Task:

It felt like your average warm day at Shimotsuki Village. The sky was mainly clear with some clouds here and there with the sun shining over the earth. Marcel had just arrived on the village from a previous island and stretched his arms out. The samurai looked up to the sky to soak in the beauty of today for a little. He then turned around to look at the open sea behind him with something catching his attention. He didn't notice it before, but there appeared to be something hidden beside the edge of the island in a little corner like area under a huge cloth like thing.

Marcel walked over to the area and peeked under the cloth. From what he could see it was a ship which caused the samurai to grow suspicious. Why would their be a ship hidden here? he thought to himself. He already began to think of theories, but out of all of them, only one of them made the most sense. Marcel then rubbed his chest to see if his iron chest plate was on, which it was and looked down towards his sheathed katana, Master's Will on his left hip before looking towards the direction of the entrance.

The samurai's eyes lowered a little as he prepared himself for what was ahead. He slowly made his way towards the entrance of the village, but stopped halfway and began to think that an up front assault wouldn't be the best, especially when he doesn't know what he's up against. It was time to get sneaky and to do some reconnaissance.

Marcel put on a cloak over his clothing and placed the hoodie over his head before sneaking into the village. "HEY!" a sudden shout caused the samurai to pause again. He turned around to see that there was someone coming from the ship wielding a rusty cutlass and appeared to be wearing a pirate like attire. It seems the Marcel's suspicions were correct. It appears that pirates have landed on this village. "What's the matter!? Seaking got your tongue!?" the over confident grunt asked Marcel as he made his way towards the samurai.

Marcel just stared at the pirate, watching his every movement. "Come on now, give me all you have. The sword of yours looks pretty fancy too, buddy." the grunt said as he held his free hand out towards Marcel while holding the cutlass towards the samurai's stomach. Without hesitation, Marcel quickly unsheathed his katana and quickly impaled the grunt in the heart, causing the grunt to gasp before falling over to his death.

The samurai then cleaned the blade with a cloth before sheathing it. He glanced at the body before going back towards the village. Marcel passed under some of the shrine posts leading to the village, but paused to look up at the last shrine post which had a Jolly Roger hanging over it with the picture of what appears to be a bird's skull on it. This can't be possible. An entire village that practices the history, cultures, and techniques of the Wano Country, taken over by a group of pirates!?

The village appeared to look to be void of people and a real mess. Marcel was walking forward into the village as he observed the area. The dojo close to the entrance was completely wrecked. The nearby buildings had shattered windows and broken down doors with the same Jolly Roger spray painted around them. This garbage littering this once sacred place made Marcel sick to his stomach. Even though he looked calm, Marcel was burning up on the inside.

The only sign of his anger was one of his hands gripping the handle of his sheathed katana. Marcel heard the sound of rustling coming from a nearby alley. The samurai calmly stepped towards the alley and stood up against one of the walls. Marcel peeked around to see a woman who appeared to be one of the villagers backed up to the end of the corner by two guys in a similar pirate attire to the previous person he killed. "Aww, come on sweetheart. We ain't gonna hurt ya unless you don't listen to our demands." one of the thugs said to the woman as the other thug held a knife up to her neck. "N-no, please. I have a husband." the woman refused in a hesitant tone.

"You have no choice, woman. Besides, your husband is most likely already dead." the grunt said with a wicked chuckle as the other grunt smiled wickedly. The grunt slammed his hand against the wall close to the woman's face causing her to flinch a little and whispered in her ear, saying "So, how's about you make this easier and submit? Spread em for me." The grunt with the knife quickly cut at the woman's kimono, exposing her bra and causing her to yelp.

Before they could go any further, the sound of footsteps caused all three of them to look towards the direction of the entrance. It was Marcel, slowly making his way to the three with the cloak over him and the hood over his head, barely able to see his face. Only his red, menacing eyes were visible.

(T1 Pirates Left: 14 T2 Pirates Left: 2 T3 Pirate Left: 1)

"Tch, get a load of this guy." the first grunt said to the one with knife, snickering amongst themselves. Marcel just continued to walk, slowly covering the distance. "Oi, I'll hold on to the girl. Just go ahead and take care of this guy like the others." the pirate said as he gestured his hand at Marcel while looking at his partner. The pirate with the knife nodded and began to walk towards Marcel, meeting him halfway while tossing his knife back and fourth with his hands.

