Submission: Moon Demon or Bai Cangshu (3K)

Bai Cangshu had no idea where that guy had Apparated with his right arm, but the space’s notification could not be wrong. That Reincarnator with the flashy ability had already been killed by him.

Bai Cangshu glanced up at the sky. Amid the roiling thunderclouds, he felt that Enel had likely begun noticing the unrest that had appeared on the island, though for some reason, he had yet to act.

He moved his shoulder, and flesh began to regrow.

After using Cursed Blood Homology, Bai Cangshu’s greatest strength at the moment was his recovery ability. He turned to leave, but suddenly, a clear killing intent appeared. Bai Cangshu turned back and saw a man in a green robe a thousand meters away, dragging a pitch-black cross-shaped long sword across the beach.

Noticing Bai Cangshu’s gaze, Moon Demon’s lips curled upward. His poker-faced, rigid expression became vivid.

"Mercenary Tao, you truly haven’t disappointed me…"

Moon Demon spoke softly, but there was a dreamlike quality to his tone.

Jing, who stood beside Moon Demon, tilted her head at those words. Her pupils focused on the fellow who had made his Avatar so hideously ugly. She could tell that Miss Moon Demon was very interested in this Mercenary Tao.

Jing let her hands hang at her sides, claws extending from between her fingers. She looked at Mercenary Tao, who wore a smile identical to hers. Jing suddenly had a premonition that she and this Mercenary Tao might have much in common—a language through which to communicate with flesh and blood.

Bai Cangshu stood on the beach as an overwhelming sense of presence rushed toward him. Even without a blade being swung, the hair-raising sharpness alone made his skin ache.

Though they were both Reincarnators who had entered this world in the same batch, Moon Demon felt several levels stronger than the fellow from before.

It had nothing to do with attributes or ability counters. When someone stood within a space, the strong naturally occupied your field of vision. Their breathing, heartbeat, even their aura, would drown out everyone else.

That was the presence unique to the strong.

In this regard, Moon Demon was even more pronounced than Kai and Rose Tiger, whom Bai Cangshu had seen before.

This guy was the kind of existence that made you feel pain just by standing before you.

"Ha, Moon Demon… I heard you’ve been pursuing me all this time?"

Bai Cangshu was in no hurry to leave. He remembered clearly that Moon Demon’s abilities included Moonwalk, as well as those absurdly wide-ranged slashes. Turning his back on someone like this was not a good choice.

Moon Demon was likewise in no hurry to attack Mercenary Tao. He merely dragged Black Blade: Yoru, his sword intent contained but not released. Yet no matter which direction Mercenary Tao fled, he was ready to draw his blade in an instant.

He had witnessed Hades’s battle just now. Frankly speaking, it had been a complete mess.

A Reincarnator could specialize in one aspect of their abilities, but they absolutely should not confine themselves to the same narrow mold as Plot Characters.

Just because one had mastered many spells from the Harry Potter Derivative World, did that mean one had to use only spells and a wand?

If he had mastered some elemental magic or other instant-cast magic, how could he have fallen into the predicament of being pressed close by a Martial Artist with no way to escape?

Though Hades was a Reincarnator who had crossed the First Tier, while Mercenary Tao likely had yet to surpass the attribute limit, in terms of a Reincarnator’s own aptitude, that guy was far inferior to Mercenary Tao.

"Yes. I thought a beast like you would remember that I spared your life back in the Dragon Ball World and come submit to me of your own accord. Who would have thought… Tsk, you really don’t know what’s good for you, Mercenary Tao."

Moon Demon appeared to move slowly, but he had already crossed two hundred meters. Bai Cangshu remained where he was, his body turned sideways as his right arm had already regrown.

As for Moon Demon’s claim that he had deliberately spared him, Bai Cangshu only accepted half of it.

Back then, Moon Demon had faced him when he had no enhancements whatsoever. Naturally, Moon Demon had had many chances to kill him. With Observation Haki that could find him no matter how he moved through the rainy, misty forest, combined with swordsmanship capable of cleaving mountains, there had been many ways to kill him.

