The vast hall greeted us with cold air and a hollow echo. Stone walls glistened with frost, as if covered in silver. Icicles hung from the ceiling, and mist crept across the floor, mixing with the steam of our breaths.
— Seems like… a dining hall, — I muttered, staring at the long row of empty tables and the thrones at the far wall. — Only, its master looks… questionable.
As if confirming my thoughts, a mocking voice rang out from above:— Hey! Meals are by schedule! Who said you could wander in without an invitation?
We all looked up. On the balcony, towering over the hall, stood a man with a massive belly and a face like a tin can. His dark purple hair was slicked back, and his head seemed assembled from pieces of metal — gleaming, glinting, and shaped like a cylinder.
— It's him… — I breathed, squinting. — Wapol.
He laughed, a dull, nasty sound like a rusty mechanism.
— O-ho-ho-ho! So it really is you, Dalton? I thought my guards had left you to rot below. Well then, I'm glad to see the old traitor still alive. Though that's only a matter of time.
Dalton clenched his fists and stepped forward.— Your reign is ending, Wapol. People are tired of your gluttony.
— Ah, yes, yes… speeches, rebellions… — Wapol yawned and stretched lazily. — I've eaten all that before.
In the next second, his right arm seemed to melt, covered in metallic veins, transforming into a cannon. Without warning, he fired.
The roar thundered through the hall, flames struck the floor. We barely managed to jump aside — stones rained from the ceiling. I rolled behind a column, feeling the heat of the blast on my face.
— Damn it, he's firing all over the hall! — I shouted from cover.
— It's not just a cannon, — Dalton gasped. — It's part of his body. Everything he eats, he can turn into body parts. Baku Baku no Mi.
— Could've said that earlier, — I muttered. — Not that it helps now...
Dalton stepped forward without waiting for a signal. His body began to change — skin covered in fur, bones cracked, reshaping into beastly form. Massive horns grew from his head, his arms thickened into the forelegs of a bull.
— Bison… — the Doctor whispered beside me.
— Stay back, — Dalton roared. — This is my fight!
I wanted to intervene but stopped.
He charged forward, shaking the hall. The floor cracked beneath him as he slammed into Wapol with his shoulder, knocking the air out of him.
The next moment, Wapol shifted slightly and opened his mouth —
BANG! A cannon shot burst from his jaws.
Dalton, standing almost point-blank, couldn't dodge—BANG!
The blast hit him square in the chest. The impact was so powerful the torch flames flickered and went out. Dalton flew backward, slammed into a stone column, and collapsed, leaving a bloody mark on the wall. His beastly form wavered, his breathing ragged.
— Bahahahaha! — Wapol's shrill laughter echoed. — That's right, you bull-headed brute! You thought your strength matched mine?
Wapol raised his hand, and it changed again — the skin gleamed, turning metallic, the fingers fused into a smooth barrel.
— Arm Cannon! — he roared, and fired again with a booming blast.
The shot struck the floor beside Dalton, exploding snow and stone.
— What do you say now, hero of the people? — Wapol taunted, stepping forward. His body creaked, his chest rumbling like a working factory. — The only thing you can do is fall.
Dalton, wheezing, rose to his knees. His fur was charred, but his eyes still burned with fury. He exhaled steam and slowly stood.— I'm still standing… — he said, leaning on his horns. — That means I haven't lost yet.
— Ah-ha-ha! — Wapol spread his arms. — Then I'll show you the true power of the Baku Baku no Mi!
He opened his jaws wider than seemed possible. With a deep roar that made the hall tremble, he began devouring everything around — debris, shattered furniture, chunks of the stone walls. Even the snow on the floor was pulled toward him like a vortex. His body grew larger, metal surfacing beneath his skin, arms thickening.
He devours everything he can to become a weapon, I thought. Not the best place to stand… but better to gather information.
When the whirlwind died down, a monster stood before us. Its torso was clad in armor, turrets rose from its shoulders, and a massive cannon replaced its left arm. A glowing barrel shone in the center of its chest.
— Baku Baku Shoku: Ningen Heiki! — he declared, relishing his own magnificence. — Human Weapon!
Heat, steam, and madness radiated from him. His mouth now glowed like a blazing furnace.
— Look at yourself, Dalton! — he growled. — A mere beast against a king born for destruction!
Dalton roared, cast off fear, and charged again. He struck with his full weight, trying to break through the armor — but Wapol didn't move. The impact rang out with a dull metallic clang, as if Dalton had struck an iron wall.
Wapol smirked.— Bero Cannon!
His tongue shot out like a spring, slamming into the Bison's chest. The explosion hurled him into the wall, which collapsed, burying him under snow and stone.
— DALTON! — the doctor shouted, but I caught his arm to stop him.