Every spectator strained to learn who'd won—or at least who'd seized the upper hand first.
Of course, most believed Kaido would prevail, and overwhelmingly so. The "strongest one-on-one" title was a crown he'd hammered out across the New World by beating its greatest monsters. Creed losing today seemed like the smart bet.
Dust on the island thinned, driven away by rolling gusts laced with terrible Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) and shredding sword-qi. Within the haze, two figures slowly came into view—Creed braced beneath crossed blades, Kaido's titanic kanabō bearing down—and Creed hadn't retreated a single step.
They were testing raw armament and raw power head-on.
Crack—
Rumble—
The ground couldn't bear them. It sank and shattered, fractures racing out like black spiderwebs. Give it a minute or two more and what was left of the island would sink forever.
"Good kid! You've got Charlotte Linlin's iron skin too? Don't tell me you're a giant. No… can't be—your frame isn't."
Kaido shoved Creed away with force; Creed turned his wrists and smashed back in the same breath. Ice spread, freezing everything it touched, and Kaido's brow lifted.
His Armament didn't only condense into weapons; within a certain range, he could flex it as he pleased—splitting it into countless blades like sword-qi. At first, Creed was caught off guard and Kaido's little trick landed—but strangely, that rain of cutting Armament didn't gouge Creed down. It sliced clothes, drew red lines, perhaps a few shallow cuts… nothing more.
Kaido's Armament was top-shelf. Even a thread of it bit nearly as hard as a Supreme Grade blade's slash.
Yet Creed's body had tanked it.
As Kaido watched closer, something felt familiar—so he asked.
"Mm?"
The prickling in his hide, the chunk of hair shaved off his right ear by a near-miss—none of it felt good. He was… annoyed. He hadn't gained much in those last collisions; Creed's intent had even nicked him.
"That sword just now—what do you call it?"
Kaido battered Creed aside and asked aloud. Iron skin was one thing; he cared more about that previous strike. Its bearing could already stand shoulder to shoulder with that bastard Shanks' cuts.
"Musō Rinne (Supreme Samsara)."
Creed stood with his sword. The hand gripping the hilt tingled and ached—Kaido's force was simply too much. Creed could block him frontally for a time, but not indefinitely.
Should he use Susanoo?
This wasn't a death-match, and Creed didn't want to play that final card. Then—lean on the Pika Pika no Mi (Glint-Glint Fruit) and Ope Ope no Mi (Op-Op Fruit), and just outlast the ten hours?
But Kaido might not humor him that long.
Right then, a Den-Den Mushi on Kaido crackled to life.
"Boss Kaido! Whitebeard's people just sank thirteen of our out-island ships—they're heading straight for Wano—"
"Damn that Whitebeard—always crossing me! I'll kill you one day, old bastard!"
Kaido spat curses, then shot Creed a look. "Brat, we'll stop here. I'll come find you again when I've got time."
Wano was his hard-built nest. With the Three Disasters captured by Creed and Kaido himself away, there wasn't a supreme powerhouse guarding the homeland. If Whitebeard's men made landfall, the defenses could fold fast. He had to go back.
"If you want to leave with your three banners, leave ransom."
Creed leveled his blade. He was still extracting Kaido's Armament and had no intention of letting the dragon slip away too quickly.
"Morgans! Pay his thirty billion ransom for me—I'll square it with you later. Rushed out today and forgot my wallet."
Kaido yelled toward the distance—blunt as ever.
"Damn you, Kaido! You still owe me for the last intel—now you want to stiff me for thirty billion more? Not a chance!"
Morgans, hovering far off, nearly burst a vessel.
"Hah! I don't do debts. Help me today and I'll throw in an exclusive—one you actually want."
Temptation dangled, the newsbird stroked his beak in thought—then sighed. "Fine. I'll trust you one more time. I'll pay Creed's ransom."
"Refreshing!"
With a grinding crack, Kaido's form exploded upward into the colossal divine dragon again. He rolled thunder beneath his belly and arrowed toward the rooftop where the Three Disasters were bound. He'd scoop them up and sprint for Wano.
Those who saw that oppressive, world-filling dragon-body gaped, hearts pounding with instinctive awe. Minds went white.
And then—someone stepped out to bar his way.
Unfriendly.
Shing—
As Kaido was about to drop onto Tower 820 where the Three Disasters waited, a blood-crimson slash vaulted upward to cleave him from the sky.
"Apologies. You cannot take them."
A cold voice snapped across the air.
"What?!"
Before that blood-red arc, Kaido felt a chill flood his frame, as if an endless sea of blood surged to drown him—vast and irresistible.
Both talons whipped out, Armament poured on, lightning wreathing his claws. He caught the blow.
Boom—
A great blood-black flower blasted across the sky; half the tower's crown evaporated to dust.
"You are…?"
Kaido finally saw his assailant clearly: a burly man in purple top and red trousers, a blood-colored cloak streaming from his shoulders. Braids hung from his chin and from the hair down his back.
The gaudy attire, that elegant yet eerie air—and something nigglingly familiar made Kaido frown. The stranger's power was great; that one sword already outstripped even his prized enforcer, King.
Since when had Creed gathered monsters of this caliber as subordinates?
Somewhere in Kaido's gut, envy stirred.
No wonder the brat refused to be his vice-captain.
(End of Chapter)
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