But Moon Demon had not truly intended to spare him either. Moon Demon had probably wanted to sever his limbs, which was why he had held back and dared not use overly powerful slashes. He had merely kept forcing Bai Cangshu to reposition, intending to close in and finish by amputating his limbs.

Reincarnators who obtained Special Sequences through Special Cards possessed the trait of cards being extracted from them again after death. That was why the mysterious cards in the space had never ceased to exist.

However, the extracted cards did not appear where their owners died. Instead, they were randomly placed elsewhere.

Thus, after seeing his Special Number, Moon Demon understood that killing him would not maximize his gains. He wanted to control Bai Cangshu, this Special Reincarnator. Whether for breeding or something else, keeping a living Special Reincarnator by his side was the best option.

"Then how about you spare me again today?"

Bai Cangshu wore an indifferent smile as he watched Moon Demon draw closer bit by bit. The prickling pain that felt as though a blade would soon slice through his skin made Bai Cangshu truly realize that these famous High-tier Reincarnators indeed possessed power completely different from other Reincarnators of the same tier.

Not attributes, not ratings… What exactly was the essential difference in that power?

Moon Demon smiled. The distance between them was now less than five hundred meters. To Moon Demon, this distance had already entered his full kill range.

He slightly raised Black Blade: Yoru and gave it a light swing. No ability was used, yet Bai Cangshu clearly saw the air split apart, white currents flying several meters before dispersing.

This guy’s swordsmanship specialization level was probably terrifyingly high.

Moon Demon lowered his eyelids, no longer willing to waste time with Mercenary Tao. He angled his blade, about to strike, when Bai Cangshu spoke again.

"Flame Demon entered too, didn’t he? Are you really going to make a move against me?"

Of course Moon Demon knew Flame Demon had entered as well. In fact, Hades, whom Mercenary Tao had just killed, was one of Flame Demon’s new team members.

But so what? He had been avoiding Flame Demon’s pursuit not because he feared Flame Demon. He simply did not want to become a sacrifice in the conflict between those two big shots.

Moon Demon’s lips curled upward as he looked up and met Mercenary Tao’s eyes.

"You think Flame Demon can restrain me?"

"Mercenary Tao, I’ll give you three chances. If you refuse to submit to me, I’ll kill you."

"This is… the first strike!"

Bzzz!

Moon Demon’s blade turned, and his right hand vanished together with the sword in an instant.

A massive green fan-shaped slash split the beach in two in a single moment.

Bai Cangshu’s expression remained steady. Even at such sword speed, with Sensen no Sen supported by the Transparent World, the sword-drawing movement was incomparably clear.

Bai Cangshu stepped to the left, and the emerald sword light swept past him, instantly slashing toward the sea on the other side. More than five hundred meters of coastline began to collapse as vast amounts of seawater poured inward.

Pfft!

Bai Cangshu’s pupils contracted. Several wounds appeared across his body at once. Amid spurting blood, his eyes finally caught several nearly transparent steel wires in the air, retracting back onto that black blade.

Moon Demon revealed a chilling smile.

"This is the first time, Mercenary Tao. Will you submit?!"

He was not Hades. His swordsmanship would not completely rely on Hawkeye’s swordsmanship; he had mastered other abilities as well.

Seven Flashes—a special technique from the A Certain Magical Index Derivative World. It was neither swordsmanship nor magic, but a unique technique.

Moon Demon had not trained in this ability. Rather, he had learned this technique through firsthand experience at the Cultivation Institute, then modified his weapon so that he could use these exceptionally concealed slashes.

Bai Cangshu touched his cheek. That strike had avoided his vital points with perfect precision.

Ha… This guy… is interesting!

Bai Cangshu completely ignored the several sliced-open wounds on his body. Those would heal soon enough. But his interest in the famous Moon Demon of this space only grew stronger.

In his eyes, Moon Demon was the type of Reincarnator who was truly qualified—one who specialized in battle and slaughter, honing his techniques for that purpose.

