In stark contrast to the screaming fleeing guests around him, Ray remained exceptionally calm.
Facing Big Mom's furious world-ending strike, he didn't flinch.
He merely coated his right fist in black Armament Haki and met the Emperor's attack head-on.
BOOM!
Fist met fist.
A violent shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact.
The guests in the banquet hall who hadn't managed to scramble away in time were swatted into the air like flies in a gale-force wind.
But how could a single punch fully vent the rage of a Yonko who just had her wedding cake destroyed?
"DIEEEEE!"
Like a madwoman, Big Mom screamed and continuously pummeled Ray with her fists, each one larger than his entire body.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
After blocking a few punches, Ray frowned.
He roughly understood that in terms of raw physical strength, he was no different from Big Mom.
They were dead even.
And honestly? He no longer wished to engage in such graceless behavior like a fist-fight with a screaming old woman.
'How boring,' Ray thought.
ZIP.
Ray instantly teleported and Big Mom punched empty air.
Before she could react, Ray appeared floating directly behind her head.
He coated his right fist with Ryuo.
"Sit down will ya."
DUANG!
He smashed his fist against the back of Big Mom's skull with a sound like a temple bell being rung.
Struck by this heavy blow, Big Mom's massive body immediately lost its balance.
She toppled forward and planted a passionate kiss with the granite floor.
CRASH.
The impact was like a meteorite landing.
Big Mom's head rang with a buzzing noise, her vision swimming. But strangely, as the pain registered, her enraged, foggy mind gradually regained clarity.
Ray's punch was like a mind-clearing pill.
It was remarkably effective against those lost in madness.
From the perspective of Big Mom's rage, if her opponent were weak, their attacks would be like mosquito bites—annoying, but unable to break her defense or snap her out of her frenzy.
But Ray was different.
That single punch hurt.
It bypassed her iron skin and rattled her brain.
It directly triggered Big Mom's survival instinct.
Her subconscious frantically screamed at her: If you don't wake the hell up now, you're actually going to die!
Facing an opponent of the same caliber, even someone as arrogant as Big Mom had to go all out.
And to go all out, she had to be sane.
Thus, the awakened Big Mom immediately pushed herself up and leaped backward, putting distance between them.
She landed heavily, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs. She reached up, rubbing the sore spot on the back of her skull.
"Ouch," Big Mom muttered. "That hurts."
This single, casual words suddenly silenced the already chaotic venue.
The screaming stopped.
The running stopped.
Her children and the remaining banquet guests all froze, wearing expressions of utter disbelief.
"Did... did I hear that correctly?" one Minister whispered.
"I share the same thought as you," another stammered. "Am I hallucinating?"
"Mom actually cried out in pain?"
"Who is this silver-haired man? What kind of monster could possibly hurt Mama?"
Everyone in the banquet hall was so shocked they forgot to flee.
The Yonko known for her "Iron Balloon"—the woman who had never been scarred—was actually injured?
They had known Big Mom for a long time, when had they ever witnessed such a scene?
…
Regaining her senses, Big Mom no longer showed the wild anger of a toddler.
Beneath her calm expression, a trace of gravity could be seen in her face.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Ray," she rumbled. "You arrived quite quickly."
She cracked her knuckles. "I had planned to invite you for a nice family meal once you arrived, but given the current situation... Can I interpret this as you coming to provoke me?"
As she spoke, she summoned her souls.
"NAPOLEON!"
The bicorne hat on her head transformed into a massive blade, which she gripped tightly in her right hand.
"PROMETHEUS!"
The small sun turned into a blazing inferno, covering Big Mom's hair and left hand like a scorching halo.
"ZEUS!"
The thundercloud also transformed from a harmless white puff into a massive, pitch-black storm cloud crackling with violent lightning, steadily supporting Big Mom under her feet.
Ray did not respond to Big Mom's question.
He stood silently, hands in his pockets, observing her.
His intention was to kill Big Mom at her strongest.
Only by crushing her at her peak could he fully vent the pent-up frustration in his chest.
So, he had no intention of stopping her from powering up.
