Hey everyone, I hope you're all well; I want to comment on a few things.
First, I decided that the characters' attacks will remain in their original languages, and the ones I invented will remain in Japanese; some I'll explain, others I won't.
Second, I had a Devil Fruit that occurred to me, but I'm too lazy to write it, so I'll leave it to whoever wants to try writing it in their own fic. This would be the Fruit of Fear; here the user creates the illusion of becoming or manipulating their opponent's greatest fear. Upon awakening, they could find these objects or people in reality. It could be further developed, but that would be for the person who takes this idea.
And finally, I've finished my theoretical framework, so I'll be able to write and have the chapters ready for every other day, unless something else happens to me.
I also wanted to mention that this chapter felt short since I wanted to finish the conflict in a single chapter but couldn't. I won't say more. I hope you enjoy it, and I appreciate the support of those who continue to read this. Thank you very much.
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The seven days are finally over. My whole body hurts, and I'm covered in sweat. Perhaps without Yamato and Balesca I wouldn't have been able to do this, since the services they provided me, like not having to go to the bathroom or being fed to replenish my energy, are helping me a lot.
Of course, right now I have to go to the bathroom since I can't hold it. I can feel the Marines coming this way as they watch the machinery stop and the workers return to the factory to get back to work.
I wish I could do something, but honestly, I don't feel like getting involved in these matters; I just wanted to give them some time to rest and see their families, nothing more.
Third-person POV.
Dante could be seen running to the bathroom as if the world was ending. Yamato and Balesca didn't say anything, as they understood what I was going through.
Yamato: "Now what?" he asked; he could feel some Marines coming; He couldn't see the strength of each one, but he sensed that one of them was dangerous.
Balesca: "Wait for Dante to come back; I have something to do."
Yamato: "And that would be it?"
Balesca: "Pest control," he said as he stood up and left, waving goodbye. "I'll be back in a few hours, probably."
Yamato, not knowing what to do and seeing how the marines were already gathering nearby, decided to follow Dante.
He arrived at a public restroom, where he had seen Dante running.
Yamato: "Dante, are you there?"
Dante: "You're busy," his voice was heard.
Yamato felt a drop of water appear on his forehead at Dante's response.
Yamato: "You'd better hurry; the marines are coming, and there's one of them who gives me a bad feeling."
Dante: "Are you talking about that old man in yellow?"
Yamato: "Exactly, you won't have any problems with him?"
As they spoke, several marines were already rearranging them; they'd been preparing for this for days, so they knew what to do; they had their weapons ready and pointed.
Dante: "I'm not afraid to face Kizaru," he said as he was heard flushing the bathroom door before leaving, still in his pants and nothing else, his body still a little sweaty and a little tired, but those were wounds, only the scars from his past battles. "Of those over there, there's only one person I'm afraid to face."
At that moment, several people were seen walking in the direction where Dante and Yamato were; among them was Kizaru. His face showed a small smile, but at the same time, it showed his laziness and his lack of desire to be here.
But Dante's gaze wasn't on Kizaru but on Doll, who was walking beside him. Dante couldn't see her eyes because they were covered by her bangs, but he felt her many emotions swirling inside him.
That was the truth; Dante was more afraid of facing a scorned, half-widowed woman than an admiral. Not to mention that this Marine is said to have the strongest individual strength of the Marines, thanks to his Devil Fruit and its speed.
Kizaru and the others had stopped, all except Doll; she continued walking until she reached Doll's front.
In front of her, Dante looked calm, but inside, he was panicking and filled with fear.
Doll, knowing that Dante was going to be captured, volunteered and fought with the one who would follow Kizaru, only to find herself standing in front of her husband's best friend.
Doll looked at Dante with dead fish eyes, as if the joy of her world had vanished. Dante realized this; he could only gulp.
Dante: "Doll, it's been a while since—" He couldn't finish speaking, as Doll slapped him with a Haki-coated palm. Dante didn't dodge the attack but instead decided to meet it head-on.
Doll: "Where?" she asked; Dante didn't respond. "Tell me, where is Arthur buried?" he almost shouted.
