The alliance of the Seven Pirate Crews met a miserable end before they even had the chance to make a proper move.
Except for Dog and Buck—who escaped by sheer dumb luck thanks to not being present—all five of the remaining pirate captains became new residents of Impel Down.
"Enough talking! Kill him already! Dog!"
Buck barked the command with a stiff expression. The last thing he wanted was to be targeted again by that Marine monster—Kizaru.
If, back then, they still entertained the idea of avenging their allies and saving their comrades, that thought had been completely extinguished after the Summit War ended—when Kizaru personally slew the former "Strongest" and claimed the throne of the strongest for himself.
Even the faintest hints of those intentions were crushed to dust in Buck's mind.
"Trying to kill me? Then come and try!"
Onigumo snorted coldly. Wielding ten blades like a human blender, he charged straight toward the weaker of the two—Bark.
He had to eliminate at least one of them as quickly as possible.
Being pincered by two notorious pirates would end disastrously.
"Black Shock!"
Buck leaped backward as a jet-black shockwave shot from his right hand.
As a Paramecia-type user of the Dark-Dark Fruit, nearly all of Buck's abilities were tied to the color black.
Anyone struck and stained by his blackness would be gradually restricted, losing the ability to fight back until they eventually died in his hands.
"Ten-Blade Style: Great Tornado!"
Having once fallen to Buck before, Onigumo was extremely wary of the Dark-Dark Fruit. His body twisted as he spun rapidly like a mixer, diverting the incoming black shockwave.
The surrounding soldiers of the Black Legion rushed in to stop Onigumo, but the rotating blades tore them all into dozens of pieces with ease.
As Onigumo tore across the battlefield like a raging tornado, Buck's pitch-black face revealed a shifting, uncertain expression.
"Dark Trap: Shroud Cocoon!"
At some point, the shredded remains of the Black Legion soldiers transformed into a massive "curtain," staining the ground beneath Onigumo jet black.
Under Buck's control, the ground suddenly rose up like a gigantic cocoon, wrapping Onigumo inside. The other end formed a tendril held tightly in Bark's grip.
The pitch-black cocoon had frightening durability. Its constantly warping shape made it clear that Onigumo was still desperately trying to cut his way out from within.
But Buck—whose bounty rivaled that of Jack the Drought—was far from a Devil Fruit–dependent weakling.
The cocoon shimmered faintly with metallic sheen, clearly reinforced with Armament Haki. Combined with the natural toughness of the Dark-Dark Fruit's "shroud," even a swordsman capable of cutting steel would be trapped inside until death.
"Wah-hahahaha! As expected of Buck! You took down Onigumo so easily!"
Daidog laughed wildly, though privately he sharpened his wariness toward Bark.
Originally, he believed himself stronger than Buck and planned to use this great war as a chance to subdue Buck—turning him into a subordinate before the future looting of Mary Geoise.
That was why, when Onigumo targeted Buck, Dog not only refrained from attacking Onigumo, but was also secretly waiting for the critical moment to "heroically" save Buck—letting Buck see the difference between them.
But things didn't go as Dog expected. Buck turned out to be far stronger than he imagined.
If it were Dog trapped inside that black cocoon right now… it was doubtful he could escape intact.
Realizing Buck had been concealing his true strength all along, Dog naturally began to keep his guard up.
"…Just a second-rate Marine, that's all…"
Buck tried to speak calmly, but in his heart he couldn't help cursing.
If he had a choice, he wouldn't have wanted to reveal his true strength either. But since Onigumo was dead set on taking him down first, Buck was forced to use his trump card.
He had originally assumed that with Dog's personality, the man wouldn't react so quickly — yet unexpectedly, this guy who always pretended to be careless turned out to be extremely cautious at critical moments.
"Wahahaha! Buck, you're too modest. Since we've already gotten rid of that annoying guy, let's hurry up and wipe out all the enemies in this area. We have to perform well in front of Lady Esdeath…"
Dog strutted over and patted Buck on the shoulder, acting friendly, but the corner of his eye never stopped monitoring all the black-colored objects nearby. Clearly, he was guarding against Buck striking at him.
"Hmph, you don't need to say it. I—"
Buck hadn't finished speaking when a tearing sound suddenly came from inside the giant black cocoon. His face changed instantly.
The next moment, countless brilliant arcs of blade light erupted from within the cocoon. Onigumo, who was supposed to be trapped inside, burst out by hacking the cocoon apart with ten blades coated in Armament Haki.
"Ten-Blade Style: Wave-Breaking Slash!"
Ever since he had been captured by pirates long ago, Onigumo had resolved to grow stronger at any cost.
Once a Marine officer infamous for being unable to swim, he had forcibly trained himself by cutting through giant waves and even tsunamis. This honed Armament Haki surpassing that of ordinary Vice Admirals, along with sword techniques capable of slaying Sea Kings with ease.
When Onigumo suddenly exploded into action, it was Buck— with his superior Observation Haki — who reacted first.
He didn't try to block the attack. Instead, he transformed into a mass of pitch-black unknown matter and lunged straight toward Dog beside him.
Dog happened to be fully focused on Onigumo and failed to react in time to stop Bak.
"You bastard!"
Shocked and furious, Daidoge instinctively tried to tear Buck off him — only to discover in horror that Buck had merged into his body like a layer of skin.
The bastard had hidden himself behind Dog's back, clearly intending to use him as a meat shield to avoid Onigumo's attack.
For a brief instant, Daidoge wanted nothing more than to join forces with Onigumo and kill Buck together. But the blades were already about to strike — it was far too late to negotiate.
"Rrrraaaah!"
Despite wanting to rip Buck apart, Dog had no choice but to defend against Onigumo's attack first.
As a Zoan-type Dog-Dog Fruit, Beagle Model user, he didn't possess Buck's flashy abilities.
His already muscular frame expanded into a four-meter-tall beastman with a dog's head and rippling muscles.
At once, Armament Haki spread across his entire body in a jet-black layer. The only silver lining was that Buck's Dark-Dark Fruit could not affect Armament Haki — which was also black.
Otherwise, in this state, Dog wouldn't even have the ability to resist Buck at all.
°°°
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