Starting with One Piece, a Multiverse Simulation

However, Wood’s angry shout quickly dispelled their hesitation.

"Have you forgotten my experience of getting away unscathed from her before? If you stay here, you'll only get in the way."

If we're surrounded by the other Imperial Arms users of the "Hunter," we'll all perish here. The best teamwork now is for you all to escape as quickly as possible and not distract me."

Hearing Wood's resolute words, Mine wanted to say something, but Leone had already picked her up in her arms and looked at Wood earnestly, saying, "Promise us you'll come back!"

"Don't set up any flags for me, you bastard! Something that wasn't dangerous to begin with can become very dangerous, you know."

Seeing that Wood was still in the mood to joke, Leone breathed a sigh of relief, then picked up the struggling Mine and left the arena of the martial arts tournament with a few leaps.

Esdeath watched Leone and Mine leave, but did not get up to chase after them. She simply stood there quietly watching Wood.

Wood was in a similar situation; he didn't make any other moves, simply standing there staring at Esdeath on the ring.

Under normal circumstances, Esdeath would not remain indifferent to Leone and Mine's escape, just as she did with Najenda and Lubbock in the past.

The main reason Esdeath didn't take any other action this time was because there were too many ordinary people present.

Putting aside other aspects, Esdeath was extremely tolerant and compassionate towards her subordinates and the common people of the empire.

Esdeath was well aware that if she stopped Leone and Mine from leaving, Wood would definitely not stand idly by. And if the two of them were to fight, even if they held back, the aftershocks of their battle would certainly cause enormous damage to the surrounding area, resulting in many deaths and injuries.

For this reason, Esdeath and Wood both chose to remain silent and watch each other, waiting for the civilians present to leave.

Of course, Esdeath's main target was Wood. Leone and Mine were one thing, but once Wood was also ready to run away, Esdeath would not stand still like she was now.

Although it would cause some casualties, Esdeath would definitely choose to keep Wood. She has compassion, but she is not a true saint.

"I didn't expect you not to take the opportunity to slip away; that's a bit beyond my expectations."

As Wood walked from the stands to the ring, Esdeath slowly drew her sword and looked at him with regal authority.

"Don't always portray yourself as the side of justice. You may not be unaware of how dark the empire is now."

"We in 'Night Raid' are assassins, but we only kill scum and degenerates; we won't involve ordinary people."

Clearly, Esdeath's earlier words were a mockery of Wood and the other members of Night Raid, who always just ran away like rats.

Wood proved through his words and actions that they were on the side of justice and that their actions would not endanger innocent civilians.

"Who cares about the empire, justice or injustice, villains or villains? What do these things have to do with me? I only understand that only the strong are fit to survive in this world!"

"Tatsumi, stay away. This guy is pretty strong. If we start fighting, I might not have time to protect you."

Looking at Wood in front of her, Esdeath revealed a long-lost fighting spirit, and then turned to Tatsumi, who was still in a daze, and said this.

Clearly, although Esdeath located Wood and his group through the hostility and murderous aura emanating from Leone, she did not consider the possibility that Tatsumi was in league with them.

It is estimated that he believed that Wood and his group wanted to use this martial arts competition as an opportunity to assassinate him.

This is good news for Wood and his team, since Wood really doesn't have the resources to protect Tatsumi from leaving now.

After most of the people in the venue had left, Wood and Esdeath, who were standing facing each other, suddenly moved at the same moment and shot towards each other at high speed!

"boom------!"

Almost the instant the two moved, they disappeared from Tatsumi's sight. When they reappeared in front of Tatsumi, they were already in the center of the arena, and their two long swords collided with each other, creating a huge shockwave!

Chapter 421: The Second Battle Against Esdeath!

"boom------!"

Along with the powerful gust of wind, a powerful aftershock of the battle swept up. Almost the instant the two collided, a huge crack appeared in the middle of the arena, which was originally nearly a hundred meters in diameter, and it went through the entire arena!

Tatsumi is one of the most qualified people to comment on the intensity of this arena, given that he has had many matches here before.

Previously, his fierce battles with those other contestants had only resulted in damage to some floor tiles on the arena, leaving at most a few pits a meter or two in the ground.

But Wood and Esdeath are different now. They only clashed with their longswords once, and the entire arena split in two!

Such terrifying strength gave Tatsumi a direct and immediate experience of the two's power.

Unlike Wood's previous sparring with his comrades during Night Raid, this battle between Wood and Esdeath was a true fight, with neither side holding back much.

The two moved at such a high speed that even Tatsumi could only catch afterimages.

Moreover, even at this speed, it was far from their limit, because their speed was still increasing, and Tatsumi also knew that the two of them had not yet used the Teigu they possessed as Teigu users.

In other words, such an intense battle was merely a warm-up for the two of them.

"Hyakki Mitsurugi-ryu - Itachi-ryu!"

Wood dodged Esdeath's side kick, leaped back, gripped his longsword, and unleashed a massive crescent-shaped sword aura.

Facing the giant sword aura that came with wind blades, Esdeath did not retreat but advanced, gripping her military sword tightly and slashing down.

The wind blade struck the saber, producing a sickeningly loud metallic clang and sending sparks flying.

With a cold snort, Wood's wind blade sword energy was finally blocked by Esdeath and deflected from its trajectory, shooting directly to the side.

"Long——————!"

The sight of the giant crescent-shaped sword energy sliding along the ground and finally landing on the audience seats completely terrified Tatsumi, who was standing next to him.

