Doflamingo was wondering whether to summon Sugar, the Hobby-Hobby Fruit user whose touch could turn people into toys—a terrifying ability. Deep down, he'd already concluded he wasn't Creed's match.
But Creed's rapid approach ignited his fury. Without a doubt, Creed was ignoring every guard and defense in the kingdom to face him head-on!
"Creed!"
Thinking of those days after being defeated and captured, Doflamingo nearly rushed out at once.
"Young master, let me meet him," Gladius asked.
"I'm going too!" Diamante also spoke up. He'd gone with Doflamingo to find Creed last time and knew how frightening he was. At their level, if they didn't join forces, they couldn't withstand even two of Creed's moves.
Doflamingo was about to nod his permission—when—
"You all stay here. You're not qualified to lay a hand on my captain."
A slightly heavy voice drifted in from the great outer balcony.
They turned and saw: a white-haired elder in a crimson-purple jacket and red trousers, a blue rose pinned at his waist, lounging on a beach chair as he spoke lazily.
"Courting death!"
Utterly loyal to Doflamingo, Gladius struck first!
"Bakuhadanmaru (Exploding Bullets)!"
He fired several thumb-sized stone pellets from his left hand; by the time they reached Redfield, the old man's Explosion-Explosion power had inflated them to basketball size. One hit would detonate with the force of a missile, and the chain reaction could wipe this entire balcony away!
Yet the elder didn't appear to react at all.
Just as delight flashed in Gladius's eyes, Doflamingo roared, "Gladius, get back!"
Too late!
Slish! Gladius felt a cold pain at his throat. Blood spurted. Only then did he realize he'd been cut by the slash of a hidden umbrella-blade in that elder's hand. The "exploding bullets" he'd fired had already been minced into countless scraps—there would be no detonation.
"Y—!"
His consciousness dimmed. He only forced out a single syllable before his head lolled and he collapsed.
"Too weak."
Redfield shook his head, then said to Doflamingo, "Lord Doffy, my captain is outside waiting for you."
Losing a trusted fighter on the spot made Doflamingo's face grow as dark as ink. Yet Redfield's strength rivaled his own; he didn't dare act rashly.
Boom!
He blasted through the palace roof and rushed out—face to face with Creed.
"I may have provoked you last time, but I've already been punished by the World Government. Today you barge into my palace and even kill my family's officer—that's going too far," Doflamingo ground out. For someone as arrogant and brutal as he was, keeping his temper this far and speaking without much bite was rare. No help for it—Creed was too strong. Remembering the day Creed crushed him, a sense of powerlessness crept over his heart.
"You told the Five Elders about my Ope Ope powers and lured me into an ambush and trial by the World Government. How exactly should I settle that score with you?"
Creed smiled.
"The Five Elders betrayed me?!"
Doflamingo's eyes flickered. If not for certain reasons, he'd really have chosen to flee.
"Yes. To get out of trouble, I did make use of your information. For the wrong I did you, I'm willing to compensate you with 10 billion belly."
He admitted it cleanly.
"I refuse."
Creed still had tens of billions on him; money held no interest. Besides, he'd come today for Redfield's sake.
"Fufufufu! Don't think I'm afraid of you!"
"Chōgeki Kyōben (Overheat Whip)!"
Creed hadn't expected Doflamingo to strike first; twin pillars of threads lanced from his palms.
"You still haven't improved at all."
Creed blurred into an afterimage and, in the next instant, appeared at Doflamingo's flank—his hand a blade that lopped off Doflamingo's head!
"Hyahhyahhyah!"
The severed head didn't spill blood. Instead, countless fine white threads geysered from the wound like a tiny volcano.
"So it's a puppet double. This is your strongest technique: Torikago (Birdcage), isn't it?"
Creed's voice rolled across a dozen-plus li, clear as a bell. He didn't stop the puppet's thread geyser—seemingly intent on letting the Birdcage unfold and cover all of Dressrosa.
"And your real body hides in the dark? Doflamingo, I didn't expect you to turn so cowardly."
Creed shook his head, then pointed to a spot.
"An (Dark)."
A blade of light shot from his fingertip and cleaved that place apart.
Rumble!
A pink figure shot out, a bit shabby and ash-smudged—Doflamingo.
"How did you find my real body?!"
He was rattled, panic showing.
Creed had no intention of explaining that his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) was SSSS-grade.
Instead he asked, curious, "You unleashed Torikago over all Dressrosa… why? Do you plan to use every citizen's life to threaten me?"
