The first light of dawn began to appear beyond the horizon.
The darkness that had covered the island for hours slowly gave way to a pale crimson glow, illuminating the ruined harbor and the shattered forest. Broken trees lay scattered across the battlefield, sections of the pier had collapsed into the sea, and deep scars covered the earth where the two Emperors had exchanged countless blows.
Yet neither Arthur nor Shanks had fallen.
They remained facing one another amid the devastation.
Arthur stood several dozen meters away, both swords still in his hands. His clothes were torn, several wounds marked his body, and his breathing had become heavier after the relentless battle.
But something else had changed.
A thin crimson mist surrounded him.
It clung to his body like smoke, drifting around his shoulders and arms before slowly spreading across the ground. Under the first rays of sunlight, the mist became more visible, its red color deepening as it moved around Arthur's silhouette.
Shanks watched it carefully.
He had seen the mist appear during their earlier exchanges, but this was different.
It was no longer merely drifting across the surrounding land.
It was gathering around Arthur.
Almost as if it were waiting for him.
Arthur lowered his two swords slightly.
His eyes moved toward the horizon.
Dawn had arrived.
The long night was ending.
But the battle was not.
Shanks wiped a thin line of blood from the corner of his mouth and glanced at the rising sun.
"Looks like we've been fighting all night."
"Apparently." Arthur gave a faint smile.
Neither man moved.
For several seconds, the only sound was the distant crash of waves against the ruined harbor.
Then Arthur looked down at the crimson mist surrounding his body. "[Bloody Art]"
His expression became more serious. "At this rate, we'll still be fighting when the next night comes."
"You've decided to stop holding back." Shanks understood immediately.
"Yes." Arthur's eyes returned to him.
The answer was simple.
There was no boast behind it.
No declaration of superiority.
Arthur simply knew that continuing the battle under the same conditions would accomplish nothing. Their swordsmanship and Haki had already pushed the shattered ground to its limits, yet neither Emperor had been able to force the other to yield.
If they continued at that pace, the duel could last for hours.
Arthur had no intention of waiting that long.
He slowly straightened his posture.
The crimson mist around him thickened.
A sharper focus entered Shanks' eyes.
The carefree smile that had occasionally appeared throughout their duel disappeared.
He recognized the feeling.
Something enormous was beginning to emerge from Arthur.
Not merely Haki.
Not merely swordsmanship.
Something far more dangerous.
Arthur closed his eyes.
The crimson mist suddenly rushed toward him.
It wrapped around his torso, arms, legs, and wings in a rapidly tightening spiral. The surrounding air seemed to distort as the mist condensed against his body.
Shanks remained still.
He watched.
Arthur's breathing slowed.
His heartbeat became steady.
Then—
THUMP.
A deep pulse spread through the battlefield.
The ground beneath Arthur's feet cracked.
The crimson mist exploded outward for an instant before being drawn back into his body.
His silhouette changed.
Dark markings spread across his skin. His pupils narrowed, becoming sharp and predatory, while his canines lengthened visibly.
Two large bat-like wings unfolded from his back.
The transformation was neither wild nor uncontrolled.
It was precise.
Deliberate.
Every movement carried the feeling of a predator awakening after choosing to stop hiding its fangs.
The Mythical Zoan — Bat-Bat Fruit, Model: Vampire had been activated.
Several members of both crews instinctively stepped backward.
Baby-5's eyes widened.
"Young master Arthur finally using his Devil Fruits, he is serious now."
"No." Robin watched Arthur without blinking.
Baby-5 looked toward her.
Robin's expression remained calm.
"That's not simply being serius." She glanced at the crimson mist surrounding Arthur. "He's decided to finish it soon."
...
Across the ruined field, Shanks slowly tightened his grip around Gryphon.
"So you've finally decided to show me all you have."
Arthur opened his eyes.
The golden-red light of dawn reflected inside them.
"You're the one who asked me to."
A faint grin appeared on Shanks' face.
"I was beginning to regret asking for this fight."
Arthur raised his right hand.
The crimson mist immediately responded.
A stream of blood emerged from his arm and flowed across his body. It wrapped around his chest, shoulders, forearms, and legs, forming a dense layer of crimson armor.
The Blood-Blood Fruit was no longer being used merely to attack.
Arthur was using his own blood as protection.
