Kairos Flint was just about to step into the palace—
But then, his head suddenly jerked upward, his gaze locking onto the sky above.
"Ran...?"
Just now, his Haki had sensed Doflamingo's aura. It surged upward, soaring into the sky without even a moment of hesitation. Another, slightly weaker presence was alongside it.
There was no doubt—
Doflamingo was fleeing.
"STOP!!!"
Kairos roared.
He instantly launched into the air using Moonwalk, propelling himself with powerful kicks skyward in pursuit.
A whip cracked through the air as he sliced forward with speed and force.
Doflamingo, already mid-flight, instantly sensed Kairos giving chase. But his decision was made—he wasn't turning back. Especially not with Sugar in tow. After Kairos had wiped out the entire Donquixote Family, Doflamingo had no thoughts of revenge—only escape.
As the saying goes: So long as the green hills remain, one needn't worry about firewood.
So he made his move—launching a sudden counterattack to buy time and slow Kairos down.
"Out of my way!"
Kairos bellowed.
His blade cleaved through Doflamingo's strike, obliterating it with ease. But even a brief delay allowed Doflamingo to increase the distance.
Worse still, clouds loomed thick in the sky. Doflamingo's aerial mobility relied on clouds as platforms via his String-String Fruit powers. With so many around, he had a perfect escape route. Without them, he'd be grounded—but that wasn't the case today.
Realizing this, Kairos acted.
One Sword Style: Autumnal Equinox Slash!
Kairos swung his blade—a savage wave of Haki-infused energy erupted from the edge.
A devastating flying slash, wrapped in tenfold-enhanced Conqueror's Haki, exploded through the air. The legendary third generation Kitetsu sword in his grip howled with the blow. It streaked toward Doflamingo like a force of nature.
Armament Haki!
Doflamingo clenched his teeth.
He couldn't dodge this.
He could only defend.
SLASH!
Blood sprayed through the air as the attack landed. Doflamingo was injured—but he didn't stop. On the contrary, he accelerated, flying even faster into the clouds.
Kairos's brow furrowed.
Then—
BOOM!
An overwhelming Conqueror's Haki burst from Kairos like an explosion. The pressure dropped like a hammer from the heavens.
Sugar, caught in the blast, rolled her eyes back and collapsed mid-air—unconscious.
"Damn it!" Doflamingo gritted his teeth.
He had sensed her collapse. That meant one thing:
The toy curse was broken.
Everyone Sugar had turned into toys would now revert to their human forms. All the people who had lost their memories would remember everything—including what Doflamingo had done to Dressrosa.
It would all be exposed.
His crimes.
His manipulation.
Everything.
But even now, he didn't dare stop.
Because behind him, Kairos Flint was still locked on him like a predator.
If he paused—even for a moment—he'd be caught.
And Kairos wouldn't show mercy.
He'd end him.
So Doflamingo fled.
Because if he lived, he might return someday.
If he stayed—he'd die here and now.
Above, Kairos could only watch, teeth clenched, as Doflamingo escaped right under his nose.
There was nothing more he could do.
The String-String Fruit's ability to swing and travel through clouds gave Doflamingo perfect mobility.
If only Kairos had Vivi's BattleGreymon Fruit—a Devil Fruit granting true flight—he could have kept up.
Moonwalk let him stay airborne... but not at high speed.
Even with his recent improvements in Armament Haki, his speed-based techniques—like Sonic Step—were still basic-level.
Compared to the elite Marine styles, his techniques lacked polish.
If he had reached the level of a Marine Admiral, he might have had a 70 to 80 percent chance of catching Doflamingo.
But now?
The clouds swallowed his enemy whole.
"This is the so-called Shichibukai?"
Kairos muttered with disappointment.
Shouldn't the King of the Seven Warlords have stood and fought?
He had destroyed the Donquixote Family.
Sugar was the only one left. The only other survivor was the Navy's undercover agent.
Kairos expected Doflamingo to fight back—to seek vengeance for his fallen subordinates.
But instead, he fled.
Kairos hadn't expected that.
But thinking it through, it made sense.
He had killed them all.
Doflamingo had no family left to die for.
"…Pathetic."
Kairos exhaled.
With nothing more to do, he descended from the sky.
Chasing a man who had vanished into the clouds was a fool's errand. The Grand Line—and the Four Seas—were full of places to hide. It would take years to find him again.
Below, Rebecca and Baby-5 were waiting.
As Kairos landed, he spotted Rebecca in tears.
She must've seen Sugar collapse.
That meant Cyrus—her father—had regained his human form. Her memories of him, once erased by Sugar's power, had returned as well.
She remembered everything.
"Go on," Kairos said gently. "Your father's waiting."
Rebecca nodded, eyes full of emotion, and sprinted toward Cyrus.
With her gone, Kairos turned to Baby-5.
"Come on. I'll introduce you to my crew."
"Okay, Lord Kairos," Baby-5 said obediently.
Meanwhile, up on a nearby rooftop, a certain large-bird journalist let out an excited breath.
Morgans lowered his camera.
Magnificent. Absolutely magnificent.
Doflamingo—the so-called King of the Shichibukai—fleeing in fear from Kairos Flint, the God-Slayer.
This was big news.
A few touches of exaggeration, and this story would set the world ablaze.
"And those toys…"
"They turned back into humans. I've got to investigate that too."
Morgans made a note and immediately moved to start interviews. His journalist instincts told him: this was a gold mine.
Back at the hotel, Kairos returned with Baby-5.
Nami, Robin, Vivi, Uta, and Perona were already there, waiting. They had sensed Kairos's use of Conqueror's Haki earlier. They knew what that meant—he had confronted Doflamingo.
But since he didn't call for help, they trusted him to handle it.
And now... he had returned.
With a long-legged, beautiful woman at his side.
Nami: "???"
Vivi: "???"
Robin: "???"
Uta: "???"
Perona: "???"
Wait a second—
Weren't you fighting the enemy?
How did this turn into bringing home a hot new maid?
Their eyes narrowed slightly.
Caught in the heat.
Kairos coughed. "Ahem! She's my prisoner. Also my maid now. Her name's Baby-5. She'll help with chores. Especially cooking. She's a pro."
"You sure you didn't bring her back just because she's hot?" Nami said flatly.
"We know your type," Vivi added.
"No need to explain," Robin smiled coldly. "We get it."
"…"
One by one, they roasted him.
Still, none of them were actually angry. After all, in a world like this, kings often had dozens—if not hundreds—of women.
Their little teasing was nothing more than that—teasing.
When everyone's doing something, and someone acts differently, that person becomes the outsider.
But Kairos? He was just doing what everyone else did.
So they didn't judge.
They just called him what he was:
An LSP.
A shameless playboy.
Kairos didn't even try to explain.
Please.
True romantics were rare in this world.
LSPs? They were everywhere.
He was just one of the many.
And honestly… what was wrong with that?