17. Darkness.

Escape.

Evacuation.

Getaway.

Take off.

Flee.

It was time to leave the capital.

...

...

...

As if it'd be that easy.

The snake on the throne had always been up to something. And the amount of guards standing outside our house earlier and pointing swords at the Karasawa family, told the story.

*CLANG*

*SWISH*

*PUCHUK*

Another down.

[Moonlit Sword: Chain of Dead]

One slash. From mom. Fourteen corpses.

"It appears my skills have rusted. There'd be no less than 50 had it been before my injury".

"Do you really have time to brag mom?"

[Black Flash]

*BOOM*

"I can't let you outperform me Yami. It'll hurt my pride if my son was doing more work than me in a situation where I have more experience".

*Sigh* "She's got her priorities straight", I muttered.

It had started. It was sooner than predicted. The bastard made his move. Dad had already left to get Oden while me and Mom would buy him time. I was already filled with holes and scratches.

Mom was relatively unscathed. She wasn't bluffing about the experience part. I'll need to start going all out if I don't want to die here.

[Darkness Armour]

I sealed up all the scratches and holes on me by using my darkness on my body and solidifying it. (Kinda like cement).

Next I made an armour of darkness around me. It was too flimsy though, so not really counting on it.

"TAKE AIM... FIRE!!!"

FOR THE LOVE OF CIGARETTES!! THERE'S GUNMEN AIMING AT US!!

More than a hundred of them from what I can feel with my observation haki but with the naked eye, I can see more reinforcements in the distance. Shit!

The gunmen were surrounding us. Standing on rooftops around us, both sides of the street, we'd pretty much been surrounded. And now there's a round of infinite bullets coming at us.

[BLACK HOLE!!]

[Moonlit Sword: Deprivation]

I used Black Hole to gather all the bullets coming at me, in one place, and they disappeared inside the black hole.

Mom on the other hand just deflected... Everything?

At this point I'm not even surprised. If there's a monster like Oden out there, then his dad's personal retainer would be nothing short of impressive even if she had an injury.

Her swordplay was on a different level. The move she used just now wasn't just any 'swinging a sword'. She used the side of her sword to create strong air currents while deflecting the bullets so that not a single one could get past.

"Yami. Can your fruit power control any kind of darkness?"

"Yea".

"Shadows?"

Realization hit me. I was limiting myself again. The sun was barely peaking out through rain clouds. There were shadows all around us. In other words...

Mom noticed my change in expression and continued.

"The guys inside the houses and on rooftops are annoying. Get rid of them first, then duck and I'll take care of the rest".

Before I'd even understood what she meant, my body reacted first. I guess instinct is faster than the mind.

Sorry Nacht I'll be stealing your moves.

[Dark Prison Hunting Grounds]

There were an infinite amount of shadows inside the houses and now the gunmen inside were trapped in eternal darkness. Atleast until they're out of my range of concentration, but there's a slim chance of that with my high level of mastery over observation haki.

[Shadow Spikes]

I used the shadows inside the houses to create spikes going through the roofs of the houses and now both the people inside the houses and on the rooftops were out for the count.

Now I was too exhausted to even move around properly. Devil fruit powers are an extension of the user's own body. From what Oden said, the user of a devil fruit needs to think of their power as their own body. For example, he said that his friend Newgate, who ate the Gura Gura no mi would get destroyed by using the power, if his body was too weak to use it.

Using darkness and shadows saps a lot of energy from my body. And the exhaustion increases as the range of attack increases. The farther from myself I use my power, the more exhausted I am.

And currently, not only were all my targets far away from me(in houses or rooftops) but I was also keeping the ones inside the houses, trapped with [Dark Prison Hunting Grounds].

I could have used [Shadow Spikes] but I knew there were civilians still inside the houses, and I'm not gonna hurt innocent people.

('The guys inside the houses and on rooftops are annoying. Get rid of them first, then duck and I'll take care of the rest').

Mom's words echoed through my head, and as soon as they did I felt a sharp spike in the bloolust behind me.

I barely ducked in time. My legs definitely didn't give out. Definitely not. Exactly. I'm an all powerful 8 year old who no other 8 year old can beat. I'm not exhausted yet. My vision is just a bit blurry and I can't feel my limbs. I ducked.

And even through my blurred vision, what I saw next made me understand, why they called Mom, the Bloodbath.

[Moonlit Sword: Garden of Death]

Before I could process what had happened, every enemy on my side, had been cleaved cleanly in half from their torso. Damn. I looked the other way and saw that the guys on Mom's side, including the reinforcements, were already dealt with.

"You did exceptionally Yami. I couldn't have asked for a better partner. Get some rest while we head to Oden".

Mom was short of breath. She wasn't as exhausted as me but it was clear that she had outdone herself. I can't have her carry me all the way there.

"No... I'm fine... I can walk on my..."

Before I could say anymore, I felt the same sense of helplessness I did when I died in the Spade Kingdom. And a familiar event occurred. For the second time in two lives, I again, saw...

'Darkness'.