Chapter 288: Blast from the Past

Chapter 288: Blast from the Past



Terror.

That was the only appropriate word to describe the emotional states of the Neo Marines in this moment.

The ship heaved and swayed and jerked about, not allowing even the most experienced sailors to have steady footing; the blood coating the deck only made staying on one's feet that much more difficult.

However, the kraken's jostling of their vessel was the least of their worries. The young girl whom they meant to subdue with numbers now that she was weakened by her reduced age wasn't affected by the poor foothold at all. That made it that much easier for her to rip into their ranks like a rabid tiger.

That wasn't an exaggeration, either. They didn't just have to watch out for her deadly sword and spear, but her teeth as well. She'd bitten off Jenkin's ear barely half a minute into the melee without any hesitation. The terrible look on her face with her teeth coated in Jenkin's blood made more than a few of them piss themselves in fright.

Despite the stab wound in her chest, Ain regretted letting Cherry go the first time she "returned" her. Now she couldn't get a hold of her and anytime she saw an opportunity to hit Cherry with her devil fruit, one of her comrades would inexplicably fall into the attack instead.

"AHHHH!" a Neo Marine had his eye gouged out.

*CRACK*

Another had his spine crushed just above the waist.

*Schlop*

A severed hand hit the deck.

It was clear to everyone that before she had her age reduced, Cherry had just been playing with them.

'How is this happening?! Nobody has ever stayed this strong after being returned to childhood!' Ain couldn't fathom why this was happening.

Worst still, Ain was pretty sure that Cherry was slowly aging back up. She seemed to be a few centimeters taller than when she was first returned.

That was an accurate assumption as whilst Cherry could not unravel the effects of the devil fruit instantly due to her missing cultivation, she could still use her remaining vast stores to wear away at the effect with brute force over time.

"DIE!!!" a shout came from below the deck as it exploded upwards in an eruption of lava.

Cherry was forced onto her back foot for the first time since being aged down, desperately dodging out of the way of the former admiral's attack. Akainu might be in bad condition, but he was a world above Cherry without her cultivation.

"Ahhhh!" Ain cried out, throwing herself forward at Cherry; hand glowing pink.

Cherry thrust her spear at Ain, but the blue haired woman only dodged enough to avoid a lethal hit and carried onwards. Her hand swiped against Cherry shoulder, undoing all the work she'd done to remove the devil fruit's effects and then some.

Cherry stood before them roughly at the age of nine or ten years old. They both knew that one more hit from Ain in the short term would end the fight for certain, and not with Cherry's victory.

Akainu climbed out of the hole in the deck. It wasn't certain if the liquid flowing from her mouth was molten rock or boiling blood, perhaps both.

In addition she felt as if she were behind some kind of thin veil, or barrier. Such a fragile thing, she thought, but she wasn't in any position to burst through, right?

For a while, she couldn't quite place the feeling. It was oddly familiar, something nostalgic. Then she remembered in a moment of epiphany.

...

A calm came over the remains of the Neo Marine fleet. The kraken fled into deeper seas, allowing them to take stock of their situation. Their losses were bad and they would almost certainly have to flee themselves, lest Whitebeard come finish them off.

Akainu only basked in his victory for a short moment before realizing that they'd lost so much and only killed one damned pirate. Zed was similarly quite downcast for their losses this time with so little to show for it.

Ain was tending to her long term friend and comrade in arms, Binz, who was fortunately still alive, though still unconscious.

Akainu picked up the spear that lay where the wretched woman once stood. A powerful weapon, if he could work out how to use it. Maybe he could force Vegapunk to figure it out for him, though that would be quite the task if the man's defenses were as strong as he expected.

"Ah, I understand. How unexpected." a voice reverberated over the sea. Every man, woman, and child amongst the two fleets and Dressrosa heard it plain and clear, as if it were right next

to them.

Space itself fractured over the Neo Marine fleet. An unfamiliar woman stepped through the crack, and along with her came a "breeze" for lack of a better term for it.

Her skin was like pristine porcelain and her hair and eyes glittered like gold. A pure white kimono formed around her body as she stood in the air like it was solid ground, then took a deep breath with a smile.

As the breeze swept over all who were present, they felt like it was the first time in their lives that they had ever taken a breath of fresh air, like they'd been breathing smoke and poison up

until now in comparison.

"HEHEHEHEHEHE!!!" the woman's laugh carried with it a powerful presence that crushed

the will to stand before her into dust.

Even Whitebeard nearly buckled beneath the pressure, though his pride that refused to bend

to anyone bolstered his will enough to resist. His crew was not so lucky as they hit the deck

and gasped for air.

Akainu and Zed were much closer to the woman and received the full brunt of it. They didn't even have the leisure to breathe heavily and feared they might literally suffocate from the woman's presence alone.

The Neo Marines that were still conscious weren't any longer, unable to even maintain simple thoughts in the face of this woman. Strangely, Ain was the only one completely unaffected. At least it was strange until the woman spoke.

"I haven't felt like this in a long while. Thanks for giving me a taste of my old strength, girl.

Don't think I'll forgive you that easily, though. I'll just keep you awake long enough to crush some pests. Maybe I should pay a visit to Mary Geoise while I'm at it?" the woman said with a dangerous glint in her eye.

'That's Harpin D. Cherry?!' Zed, Akainu, and Ain screamed in their thoughts.