Dante said nothing. He couldn't tell him where Arthur was buried, since it was Whitebeard's homeland, where the others were, including his children.
Everyone remained silent; no one said anything, they just watched. Kizaru had a complicated expression on his face. Yamato didn't quite understand what was happening, so his confusion was evident on his face.
Doll: "Why? Why? Why? Tell me, why did it have to be him?" he said in an agony that could be felt across the island. Her eyes went from empty to filled with an unending sadness. "Why couldn't it be someone else? After everything we promised, all the future we had planned, he didn't know what to do, but he felt and believed that in his heart, just by being by my side, he would be okay."
Dante: "Trini was pregnant," he said simply. She opened her eyes, this being information she didn't know; she knew almost nothing about what happened that day. "Arthur died protecting her and the child in her womb; I was fighting a difficult enemy, and because of my mistake, Arthur ended up paying the consequences because of my stupidity." Dante's voice sounded serious, with sadness evident in every syllable he spoke.
Doll listened to her explanation, but her mind was only on one thing: "It was Dante's fault."
And with a leap, she threw a punch at Dante, who took it but used Haki to protect himself. Doll threw another punch, and another, and another. Dante fell to the ground; she took the opportunity to jump on him and throw multiple punches at his face, but each punch Doll threw was weaker than the last, and she continued like this until the blows were increasingly harsh on his face.
A few drops had fallen on Dante's face; these were Doll's tears, falling down his face and ending up on him.
Dante: "You're satisfied," he said simply.
Doll was angry upon hearing this, but the next moment she didn't do anything; she just stood there, surrendering.
Dante stood up, his face red and a drop of blood coming out of his mouth.
Doll: "I can go see him, even just once," she said, her voice breaking.
Dante: "I'm sorry," he said, conveying the message.
Doll remained there, on the floor, mourning her loss, accepting all the emotions she had suppressed since learning Arthur had died.
Dante looked from Doll to Kizaru.
Dante: "I see the admirals aren't as unloved as I thought they would be."
Kizaru: "Don't worry, she's my subordinate, and I obviously care about her," he said, raising his hand, trying to calm things down.
Dante just gave him a small smile.
Dante: "Out of curiosity, there's a chance they'll let us go peacefully; I can buy you a drink if you'd like."
Kizaru: "Sadly, I can't. If I do, Sengoku will give me extra work for three years straight, so I have to capture you right here, right now."
Dante frowned, not at her statement, but at the thought of fighting right here; after all, they're still in the factory.
Dante: "Are you sure you want to fight here?"
Kizaru: "If I let you move, you'll most likely escape," he said, preparing to attack.
Dante: "Yamato."
Yamato: "Yes," he said, coming out of his trance.
Dante: "This is going to get ugly, so go to the factory and save the people who are about to suffer serious injury or die in the factory."
Kizaru: "You won't have to worry about that," he said, transforming his body of light to appear next to Dante, ready to kick in less than a second. "Because this will be fast," he pronounced, kicking.
Dante already knew Kizaru would do this, and the moment he saw him move, he summoned the Fusion Sword and blocked the kick. The blow sent him flying away from where he was. This was the force of a kick at the speed of light.
Dante: "It's strong," he said in his mind.
And so the chaos in the factory began. Quickly, Kizaru began to launch multiple laser beams in Dante's direction, most of which were dodged; those that weren't were destroyed by the Fusion Sword.
The ordinary people, including some marines, went crazy; after all, they were still inside the factory. With just a few of Kizaru's light beams, the place already began to shake.
Yamato, realizing this, immediately went to see the people, being followed by some marines intent on capturing her, as she was Dante's accomplice.
Returning to the two opponents, Kizaru had already turned into light again to position himself in an ideal position to attack Dante.
Kizaru: "Yasakani no Magatama," he said, using both his arms and hands, launching multiple light attacks at Dante.
Dante, using his speed, decided to escape the place; being in close quarters made it more difficult to move, so he made the best decision to escape.
Kizaru quickly turned into light and chased Dante, launching multiple light attacks in the midst of the chase. Kizaru didn't care where he was; as long as he could capture Dante, he could destroy the entire factory.
