A devastating strike landed dead center on King's chest.
But aside from making the crater under him bigger, it didn't seem to do much else.
"That so?"
Maybe sensing the mockery, or meeting a swordsman worth his time—
A pair of ice-cold eyes surfaced from the black blade Yoru, staring coldly at King.
"What the hell?!!!"
Seeing his opponent's sword suddenly talk, King—already caught completely off guard—was even more bewildered.
But then, a feeling he hadn't experienced in forever, something called pain, shot through his nerves straight to his brain.
His defense... broke?
The strike that had been blocked now flashed past him, blood spraying up just like Kaido getting his chest carved open moments ago.
"This... impossible!!!"
King's entire body exploded in violent flames, temporarily forcing back Mihawk who was winding up for another strike.
Mihawk's attention shifted to his blade too, looking at those razor-sharp eyes. First time he'd ever heard Yoru speak.
When King furiously got back up, he found—
Four cold pupils now locked onto him, radiating the killing intent of elite swordsmen.
...
"Those two are doing damn good work."
Within Aus's Observation Haki range, he caught Crocodile and Mihawk's fights, plus those underworld lackeys he'd just picked up.
They actually had momentum to take on two Emperor crews.
Sure, the other Beasts Pirates officers weren't here, but this wasn't all of Aus's forces either.
Hell, Doflamingo alone could handle the Flying Six.
Course, this was just reassuring.
For Aus, anyone below Emperor Commander was instant-kill material—no need to leave scraps for his people.
But Aus didn't want to micromanage everything either. Seeing this massive crew under him, just developing them was entertaining as hell.
Right?
"Hey!!! Aus!! You bastard, getting distracted in the middle of a fight?!!"
Kaido, already bleeding from countless wounds, saw Aus still watching other battles and lost his shit, swinging his club viciously at Aus's skull.
Sonic booms cracked the air. The spiked club wrapped in Conqueror's Haki reached terrifying speed and power in dragon-hybrid Kaido's grip.
Big Mom was also heated now, especially with Aus's attacks being so wide and destructive—basically strip-mining the landscape.
Countless Cake Castle buildings got demolished, and all this high-intensity fighting triggered Big Mom's sweet tooth cravings, making her go completely feral.
Fat melted off her body rapidly, even flashing glimpses of her younger days for a moment.
These two might not have hit their future peaks yet—
But they'd definitely crossed into Emperor-level territory.
Don't let Kaido's even match with Kozuki Oden fool you into thinking he was weak.
As an old hand from Roger's crew, Aus knew damn well that while Oden was an idiot, his strength was legit.
After tanking a King-level hit from Roger head-on, he was still bouncing around. Lost to peak Whitebeard in a fight.
Might be nowhere near King level, but had definitely stepped into Emperor threshold. Guy was supposed to be Oda's heroic character after all.
Character writing failed, but the power scaling was solid.
Even if they couldn't call themselves Four Emperors yet, they had enough strength to rule these seas.
Facing two Four Emperors attacking him, Aus showed zero panic—if anything, he was pumped as hell.
Now this was a real fight.
Unlike battling the three Admirals with their overwhelming elemental spam that you could only counter with absolutely monstrous Haki—
Whether it was Hundred Beasts Kaido or Charlotte Linlin—
Their fighting styles leaned toward raw physical power and Haki.
This kind of flesh-and-blood brawling—he'd been craving it forever!!!
One fist clenched tight!
Aus slowly wound up for a punch, his fist wrapped in blazing cross-shaped red light.
The ground instantly cratered a hundred meters down!
Flash-stepping past Big Mom's berserk slash, Aus's fist shot straight for that spiked club.
Lightning from their collision even reached the other battlefields, making heads turn.
Two absolutely devastating Conqueror's Haki coating attacks stayed locked in midair.
But unlike Aus's grin, the strain on Kaido's face clearly showed he was losing ground.
Sure enough, next second—
As Aus pushed with everything he had, Thunder Bagua actually started getting forced back. This was Aus's signature talent—
Unmatched Monster Strength!!!
Power that made even Big Mom look weak, enough to turn Dragon Claw Fist into a compound fracture!!!
At their level of collision, unless someone's Conqueror's Haki was way superior, you couldn't just compare coating quality.
That's where natural talent became the deciding factor.
Grabbing one spike of the club, Aus dropped his stance slightly and yanked the retreating Kaido forward.
"???"
Then with one swing, Kaido's dragon-hybrid body stumbled and crashed into Big Mom who was about to go apeshit again.
The news birds overhead caught this moment perfectly.
The camera click got Aus's attention.
He shot a sideways glance at the sky.
Didn't expect the news bird to notice his look and actually salute him.
Aus cracked up.
So he ignored it and raised his blade again.
On Aus's side—
This was only the second time Kaido felt this frustrated in battle since leaving the Rocks Pirates to go solo.
Last time he felt like this was fighting that monster-strength freak Whitebeard.
Every attack broke through his defense, and he couldn't win head-to-head either.
Just like his old captain, a real monster... Doctor Aus!!!
But being a battle junkie, drunk Kaido soon burst out laughing:
"Worororo... Let's make this slaughter even more brutal!!! Aus!!!"
Big Mom realized it too—to get control of this situation, she had to team up with Kaido.
Even if that wasn't her original plan.
Worst case, after beating Aus senseless, she'd just take what she wanted by force.
With her fat gone and curves back, Linlin's eyes went blood-red as she plotted silently.
"Prometheus!!! Zeus!!!"
"Yes, Mama~"
The adorable sun and cloud instantly became raging fire and storm clouds at her call, swirling around Linlin.
After trading a few testing blows, Kaido and Big Mom locked eyes.
Just like back in the Rocks Pirates when that powerhouse little brother and badass big sister worked together.
"Listen, Kaido, we're clear on this—after we beat Aus, I'm keeping his body for myself."
"Don't forget, you owe me a favor!!!"
"...Annoying old hag..."
They stared each other down. Aus instantly felt every hair stand up, danger flooding his system.
"Don't tell me..."
Red light flashed in Aus's eyes as cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Alright then. Let's do this together."
Their weapons crossed, rolling Conqueror's Haki lightning wrapping around them with world-ending momentum.
This was the most oppressive attack Aus had ever faced—more insane than when Captain Roger and Whitebeard clashed back in the day.
"Conquering Seas!!!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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