"I need to understand more about the Dark-Dark Fruit."
"I have to uncover its weaknesses, no matter what."
Ares knew this clearly.
If he wanted to defeat his opponent, he first had to understand him.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
Rocks was the strongest opponent Ares had ever faced.
Even Redfield, the Red Count, could not compare.
Redfield's swordsmanship was indeed terrifying, but it did not give Ares the same overwhelming sense of crisis as the Dark-Dark Fruit did.
Once again, vivid scenes surfaced in Ares' mind.
Frame by frame, the images replayed themselves with uncanny clarity.
Ares focused entirely on them.
Through his "cheat," he gained a deeper understanding of Rocks, but if he wanted to learn more, there was only one way.
He had to continue fighting.
Only through constant combat could he truly grasp his opponent.
When Ares snapped back to reality, a terrifying gleam erupted from his golden dragon eyes.
He wielded his dragon tail as a weapon.
A weapon that could rival a famous blade.
"No-Sword Style Underworld Sovereign Sacred Authority Blade!"
Shing!
As the dragon tail fell like a divine sword, an extreme radiance erupted across the sky, illuminating every onlooker's pupils.
All were stunned by this peerless, world-shaking sword light.
Even heaven and earth paled before it.
The sword qi rang sharply, a sky-splitting cyan arc that roared forward like a heavenly rainbow, cleaving straight toward Rocks.
Compared to that sword wave stretching over a hundred meters, Rocks' towering two-meter frame looked utterly insignificant.
Facing the devastating slash
Buzz!
Rocks' arm hardened instantly with Armament Haki.
His fist gleamed with a golden sheen.
There were no bulging muscles like Ares'.
No terrifying veins.
It looked… ordinary.
The only abnormality was a sphere of black light enveloping his fist, like a pair of black boxing gloves forged from darkness itself.
When the sword wave that could make even a great swordsman despair closed to within a few meters of him
Rocks finally threw his punch.
Clang!
That seemingly tiny fist struck the sword wave head-on.
The colossal slash froze midair.
As if time itself had been stopped.
Rocks stood firm as a mountain, his punching posture unchanged.
The next instant
Cracks spread rapidly from the point of impact.
The brilliant sword qi shattered like jade, collapsing piece by piece.
Crushing everything in its path.
Absolute power.
Absolute Haki.
With a single punch, the sword wave was obliterated.
Rocks looked utterly relaxed, as if he had done something trivial.
That arrogant face of his was always filled with confidence.
The confidence of someone who believed himself invincible.
It radiated from his very brows.
A faint smile tugged at Rocks' lips as he said proudly, "Ares, do you know how many years I have trained my Haki?"
"How many battles between life and death I have endured?"
"Even if your Armament Haki is special, it still cannot compare to mine."
"You have no chance of winning."
As he spoke, Rocks bent his knees slightly, adopting a crouched stance.
His leg muscles swelled.
With a burst of power
Cracks exploded across the ground beneath his feet as he shot upward like a rocket, charging straight at Ares.
Black-red lightning crackled wildly around his fist.
Snap! Crack!
"Ares!" Rocks roared arrogantly. "Aren't you proud of your fists?"
"Then tell me. Do you dare take this punch?!"
His confidence was absolute.
He had mastered the technique of Conqueror's Haki coating to perfection.
And he did not believe that Ares' Conqueror's Haki could rival his own.
Youth was an advantage.
But sometimes, it was also a weakness.
It lacked the tempering and accumulation of time.
Ares' amber eyes burned with ferocious battle intent as he answered defiantly, "Why wouldn't I dare?!"
As his words fell
His form began to change.
He entered the Azure Dragon fruit's strongest state.
The hybrid form.
Blue scales emerged across his already terrifying, molten-metal-like muscles, forming a suit of azure scale armor.
More savage.
More primal.
Orange flame clouds swirled beneath his feet, freezing the surrounding air.
Even the light itself dimmed.
At that moment, Ares looked like a ferocious god-beast descending upon the world.
His arm instantly turned blood-red.
Steel-like muscles rearranged and locked together like transforming machinery, an awe-inspiring sight.
Ares' body had endured countless brutal trials.
Tree collisions.
Stone impacts.
Steel rod strikes.
Infernal flames.
It had long surpassed human limits.
It was comparable even to Big Mom's "Iron Balloon."
No weaker than a famous blade.
His blood-red fist shot forward.
Terrifying fist force surged with dense, viscous shockwaves, violently distorting the air.
"Blood Armament Fist Wave True Essence Crimson Dragon Impact!!!"
Boom!!!
The moment their fists collided, it was like a cosmic explosion.
Nearby pirates had their ears ringing violently, their minds going blank.
Some could not withstand the overflowing Haki and rolled their eyes back, collapsing unconscious on the spot.
"These are elite pirates, and they still can't endure the aftershocks?" Captain John stared in horror as men fell around him.
They were all core members of the Rocks Pirates.
Yet they could not even withstand the residual aura of the clash.
Cracks began to appear along the walls of the Skull Castle as shockwaves rippled outward.
John raised his head, but his vision was completely obscured by raging winds and shockwaves.
"Can Ares withstand the captain's punch?!" he shouted internally.
"The captain has cultivated Conqueror's Haki coating for years. Its power is terrifying…"
Suddenly, a violent gale swept through.
The force stung his skin painfully.
John immediately raised his arm to shield his face.
When the wind finally subsided, he lowered his arm.
His pupils shrank.
"Ares…"
"He blocked it?!"
"He actually blocked Captain Rocks' punch coated with Conqueror's Haki?! How did he do that?!"
In John's mind, Rocks' fists were unrivaled in the world.
He had seen countless powerful figures fall before those fists over the years.
Not only John.
Even Rocks himself was genuinely surprised.
Through the terrifying web of black-red lightning, his gaze met Ares' dragon eyes, heavy with pressure.
"Fist waves?"
"You've grasped the true essence of fist arts."
"No wonder you could block that punch."
"This is the second time today you've surprised me."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.
The story's already ahead on Patron. Go there if you want to catch up faster!
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"