However, Big Mom's actions left her children, who knew her well, utterly speechless.
"Mama actually entered full combat mode right from the start," a daughter whispered, terrified.
"Is this guy a Yonko?" a son asked. "I've never seen him before."
"Wait, I remember now!" another chimed in. "He's the one Mama's said she wanted to capture! The one she wanted to bring back for our sisters to have children with—The cold prince, Ray!"
"NANIIIIIIIII?!" The siblings looked at Ray, then at each other. "He's the handsome guy meant to be the stud for the family?"
"Having children for our family is a tremendous honor!" a Minister scoffed. "Instead of being grateful, he dares to resist? What an idiot."
Smoothie, standing off to the side, listened to her siblings' complaints with a look of pure disdain.
'What a bunch of fools,' Smoothie thought, shaking her head.
'You have no idea we poke the wrong thing!'
'But... sigh. since you're my siblings, I hope I can protect you from the aftermath. Because Ray isn't here to make babies. he's here to make corpses.'
As for Perospero, his reaction was entirely different from his naive younger siblings.
He was sweating buckets.
He had witnessed the battle between Ray and Big Mom at Enies Lobby.
He knew Ray was strong, naturally, but...
'Judging by what happened at Enies Lobby, Ray shouldn't have made mama's this cautious,' Perospero analyzed, his candy cane trembling.
'Back then, if Mama hadn't wanted to attract the Marines, she would have defeated Ray in a little more time.'
'But now... Mama's behavior is off. She's serious.'
'Dead serious.'
'Could it be... Ray wasn't showing his true strength back then? Or perhaps... he's gotten stronger?'
Perospero didn't want to believe his own speculation.
If it were true... then offending Ray... would mean the Big Mom Pirates had made a grave, perhaps a very very very fatal, mistake.
…
Big Mom wasn't surprised by Ray's silence.
"Still as arrogant and ignorant as ever huh, you white-haired brat!" she roared.
She pointed Napoleon at him.
"I'll give you one more chance—submit! Become my husband! Otherwise... DIE!"
Ray finally spoke.
He looked at her with bored eyes and responded indifferently.
"You're the one who's going to die stupid hag."
Hearing his reply, Big Mom snapped.
"MAMAMAMA!"
Riding the thundercloud Zeus, she charged forward with her blade raised high.
Simultaneously, she enveloped the massive blade Napoleon with thick, black Conqueror's Haki.
Noticing this, a faint smile curled at the corner of Ray's lips.
'Now this is interesting.'
Mirroring Big Mom's technique, Ray also coated his right hand with Conqueror's Haki.
The air around his fist distorted.
Perospero, Smoothie, and the other two Sweet Commanders (Cracker and Snack) saw the black and crimson lightning crackling over the two monsters.
They immediately screamed.
"EVERYONE! SCATTER!"
"RUN AS FAR AS YOU CAN!"
But their voices couldn't travel as fast as the two combatants moved from preparation to collision.
CRACK!
In an instant, crimson lightning filled the banquet hall.
A terrifying Conqueror's Haki aura spread outward at an invisible speed.
BOOM!
The roof of the banquet hall was instantly blown off by the shockwave, sent spinning into the sky like a frisbee.
The sturdy granite floor cracked layer by layer, peeling up like paper and sending shattered stones flying chaotically throughout the room like bullets.
Thwack! Thwack!
Some of the weaker individuals were injured by the shrapnel.
Unluckier souls had their hearts pierced by the flying stones, instantly meeting their ancestors.
As for those not injured by the debris? The vast majority simply collapsed—eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth—completely unconscious from the sheer pressure of the Haki.
Only a few Ministers and the Sweet Commanders among Big Mom's children remained standing.
But even these powerful individuals were drenched in cold sweat, their knees shaking, struggling just to stay upright in the storm.
In mere moments, out of the thousand people in the banquet hall, fewer than twenty remained conscious.
When Emperors clash, the weak don't even have the right to stand.
Even the heavens seemed to crack a smile, splitting open as if paying their respects.
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This battle will be long since it will take 8 chapter for it!
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