The armor remained fluid, constantly shifting across his body as though alive.
"Blood armor." Shanks' eyes narrowed. "I really don't want to fight you like this."
Arthur said nothing.
He raised his left hand.
The blood surrounding him suddenly separated.
Several masses of crimson liquid rose behind his back.
They stretched.
Condensed.
Then formed enormous additional limbs.
One.
Two.
Three.
More followed.
Six Blood Arms unfolded behind Arthur like the limbs of a crimson spider's legs.
Each moved independently.
Yet Arthur's two swords remained firmly in his hands.
That detail immediately caught Shanks' attention.
"You still intend to use those?"
"Always." Arthur looked at the two blades.
"Good." Shanks smiled.
Arthur's wings spread wider.
The Blood Arms followed the movement.
The crimson mist continued spreading across the scarred island, crawling between broken trees and over the ruined earth.
The dawn light touched it.
Instead of disappearing beneath the sunlight, the mist seemed to become even more vivid.
Shanks noticed.
"That mist..." His expression became serious again.
Arthur looked toward him. "It isn't just for decoration."
The mist slowly moved around Shanks.
Not attacking.
Searching.
Shanks immediately understood the danger.
Every wound he had suffered during the duel had become a potential weakness.
Arthur could use the mist to find it.
And if even a small amount of blood entered his bloodstream...
Shanks' grip tightened around Gryphon.
"You're right to caution." Arthur's smile was faint. "One drop."
"That's all I need." Arthur nodded.
The wind shifted.
The crimson mist followed it, spreading farther across the ruined clearing.
Shanks raised Gryphon.
A thin layer of Busoshoku Haki immediately covered his body.
Arthur watched him carefully. "You're going to protect yourself with Haki."
"Wouldn't you?"
"I would."
"Then let's see which one lasts longer." Shanks' smile returned.
Arthur lowered his center of gravity.
The Vampire transformation had changed his physical presence completely. His movements were lighter, his body more responsive, and his senses sharper than before.
But he wasn't finished.
The crimson mist surrounding him began to change.
Fresh blood appeared within it.
It gathered around Arthur's feet, flowed upward, and began moving between his swords.
The blood responded to his thoughts.
At the same time, something else began to distort around the blades.
The air itself seemed to ripple.
Shanks' gaze hardened.
He recognized that Arthur was preparing another ability.
"There's more."
"Yes." Arthur's expression remained calm.
The faint distortion around his swords intensified.
The Art-Art Fruit had begun to respond.
Blood was no longer simply being controlled.
Arthur was beginning to shape it.
The three powers were finally moving together.
His three Devil Fruits pushed his remaining strength beyond its normal limits.
And at the center of them all—
His two swords.
Arthur slowly raised both blades.
The first rays of sunlight illuminated their edges.
A dark aura began gathering around the steel.
Black lightning crawled across both blades.
Conqueror's Haki.
But unlike the explosive clashes from earlier, Arthur compressed the power tightly around his swords.
The crimson mist recoiled from the pressure.
The Blood Arms moved into position behind him.
Shanks' expression became completely serious.
For the first time since their duel had begun, he understood what Arthur had been trying to accomplish.
Every ability was being woven into his swordsmanship.
He was building an entire arsenal around it.
Every ability existed to create another opening.
Every opening would be converted into a sword strike.
Shanks slowly lowered Gryphon.
His stance changed.
The red-haired Emperor was no longer simply waiting to see what Arthur could do.
He was preparing to face the full combination.
Arthur's eyes locked onto him.
The morning sun rose higher behind the horizon.
The long night was over. Yet neither Emperor had any intention of slowing down.
Arthur stepped forward.
The crimson mist followed.
The Blood Arms spread behind him.
His two swords remained at the center of his stance, black lightning crawling across their edges.
Shanks raised Gryphon.
A faint smile returned to his face.
"Come on, Arthur."
"Gladly." Arthur's wings spread wide.
The next instant, the distance between them disappeared.
BOOM!
Arthur launched forward.
His first sword crashed against Gryphon.
CLANG!
Before Shanks could counter, the second blade came from the opposite side while a Blood Arm struck from above.
Shanks twisted away from the crimson limb and intercepted Arthur's second sword.
Another Blood Arm followed.
Then another.
