Chapter 178: Why Did You Let Me Go?
Kuma at this time didn’t carry a Bible with him constantly, but his attire already bore a 70% resemblance to his future Warlord self. He walked to the beach to Alucard’s right, not attacking immediately. Instead, he faced the sea and shifted slightly to his front-right. "You destroyed my homeland."
"Oh?" Alucard’s pupils shifted slightly, showing no surprise. The villages and even nations directly or indirectly destroyed because of him were simply too numerous to count.
After a few seconds of silence, Kuma looked up again. "No, that’s not quite right either."
"You intervened in the war, killing all the soldiers from both my country and the enemy country. The war had to end immediately. But during that time, a large number of pirates invaded the villages on our border, which included my homeland," Kuma said emotionlessly. "That’s why it was destroyed."
"If, at that time... the national army hadn’t suffered such losses. But that’s unlikely anyway, because the king was a warmonger who paid no heed to small border villages."
Kuma, who had just claimed Alucard destroyed his homeland, now denied it. More accurately, Alucard’s actions indirectly led to his homeland’s demise, though it might not have been the sole cause, as the king cared little for his people, making it improbable he would have sent troops to the border villages even with sufficient military strength during wartime.
Since setting sail, Kuma had directed this anger towards pirates, his methods of cruelty being no less than Alucard’s or Shiki’s, earning him the title of "Tyrant." After enduring many setbacks and finally encountering Alucard, Kuma couldn’t determine if this man was truly his enemy, hence his conflicted emotions.
"So much nonsense. You’re a pirate; that’s all that matters," Alucard said impatiently. He didn’t care if Bartholomew Kuma or anyone else wanted revenge; he wasn’t going to stand there and listen to a man’s inner turmoil.
Kuma abruptly pulled off his headpiece, tightening the gloves on his hands. "Perhaps, battle will provide an answer."
"So, I’m to follow the script and fight one of the Supernovas?" Alucard remained seated on the reef.
Kuma, who was already close by, hunched his body, his humming palm striking towards Alucard. "Pad Cannon!"
Kuma’s Paw-Paw Fruit air cannon passed instantly through Alucard’s midsection, pulverizing the reef behind him and the trees within a hundred meters. Alucard placed a hand on his struck abdomen, his indifferent expression causing Kuma’s large mouth to slightly open, revealing a hint of white teeth.
He’s... unharmed? No one has ever taken a direct hit like that and walked away unscathed!
Alucard lowered his hand from his abdomen and said calmly, "For a useless Devil Fruit to be developed into such a treasure, you’re a strong Devil Fruit user. But this level of attack can’t even take one of my lives."
Kuma’s attack was powerful, but it truly couldn’t take Alucard’s life in a single blow. In fact, Alucard’s Vampire Physique repaired the damage from the Pad Cannon within seconds.
"Alucard the Immortal..." Kuma murmured Alucard’s title. Suddenly, he squatted down as if in a horse stance, both hands continuously pushing forward, unleashing countless Paw-Paw cannons in an instant. "Thrust Pad Cannon!"
Alucard suddenly vanished from his spot.
The moment Alucard disappeared, Kuma looked up at the sky and raised his hands, shifting the direction of his attack.
Immediately, consecutive Pad Cannons struck Alucard in mid-air. The immense force sent him flying, slamming into a distant tree trunk and breaking several large trees before he stopped.
"Alucard the Immortal... He couldn’t possibly be only this strong." Kuma slowly walked towards where Alucard had fallen. Alucard’s head was down, his facial expression obscured.
When Kuma reached Alucard, the paw pad on his palm began to hum faintly, and he struck violently. However, just an instant before Kuma’s palm struck Alucard’s body and sent him flying, Alucard’s body was suddenly enveloped in a crimson blood shadow. When it reappeared, it was an ordinary-looking man wearing attire similar to a Roman gladiatorial uniform.
It’s not him!
Kuma was startled, but his attack couldn’t be retracted. He heavily slapped the substitute’s body, sending it flying.
Whoosh!
A blue-white flash streaked past Kuma’s right waist, tearing through his flesh and instantly drawing blood.
The light faded.
Alucard stood with his back to Kuma, holding a greatsword stained with some of his blood. Alucard glanced at the blood on the blade. "Oh... I forgot you still possessed human blood at this time."
"..." Kuma grunted, dropping to one knee. Alucard tossed the sword aside, turned around, and said, "A moment’s mistake is enough to decide victory or defeat. It seems you don’t even qualify to take one of my lives."
Alucard chose not to finish him off. He stood still, putting his sunglasses back on. "Well, do you want to continue, Bartholomew Kuma?"
Kuma said nothing, clutching his wound. After the bleeding wound had partially healed, he struggled to his feet.
’I can’t win.’
His face was expressionless, making his inner thoughts impossible to discern.
Alucard walked towards the sea. As he passed Kuma, the corner of his mouth curved into a smile. "Leave the New World, rookie. This isn’t a place you can enter yet."
Just as Alucard summoned his ship, intending to depart, Kuma spoke, "Wait." Kuma turned around, watching the other’s retreating back. "Why did you, someone who shows no mercy to pirates, let me live?"
Alucard’s methods against pirates were practically world-renowned. Pirates who fell into his hands, apart from a few at the absolute peak, either met a horrific end or were swallowed by the sea.
The moment he was defeated, Kuma had already accepted death, never expecting Alucard to spare him.
"Yes... why indeed?" Alucard countered with a smile, making Kuma’s brow furrow in confusion, unsure how to respond.
Supernova Bartholomew Kuma challenges one of the Three Monsters, Alucard – Defeated!
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