Because in his line of sight, the sword energy that Wood was sent flying by Esdeath actually sliced ​​the arena platform, which was tens of meters high, in half!

Tatsumi was certain that if Wood had displayed that level of strength during their sparring session, they probably wouldn't have lasted long enough for him to use his Teigu.

And Esdeath was indeed, as their boss said, a complete monster. Wood's powerful moves were so easily deflected by her!

Watching Wood and Esdeath's battle intensify, Tatsumi was overwhelmed with mixed feelings, currently engaged in a fierce internal struggle.

Esdeath, needless to say, as the enemy's big boss, is definitely one of the biggest obstacles to their "night raid".

At this moment, the battle between Wood and Esdeath seems to be evenly matched, and apart from the two of them, the only other bystander present is himself.

Esdeath thought she was an ordinary person, unaware that he was actually a member of the Night Raid, so he exposed his back to her without any scruples.

If he were to backstab Esdeath, even if he didn't succeed in killing her, he would certainly expose a weakness in her defenses, giving Wood an opportunity.

However, Esdeath had previously worried about the casualties among ordinary civilians, watched Leone and Mine escape, and then trusted him so much that he told her to stay away. This shows that Esdeath is different from the others who were assassinated in the previous night raid; she is not the kind of person who is evil to the core.

For this reason, Tatsumi hesitated at this moment, unsure whether he should betray Esdeath.

According to Wood and Najenda, Esdeath is actually a rather cold and cruel person, but Tatsumi has not yet discovered that she is such a person through his own observation.

Because of Tatsumi's brief hesitation, many more people quickly flooded into the martial arts arena.

This is the capital, not some desolate wilderness. With such a commotion, the empire naturally couldn't remain silent.

The first to arrive were the newly formed Imperial Arms user group, the "Hunters," followed by the Imperial Capital's security forces, and then a large number of Imperial Guards.

In less than ten minutes, the entire martial arts arena was packed with tens of thousands of people.

Aside from Wood and Esdeath, who were engaged in battle, the only spectator present was the seemingly innocent boy Tatsumi, who naturally faced rigorous questioning.

Fortunately, Tatsumi had met Seryu when he was wandering around the Empire. After learning that Tatsumi was a kind boy from the countryside, Seryu was very friendly to him.

This time, when they met Tatsumi again, they testified for him, which prevented Tatsumi from being taken away for questioning.

In order not to arouse suspicion, Tatsumi recounted in detail what had happened at the venue, and expressed his regret for his previous hesitation.

Clearly, the "Hunters," a force composed entirely of Imperial Arms users, has already arrived. No matter how strong Wood is, it's impossible for him to defeat Esdeath, take down six Imperial Arms users, and break through the encirclement of tens of thousands of Imperial soldiers.

Because of his hesitation, Wood lost the best opportunity to escape. At this moment, Tatsumi was extremely annoyed and felt deeply guilty.

"Is the person fighting General Esdeath in the arena a member of 'Night Raid'?"

Wow, that's incredible! Before coming to the capital, I'd never seen anyone this powerful in the Imperial Navy. Could it be that the others in the Night Raid also possess similar strength?

Will, who, like Tatsumi, came from the countryside and was not very worldly, was quickly drawn to the fight in the ring after arriving at the venue.

When Will saw the two figures moving at speeds that were sometimes too fast for the naked eye to see, and the sharp sword energy that kept emanating from them, he was completely stunned.

To be honest, despite coming from a rural area, Will was quite confident before.

After all, the Empire only produced 48 Imperial Arms a thousand years ago, and he was one of them. Furthermore, when the Empire summoned elites from various units, he was on the list, which means that he was also one of the so-called elites!

And that was indeed the case. Will was already one of the strongest in the entire Imperial Navy. He had heard that the members of "Night Raid" were all Teigu users, so he never underestimated them.

But he never expected that the members of the Night Raid's Imperial Arms users would be so abnormally strong!

Will and his team could accept that General Esdeath possessed such strength, given her renowned reputation. Although they had previously served in different units, they had all heard of General Esdeath's formidable name.

But what is that boy on the stage who is evenly matched with Esdeath and looks quite young? Will and the others have never heard of him before, neither his appearance nor his name.

"His name is Wood, one of the Empire's most wanted criminals. He was once an Imperial soldier, but he chose to betray the Empire along with former General Najendan."

Will doesn't know Wood, but Seryu, as the "crime buster," remembers all the criminals wanted by the Empire, including Wood.

Meanwhile, Dr. Fashion, using some machines he had created, quickly searched for information about Wood and added, "This boy named Wood should be the strongest in Night Raid. He once escaped from General Esdeath when he defected from the Imperial Army."

Furthermore, while serving in the Imperial Army, he defeated one of General Esdeath's "Three Beast Warriors" without using his Imperial Arms, and even fought bare-handed.

The Three Beast Warriors were Esdeath's right-hand men before, and the members of the Hunters had naturally heard of them as well.

Although the exact strength of the three beast warriors is unclear, if Dr. Fashion is right, the fact that the boy on the stage defeated his opponent with his bare hands is already quite astonishing.

"So, is he using the power of his Imperial Arm when he's fighting General Esdeath?"

Watching the two figures on the field moving faster and faster, and the dazzling sword skills and hand-to-hand combat techniques, Will suddenly asked what many people in the audience were thinking.

"He must have used it... That long sword must be his Imperial Arm, otherwise have you ever seen anyone use sword energy to cleave through a spectator stand dozens of meters high with a single strike?"

Seeing that no one responded, Will awkwardly asked himself a question, which was also what he truly thought.