Marcel just continued to walk as if he didn't see the pirate who approached him. As the samurai was about to pass him, the pirate tried to strike him down with the knife but was quickly beheaded by Marcel's katana all while still walking. Both the other pirate and the girl looked on in surprise at the sudden action. "Whatever. This is why you don't send a lowly grunt to do a real pirates job." the other pirate said as he threw the woman to the ground and crunched his knuckles. Marcel finally stopped walking as he faced this pirate, blood dripped from the blade of this samurai's katana to the ground which was the only thing giving sound at the moment.

The pirate dashed at Marcel and began to throw some punches, which the samurai dodged with ease. One of the pirate's missed punches hit the wall, causing a, impressive crack in the brick like wall. This pirate was obviously stronger than the other two. "Why do you keep dodging!? Can't get a hit in!?" the pirate taunted Marcel as he continued his constant punch throwing which Marcel continued to dodge. "Don't mess with the New Phoenix Pirates!" The pirate said in a slightly aggravated tone. Marcel then quickly pierced his katana up the bottom of the pirate's chin to the point where you could see the end pointing out at the top of the victim's head, killing him instantly.

Marcel quickly removed the katana and kicked the body down to the ground before looking towards the woman who looked on in fear.

(T1 Pirates Left: 13 T2 Pirates Left: 1 T3 Pirates Left: 1)

"Pl-please don't. I don't have any belis on me, I swear." the scared woman pleaded to Marcel as she huddled into a corner, thinking that he was going to harm her. Marcel simply took one good look at her and pulled out a cloth to clean the blood off of his blade. "Are you harmed?" The samurai asked with his eyes closed as he continued to clean his cloth. The woman looked up to Marcel a bit surprised be fore hesitating with a, "N-no."

Marcel opened his eyes and looked at the woman once more. She didn't seem to be familiar and due to Marcel's previous actions and visits to this village, he pretty much knew everyone here. She must be new to this village which explains why she treated him like she did. "What exactly happened to the village? When did this occur?" Marcel asked the woman as he took of his cloak and gave it to her to hide her revealed top. He had no use of it anymore.

"Ar-arigato." the woman said as she put the cloak on around her. Her eyes lowered as a frown grew on her face while recollecting all that has happened. "It all happened last night. A pirate ship showed up on the island and demanded our surrender in the name of the New Phoenix Pirates. The warriors of this village attempted to defend us, but...." the woman paused and took a deep breathe with some tears running down her face. "Those pirates began a..."purging" process and killed off pretty much anyone they came in contact with. Up here seems to be quiet, but if you go deeper into the village....bodies. Those pirates are stationed down there as well."

All of a sudden, the woman began to break down a nd cry. "Men, women,.....children. No one is being spared! I don't even know if my husband is..." before she could finish, she noticed that Marcel had begun to walk out of the alley. He paused just before he got out and said, "You should stay up here then. It'll be safe." Marcel then walked out of alley and towards the location of the other pirates.

(T1 Pirates Left: 13 T2 Pirates Left: 1 T3 Pirates Left: 1)

The air began to reek of blood as Marcel progressed through this ghost town. Blood can be seen splattered on the ground and on buildings while bodies also began to show up. The woman was right, this place was riddled with bodies. Marcel has a pretty strong stomach and is use to seeing dead bodies and the smell, but what was getting him sick was the horrific sight of corpses that he could consider to be his people. Marcel stopped and looked to see five more pirates loitering around, laughing amongst each other while one of them constantly kicked the side of an already dead body.

One of the pirates stopped laughing and pointed at Marcel, causing the other pirates to stop what they were doing and approach the samurai. They all stood in front of Marcel and began to taunt him, calling him various names while one of them shouted, "Purging time!" They then tried to get closer as if they were ready to kill. Marcel gripped the hilt of his katana as he eyed the group. When they were close enough, Marcel quickly unsheathed the katana in a horizontal motion. He unsheathed it so fast that sent a horizontal gust of sharp wind in the shape of a crescent moon towards the group, slicing them all in half, killing them instantly.

Marcel sheathed his blade and continued to walk, passing by the bodies. Another pirate who was hiding behind an opened door at a building ran out and attempted to sneak attack the samurai, only for Marcel to quickly unsheathe his blade to do a backwards impaling at the pirate's chest, killing him off as well. It was time for Marcel to do some purging of his own.

