Chapter 52: Demonic Aura

Dimor...
Translated into English as DEMON, meaning fiend or devil!
Therefore, upon hearing of the mastermind hiding behind this island—whose very name was so evocative—Chu Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling very curious about what evil deeds this notorious mad scientist might have committed. Slowly, his gaze shifted and landed on the black-robed men ahead who could not be distinguished by the naked eye.
"Thirteen seems to be a rather unlucky number in the West, doesn't it? I wouldn't have expected that mad scientist Dimor to be so sensitive to numbers, even giving the number of combatants dispatched some symbolic meaning."
"Moreover, all of these fellows seem to be accompanied by a faint aura of Devil Fruits..."
"It seems they are far from ordinary!"
At this thought, Chu Yi's expression undoubtedly grew much more solemn, and the grip on his Asura Blade tightened by several degrees.
However, before Fisher Tiger could finish speaking, the enemy's tracks appeared, which slightly displeased Chu Yi.
Yet there was no help for it.
The timing of the enemy's appearance was not something Chu Yi and the others could dictate.
Because of this, not giving Tiger a chance to finish his sentence, Chu Yi turned and playfully interrupted him. With a solemn look in his eyes but a smile resting on his face, he said in an easygoing manner, "Thirteen people. Aside from each of us having to take care of four, there's one person left over with no one to handle them."
"Since that's the case, why don't we see whose speed is faster?"
"The faster person... can take care of the extra one among them. How about it?"
"I have no objection," Mihawk replied coldly, then cast a faint glance at Tiger and snorted, "Besides, even if I'm not the fastest, I certainly won't be the slowest. After all, we have the chubby red fishman at the bottom!"
"You idiot swordsman, what did you say?!"
"Oh?"
Mid-sentence, Tiger suddenly raised his head to look at the sky, pointing upward with his finger. "Look, you idiot swordsman, what is that?"
"Hmm?"
Hearing Tiger's words, Mihawk narrowed his eyes slightly. Even Chu Yi wore a look of astonishment, thinking to himself: *If there are enemies in the sky, why didn't my Observation Haki perceive them?*
Who would have thought that the moment Tiger cried out in surprise while pointing at the sky, just as Chu Yi and Mihawk looked up, Tiger shot forward toward the enemy's black-robed men like a cannonball leaving the barrel.
So...
Tiger actually had such a childish side to him as well!
Smiling wryly and shaking his head, Chu Yi realized just how childish Tiger's previous trick had been. Then, with a light chuckle, he said to Mihawk, "Mihawk, it seems Tiger is completely oblivious to his own shortcomings!"
"Because as a chubby guy..."
"His speed is just too slow!"
    
Swish!
Just as Chu Yi's voice fell, the Asura Blade descended abruptly!
"Gale Style!"
"Ghost Shadow Step!"
Whoosh!
In an instant, accompanied by a sharp whoosh, Mihawk—who had still been listening to Chu Yi speak a moment before—suddenly widened his eyes. For just as Chu Yi had raised the Asura Blade, appearing as though he were about to slash down, right along with that whoosh, Chu Yi once again mysteriously vanished from Mihawk's sight, just like he had when catching up to Tiger earlier!
"Is this Chu Yi's new ability?"
Silently using Observation Haki to perceive Chu Yi's figure, the more Mihawk sensed, the more alarmed he became.
What was going on?
His presence had completely vanished, as if they were no longer in the same world at all!
Could it be...
Did Chu Yi truly master some kind of spatial teleportation ability on the Dark Island?
Within his widened eyes, his pupils contracted slightly.
For a moment, Mihawk completely forgot about their speed competition; the sole thought in his mind was wanting to see exactly how Chu Yi executed his sword strike.
Yet, in the very next second...
"Whoosh!"
Giving Mihawk no chance to observe at all, Chu Yi's figure had already landed behind one of the black-robed men.
Furthermore, when Chu Yi reappeared, his Asura Blade did not slash downward; instead, he was slowly returning it to his waist, looking as though he were sheathing his sword.
It was precisely this bizarre posture of Chu Yi's that made Mihawk knit his brows, completely failing to understand what he was doing.
Yet, a mere second later...
"Splurt!"
Blood filled the skies!
From the glabella of the black-robed man standing behind Chu Yi, an innumerable spray of red liquid mixed with white burst forth!
And as this unknown liquid, mingling red and white, scattered all over the ground, the aura of life on that black-robed man rapidly faded away bit by bit!
The debut of the new "Gale Style" ultimate technique, "Ghost Shadow Step," had turned out to...
Had turned out to give Mihawk an overwhelming psychological blow!
    
"It seems... I really need to get serious!"
Witnessing Chu Yi instantly kill a black-robed man with "Ghost Shadow Step," Mihawk tightly gripped the casually picked-up tree branch, followed immediately by a soft hum!
"Armament Hardening!"
In a flash, a wisp of pitch-black aura coated the casually picked-up branch, precisely the result of Mihawk's Busoshoku Haki enveloping it.
Moreover, as mentioned earlier, wanting to deploy Armament Hardening with Busoshoku Haki required an extremely high level of mastery over Busoshoku Haki!
Therefore, seeing as he had resorted to using Busoshoku Haki—something he hadn't used in a long time—it was evident that Mihawk was truly taking this seriously.
However, if Chu Yi's "Ghost Shadow Step" was already enough to shock Mihawk and make him feel the necessity of facing these eerie black-robed men seriously...
Then when the next scene imprinted itself upon Mihawk's vision, it caused him to become even more, infinitely more, serious!
A second earlier, Chu Yi had used "Ghost Shadow Step" combined with the "Sky-Shattering" sword momentum to completely slaughter a black-robed man. Even the lifeless black-robed man had tumbled into the red-and-white mixed pool of fluids by then.
Yet, to everyone's absolute astonishment...
Just as both Chu Yi and Mihawk believed that particular black-robed man was dead, and that Chu Yi should move on to deal with the next one!
"Thud!"
The head and body of that black-robed man suddenly split apart, breaking into two halves!
Immediately afterward, a brand-new head slowly emerged from the torso of the god-forsaken black-robed man, while the head he had severed earlier vanished amidst a puff of white smoke, abruptly transforming into something resembling a tail!
"Hmm?"
"The demonic aura on that fellow just grew stronger. Could it be..."
"Is this the peculiar trait of these black-robed men?"
Noticing the bizarre phenomenon occurring upon the black-robed man behind him, Chu Yi slightly frowned while directly employing his Observation Haki to perceive the battle between Fisher Tiger and another black-robed man.
And through his observation, what did Chu Yi discover?
Chu Yi shockingly discovered that his previous conjecture had been entirely correct!
Whenever these black-robed men utilized their fruit abilities, the Devil Fruit aura on their bodies—referred to for short as demonic aura—unquestionably grew stronger!
"These fellows have likely consumed unfinished artificial Devil Fruits, which is why when they use their fruit abilities, the characteristic enhancement of their demonic aura becomes so pronounced."
"No matter what, however..."
"Tiger, Mihawk, and I are all facing... an entire squad of devil fruit ability users!"