In the depths of G1 island.
"Rumble!"
"Rumble, rumble!"
Deafening explosions never ceased. Sturdy, thick concrete fortresses were torn to shreds like they were made of paper by a terrifying force.
The ground shook relentlessly, and the air temperature had risen to a level where it could boil seawater.
"Worororo! Akainu! I acknowledge you. There aren't many people in this world who can cause such irreparable damage to this body of mine, and you are one of them. The Logia Magu Magu no Mi, said to be the most powerful Devil Fruit of the three types in terms of offensive power. Is it not just pure heat, but a volcano itself? Worororo, this is... so thrilling!"
In a lake of boiling, fiery red magma, Kaido, whose entire body was covered in blue dragon scales, stood with his spiked club in hand. He looked at Akainu across from him, his lips curled, and his ferocious face was full of smiles. He seemed very happy.
Beneath his feet, almost half of G1 island, for an area of seven or eight kilometers, had become a world of magma.
The ground was covered in a lake of bubbling magma, with no solid ground to stand on.
The towering buildings and fortresses around them were full of holes, and their hard, thick walls were melting from the terrifying heat, slowly flowing down.
Even some steel objects were melting into liquid iron from the heat of the magma.
Kaido's vision was a fiery red, but his eyes were only on Akainu, who stood across from him with his fists clenched.
At this moment, Kaido's huge body showed many signs of serious burns and scalding.
This kind of terrible injury that went deep into his muscle tissue couldn't be healed in a short amount of time, even with his monstrous body, which was enhanced by his Mythical Zoan fruit.
Several places on his chest and abdomen were sunken in from being hit and would leave permanent scars.
That's because the muscle tissue in those areas had been completely burned away by the magma Akainu had unleashed.
Even Kaido couldn't ignore the terrifying searing and penetrating power of the magma.
However, compared to him, Akainu's injuries were not light either.
Akainu, whose fists were clenched, had blood constantly flowing from his forehead, which was then evaporated by the scorching magma.
His elementalized clothes were also torn, and on his exposed chest were several bloody craters. These were wounds he had sustained after being hit and having his defense broken by Kaido's spiked club.
These menacing wounds were still gushing blood like a fountain.
Akainu reached out with a blank expression. His palm was a fiery red, and he pressed it directly on the spots that were continuously gushing blood.
"Sizzle..."
A wisp of burnt black smoke came from the skin he had dematerialized, and the bloody areas were quickly scorched by his magma's heat, stopping the bleeding.
He lowered his head and looked at the scorched rose tattoo on his body. Akainu slowly raised his head and looked at Kaido.
"I heard the wailing of your subordinates before they died. It was music to my ears."
Kaido tilted his head and glanced in the direction of the battle in front of the inner bay. His powerful Observation Haki could cover the entire island, so he naturally saw the headless Who's-Who being held in Rorschach's hand.
But instead of getting angry, the smile on his face grew even wider.
He raised his spiked club. "Worororo, the strong survive, and the weak die. Instead of listening to the wailing of the weak, I'd rather hear the roar of a desperate strong person, such as... you."
"Then you are destined not to hear it."
Akainu opened his clenched fingers and raised them from below. The magma lake beneath his feet began to stir. Large patches of fiery red magma continuously surged upward, and then with a rumble, they swelled up and rolled forward like a fiery red wave, covering Kaido.
The lower half of his body turned into a torrent of magma, propelling him forward, following the roaring magma wave, toward Kaido.
"Worororo! You'll never know if you don't try!"
Kaido gripped his spiked club tightly. The Haki armor around his body expanded, pushing away all the incoming magma.
He took a step, and the ground shattered. The rising gale directly tore through the magma wave in front of him, and he swung his club at Akainu.
Streaks of black and red lightning burst from the spiked club, and Kaido swung his club down with both hands.
"Konbo!"
"Boom!"
The air for thousands of meters around vibrated wildly. The space in front of him looked as if it had been hit and had a huge dent in it from his spiked club.
Where the spiked club pointed, the magma wave exploded, and all the magma on the ground was blown away.
The heavy club, wrapped in top-tier Conqueror's Haki, came crashing down on Akainu's head like the sky was falling.
Akainu's lower half turned into a torrent of magma, as if he were a erupting volcano, propelling him into the sky. His clenched right fist turned a fiery red, even redder than the magma beneath him.
Thick, top-tier Armament Haki wrapped around his glowing red fist and slammed into Kaido's incoming spiked club.