Arthur's transformed body accelerated between each strike, turning the surrounding land into a storm of steel and crimson.
Shanks blocked one attack.
Dodged another.
Then cut through a Blood Arm because only the tip cover with Haki.
The severed blood scattered across the air.
Arthur immediately pulled it back.
The crimson limb reformed behind him.
Shanks' eyes narrowed.
"So that's how you're going to fight."
Arthur's two swords crossed before him.
The Blood Arms moved into position.
The crimson mist surrounded them both.
The first light of dawn continued spreading across the horizon, but the broken shoreline remained shrouded in the remnants of the night.
Pale sunlight touched the ruined harbor, revealing the devastation left behind by the clash between the two Emperors. Broken sections of the pier floated in the water, trees had been torn apart, and deep scars stretched across the earth where their blades had collided. Yet neither Arthur nor Shanks had fallen.
Several Red Hair Pirates stared in silence.
Yasopp slowly lowered his weapon. "What the hell is that?"
Beckman's eyes remained fixed on Arthur. "It's real, not just rumor."
"Rumor?" Roux stared at the blood limbs.
"Arthur have way grant multiple Devil Fruits in one body."
There was no need for further explanation. The clearing had already revealed the truth: Arthur had been holding back.
Neither Emperor gave the other time to speak again.
Arthur disappeared.
The earth beneath his feet exploded.
Neither Emperor could rely on Future Sight anymore. Observation Killing had stripped away the certainty of prediction, leaving both men to fight through instinct, experience, and reaction. Shanks had decades of battle behind him. Arthur had something else—an ability to adapt with every exchange.
The difference was that Arthur's battlefield had become increasingly difficult to read.
The crimson mist spread farther.
Droplets of blood floated around Shanks like countless points of danger.
Arthur raised one hand.
The droplets accelerated.
They became needles.
A crimson storm erupted from every direction.
Shanks' attention locked entirely onto Arthur.
He moved.
One step.
A turn.
A sudden shift of his shoulders.
The first wave missed.
The second followed immediately.
Shanks twisted around it.
The third came from above.
He stepped aside.
Then the blood needles changed direction.
Shanks' expression hardened.
He hadn't predicted the alteration.
He reacted.
Gryphon flashed.
A burst of Armament Haki shattered several projectiles before they could reach him.
But two others grazed his coat.
Shanks immediately moved again.
Arthur appeared through the crimson haze.
Both swords descended.
CLANG!
The collision drove a shockwave through the mist.
Shanks blocked the first blade.
The second came from an unexpected angle.
He barely caught it.
Arthur pressed forward.
A blood arm attacked from behind.
Shanks sensed it through instinct rather than clear foresight and stepped forward instead of backward.
The crimson limb passed behind him.
Arthur's eyes sharpened.
Shanks had chosen correctly.
But the maneuver had cost him space.
Arthur didn't let him recover.
His second sword swept toward Shanks' waist.
Shanks jumped over the blade.
Another blood arm rose beneath him.
He twisted in midair.
The limb passed beneath his feet.
Shanks landed, but Arthur was already there.
Their swords collided again.
CLANG!
The force pushed Shanks backward.
He planted his feet.
Arthur advanced.
Another strike.
Shanks blocked.
Another.
He parried.
Another.
He barely avoided.
Arthur's two swords moved in different rhythms, one controlling Shanks' defense while the other searched for an opening. At the same time, the blood arms attacked from the blind spots created by every exchange.
Shanks was being forced to make decisions faster than his instincts normally allowed.
The loss of Future Sight had forced Shanks into a different kind of battle. He could no longer anticipate Arthur's movements; he had to react to them.
Shanks suddenly stepped inside Arthur's range.
Gryphon swept toward Arthur's chest.
Arthur twisted aside.
The blade passed through the space where his heart had been.
Arthur immediately countered.
One sword toward the shoulder.
The other toward the ribs.
Shanks blocked the first.
He ducked beneath the second.
A blood arm descended.
Shanks cut through it with Gryphon.
The severed limb dissolved into blood.
But another immediately formed behind him.
Shanks turned.
Too late.
The blood arm wrapped around his wrist.
Arthur pulled.
Shanks' body was dragged sideways.
Arthur's sword flashed toward his shoulder.
Shanks broke the blood restraint with Armament Haki and raised Gryphon.
