Emperors of the World II
Seeing their comrades turned into stone so effortlessly made the Yonko's infant army believe that those three sisters were not someone they could just chase after and catch.
"The hostages are free! The captain and chiefs of the Kuja Pirates! They're too strong!"
Now, they recalled who exactly it was that they were chasing, and the realization of their identity dawned like a sledgehammer in their heads. One of those women had a bounty of two billion berries. 'A-Aren't we a bit too weak to chase after them!?'.
"Hurry up and contact the castle so that they can send one of the Tobiroppo here!"
The group of barbarians chasing after Hancock and her sisters then divided into two groups. Some returned to the castle to inform about the incident, while others kept chasing after them to avoid losing their track.
Hancock, Sandersonia, and Marigold were well aware of Veyron's presence on the island; they wouldn't ever confuse that lightning for anything else. They didn't know exactly where he was, but he was close.
"Should we wait here, big sis?!" Sandersonia, now transformed into a gigantic anaconda, had her tails sweeping through the hordes. Marigold was much the same, releasing clouds of poison that kept the enemies at bay despite the heavy rain pouring down on them.
Monet helped by creating a snowstorm while Oden stuck to their backs, carrying a fainted Sugar. The smile on Sugar's face was unmistakable; she was enjoying this conundrum.
"We can't wait! Mari, shoot a barrage of flames into the skies!" Hancock ordered. Marigold understood it was for the sake of catching Veyron's attention wherever he might be. But before that could happen, they heard a voice.
"That won't be necessary! We're already here!"
WHOOOSHHH!!
A gust of darkness swept through, and the night itself seemed to take the shape of a gigantic woman with horns and wings. She was downright terrifying, and if not for her voice being familiar to Hancock, she would have attacked right away.
"Robin!"
The darkness spread like a sea that engulfed all the enemies. From this darkness, two more figures emerged. One of them was Primrose, who weepingly jumped at the gigantic Sandersonia, scaring her off.
"My babies!!"
The mother cried like she had never done before, cracking Sandersonia's heart. But even then, right now was not the time to get sentimental, not with a rain of water and snow falling on them.
"Mom! Right now is not-"
"I thought I had lost you! *sob* Sorry for forgetting you; I'm so sorry!" The woman kept weeping, tears and mucus flowing freely.
"…"
The three Boa sisters wept and hugged their mother back. It would be a lie to say they hadn't been worried or even despaired for even a second. Their only real hope had been Oden's appearance.
When they learned that they were 'forgotten,' the worst thoughts came to mind. Some in which they'd never be recovered because no one remembered them to begin with. It was in a way a worse situation than being enslaved in Marie Geoise where at least their suffering wasn't anonymous.
What they didn't expect was for Veyron and their family to arrive so quickly. They hadn't spent more than three days in Onigashima, and he was already here. More so, they had only just stopped being toys a few hours ago.
"Mom, how did you find us so quickly?" Hancock asked Primrose, holding her cheeks. The elder stopped sobbing and pointed toward the last lady who had just come out of the darkness.
She was a gorgeous beauty with trousers and a jacket, long auburn hair, and a body to die for. Even Hancock felt slightly jealous after seeing her. The beauty's eyes, however, were fixed on Marigold with complex emotions and regrets.
"Ha... this princess here is Viola. She has a very convenient power that allows her to oversee the whole island. Finding you girls was very easy thanks to her."
"Viola…" Marigold, now back into her base form, recalled who this woman was, the princess of Dressrosa who had requested help back then.
A sobbing princess bowed as low as she could.
"Lady Marigold. I apologize for everything! If I hadn't-" She wasn't allowed to finish. Marigold put her massive arm on her shoulder and shook her head.
"Say no more… it wasn't your fault, Viola. Let's go… Veyron has a plan, doesn't he?~"
"That's right, we have to leave quickly; he intends to destroy this whole island!" Primrose reported, and Oden's ears perked up.
"He's going overboard again…" Hancock sighed, seemingly forgetting a small detail.
"W-Wait! Destroy the whole island!? You mean Wano!?" Oden jumped in, and it was then that Hancock recalled the story that she had told them. The story of the legendary shogun of Wano, Kozuki Oden... a story in which Kaido had taken control of this island through an iron fist, betrayal, and deceit.
The Country of Wano was innocent.
"That's right," Primrose confirmed... that was indeed what Veyron was going to do. He didn't intend to destroy just Onigashima.
Even Robin, who eavesdropped on the conversation, gasped, 'He can't... if he destroys this island, then Pluton...'
"Mom, he can't! We have to stop him! This country is not at fault; it is just Kaido…!" Hancock insisted, even shaking her mother's shoulders.
"Listen, all of you, I love that we have finally reunited but hurry up and enter my darkness… we don't have much time. If you have something to say to Veyron, go ahead and say it in person." Robin needed to speak to Veyron right away; she knew that he intended to obliterate this land, but she thought he'd limit himself to only Onigashima. It was not convenient for her if he destroyed the whole country of Wano.
She manifested a dark pathway; the girls were initially filled with apprehension, but they already knew how Robin's power worked.
"Just go in; everything will be okay!"
"Who are these girls?" Primrose frowned when she saw Oden, Sugar, and Monet, the only ones she didn't recognize.
"It is a long story, Mom... let them come with us." Viola, Sandersonia, and Marigold entered first. Monet followed right after, with Oden carrying Sugar in tow. But before Primrose and Hancock could enter, the darkness was suddenly erased, and the pathway closed. Hancock landed on the wet muddy soil, confused.
"Robin?"
"Ugh!"
A gnashing groan was heard, and they looked in disbelief at the gigantic woman… who had a spear protruding out of her chest, bleeding.
"Robin!"
"The devil child Nico Robin… and two descendants of that disgusting woman. Tonight, I'm the luckiest man alive~" A man appeared seemingly out of nowhere; Hancock and Primrose both guarded up, his shining golden spear effortlessly impaled Robin's chest!
"Who the hell are you!?"
Hancock jumped with the intention of petrifying the sword and breaking it. This couldn't be some common attack; although Haki-imbued attacks could indeed injure Robin's darkness body, they wouldn't leave her in such a petrified state.
BAAAANGGG!!
Before Hancock could grasp the spear, it retreated, and the man flickered in a pink haze. Robin coughed blood and fell heavily on her knees, still in her gigantic form but the wound was gone.
Like she hadn't even been injured from the start!
'W-What just happened?'
She gritted her teeth; there was no visible injury in her chest, no flowing blood but the ridiculous amount of pain was there, and it felt like nothing she had ever experienced before.
"Regardless of past, present or future. Devils shall always kneel in front of a holy knight" - Saint Donquixote Cervantes, the 7th Knight.
***
Did you enjoy the chapter, leave a comment! Alternatively, you can leave a review, it really helps my book get positioned on the platform.
For every 500 stones in webnovel, I’ll deliver an extra chapter. The schedule is three chapters a week (Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday) in webnovel and scribblehub. The schedule on Patreon is one chapter every day + extras!