Saint Shaldes's frenzied snarl echoed through the dead-silent street.
Gion and Tokikake's faces instantly turned ghost-white.
Then, a man covered in mud and dirt burst through the kneeling crowd in a panic. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees with a thud before Saint Shaldes.
Pulling his daughter behind him, he shielded her with his own body, trembling as he said in a shaking voice:
"M-My Lord... I'm so sorry... My daughter was in your way. I'll take her and leave right now..."
Seeing the fear on her father's face, little Liya finally realized she had done something wrong. Her face turned pale, and her tiny hands clung tightly to the hem of his shirt.
"In the way? No, no, no... she's not in the way at all," Saint Shaldes chuckled darkly, his gaze still glued to the girl with sickening obsession.
"She's your daughter, isn't she? Hm. Not bad."
"Starting today, your daughter is about to receive the greatest blessing of her life—she will become the eighteenth wife of the great Saint Shaldes!! Hahahaha!!"
The middle-aged man's legs gave out. His eyes went wide in shock.
He bowed deeply, forehead to the ground, eyes bloodshot.
"Please, Saint Shaldes... Please don't take her. She's all I have left in this world."
The sound of his forehead striking the ground rang sharply through the silence. He hit the ground so hard that blood stained the stone beneath him.
Behind him, the little girl was frozen in fear. Thick tears streamed down her cheeks.
Saint Shaldes snorted with annoyance. He lifted his foot and stomped on the back of the man's head.
"What's this? Still not willing?"
"You should be honored that I chose your daughter! It's the greatest glory your pathetic lives will ever know!"
"Do you realize how many people across the seas would beg to have their daughters marry a Celestial Dragon?"
"Your daughter becoming my wife means you'll live in luxury for the rest of your life, elevated above the filth of commoners!"
The man's face was twisted beneath the Celestial Dragon's foot, bleeding against the cobblestones.
Still, he gritted his teeth and forced out a pained smile.
"Saint Shaldes... I appreciate your offer... but Liya is just a child. I only wish to live peacefully with her..."
Saint Shaldes's face twisted in rage. He kicked the man hard in the face.
The man rolled several meters away, his face swelling instantly as blood poured from his mouth.
The little girl finally cried out in sobs.
Gion's face darkened, her hand instinctively tightening around the hilt of her sword.
Tokikake clenched his fists, grinding his teeth.
The surrounding civilians remained on their knees, trembling, eyes cast downward, too afraid to speak or even look up.
The Celestial Dragons—descendants of the nineteen kings who founded the World Government 800 years ago—lived as "gods." They possessed ultimate authority and all privileges.
Anyone who dared challenge or offend them would face the wrath of the entire World Government.
Even a single slight could summon an Admiral or CP0 to protect them.
To be "chosen" by a Celestial Dragon... was not a blessing.
Everyone on this sea knew the perverse, twisted obsessions of the Celestial Dragons. They didn't hide it—on the contrary, they flaunted it.
They called them "wives," but they were nothing more than playthings.
Celestial Dragons didn't see others as people, only insects. The life or death of a toy meant nothing to them.
In truth, for someone taken by a Celestial Dragon, death was often the best they could hope for.
If this girl would become Saint Shaldes's eighteenth wife...
Then what happened to the other seventeen?
The answer needed no words.
"Hahahaha! Come now, let's go back to Mary Geoise."
Saint Shaldes didn't even glance at the bloodied man on the ground. He laughed and stepped toward the girl, hand outstretched.
"No! You're a bad man! I don't want to go with you!!"
Tears welled in Liya's eyes. She bit down on Saint Shaldes's hand and broke free of his grip.
He screamed in pain—but his eyes gleamed with even greater excitement.
"Yes... Yes! That look in your eyes. It's perfect!"
He licked his lips and stared down at the little girl struggling to stand her ground.
Her face was pale with fear, but she still resisted.
Such a precious reaction—he knew he wouldn't grow bored of it anytime soon.
"Grab her," he ordered the two CP agents behind him. "Don't hurt her. If you do, I'll feed you to the dogs."
The agents nodded and closed in around the girl.
The man on the ground gasped and stumbled to his feet, face soaked in blood. With a roar of fury, he charged toward Saint Shaldes.
One of the CP agents stepped forward and punched him hard in the gut.
The man bent in half, eyes bulging, gasping for air.
He collapsed to the ground, coughing up a thick pool of blood.
"What an ungrateful little worm..."
Saint Shaldes growled with irritation. He drew a gold-plated pistol.
"Damn it—!" Tokikake cursed under his breath, bending his knees to strike.
Gion gripped her sword tighter.
Just as the two were about to act—
A shadow appeared between them.
A tall figure moved like a ghost, placing one hand on Tokikake's shoulder and the other firmly over Gion's sword—pushing it back into its sheath.
The two froze. Before they could react, their pupils shrank, thin blood vessels spreading into the whites of their eyes.
"Die, you ungrateful commoner!!"
Saint Shaldes shrieked with glee.
The man looked on in despair.
The little girl's cries tore through the air.
The man and the girl froze.
A low humming filled the air.
In front of the man's forehead, the golden bullet trembled in midair.
As if some invisible force had locked it in place.
"DAMN IT! WHO DID THIS?!"
Saint Shaldes roared, veins bulging across his forehead.
From the gathered Marines, a presence stepped forward.
A deep, cold aura rolled with every step.
He had short, dark hair. His features were sharp, chiseled like stone. His face cold as a cliffside.
He was tall—nearly three meters—and imposing.
A white Marine coat billowed behind him, though there was no wind.
He stopped in front of the bleeding man, reached out, and plucked the bullet from the air.
His towering frame loomed over Saint Shaldes like a mountain. The pressure was suffocating.
The black-haired Marine looked down at the Celestial Dragon.
Only when Shaldes, unable to bear the weight of that stare, unconsciously stepped back—
Only then did the Marine smile and speak:
"Captain Darren, Supreme Commander of the North Blue Marines, reporting to Saint Shaldes."