He might not use the people as sacrifices, as Akainu would, but he wouldn't save them either, since his main mission is Dante, and nothing else matters.
Dante realized he was already being targeted, so he had no choice but to take notice and attack, almost at the factory exit.
With a leap, Dante tried to slice Kizaru in half, but Kizaru managed to dodge him with his body made of pure light.
Kizaru: "Careful," he said in his slow, half-hearted voice. Only to have to move his body to dodge another slash.
Dante, swinging his sword, tried to slash at Kizaru again, but he had already turned into light and moved far away.
Dante: 'I see, when he detransforms, he can't transform immediately, which gives me at most a second to attack.' With that thought, he looked at Kizaru again. 'He may be light, but he doesn't move exactly like light; his speed is very fast, faster than mine, but I can still see him, even if it's just barely. If he were truly light, it would be instantaneous.'
Kizaru moved again, but in front of Dante, delivering a kick with a laser beam included. Dante was barely able to move his back to dodge both. The beam continued its course toward the factory, and soon explosions and loud noises began to be heard.
Kizaru: "Oh, I didn't mean to," he said simply, jumping back.
Dante composed himself and stared at Kizaru. He felt like he was both overestimating and underestimating the person in front of him, who wasn't very strong, but at the same time, he was; it was a strange feeling, perhaps because of his eccentric personality.
Dante: "I'm still a little tired, and if I continue like this, he'll beat me from sheer exhaustion. I have no choice but to go for the kill, using all my strength, or else I feel like I'm not going to defeat him." He thought, releasing a wave of Conqueror's Haki that surrounded the entire island.
Kizaru's expression went from relaxed to serious. He watched Dante's body transform into its full Zoan form. The truth is, almost no one had confirmed that Dante had consumed a Devil Fruit; until now, there was suspicion, but no certainty.
Dante had also disassembled his sword into seven blades, holding five in its sheath and two in his hands.
And from one moment to the next, Dante disappeared from Kizaru's sight. In his moment of panic, he realized his opponent's direction of movement, as movement was so perceptible.
He saw several energy slashes aimed at him, destroying his body, but it only turned into light and transformed elsewhere. Only to see Dante standing almost at his side.
Seeing this, he felt himself being sliced in half by Dante, so he moved back and covered himself with Haki. Dante, using two swords, managed to cut Kizaru but only cut a small amount of his abdomen and arm.
Turning around, he tried to slash at Kizaru again, but he was already gone.
The moment he realized it, he turned his body only to see a beam of light about to completely cover him.
Kizaru had moved and immediately generated an attack similar to the Yata no Kagami, only larger, enough to cover Dante's body.
The attack reached Dante, but Kizaru didn't stop. Not knowing if it would damage him, he continued the attack until he felt Dante come out, only to feel someone grab his arm within the attack.
Instead of moving sideways, Dante decided to go straight ahead to where Kizaru was. Dante's body looked intact, which unsettled Kizaru enough to do something: using Haki, he struck Kizaru in the chest, sending him flying away.
Kizaru, after passing through three walls of the factory, was able to balance himself and return on foot. He no longer had his usual lazy expression; he was more serious.
Shortly after, Dante appeared, with his imposing mask and black wings; he looked as if a demon had risen to earth to claim the soul of some unfortunate soul.
And with a blink of an eye, Dante was standing in front of Kizaru, ready to cut him down.
In the distance, multiple slashes and beams of light could be seen piercing part of the factory. The factory was falling into ruin, but the two opponents paid no attention.
A beam of light flew out of the factory, transforming into Kizaru and stopping in a forest a little away from the city.
Not far away, Dante was flying toward him.
Kizaru: "Toksuki no tsurugi," I said, generating multiple swords of light in Dante's direction.
He was only able to dodge half of them, the rest being destroyed and others being hit in the body.
The moment he arrived in front of Kizaru, he transformed into light, but instead of one Kizaru, 10 appeared, all pointing their fingers at Dante, firing beams of light that exploded at his position.
At that moment, multiple blue energy swords destroyed the 10 Kizarus, only for them to join together and form one.
