“The king I serve isn’t someone the trash like you could ever understand. Thinking you’ve already won because of the illusion before your eyes—with such a narrow vision, you aren’t worthy of competing with the monsters of the New World.”
Clap. Clap.
Alber lightly clapped his hands twice, and the flame monster that Doflamingo had just torn apart completed its “revival.”
To be precise, it had never been defeated.
As a monster born from the fear in Doflamingo’s heart and materialized by Alber from a nightmare, the flame monster was immortal as long as Alber, the user of the ability, remained alive.
No matter how many times it was killed or torn apart, that was merely superficial. Unless Alber himself was taken down, these flame monsters would continue regenerating without limit.
Although Nereus had said economic losses did not matter, this was still Dressrosa’s Royal Palace. Alber could hardly turn the entire place into a sea of flames, otherwise he would have shown Doflamingo exactly what familiar fear truly meant.
Even so, the number of monsters in Alber’s nightmare army continued to increase.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several sharp whistles split the air as multiple razor-sharp arrows appeared behind Alber and shot toward Doflamingo. Behind Alber, several roughly humanoid archers also took shape.
Perhaps because of Doflamingo’s own impressions, the archers’ faces were horribly distorted, but the arrows they fired were extraordinarily accurate.
“Damn it…”
Doflamingo’s fingers moved slightly, releasing several transparent strings. This time, their target was not Alber or the monsters he had manifested, but King Riku, whom Alber was shielding behind him.
No matter whose orders Alber followed, he clearly intended to protect King Riku. In that case, Doflamingo only needed to seize a hostage first.
He appeared to be dodging the arrows in a miserable state, but the invisible strings had already taken a wide detour and were about to seize control of King Riku. A smug smile even appeared on Doflamingo’s face.
But Alber casually raised a hand and grabbed the Parasite Strings with perfect precision.
“Other than these petty tricks, don’t you have anything else?”
“…..”
“King Riku!!”
At this moment, Kyros, who had been standing guard at the castle entrance, arrived with the kingdom’s soldiers. Seeing King Riku safe and sound, Kyros could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
“You came at just the right time. According to the intelligence, aside from this guy and this person whose situation is unclear, none of the others came to the Royal Palace.
Protect your king. I’ll take him somewhere else to fight. It’s a little cramped here.”
Alber pressed the earpiece in his ear. Viola had already locked onto the locations of every member of the Donquixote Family and confirmed that only Doflamingo and Rosinante had come here.
Rosinante also seemed to be some kind of comic-relief character. After taking one kick from Alber, he had gone straight into a half-retired state.
Kyros very much wanted to ask them how this could still be considered “cramped” when most of the Royal Palace roof had already been torn apart, and what it would look like if Alber could truly cut loose.
But under the circumstances, he restrained the question in his heart.
“Mr. Alber, please do as you wish. Even if it costs me my life, I will protect King Riku.”
“Good. If you can’t handle it, remember to call for help. Imperial Flaming Wings!”
Alber drew the long sword at his waist, and the flames on his back flowed down his arm and onto the blade.
Whoosh!
As the blade swung, a vicious fire dragon coiled around it and roared as it charged toward Doflamingo.
The fire dragon carried Doflamingo straight into the sky. Alber flapped his wings and chased after him, while the monsters materialized from the nightmare did not harm anyone else.
At Alber’s command, the flame monster followed as well, while the bizarre archers moved to the shattered wall and began firing their arrows into the sky.
“King Riku, what should we do with this man?”
Kyros pointed at Rosinante nearby, awaiting King Riku’s orders.
King Riku himself also did not understand why someone acquainted with Doflamingo had suddenly warned him.
It was only then that Rosinante struggled to his feet.
“I… I’m a Commander from Marine Headquarters, Rosinante… M•C01746…
M stood for Marine, while C referred to the serial number. Facing King Riku, Rosinante directly revealed his identity.
“I was ordered by the upper ranks of the Marines to carry out an infiltration mission. Doflamingo intends to take this country…”
“We already know that. Mr. Marine, can you tell us something we don’t know?”
Kyros kept one hand on the hilt of his sword, not fully believing this man who claimed to be a Marine Commander.
Although Rosinante looked weak, if he displayed even the slightest suspicious behavior, Kyros would cut him down without hesitation.
“Doflamingo’s original plan was to use a conspiracy to destroy your reputation, but he also has a backup plan. If he doesn’t return within the specified time, the other officers of the Family will begin a direct assault.
With all this commotion… they must have already realized something is wrong.
You… you need to contact the Marines immediately! Don’t use the standard number. That’ll only connect you to the Marines at the G-5 Branch, and Doflamingo’s people have already infiltrated G-5.
“Contact the G-1 Branch or Marine Headquarters and have the Marines send reinforcements!”
Marine Den Den Mushi also had something similar to “area codes.” Without the private number of a certain officer, a call from an affiliated nation would only connect to the nearest branch. That was precisely why Vergo had gone to such lengths to enter the G-5 Branch.
Only by entering G-5 could he better cooperate with Doflamingo’s operations.
Perhaps because his brain was not particularly quick, Rosinante did not argue with Kyros. Instead, he carefully thought about what they might not know yet and what warnings he should give them so King Riku and the others could prepare in advance.
“Doflamingo’s officers are difficult to deal with too. You have to hurry. Once his plan succeeds, it’ll be too late for everything!”
Seeing King Riku and the others remain unmoved, Rosinante thought it was because with Alber dealing with Doflamingo, King Riku and the others believed the outcome was already settled, so he hurriedly reminded them…
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