"Meigo!"
"Clang!"
A thunderous clang, like a large bell being struck, erupted from the spiked club.
A massive shockwave radiated outward from the two men, flattening everything that was raised above the ground.
The two men separated after one clash. Kaido swung his spiked club with both hands, instantly creating countless afterimages of his club, causing the air to vibrate with a buzzing sound, and covered Akainu's entire body.
"Gundari! Dragon Swarm!"
Akainu's gaze narrowed. He stomped his right foot, and the magma on the ground roared and surged up, forming pillars of magma that shot up in unison toward the countless afterimages of Kaido's club.
The whistling magma pillars were still in mid-air when they turned into fiery red magma fists, which were also wrapped in Armament Haki.
Countless magma fists rained down, and Akainu also punched, once again getting locked in a fierce battle with Kaido, who was swinging his spiked club.
The two of them seemed to have an endless supply of stamina. Every clash was filled with an unstoppable, destructive, and ultimate violence.
The island beneath their feet constantly shook from their fighting, as if it could collapse and sink into the sea at any moment.
Kaido was fighting to his heart's content, unleashing his boundless violence.
This opponent was strong enough to withstand his stormy attacks.
Not only that, but if he wasn't careful, he could even get injured by his opponent.
It had been many years since Kaido had experienced such an evenly matched fight.
In his younger days, even though he was arrogant, he had to admit one fact: at that time, he was far inferior to Whitebeard, Shiki, and Linlin.
He was even inferior to Roger, Garp, and Sengoku.
However, as time passed, he became stronger and stronger. His body became more and more powerful, and his Haki became more and more dominant.
When Kaido grew to be on par with the likes of Shiki and Whitebeard in their prime, the opponents he had once been far inferior to were now either disabled or old.
Although they were still strong enough, Kaido just couldn't get excited about them.
The only one whose strength hadn't declined with the passing of time was Linlin. However, her lack of restraint in her continuous childbearing made Kaido lose any desire to fight her.
He craved battle, an evenly matched fight, a fair fight.
Amidst the constant roaring, Kaido looked at the two crisscrossing wounds on his abdomen, and this craving in his eyes became even clearer.
At that time, he could have enjoyed a decent, fulfilling battle like the one he was having now.
But the final result ended in a laughable way.
At that time, Kaido was very angry, even furious.
He wanted to smash Kurozumi Higurashi's head with his club.
But what good would that do?
Battles between pirates were always filled with schemes and tricks; they could never be completely fair.
The idea of captain fighting captain, navigator fighting navigator, shipwright fighting shipwright, swordsman fighting swordsman, and doctor fighting doctor was just a delusion.
Did they think they were playing a pirate's game?
If he had to blame anyone, he could only blame Kozuki Oden for being too careless and stupid.
Once upon a time, Kaido even thought he had found a worthy opponent, but he turned out to be a ridiculous, indecisive monarch.
Kaido, who was lost in his distant thoughts, and Akainu, who was fighting him fiercely, didn't notice that a figure with an indifferent look was slowly drawing a long sword from his waist at the edge of G1 island, a thousand meters away from their battle.
"Akainu, I will take back all the humiliation you inflicted on me today."
A thousand meters away, Akainu and Kaido, who were fighting fiercely, didn't notice anything happening so far away.
"Swoosh!"
Silently, the slender figure holding the long sword instantly vanished from the coastline, not even causing a ripple in the air.
The next second!
Akainu, who was soaring into the sky and clashing with Kaido, suddenly had a figure in a blue robe holding a long sword appear behind him in mid-air. He thrust his sword at the back of Akainu's heart with lightning speed!
"Buzz!"
The speed of the sword thrust was so fast that it couldn't be caught by the naked eye.
It also didn't cause any sonic boom. It was as if the long sword, which the man was holding, had instantly teleported and stabbed into the back of Akainu's heart.
"Pfft!"
A flash of blood appeared. The thick Haki armor covering Akainu's body was pierced by the long sword. The sharp tip, which was wrapped in advanced Armament Haki, instantly penetrated an inch into his flesh, stabbing into Akainu's back.
In front of Akainu, Kaido's eyes instantly turned a blood-red.
At this moment, an endless rage filled his heart.
Again.
Again!
"Wang Zhi!!"
A furious roar, like a thunderclap, came from Kaido's mouth.
A violent, dominating burst of Conqueror's Haki was released from Kaido's body, passing Akainu and slamming into Wang Zhi, who was holding the sword behind him.