Kizaru: "Ama no Murakumo," he said, creating a sword of light and blocking Dante's attack.
Dante, realizing what was happening, decided to use his Conqueror's Haki again, but all directed at Kizaru.
Sensing this, Kizaru's Observation Haki began to be significantly affected, making him even more nervous.
Quickly, Kizaru created another sword to block Dante's other attack, thus blocking multiple attempts by Dante to cut him in half.
Out of nowhere, the Ama no Murakumo was destroyed by Dante's force, causing Kizaru to turn into light and move away from him. But Dante wasn't going to let him get away with it. Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't use Observation Haki, he was bound to make a decisive move.
Seeing where Kizaru was going to appear, he used a lot of Haki, both Armament and Conqueror's Haki, on the sword.
And just as Kizaru was about to reappear, Dante launched the attack.
Dante: "Zettai ryōiki saibansho," he said, launching an energy attack filled with haki.
(Note: Zettai ryōiki saibansho translates as "Court of Absolute Jurisdiction"; I originally called it "Absolute Domain Court," but between translations it became that way, and I kept it.)
Kizaru could barely protect himself when he reformed from the light within himself. He could only cross his arms and use as much haki as he could to protect himself.
Everything in the wasteland of the slash was split in two. Luckily, he was on the other side of the island, facing the sea; otherwise, the factory would have been split in two in an instant.
After the attack, everything was calm.
Dante stared at the horizon. Zettai ryōiki saibansho is an attack Dante developed inspired by Shanks's Kamusari attack, which was inspired by Gol D. Roger's Divine Departure.
In the distance, Dante could make out Kizaru's figure, walking slowly, with his cut-in-half body covered in blood.
In the middle of the attack, Kizaru was able to transform his body into light, splitting himself to avoid being torn in two. Had he not done so, he would have died right there.
Dante didn't want to kill Kizaru; of the three current admirals, he liked the one in front of him the most, but for reasons already mentioned, he has to be serious if he wants to escape from here.
Things got weird with Kuzan. His distortion of life and the experiences he's lived have slowly changed him. Because of this, his communication with him has diminished to zero, and it's unknown if Kuzan would have expected him to finish the 7 days like Kizaru did.
It was weird with Akainu, as he had almost no interaction with him, but he once felt a great level of respect for him. But that was before his reward and becoming a criminal; he didn't know what he'd think of him now.
Dante watched Kizaru prepare, not because he didn't want to attack, but because he was tired, both mentally and physically. He felt drained and weary.
Enough so that he stopped casting Conqueror's Haki, leaving the opportunity to use Observation Haki again.
Kizaru, using geppo, hovered in the air and from there launched multiple light attacks, which Dante had to dodge, since the moment they touched something, it exploded, and Dante's body was no longer able to withstand any more explosions.
Seeing this, Kizaru decided to go all out.
Kizaru: "Toksuki no tsurugi no ame," he said, causing multiple swords of light to appear in the sky, which fell at the speed of light toward Dante.
He was using his swords and was able to block most of them, but several had pierced through various parts of his body.
And the moment he finished the attack, he blocked a light-speed leg with his arm so that from the same foot he launched a light attack at Dante, which hit him head-on, exploding in his face and throwing him far away.
After Dante fell to the ground, he stood up, only for his body to feel weak, falling to the ground, only to stop mid-transition.
Dante's transformation dissolved, only to end up in his hybrid form.
At that moment, the multiple wounds on Dante's body could be seen, something his full transformation hadn't shown.
He had several burned parts of his body, along with several wounds on various parts of his body. Blood began to flow from the wounds.
Dante's expression was tired. Kizaru was the same; the wound from Dante's two blows had taken quite a toll on him. He felt that if he received one or two more, he would lose.
It was clear that the two were almost equal, but that wasn't the case, as Kizaru had the advantage, being physically and mentally fit, unlike Dante.
If Dante wanted to win, he had to end the fight as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Yamato was helping the people at the factory while dodging the marines there. Meanwhile, in the city, another battle was brewing, this one being led by Balesca.
Their opponents were four people in white suits and masks, known as CP0, sent by the World Government to capture Dante.