Demon Slayer Virgil [Isekai One Piece]

"Very good. Now we can finally leave this ghastly place."

Zavia nodded in satisfaction and walked towards Arthur, gently stroking the boy's head. Arthur responded with a happy smile.

"However, before we leave, these guys..."

Zavia's expression turned cold as he shifted his gaze to the zombies standing fifteen meters away.

These were the zombie soldiers who had attempted to attack Arthur while he was recording the video. Now, seeing their master defeated, they began to retreat cautiously.

Before entering Moria's castle, Zavia had given Arthur a recording Den Den Mushi and instructed him to hide near the entrance of Moria's room and capture the battle on film.

While Arthur was unlikely to be harmed with Zavia around, he couldn't afford to be distracted during the fight.

Therefore, as a precaution, Zavia had set up a spatial barrier around Arthur before entering Moria's room, ensuring the boy's safety.

This precaution had proven to be wise.

Without strength comparable to or exceeding Zavia's, breaking through the spatial barrier was nearly impossible, especially for these zombies with negligible combat abilities. Their only purpose was to frighten people.

"Forget it, dealing with them would be a waste of time."

After a moment of contemplation, Zavia decided against eliminating the zombie soldiers. He didn't want to waste time on such insignificant opponents.

He took the recording Den Den Mushi from Arthur and placed it in his spatial bag, then grasped the boy's trembling hand and led him out of the room.

Upon exiting the castle, they found themselves surrounded by a horde of zombies. Floating among them was a young girl with pink twin tails and a crown on her head. She held a wine-red umbrella in her hand.

"Don't think you can escape."

The girl hovered in mid-air, her gaze fixed on Zavia with an angry expression. Although her voice was calm, there was a hint of fear beneath the surface.

This was Perona, one of Moria's zombie commanders. Her contrasting personality traits had made her a favorite among male One Piece fans, but Zavia wasn't one of them.

He preferred women like Robin.

As Perona spoke, numerous white, spectral figures began to appear around her, including some miniature ones.

Zavia, with his knowledge of the original story, instantly recognized the smaller ghosts as Negative Hollows, distinct from the regular Hollows.

These miniature ghosts would latch onto their target and self-destruct, causing physical damage.

Zavia couldn't quite comprehend how a soul-based attack could result in physical harm. Shouldn't it be soul damage instead?

He pushed that thought aside and activated his Observation Haki to assess the enemy's numbers.

(Hmm, 230 zombie soldiers, 170 animal zombies... a total of 400.)

In an instant, Zavia had gauged the enemy's strength. There were 400 on the surface, and if he included those underground, the number likely reached 450.

Facing such overwhelming numbers, Zavia acknowledged that if he were alone, his only option would be to flee.

However, that assumption was based on the premise that the enemies were of comparable or greater strength.

The zombies before him had minimal combat ability. Zavia estimated that at most, only twenty posed any real threat, and even then, they were significantly weaker than him.

The rest were essentially cannon fodder, mere pawns with no real fighting power.

"Sigh, these numbers are a bit troublesome. Arthur, crouch down and don't stand up until I tell you to." Zavia sighed and patted Arthur's head.

"Okay, I understand." Arthur obediently nodded and crouched down, resembling someone taking cover from an attack.

"What's that guy doing? Is he going to surrender?" Some of the zombies began to speculate upon seeing Arthur's actions.

"I wish that were the case."

Perona, observing the scene, felt a bead of sweat trickle down her face. While she hoped Zavia was indeed surrendering, she had a feeling things weren't as simple as they seemed.

"Perona, if you and these zombies leave now, I'll consider sparing your lives. What do you say?"

Zavia nodded in satisfaction as he saw Arthur comply with his instructions. He then turned his gaze to Perona, floating in mid-air, and made a proposition that sounded utterly arrogant to anyone else.

"Pero... How do you know my name?!" Perona, however, focused on a different aspect of his statement.

"That's simple. I used to be a Rear Admiral in the Marine Headquarters. I often accessed the archives, so I'm quite familiar with information about you pirates."

"What! Marine Headquarters, Rear Admiral!? At such a young age!?" Perona was shocked to learn of Zavia's former position. She had never encountered someone so young who had achieved such a high rank.

"Well, that's how it is. You have one minute to consider my offer." Zavia fell silent, patiently awaiting Perona's response.