Wang Zhi's face changed. "Kaido... you..."
Before Kaido could speak, Wang Zhi felt that the long sword he had thrust out was being clamped by a terrifying force. He couldn't move it forward, nor could he pull it back.
He looked up in shock and saw that Akainu, who had his back turned to him, had his back, where his sword tip was stuck, turn into a pitch-black hand. It was gripping his blade like a steel clamp.
A face grew out of the back of Akainu's head. Magma surged from his entire body, and he instantly reversed his body, turning his back into his front. He gripped Wang Zhi's long sword with his right hand. His left hand glowed red and transformed into a ferocious, crimson hellhound that stretched its body in mid-air and came biting at him.
Wang Zhi didn't think twice. He let go of the sword's hilt and, with a flash, was about to teleport away from his spot.
But in the next second, the ferocious hellhound charged forward with a thunderous roar and pounced into his embrace.
The speed of that instant burst was so fast that it was on par with his teleportation!
That was the speed of a volcanic eruption!
"Inugami Guren!"
Akainu's cruel voice, which sounded like a grim reaper's soul-snatching, rang in Wang Zhi's ears, making his soul tremble.
Last time, when he heard this voice, he lost the ancient halberd he had gotten from the Land of Flowers.
And this time...
"Bang!"
With a loud bang, Wang Zhi let out a muffled groan and spat out a mouthful of blood. His abdomen was hit by the pouncing ferocious hellhound. The terrifying high temperature instantly burned through his clothes, his skin was scorched, and his muscles were dissolved and burned by the high temperature.
"Teleportation!"
"Swoosh!"
Wang Zhi's figure instantly disappeared from in front of Akainu.
When he reappeared, he was five hundred meters away in an open space.
He clutched his abdomen, which was in excruciating pain. His face looked terrible as he watched Kaido, who was releasing a violent, murderous aura. He said hatefully, "Kaido! What are you doing? I was helping you..."
"Shut up!!"
Hearing Wang Zhi's words, Kaido looked as if he had been humiliated. His entire face twisted in shame and anger.
He gnashed his teeth. His huge, mountain-like body suddenly crashed forward, passing Akainu and shooting several hundred meters in an instant. The spiked club he was gripping was raised high, and he slammed it down on Wang Zhi, whose face was filled with horror.
"No one is allowed to interfere in my battles!"
"Raimei Hakke!"
"You're crazy! Are you f*cking crazy, Kaido?! Don't forget the Marines are our common enemy!"
Wang Zhi threw out those words, and with a flash, he used his Suke Suke no Mi ability and decisively disappeared in front of the furious Kaido.
The spiked club, which was shooting out countless flashes of Conqueror's Haki lightning, blew apart the air and slammed hard into the ground in front of him.
Amidst the earth-shattering explosion, a thick crack that was over a dozen kilometers long spread out from in front of Kaido, almost splitting the entire G1 island in half.
Looking in the direction where Wang Zhi had disappeared, Kaido's chest heaved violently, and his face turned red.
"Bastard... Bastard!"
He gritted his teeth and slowly turned around. He saw Akainu walking toward him with a blank expression, stepping on the magma on the ground.
Kaido's cheek twitched, and his face alternated between green and red. The spiked club he was gripping tightly was suddenly thrown away by him, flying far away and crashing into a pile of rubble.
Seeing Kaido's ashamed and angry expression, Akainu's low, deep voice sounded.
"Don't mind it. The victor is king. I never care about group attacks or sneak attacks."
Kaido was stunned when he heard this. In his mind, the scene from a decade ago, when Kozuki Oden was distracted by Kurozumi Higurashi, who had turned into his son Momonosuke, and was hit and knocked down by his club, came to mind again.
Suddenly, Kaido's shoulders shook, and a low laugh came from his mouth.
Soon, this low laugh turned into a liberating laugh.
He spread his two thick arms and laughed up at the sky, laughing wildly and uninhibitedly.
"Worororo, wororororo!"
"You're right! The victor is king. The strong never care about sneak attacks or group attacks. This world has always been like this. Rocks was killed by a joint attack from Roger and Garp. Does that mean he wasn't strong?"
"I cared too much and became stubborn! The reason I was sneak-attacked is because I'm not strong enough!"
"Absolute fairness has never existed in this world! I knew this when I was thirteen, but I only just fully understood it today."
He looked at Akainu, clenched his fists, and faced him.
"Come! Let's continue our battle, Akainu!"
End of Chapter)
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