As those sharp eyes snapped open, Aus immediately felt violent struggling.
This damn blade had some serious fight in it.
But under Aus's monstrous strength, all the struggling was pointless. Yoru—now with its own consciousness—couldn't escape Aus's grip. Only the blade's trembling could show its efforts.
"What kind of shitty idea is that! Give it back!!!"
Hearing Aus's words, Mihawk's face went black instantly as he snatched Yoru from Aus's hands.
But whether pissed off by Aus's threat or not, Yoru was clearly furious now.
The second it returned to Mihawk's grip, it dragged the still-processing Hawk Eyes' arm into a vicious slash at Aus.
CLANG—
Metal rang against metal.
"Really holds grudges, just like you, Hawk Eyes."
Aus's arm was wrapped in pitch-black Armament Haki, held sideways to steadily block the strike while he casually sipped his tea.
This sweet stuff was actually pretty good.
"Mama mama mama~ Should I extract the soul?"
Big Mom looked at Aus with a thoughtful suggestion.
"Nah. I'm sure it can be tamed eventually." Aus smiled and shook his head.
Sure enough, after just one strike, Mihawk had Yoru under control again.
Obviously—
After years together with its master, even with its own consciousness, Yoru was still Hawk Eyes' most familiar weapon.
It had settled down...
But...
Looking at Yoru, which had gone back to its cold act in his hands, Mihawk shook his head helplessly.
After all, this was the blade he'd carried for years—the one he'd sworn to use to become the world's greatest swordsman. Mihawk could still read some of its intentions.
Unless it met swordsmen worth drawing against, Yoru probably wouldn't actively wake up.
Just like how—
Mihawk never bothered seriously fighting half-ass swordsmen either. A butter knife was enough.
After this little episode, the tea party continued as planned.
Sweets, shows, chatting...
Everything seemed harmonious and pleasant. Even Crocodile had unknowingly eaten several pieces of cake.
But—
All parties must end.
No matter how fun the tea party, it would eventually wrap up.
Time had passed, and some less important guests had gradually left.
Only the Big Mom Pirates, Aus's crew, and a few underworld bosses remained.
Reading the changing atmosphere, Crocodile set down his teacup, casually glancing toward the main table where Aus sat. His crossed legs came down.
Mihawk also put down his knife, gently wiping his mouth with a napkin. His sharp hawk eyes—showing neither joy nor sorrow—quietly stared at Yoru in his hands.
Aus naturally felt it too.
He sighed internally.
Fuck. Still had to come to this. Looked like he'd have to become mortal enemies with Big Mom after all.
He slowly finished his last sip of tea, still considering whether to launch a surprise attack—
But his Observation Haki detected another presence first.
Kind of familiar...
Checking the body size—
Confirmed.
"Coming to crash the party at this moment... Kaido."
Aus thought to himself. Looking at Big Mom, who already wanted to devour him, his mind raced into idea-king mode.
Aus: (Glasses-wearing grin, finger pointing up meme)
He'd thought of a way to come back for more shows, worship, and cake next time.
As expected—
That several-hundred-meter giant figure was heading straight for Cake Island.
Through rolling clouds, a shadow quickly appeared overhead.
Now not just Aus—almost everyone noticed this figure.
Some younger, less experienced ones got scared enough to fall off their chairs.
Even Big Mom immediately stood up seeing this figure, grinding her teeth as she shouted:
"Hey! Kaido!! What the hell do you want coming here now?!!"
Only Aus stayed seated with crossed legs, shadows covering his face, emotions unreadable.
"Worororo... Old hag, isn't the answer obvious?!!!"
BOOM—
With a violent landing that made the earth shake, smoke billowed everywhere.
A massive, muscular man emerged from the smoke, spiked club on his shoulder, face flushed with alcohol.
"I'm here to kill that bastard Aus, obviously!!!"
"Wanna join in, Linlin... hic..."
Kaido—who lived for war and death—immediately targeted Aus while addressing Big Mom.
Though this "join in" was pretty ambiguous—join him in killing Aus, or join Aus in getting killed.
But Aus spoke up, giving Big Mom no chance to explain.
"I see..."
Aus slowly raised his head, face full of razor-sharp killing intent.
"So this invitation was to team up with Kaido and kill me?"
"It's not—"
"DIE!!!"
Before Big Mom could speak, a spiked club swinging with afterimages appeared in front of Aus.
The scene exploded into chaos. Mihawk and Crocodile dodged the attack's shockwave first.
But many Charlotte children got caught in the blast. Under Katakuri's horrified stare, their fate was unknown.
"Fine then. You two can come at me together."
At ground zero of the attack, two figures were locked in collision. The earth had cratered from the impact.
Aus held Ace, steadily catching Kaido's full-power strike. Black-red lightning burst out, spreading across the entire sky.
Except for Hawk Eyes, Crocodile, Big Mom, Katakuri, and a few others, every other spectator got blown away instantly.
Despite the massive size difference, Aus showed zero disadvantage. One-handed, he perfectly blocked Kaido's two-handed strike—a visually stunning sight.
Right off the bat, Conqueror's Haki coating with no holding back or testing.
"Worororo... Just from this strike, I acknowledge you, Aus!!!"
"Let's have some real fun slaughter!!!"
Body transformation—with another strengthening of his frame, dragon-human hybrid form instantly activated.
"Thunder... Bagua!!!"
Another devastating strike swung out, carrying Conqueror's Haki coating's might.
One club tearing through the air!
Countless buildings crumbled to pieces. This attack that once knocked someone out of their addiction struck straight at Aus.
Aus had to admit—
After all these years—
His blood rarely boiled like this anymore.
"Bring it!!! Hundred Beasts Kaido! Big Mom!!! You want war? Then I'll give you war!!!"
Excitement making his scalp tingle, overwhelming Conqueror's Haki instantly coated Ace's blade as Aus struck boldly:
"Instant Divine Departure!!!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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