Truth be told, he didn't want her to die just yet. After all, she would play a role in guiding Zoro to the Sabaody Archipelago four years later.

It was currently the year 1518 in the One Piece world, two years before the start of the main storyline. Zavia needed to maximize his fame and strength within this timeframe.

As for fame, that was easily attainable in the world of pirates, especially for a powerful individual like Zavia.

In terms of strength, Zavia didn't need to focus on further developing his spatial abilities. Through his vast knowledge of anime and games, he had already honed them to near perfection, arguably reaching their peak.

Furthermore, he had the Legacy of the Demon God's self-improvement ability, a cheat-like power that constantly refined his skills.

He didn't need to worry much about his physical combat abilities either. His current focus was on swordsmanship. The techniques he used were primarily Vergil's, and he needed to develop his own style.

Otherwise, no matter how strong he became, his swordsmanship would always be someone else's, not his own.

"Three, two, one, time's up, Perona. Have you made your decision?"

The minute had passed, and Zavia's cold voice reached Perona's ears.

(Damn it! I didn't expect him to be this strong! But it's fine, I'm in a spiritual state. He can't harm me, but I can attack him! And he doesn't know about my Devil Fruit ability!)

Perona's mind raced, but ultimately, she chose silence as her answer.

"I see. That's a regrettable decision." Zavia, sensing Perona's intentions through her silence, shook his head slightly.

"Then, to teach you a lesson and show you the gap between us, I'll let you witness something. After all, you can't die just yet."

With that, Zavia grasped the hilt of the Yamato blade, bent his body slightly, and assumed the stance for a Iaido slash.

This action put all the zombies, including Perona, on high alert. They had no idea what Zavia was planning.

This was the disadvantage of lacking information. When facing an unknown enemy, one had no way of predicting their next move.

The great Ainz Ooal Gown once said that in PvP battles, information was paramount. As long as one had prior knowledge of the enemy's capabilities, victory was easily attainable.

However, Perona and the others had no useful information about Zavia. They only knew he was a swordsman, a powerful one at that.

Zavia exploited this lack of knowledge, allowing him to act so boldly. In a true life-or-death battle against a known enemy, he would be much more cautious and reserved.

'Heavenly Blade: Inferno Waltz'

Clang!

The next moment, the blade sang as Zavia drew the Yamato, its silvery surface gleaming under the moonlight.

A deep blue, circular wave of energy erupted from Zavia, expanding outward in all directions.

The speed of the attack wasn't particularly fast, at least from Zavia's perspective. Anyone with decent Observation Haki or reflexes could have dodged it.

However, the enemies surrounding him were simply too weak. Before they could even register his movements, their heads were sent flying.

One after another, heads with expressions of shock and fear were severed, momentarily suspended in the air before falling to the ground. Flames erupted from the wounds where the heads had been separated from their bodies.

Every zombie struck by the attack was set ablaze, and small shadows emerged from their mouths, escaping into the sky.

"Th-this, how is this possible!? With a single strike... he purified over 200 soldiers!!?"

The remaining zombies, stunned for a full three seconds, finally reacted, their mouths agape and eyes filled with terror.

Perona stood there, speechless with shock, unable to find words to describe what she had just witnessed.

(How is this possible!? 200 zombies with a single attack! Even if they were weak, no one could achieve such a feat!!)

Her mind reeled with disbelief, and she began to regret coming here. But then...

(It's fine, I'm a spirit. He can't kill me, he can't kill me...)

Perona reminded herself of her current state as a ghost, immune to physical attacks, including sword energy.

"Judging by your expression, you seem to think I can't harm you." Zavia stood upright, his gaze fixed on Perona, his voice cold and indifferent as he saw through her thoughts.

After all, he possessed extensive knowledge of the original story and was well aware of Perona's abilities.

"What are you talking about?" Perona feigned composure, pretending not to understand Zavia's words.

She wasn't foolish; on the contrary, she was quite cunning. The events of the original story had simply forced her into a situation where she appeared less intelligent.

There was nothing she could do about it.

Zavia simply shook his head slightly and let out a cold snort in response to Perona's words. Instead of wasting time with explanations, he decided to show her the reality of the situation.

He raised his hand and slashed at a small ghost floating beside Perona.

Perona, initially believing Zavia was simply making a futile gesture, was once again shocked by what she witnessed.

The Negative Hollow she had created was sliced in two and disintegrated into white specks of light that vanished into thin air.