(T1 Pirates Left: 7 T2 Pirates Left: 1 T3 Pirates Left: 1)

Skill Used:

265/290

In the woods on the outskirts of the village. Two pirates were seen sitting around a cave that use to belong to some bandits who resided out there. One of them looked different then the other grunts. He wore a black coat around him like a cape and had the tattoo of this pirate crew's Jolly Roger on his left arm, appearing to be the one in charge. The pirate grunt he was talking to didn't look too different from the other grunts, but had an iron sledgehammer with him that he picked up at the cave.

"I'm tellin ya man, they were this big." the pirate with the sledgehammer said as he made a big hand gesture to whatever they were talking about. The pirate in charge simply laughed it off, but their discussion was interrupted when one of the other grunts ran over to the two. The grunt then explained that there was someone taking down their men back at the village. "Is that so? Hey boss!?" the grunt with the hammer called out to the pirate in charge. The one in charge gestured his hand at him, giving him the all clear to do whatever he wanted.

The pirate with the sledgehammer then to out his sledgehammer and bashed it against a nearby tree, knocking it over before he went of towards the direction of the village. Back at the village, Marcel had just finished killing off one more pirate by slicing his neck as he approached a familiar opening at the village. It was the place where he sat back and drew a picture of a boy who was flying his dragon kite, but was now riddled with bodies.

(T1 Pirates Left: 6 T2 Pirates Left: 1 T3 Pirates Left: 1)

Marcel observed the bodies. It was such a bloody mess. This one peaceful looking area was now the resting place of many people. Marcel noticed that one of the bodies started to move a little. The samurai was about to walk over to it, but slowly stopped. Marcel clenched one of his fists, but soon released it as he heard some laughing in the distance. A pirate came into the scene with his hands in his pockets and a sledgehammer strapped to his back.

"Guessing your the guy who's attempting to make a fool out of our crew." the pirate said as he stopped walking. He took the sledgehammer from his back and slammed the top part on the ground. Marcel recognized that sledgehammer. It was the very same one used against him from a previous encounter with bandits. "You like this hammer? Found it up in some cave and it's so much better than my old one! Crushes bodies up real good." the pirate boasted as he lifted the hammer up, showing off the dried up blood on it before slamming it down on the head of a corpse, crushing the skull in an instant.

Marcel had enough of this and charged at the pirate in an attempt to end him, but was quickly evaded. The pirate jumped out of the way with such ease despite the weapon he was holding. Marcel was surprised. He believed that his opponent would be moving slow like the bandit who previously owned that weapon. The pirate did a quick horizontal strike with his weapon, aiming for Marcel's head, but the samurai quickly ducked and attempted to slash at the pirate's legs.

The pirate amazingly jumped over Marcel before he could and attempted a vertical attack at the now crouching Marcel. Marcel rolled out of the way and the hammer slammed into the ground, causing a small crater. "Hmmm, it appears out agility has us at a stalemate." the pirate said as he rose the hammer from the ground. "But it seems to be that I'm at a advantage due to my weapon." the pirate said confidently with a grin as he quickly approached Marcel in an attempt at another vertical attack. The samurai quickly retaliated by rolling away once more, sheathing his katana in the process.

The pirate turned around and quickly attempted to vertical strike the samurai once more at Marcel who was laying on his back. Before it could hit, Marcel quickly unsheathed his katana and does a crescent shaped slash followed by a reverse crescent shaped slash, creating a still burst of wind that sliced through the iron sledgehammer as it made contact. Marcel moved out of the way before the top part of the hammer could hit him and got back on his feet behind the shocked pirate, impaling the katana through his back, killing him instantly.

(T1 Pirates Left: 6 T2 Pirates Left: 0 T3 Pirates Left: 1)

Skill used:

220/290

Marcel stared down at the dead body then towards the area leading to the forest. If this pirate got the hammer from up there, then it most likely means that the rest of the pirates are up there, most likely meaning the one in charge as well. Marcel began to make his way towards the forest, looking around at the destruction and small fires. Marcel heard more chattering coming up by the entrance to the forest. He saw five more pirates loitering around the entrance. The samurai listened closely at what they were talking about. It was mainly about how they "purged" the village.

They also pointed out that some managed to escape and went into hiding which was a relief to Marcel. They then began talking about the "mysterious" killer who was going around, murdering their crewmates, talking about Marcel clearly. Marcel climbed up to the roof of a nearby building and began to sneak towards the direction of the pirates. He looked down at the ground, watching the pirates. The samurai then jumped from the building and landed on one of the pirates, wrapping his legs around his neck, causing him to fall over before impaling him through the head with his katana.

