Taste My Blood III

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Chapter 103: Taste My Blood III

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"Hey," Yovan said.

"Eiiii! I mean, I was awaiting your arrival for long, Captain." Sinj was barely able to hold himself from screaming in fright... Well, he couldn't, but he at least acted like he did.

Yovan kinda just appeared before him, something he should be used to, but being in such a foreign environment made him tense, "What's with your manner of speed?" Yovan asked.

"Isn't it natural? Such is the way of Gods, no?" Sinj raised a brow in confusion.

"Yahahahaha, but you're no God, my friend, so chill out. You kinda look silly." Yovan let out a laugh of amusement. Sinj might be too deep in character.

"Am, Ahem, sorry." Sinj scratched his head in embarrassment.

"But you're kind of a liability. Do you realize that?" Yovan stated as he narrowed his eye at Sinj.

"I don't know that, no, but seriously, Me? Are you sure? Ho-how can that be?" Sinj somewhat doubted the words he heard.

"That was rhetorical. I know that you do not know." Yovan almost wanted to facepalm, but he just shook his head as a grin emerged on his face, "It's okay. Just continue to be a liability, and surprise me."

"Ah, ok then. I will try my best to be a liability." Sinj nodded profusely, perhaps misinterpreting Yovan's words, but the latter didn't correct him.

Just what was Yovan thinking? No one knows, and he didn't explain as he changed the subject, "Where was the sword? You said you saw it."

"Down from here, deep underground," Sinj answered.

"Why can't your 'worshipers' get the Orbs themselves?" Yovan asked further.

"They can't. It's said in the legends that only outsiders can touch or even come close to the magical Orbs because they're cursed." Sinj explained.

"And who told you this legend?" Yovan asked with a chuckle.

"My worshipers?" Sinj responded.

"I see... So they can not interact or come close to the orbs because they are cursed, not the orbs... The sword may also be dangerous in some way, shape, or form, and perhaps its danger can be nullified by the orbs."

Yovan stroked his chin, looking thoughtful while Sinj seemed surprised, "I was lied to?" Sinj wondered.

"Certainly." Yovan nodded, "Remember, everyone can be a liar, even I. In fact, assume everyone is a liar until proven otherwise... Lying is easy, but telling the truth is hard, so why shouldn't people just go with the easy way?"

"Oh," His words truly did reach Sinj because there was a connection there, "I never lie. All I know is honesty, so how could I get someone to tell the truth? And how can I lie and get away with it?"

"Hm?" Yovan contemplated the questions for a while, "Simple, tell them most of the truth. Do not lie, just keep a few key things to yourself, and if you know how to do it, you can tell a completely different story than reality, yet it's the truth..."

"H-Huh," Again, those words got to Sinj, like divine inspiration. He was truly taken aback as if a whole new world was opened for him.

Yovan brought out a single dark feather, a solid hardened feather. He allowed it to fall to the ground, but it did more than that, piercing right through it to go deep, quite deep.

Then Yovan vanished, appearing in an underground area. It was that easy to reach it. Unfortunately, his goal was nowhere to be seen.

The area was rough, seemingly built not too long ago, but there was clearly no sword in sight. There was actually nothing in sight, just a rough rocky underground area, not unexpected.

Yovan let out a sigh before getting out of sight, appearing before Sinj again, throwing him a feather, a very special feather, "Burn it if you need help."

He vanished yet again, appearing pretty much on the other side of the Island, near a small village. He settled on the bushes of a tree, hiding away in his crow form.

He just waited and observed everything around him. He didn't waste time of course doing nothing. He was training His Everless Crow ability as three unique crows formed next to him.

Each crow was performing different things, manipulating golden flames, their brightness only hidden by a shroud of feathers. Then another was performing some Hasshoken. The last was performing a mixture of the two.

The Everless Crows ability, however, was still in the work. It's still basically just Yovan controlling the feathers to form crows, and using his powers through them.

It seems useless, but Yovan was carving out a gem, and he genuinely believes it will become something far beyond that.

The howls of the woods resounded, accompanied by that of wolves, going out to hunt under the moonlight.

They may have certainly caught something, but it wasn't the Rooster that awakened the villagers in the morning, especially after the turbulent night they had before, one Yovan didn't interfere with.

