The island was silent.
The calm was broken by a gust of wind.
As leaves rustled and fell, Robin and the others arrived. Instead of fierce fighting, they were met with silence.
Looking at the burly man kneeling before Kong Tai, his body exuding a decaying aura, Robin and the others exchanged bewildered glances.
Though injured, they could tell the man's wounds were not fatal and he should still be able to fight.
What was this kneeling down?
Had his spirit broken, had he given up and resigned himself to death?
Believe it or not, they were actually right.
As if sensing the pressure and Hyde's despair, Kong Tai stared at Pressure Hyde with cold, merciless eyes, devoid of any emotion.
"I thought you could last a bit longer, let me properly test my current state. I didn't expect you to break down so quickly."
Pressure Hyde offered no response to Kong Tai's words.
Just as Kong Tai said, he had completely given up.
Death was terrifying, but at this moment, he wished for it to end quickly, to journey to the underworld and begin another life.
This must be "despair."
Kong Tai walked to Pressure Hyde's front, lowering his head. He now acted like a butcher in the marketplace. Gripping the hilt of the Zankong blade in his right hand, he swung it down fiercely.
The blade flashed with a hint of cyan light, a bright edge that seemed to cleave through space.
*Swoosh—!*
Pressure Hyde's head twitched for a moment, then, lubricated by blood, it landed.
After a glance at Pressure Hyde's head, which bore a hint of relief, Kong Tai swung his sword again, flicking off the bloodstains.
Turning, he sheathed his sword and paid no further attention to the now thoroughly deceased Pressure Hyde behind him.
The instant Pressure Hyde died, the large sailing ship controlled by his abilities plummeted downwards, losing the power of the Piao Piao Fruit.
Then, with a "thump," it landed on one of the roots of the mother tree, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Within the dust, the pirates on the ship gradually regained consciousness.
They knew that if they didn't escape now, they truly wouldn't escape.
Even though they knew escape was impossible, the fear of getting away from Kong Tai and the airborne Kuina made them turn and flee towards the back of the island without hesitation.
"Trying to run."
Seeing that neither Kong Tai nor Kuina made a move, Ah Hua and the other two exchanged glances, cruel smiles gracing their lips. Then, they simultaneously charged towards the fleeing pirates.
For a time, under the canopy of the life-giving mother tree, countless screams of ending lives echoed.
"Not running."
Kuina descended, standing on the railing of the ship's bow, her gaze fixed curiously on Jobiro.
"Not running anymore." Jobiro shook his head, looking down at the kneeling body of Pressure Hyde below him, his back turned. He then met Pressure Hyde's lifeless, vacant eyes, which had rolled to the ground with a hint of relief.
"Farewell, brother."
Pressure Hyde could abandon himself without hesitation, and he, Jobiro, could not abandon Pressure Hyde.
Turning, he avoided looking at the silver-haired youth who had plunged Pressure Hyde into despair, fearing that one glance would plunge him into despair as well.
Compared to Kong Tai's unfathomable power, like the starry sky above, he would rather face this blue-haired girl who had prevented him from making any moves since her appearance.
Staring at Kuina, Jobiro tightened his grip on his sword.
"Rather than passively facing death, I! I want to actively choose my death, and I want to see just how far the gap between us truly is."
As he spoke, his sword was drawn.
*Clang—!*
"Draw."
For years, since he began practicing swordsmanship, his only move had been the iaijutsu draw.
And it was through decades of unwavering persistence that he had achieved true mastery in this single move.
He possessed no monstrous body, but he had the unwavering will of every swordsman.
Otherwise, he would not have survived in the New World for so many years with an ordinary body.
Fast, extremely fast.
Even Kuina, the moment Jobiro drew his sword, felt a stinging sharpness surround her body, causing her to shudder.
Then, a hint of genuine excitement flickered in her clear eyes.
The swordsman before her was unlike any other she had encountered. Though it was just one move, a draw strike at the peak of speed, it brought her great surprise.
To show respect to her opponent, Kuina suddenly manifested a large amount of electrical arcs, which rapidly surged into Wadou Ichimonji, coiling around its blade.
The overloaded blade, stimulated by the lightning, seemed to possess immense kinetic energy, waiting within its pristine scabbard for its master's decisive cut.
*Clang—!*
An identical draw, carrying the roar of thunder and a blinding cyan light, transformed into a line that flashed past Jobiro's charging body.
Sometimes, we must face reality: this world has never been fair. From the moment of life's birth, there has been no fairness.
Some are born from the start at a destination you can never reach in your lifetime.
And Kuina, while not starting at the destination, had both talents and opportunities that Jobiro could never match.
Although his sword was fast, so fast it surprised even Kuina, it could only reach this point.
As the sword light passed, Kuina stood behind Jobiro.
But Jobiro's charging body froze as if time had stopped. He stood motionless.
And the sword he had swung halted at the end of his sightline.
At that end, there was nothing else, only an endless abyss.
"Truly amazing!"
Standing up, Jobiro smiled as he sheathed his sword. Then, he turned and offered Kuina a smile that seemed like relief.
*Swoosh—!*
Blood splattered as Jobiro's body split in two from his chest upwards.
The death of all lives is accompanied by bloodshed, especially between two swordsmen.
Standing up, Kuina turned expressionlessly. With a flick of her right hand, the blade gleamed instantly, as if it had never been stained with blood.
She glanced at Jobiro, who lay on the deck, his life force completely extinguished, a hint of contemplation in her eyes.
The world, since life gained consciousness, has indeed been unfair and will never be fair. After all, every life is an individual, like every leaf on this mother tree, similar, yet never identical.
Some are high, so high they can fully absorb the gifts of sunlight, while others are low, so low that from their birth, they never see the sun in their lives.
Of course, this is not absolute; they can still see the sun when they fall from the mother tree.
Although lives differ in height, size, and texture, and their falling times also vary, just like these leaves.
But regardless of any life, from birth, there is one thing in common.
That is death.
And the only fairness in life is death.