The other four pirates watched in shock at the sudden action before one of them pointed out that Marcel was the one killing their crew members. The four then approached the samurai who slid out of the way of the first two coming towards him. Marcel quickly slashed at the ankles of the third pirate and kicked the fourth one to the ground before impaling him in the chest. He then turned around and decapitated the third pirate. The remaining two watched in fear before attempting to run. Marcel chased after the two and impaled one of them through the back, killing him and causing him to fall over on the remaining grunt.

The last grunt desperately tried to struggle his way from under the corpse only to see Marcel standing over him. The grunt pleaded to Marcel, but soon met his end as Marcel impaled his katana through the pirate's head.

(T1 Pirates Left: 1 T2 Pirates Left: 0 T3 Pirates Left: 1)

Marcel made his way into the forest. He maneuvered around some trees and hanging branches. The element of surprise was gone due to the crunching noises the leaves on the ground made as the samurai stepped on them. The once soothing sound of wildlife was void of noise, fitting the horrific situation. Marcel finally made it to the cave, the sight of his very first task. This would bring back memories, if it wasn't for the grim situation happening here.

The head pirate in charge was seen sitting down on a tree, drinking a cup of tea as the grunt that came to warn him was cowering behind him. "You're early." the head pirate said calmly as he stirred a spoon in his drink. "Honestly thought you were going to get here earlier." he added as he took a sip. "I take it you're the captain." Marcel asked the pirate before glancing over at the grunt who flinched as he made eye contact.

The head pirate placed the cup of tea on the tree and stood up, shaking his head before saying, "No, she's somewhere in the Grandline if I remember correctly. I'm the one in charge of this faction of the crew. The plan was to purge this island as well as the others, but it appears that it was put on halt." The head pirate took his coat off and placed it on the tree. "If word about this..."slip up" gets to the captain, she will send someone to purge me. So I must correct this mistake, starting with you."

The head pirate charged at Marcel with unbelievable speed which the samurai was barely able to dodge. The head pirate dove fist first into a tree, piercing a hole through it. Marcel's eyes widened from shock of this sudden strength. It was similar to the second pirate that the samurai killed but with a lot more force and that speed is similar to the pirate with the sledgehammer but a lot faster. The head pirate pulled his fist out of tree and looked over to Marcel who unleashed a vertical crescent air slash but was quickly dodged by the head pirate.

The head pirate dashed towards Marcel and attempted a roundhouse kick which was deflected by Marcel's blade. The head pirate followed up with an uppercut that sent Marcel's head going up. The head pirate then clenched his fist hard and punched Marcel clean in the jaw, fracturing it a little and sending the samurai down to the ground as the remaining pirate grunt cheered for his boss. The head pirate then jumped up to a tree, standing at the top of it as he looked down to Marcel who stared back with a bit of a dazed look.

Marcel struggled, but he managed to get back up on his feet, staggering a little. The samurai touched his jaw and winced a little before looking back up at the head pirate. Marcel sheathed his katana and continued to stare. The head pirate then jumped from the tree and began to dive down towards Marcel for one more strike. Marcel closed his eyes and quickly unsheathed his blade, holding it out as he quickly span around, generating a large twister that began to tear apart the trees around the area. The grunt attempted to escape it and was sliced up to death by the attack.

The head pirate couldn't move out of the way and was on a collision course with the twister. As soon as he entered t, the head pirate met the same fate as the last grunt and was killed instantly. Soon the twister stopped and Marcel stopped spinning, opening his eyes while breathing heavily. The samurai took a good look at the two shredded up bodies while breathing heavily. He then sat down in the middle of the shredded mess and touched his fractured jaw again, wincing once more.

In the village, the villagers who survived came out of hiding to find the dead bodies of the pirates, giving them a sense of relief while the woman in the kimono that Marcel saved earlier ran up to the others, looking around at the dead pirates as well. A small smile grew on her face as she had a feeling that it was Marcel who did this. She then saw her husband who she ran up to, embracing him as he hugged back, spinning her around with tears of joy coming down her eyes. A lot of lives may have been lost, but the survivors could rest easy, knowing that the threat has been taken care of.

-Exit-

Skills Used: