmayer, the current head of the family.
Dianna: "What do you mean, it's not necessary now?"
Ares: "Ramses found Dante two days ago, and right now they're fighting."
Dianna made a worried expression.
Dianna: "You won't let him fight to the death, will you?"
She received no response.
???: "Dante's companions have currently left the palace, and the situation outside is a disaster; the palace is falling apart, as everyone sees it. The nobles there will most likely die from Ramses' attacks."
Ares: "I don't care about that garbage. Just bring the body of anyone who dies. Their body must be returned to the holy land no matter what, and you must not intervene."
???: "Understood."
gacha*
Dianna: "You're not worried if one of us dies. What will the Gorosei say about this?"
Ares: "It's the law of the fittest; only the one who wins this fight will be worthy of being the next leader of the Manmayer family. He will be the one who brings glory to the family, and as for the Gorosei, I've already spoken to them and convinced them that this was just a new family way of deciding who would be my next heir."
Dianna made a disgusted sound as she slammed the door shut. But Ares ignored it, just staring at a piece of paper that was starting to smoke.
*In the Kingdom of Doerena*
Dante's POV
The clash of swords was completely neutralized, me using the Fusion Sword and him using his two Meito-grade swords; I had no idea of their names. We both moved our swords back to try to cut the other again.
The cuts came and went; luckily, my sword Haki is durable enough to take no harm from Ramses' simple slashes.
The cuts kept coming; There were so many that some reached my body, but they were only superficial cuts, something that could heal itself without Sulli's help.
Taking advantage of the distance that had been created, I launched an energy attack at him to see how he responded.
Interestingly, he unleashed a sword only to extend his hand in a palm and cut my attack in a vertical slash, shattering it instantly. Immediately, using the fingers of his free hand, he traced the blade of the sword and then launched an energy attack.
In my vision, I saw him try to block the attack with my sword only to be split in two and die instantly.
At this, I had no choice but to use Geppo and Soru as quickly as possible, narrowly saving myself.
Once on the ground, I used all the strength I could in my legs and moved fast enough for him to lose sight of me, only for him to appear behind me with a horizontal slash, which he blocked at the last second, and he flew out of the room again.
I quickly lunged at him in a vertical slash, being blocked by his sword, but the blow was strong enough to cause the floor to shatter, and we fell two stories lower.
On the floor we landed on, there were still people—specifically, maids and guards. Ramses only gave them a glimpse, only to be cut down in the next second. Some were sliced in half, some ended up with lethal wounds, and others were missing limbs.
He did it for pure psychopathic pleasure, but this helped me understand something. He needs to see what he's going to cut to generate the cut.
Bending my body, I tried to slash Ramses, but he, using his feet on my sword, jumped through a window and was outside the palace, only for him to slash horizontally from left to right with one hand, palm extended.
I saw a straight line coming toward my head, so I immediately ducked, only to have the spot where I'd previously positioned my neck sliced through. But not only that, the windows, the walls, the square, everything, the entire palace, was cut in half.
The entire palace began to collapse under the weight of the other piece above pushing down, but that didn't stop Ramses from entering again using Geppo.
I had to be faster; I had to free up weight and have more opportunities to block and land blows.
With a few simple movements, I disassembled the sword, leaving only two blades in each hand: the main blade and the hollow blade.
Seeing that Ramses was ready, I launched myself at full speed using soru, something he imitated.
The clash of swords resounded throughout the place; we moved at maximum speed, dodging debris falling from the ceiling or holes appearing in the ground.
I wasn't paying close attention to the ground, so the moment I stepped on one spot, it collapsed, causing me to lose my rhythm and stop.
Ramses wasted no time, pointing his finger at me, slashing me with countless cuts, leaving me covered in wounds, despite using Hardening all over my body.
I felt the situation was very unfair, so I launched myself at my brother. He used the same attack again, but I didn't dodge it, something I didn't expect given his surprised reaction.
Using Haki, I tanked all the slashes until I reached him, only to use all my strength and strike him in the face, sending him flying several meters.
Without waiting, I picked up my sword, which I had left on the ground, to strike Ramses. He stopped only to spit out blood and two teeth. I also noticed his nose was broken and blood was coming out of it; blood was also coming out of his mouth, just to warn me.
I got into an offensive stance, placing my sword in a cross shape in front of me, ready to launch myself head-on again.
Dante: "I plan to fight completely seriously now, with the full intention of killing you."
He just smiled at me as the palace continued to fall to pieces.
Ramses: "Same here."