It was time to ask questions. He stood on the sideline enough, so Yovan imposed himself upon certain inhabitants of the Island, "Hey."

"..."

"..."

"Huh???"

"What ar-aghh! What?" Sanji, one of the Straw Hats tried to stand up, and quickly face Yovan in case the latter tries anything, but he found himself held back by a few arms that sprouted from the ground.

"I will handle it," Robin stated. Her arms were crossed in an 'X' form, perhaps a requirement to use her Devil Fruit powers.

No one said anything. Their Captain was nowhere to be seen. They were even missing two other members on top of that.

"What do you want?" Robin asked with vigilance, eyeing Yovan as he took a seat before her.

He didn't answer. Instead, he traced his eye through the room. It was very cozy, a living room with old wooden architecture. several colorful decorations hang on the walls.

His sight turned to two special individuals, villagers. One was a young blue-haired lady while the other was a short old lady.

"It's been a while," Yovan said as he finally eyed Nico Robin, feeling the tension in the room. The crew seemed to be ready to act at a moment's notice despite knowing who he is, but he was here to talk.

"What do you want?" Nico Robin kept her calm. She had to. The man before her was a completely different person than the individual she talked to long ago... He seemed much more dangerous, yet not at the same time.

"Why so tense? It's not like I'm gonna just massacre everyone in the room... Oh, sorry, I meant, the village." Yovan released a wild smile, stroking his chin as he felt the air change with clarity.

The Straw Hat pirates felt a chill run down their spine, all jumping up to their feet, some feeling fear, others anger.

"Huh!!? You think you can touch the beautiful ladiMmmmmsmm!!" Just when Sanji started to speak, a few arms sprouted from his body, blocking his mouth.

"I... You..." Robin didn't know what to do, but a fight, she didn't want to start, "What do..."

"Yahahahahah hahahahaha," Yovan burst out laughing rubbing off the tears in his eyes, "That was amusing! But I was just joking... Yahahahaha, that was too funny, sorry."

"I..." Robin found herself speechless again, and so was the crew. They really weren't sure what was up with him, or if he was actually joking.

"I'm curious about the sword. I want to know more, some details." And that's all Yovan had to say.

"That's it?" Robin questioned.

"That's it." Yovan nodded with a sweet smile.

"You can't have it! If you're here for the sword, then it's not what you think!" The blue-haired lady interrupted with nervousness in her tone.

"Maya!" Robin said, not willing to make things worse.

"No! He at least has to know what it can do to a person." Maya emphasized, seeming quite emotional.

"Then tell me what it's like because I have been invited here by one of the people of this Island, and he wants the orbs, but there is more to every story, so please do tell me," Yovan told half-truths, standing by his own advice to Sinj.

"You were? By Saga?" Realization dawned upon Robin and Maya. Saga might've brought his own doom upon himself, exactly why they have to stop Yovan from harming Saga, hopefully by words alone.

Apparently, the Seven-Star sword, or the Shichiseiken was a sword created by the God of Asuka for the king of the land as a holy weapon to protect his people.

However, the three princes' relationship becomes strained as they tried to win the heart of a maiden by means of taking the sword as their own gift to the girl.

Embroiling themselves in a bloody war that consumed the entire nation, the once sacred sword absorbed all the negative energy around the bloodshed. Now, it desired nothing but blood.

The maiden sacrificed her life to stop the warring kingdom and, in their sorrow, the princes sealed the sword using three orbs given by the same god.

Years later, Saga found the sword in a crypt during a pirate attack. He and his fiancée, Maya, were cornered in, and Saga used it out of desperation to save her.

However, the sword's evil influence possessed Saga and brainwashed him into trying to rise to full power, using its power to possess a nearby Marine dojo to do its bidding.

"Sage and those influenced by the sword can not touch the orbs, thus why he probably needs outside assistance of those that are not influenced, but he's not himself! So, please... Do not harm him." Maya pleaded.

"So if we can just acquire the orbs back, then..." Robin's words were cut short as Yovan couldn't help himself, chuckling loudly.

"I... I really thought that someone was luring me here, but it's actually true... There is such a weapon, Yahahahah..." Yovan raised his hand in the air, his golden eye glistening as the scenery before him changed, "Here, Taste My Blood."