CLANG!
The blade stopped inches from his body.
The impact forced both men apart.
Shanks landed heavily.
Arthur remained still.
A thin cut had appeared across Shanks' coat.
The Red Emperor looked down at it.
Then he raised his eyes.
Arthur was already watching him.
"You can't see everything anymore."
"Neither can you." Shanks smiled faintly.
"True." Arthur tightened his grip. "That's why experience matters."
"Exactly." Shanks' smile widened.
He disappeared.
Arthur's instincts reacted.
He turned.
CLANG!
Gryphon struck from the side.
Arthur blocked with one sword.
The impact sent him sliding backward.
Shanks followed immediately.
Another slash.
Arthur parried.
A third.
Arthur crossed both swords.
BOOM!
The ground beneath him cracked.
Shanks pressed forward relentlessly.
His swordsmanship was brutally efficient. There was no wasted movement, no unnecessary flourish. When Observation Killing prevented him from relying on clear future vision, Shanks simply returned to the fundamentals that had carried him through countless battles.
Instinct.
Timing.
Experience.
Arthur recognized it.
He's fighting without needing to see what's coming.
A faint smile appeared on Arthur's face.
Then I'll make instinct itself betray him.
Arthur suddenly stopped retreating.
Shanks' next strike came toward his chest.
Arthur stepped forward instead of away.
The distance between them disappeared.
Their blades collided at point-blank range.
Arthur's second sword moved.
Shanks barely blocked.
A blood arm struck from behind.
Shanks sensed it and tried to move.
Arthur's eyes sharpened.
The Haki coating his sword changed.
Dark pressure spread across the blade.
Busoshoku intertwined with Haoshoku.
Arthur pushed forward.
The effect was immediate.
Shanks' body became heavier.
His movement slowed.
His arm resisted his own command.
For the first time during the duel, his instincts screamed at him to move while his body seemed unwilling to obey.
Arthur stepped closer.
The pressure intensified.
Armament Lock.
It wasn't simply destructive force. Arthur's Haki imposed itself upon Shanks' body, turning resistance into an unnatural act. Every muscle seemed to hesitate before Arthur's will.
Shanks' eyes widened slightly.
Arthur's sword remained against Gryphon.
"Move."
Shanks tried.
His arm barely shifted.
Arthur pushed harder.
The ground beneath Shanks' feet cracked.
His knees bent slightly.
The Red Emperor was being forced down.
Several members of the Red Hair Pirates watched in disbelief.
Yasopp's expression tightened.
Beckman's eyes narrowed.
Beckman understood immediately. This was no ordinary Armament Haki. Arthur was forcing his own will into Shanks' movements.
Shanks gritted his teeth.
His expression remained calm, but the strain had become visible.
Arthur took another step.
The pressure increased again.
For a moment, Shanks truly looked trapped.
Then the Red-Hair Emperor's eyes sharpened.
His own Haoshoku erupted.
BOOM!
A violent burst of Haki exploded outward.
The ground shattered beneath him.
Arthur's Armament Lock wavered.
Shanks forced his body forward.
One step.
Then another.
His muscles trembled beneath the pressure, but he continued moving.
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
Shanks had broken through.
Not cleanly.
Not easily.
But he had resisted.
Gryphon suddenly swept upward.
Arthur crossed both swords.
BOOM!
The impact sent both Emperors flying apart.
Shanks landed several meters away, his breathing heavier than before.
Arthur landed without losing his footing.
The crimson mist continued swirling around him.
Blood arms slowly rose behind his shoulders.
Shanks stared at them.
The battlefield fell silent for a moment.
The morning sun had now risen above the horizon.
Its golden light illuminated the blood mist surrounding Arthur.
The sight was almost surreal.
A vampire-like figure stood within a crimson storm, six blood-forged limbs floating behind him while two swords rested in his hands.
Shanks raised Gryphon again.
Arthur did the same.
Neither man spoke.
They already understood what came next.
Shanks couldn't afford to let Arthur control the rhythm again.
Arthur couldn't allow Shanks enough space to regain control.
The next exchange would decide who imposed their will upon the battle.
Arthur's crimson mist surged outward.
Shanks lowered his stance.
Then both Emperors disappeared.
And this time, Shanks charged directly into the blood.