Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Each sharp fracture echoed like the heartbeat of a coming storm. The sound crawled down Kuzan's spine and tightened every nerve in his body.
"No way…"
He stood frozen, staring at the horrified faces of the Marines around him. Their eyes bulged with disbelief.
Crackle… Pop!
The shattering came again, clearer now—from behind him.
A thin smile twitched at Kuzan's lips, stiff and hollow. Slowly, he turned.
Zzzzzzzzzzt!
Black-red lightning streaked through the fissures in the iceberg, crawling and branching like living veins. The cracks spread faster, glowing brighter, until the entire frozen mass pulsed with searing crimson light.
And in that instant—
—Kuzan thought he saw the impossible.
Inside the glacier's heart, Darren's eyes flickered open.
A grin—wild, feral, alive—split his face.
Hiss!
Kuzan gasped.
The next second, the world exploded.
BOOM!!
The iceberg shattered into a storm of frozen shards that filled the air like glittering dust. Out of the chaos strode Darren, black lightning coiling around him, his aura blazing like a furnace of rage and power.
Armament Haki: 0.418!
Armament Haki: 0.333!
Armament Haki: 0.403!
Armament Haki Strength: 83.477!
The surge roared through his body like a second heartbeat. Power flooded his limbs until even breathing seemed to shake the air. It was intoxicating—terrifying.
"What… is this?" he whispered, staring at his hands as the energy coiled beneath his skin like chained beasts.
Marines in the distance froze, their lungs constricting as they felt that overwhelming pressure. His flesh was burnt and torn, his body riddled with frostbite and gashes—yet his presence radiated nothing but unstoppable vitality.
Beneath the black sheen of Armament Haki, his muscles writhed like living serpents. He looked less like a man and more like a Shura risen from the depths of Hell.
"Vice Admiral Darren—his Haki's still rising!" someone gasped.
"That's impossible!"
"He's not hiding his strength—he's evolving in the middle of battle!"
"Quiet! You want him to notice us!?"
Their voices quavered as dread spread like wildfire.
"…He's gotten stronger?!" Kuzan's disbelief barely left his lips before Darren vanished from sight.
Bang!!
Agony tore through Kuzan's gut. Darren's fist struck like a cannon, black lightning bursting from his back in a spray of vapor.
Kuzan doubled over, choking.
"Thank you, Kuzan," Darren murmured beside his ear.
Thank me? You call this gratitude?! Kuzan thought, right before Darren's boot caught him in the chest, launching him across the battlefield.
A red glare filled Darren's vision.
"Hell Hound!"
The Magma Fist howled toward him, heat distorting the air.
The blast missed by inches. Darren turned, expression unreadable, and seized Sakazuki's arm mid-swing.
"The Magma Fruit's power really is terrifying," he rasped, blood streaming down his face. "Even my Demon Form's body can barely take it."
Sakazuki froze.
Darren's other hand clamped around his head. Darkness swallowed his vision as crushing force closed in.
With a thunderous stomp, Darren launched into the sky, dragging Sakazuki with him.
Wind screamed past. Sakazuki struggled, muscles straining—but Darren's grip was unbreakable, his arms like iron bands.
"Don't die too easily, Sakazuki."
The words reverberated inside Sakazuki's skull like a curse.
Before the stunned gaze of the Marines, Darren dove.
Like a dragon descending from the heavens, black lightning exploded from his form, wings of thunder stretching wide.
He slammed Sakazuki into the earth.
"Demon Form—Dragon Dive!"
BOOM!!
The ground wailed beneath the impact. Dust and molten rock erupted skyward, blotting out the light. Sakazuki's cap disintegrated, his coat shredded into tatters.
Blood poured from his mouth, his flesh splitting open as magma burst from the wounds, staining the battlefield crimson.
A gaping fissure ripped through Marineford, tearing across the island like the stroke of a god's wrath.
Then, with a deafening roar, a pillar of magma shot upward, dyeing the heavens red. The shockwave hurled Marines away by the dozens, scattering them like leaves in a gale.
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki… he's been driven into the ground!"
"That blow—if this weren't Marineford, the island would've been destroyed!"
The officers retreated in terror, shielding their faces from the molten wind. Sakazuki staggered from the magma, smoke rising from his blistered skin, the armor of Haki on his body crumbling into fragments.
He was still standing—but barely.
"This… monster…"
Sengoku appeared beside the battlefield, golden light flickering faintly around him. His face hardened as he took in the sight of Darren—bleeding, battered, yet burning brighter than ever.
"Well then…" Darren's hoarse voice carried through the smoke. "Thank you for the lesson… comrades."
A bloody grin split his face, teeth glinting scarlet.
He straightened, bowing slightly.
Then, with a thunderous surge of power, black lightning erupted around him, blooming like a lotus of pure destruction.
Armament Haki: 85.000!
"May fortune favor you all… in battle."
With that, he soared upward, shattering the air as he broke the sound barrier—vanishing into the horizon in a streak of black light.
To be continued...