Bai Cangshu suddenly clasped his hands behind his back and took a step forward. Looking at Moon Demon, his eyes could no longer see anything else. His expression was fervent and crazed.

"Moon Demon, then I’ll give you three chances as well. If you can’t kill me, why don’t you submit to me instead?!"

Jing’s expression turned cold. Moon Demon was so enraged that he laughed instead. He had now witnessed Mercenary Tao’s madness firsthand.

Without saying a word, he continued forward, gripping the hilt with both hands before swinging down heavily.

Pfft!

Bai Cangshu’s pupils contracted. No sword light appeared, but invisible sword pressure burst through his body in an instant. From shoulder to waist, his muscles tore apart as blood erupted.

Yet Moon Demon’s gaze also lifted slightly. The other party’s physical strength exceeded his expectations. Since he had deliberately restrained his power, he had failed to truly injure him.

Bai Cangshu felt the strike from just now. Simply by slashing the air at extreme speed, Moon Demon had sent the force of his swing through the air and cut directly into his body. It was just somewhat lacking in power.

Bai Cangshu guessed that Moon Demon had misjudged due to his abnormal bodily structure.

He shook his head, deeply dissatisfied with Moon Demon’s still-arrogant restraint of his strength.

"Moon Demon, you haven’t actually reached Hawkeye’s level at all, have you? You probably used some trick to kill Hawkeye. Maybe… Hawkeye wasn’t even killed by you…"

"Don’t you understand yet?"

"You simply don’t have the ability to do whatever you want to me."

Bai Cangshu continued forward, the wounds on his body healing again. This also confirmed for Moon Demon that Mercenary Tao truly possessed High-Speed Regeneration. In his heart, he raised his assessment of Mercenary Tao’s strength once more.

He took another step forward, leaving less than three hundred meters between them.

Holding Black Blade: Yoru in both hands, he said softly,

"Mercenary Tao, don’t die…"

Bang!

A gunshot rang out abruptly. A bullet tore through the air at high speed. Before the sound of the shattered sonic boom cloud had fully dissipated, Bai Cangshu was sent flying backward out of thin air. His chest exploded in an instant, a massive hole nearly tearing his entire torso apart.

Where his heart had been was now completely empty.

Moon Demon’s pupils contracted as he instantly canceled his sword stance. That strike had come from beyond the range of his Observation Haki, and because it had not been aimed at him, he had failed to notice it.

That beyond-visual-range sniping ability…

Damn it!

Moon Demon turned toward the distant sea. It seemed as though he could see a man in a silver trench coat standing on the docks of Mock Town, the barrel of the massive sniper rifle in his hands—over two meters long—still emitting smoke.

"Jing, leave first. It’s that guy from Critical Point."

Jing swiftly flickered away and began to conceal herself. Critical Point was one of the most famous marksmen in the second power tier, possessing beyond-visual-range sniping capabilities with terrifying killing power. Most talismans in the space could not block it.

Relying on Observation Haki, Moon Demon prepared to confirm whether Mercenary Tao was truly dead. But at that moment, a One Piece ship bearing a red dragon-head figure sailed into the inner sea, and Flame Demon’s furious roar rang out.

"Mercenary Tao, Moon Demon!"

"So it was you two who joined forces to kill Hades!"

Moon Demon remained expressionless and did not respond. He walked over to Mercenary Tao’s corpse, only to discover that flesh buds were constantly growing inside the hole in his chest. The wound had already become much smaller, and through the opening, Moon Demon could see that the heart was regenerating as well.

Moon Demon’s pupils contracted. This guy possessed immortality!

Bai Cangshu met Moon Demon’s eyes and revealed a cruel smile. The next moment, he opened his mouth, his voice thunderous.

"False God Enel, come out and die!"

Crackle—

Screech!

Blue-white lightning suddenly illuminated the sky.

Enel’s expression darkened. Because of what had happened before, he had been watching that evil demon even more closely. He had intended to let these people making trouble outside the town go.

But these mortals… were simply too disrespectful.