His purpose laid bare, Doflamingo let out a grating laugh. "Since you know, why give me time to release it? Creed, your arrogance will be your downfall!"
Creed looked at him like an idiot. "What do the lives of Dressrosa's people have to do with me? I'm not a Marine right now."
Doflamingo choked; the laughter died abruptly.
"Besides, you think that Birdcage can hold me? You underestimate me. Let me guess—you didn't run when you saw me because the SMILE factory beneath the Corrida Colosseum is your leash. If you miss a delivery to Kaido, you're dead either way."
"How do you know?!"
Creed's disdain had already set Doflamingo's heart on fire; with his greatest secret revealed, he threw caution to the wind.
"No more retreat!"
"Close!"
Doflamingo drove Torikago to tighten. He'd drag all Dressrosa into the grave with him—make the chaos as great as possible—and then he could at least offer Kaido an excuse for the disaster.
Boom, boom, boom!
The razor threads began to contract and slice. Towering buildings, bedrock, even keen blades—all were like tofu before those threads. Only Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) or seastone could resist. In moments, the Birdcage had shrunk by more than ten meters, throwing all of Dressrosa into terror and chaos.
Doflamingo landed and turned the entire palace into white lines—awakening the Ito Ito no Mi (String-String Fruit).
"Still struggling? How pitiful!"
Creed mocked, raising one hand like a sword toward the Birdcage's roof—white sword-light flashed—while his other hand expanded a spherical field: "ROOM!"
As his strength grew, his ROOM now covered six to seven hundred meters—a sizable range.
"What did you do to my Birdcage? Ice powers?!"
Doflamingo suddenly found he couldn't move Torikago at all. Looking closer, every thread of the Birdcage had been flash-frozen beneath a thick layer of profound black ice!
Shff!
The next instant, Creed appeared before him, eyes blood-red, black tomoe-windmills turning within.
"Ah—?"
The moment he saw those eerie eyes, the wound-ridden Doflamingo tried to shut his own—but too late!
Out at sea, several Marine battleships plowed the waves. On the center ship, Issho stood with Ain and Elent on the deck, moods unsettled.
Not long ago, they'd received orders to head to Suigu Town to support the CPO—but in the rear mountains they had witnessed Kozuki Hansui commit seppuku for failing a Celestial Dragon's order.
"Celestial Dragons… the greatest injustice under heaven," Issho murmured so softly only Ain and Elent beside him could hear.
Just then, the Den-Den Mushi in his robes rang. He took it out—and when the snail's features formed, he blurted in shock.
…it was Creed calling.
Moments later, he issued an order: "Change course—Dressrosa!"
Above Dressrosa's royal palace, Issho gazed at the group of withered elders before him in disbelief. "The Donquixote Family?"
He also looked at the pink-feather-coated old man on the ground, rolling and screaming like a madman, and finally let out a long breath. "Doflamingo…??"
"Confirmed!" Elent said quickly at his side. "Commander Issho, the witnesses Sugar and Baby 5 have confessed. We're going to earn great merit—what the Doflamingo family committed are monstrous crimes."
Jimmy hurried up with piles of files and evidence for Issho to review.
"Hiss—" Just reading about turning people into toys for enslavement made Issho suck in a breath—anger flared in his eyes.
"This retribution is too light for you lot," he said coldly to the now-broken Donquixote Family. "Spend the rest of your lives in a dark prison."
A subordinate reported then that the former king, Riku, sought audience.
Riku—white-haired but vigorous and burly—thanked Issho profusely upon meeting, then begged him to report all of this to Marine Headquarters to see if Creed's charges could be reduced.
"A man with such chivalry—how could he be a Marine traitor, an evildoer?! There must be some misunderstanding. At the World Government conference a few months from now, I, Riku, will formally raise this, and have the World Government correct the record…"
Issho could only smile faintly. He knew roughly how this all had come to pass. But Riku's efforts would likely be in vain—perhaps even bring disaster upon him. The will of the Celestial Dragons is not something the World Government can overrule.
On the contrary, the will of the Celestial Dragons can overrule the World Government.
He couldn't say that out loud; he only offered the vaguest of cautions.
Wano Country, Kuri—somewhere in the wilds.
A towering brute with a pair of horns, long whiskers like a dragon's mustache, a dragon-scale tattoo over his left arm—like an ancient demon god—was drinking and feasting with his subordinates, roaring with laughter.
One of the Four Emperors of the New World: Kaido of the Beasts!
But the urgent report his men brought next made him flip the laden table in a rage.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!]
[[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]