Hearing Cavendish's tone, Katakuri's curiosity was piqued.
He looked down at the blonde narcissist.
"Have you seen this strike before?" Katakuri asked.
"Of course!" Cavendish declared, eyes shining with worship. "It was this very strike from Boss Ray that completely won me over! This single slash can split mountains and cleave the earth itself!"
Katakuri narrowed his eyes beneath his scarf.
"Split mountains and cleave the earth?" he muttered.
'That doesn't seem particularly difficult,' Katakuri thought dismissively. 'I can do that easily too. Is this guy really so scared over basic destruction like that?'
But soon enough, the Sweet Commander would understand exactly why the guy next to him spoke with such unshakeable confidence.
...
On the battlefield, Ray watched the approaching swarm of a thousand 'Homie' monsters.
Trees, rocks, and earth twisted into grotesque shapes, roaring as they charged.
Ray didn't flinch as he slowly raised Tessaiga above his head.
HUMMM.
As his Demonic Power circulated, several rings of golden demonic energy began to swirl around the massive blade, pulsating with a sound like a heartbeat.
Ray could see it—the fissure in the wind.
The scent of the opening.
Feeling the vortex gather around the blade, Ray swung.
"WIND SCAR!"
SHING!
The blade released a massive, claw-shaped wave of golden energy.
Light illuminated the world as the wave expanded instantly, enveloping the army of nearly a thousand monster Homies in a split second.
VWOOM.
The power was so terrifying that the monsters didn't even have time to scream.
The giant tree-men and rock-golems were vaporized instantly, dissipating into nothingness before they could take another step.
But the attack wasn't done.
After eliminating the army, the golden light didn't fade.
Instead, it continued its path of destruction, charging straight toward Big Mom, who was hovering behind her minions.
"!!"
Big Mom's eyes widened as her instincts screamed at her.
'If that hits me, even my body will suffer damage.'
She didn't hesitate.
"IKOKU SOVEREIGNTY!"
She coated the blade in thick Armament Haki and unleashed a massive shockwave infused with Conqueror's Haki, sending it rushing to meet the golden wave.
BOOM!
With a thunderous roar, the two supreme attacks collided.
They wrestled briefly in the air, purple lightning clashing with golden light.
But then, Big Mom's eyes revealed pure shock.
The golden light was overpowering her proud Ikoku Sovereignty!
CRASH!
The Wind Scar tore through her attack.
Fortunately for the Emperor, the energy was nearly depleted by the clash, and its range was greatly reduced.
SKREEE!
The remaining shockwave slammed into Big Mom, producing harsh friction sounds against her skin but failing to draw blood from her iron body.
...
As the golden light finally dissipated, the surrounding spectators finally saw the scene clearly.
Their mouths hung open and they forgot how to breathe.
"A single slash..." one pirate whispered, terrified. "He wiped out nearly a thousand homies in one swing."
"If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I'd think I wouldnt believe it," another muttered.
"Look at the landscape! That was an entire forest, at least five kilometers in radius! It's... it's just gone. It's a canyon now."
"Mama's Ikoku Sovereignty actually couldn't block that golden light completely... my worldview is shattered."
Beside him, a large, grotesque Homie turned his head.
"While I'm equally shocked, I have to ask—do you even have a worldview? You ate three dogs just yesterday. How dare you talk about worldviews?"
The pirate shrugged. "So what? I ate dogs, not children."
The Homie grinned, exposing sharp teeth.
"Would you like to try the taste of children then?"
The pirate paused, rubbing his chin.
"Hmm... actually, I would."
...
High above, Katakuri watched the destruction in silence.
After witnessing the devastation caused by that golden light, he truly understood why Cavendish had so proudly declared, "This strike will be incredibly cool."
In terms of pure power, it was indeed impressive, though his mother could probably achieve similar results if she exerted herself.
The problem—and the thing that terrified Katakuri—was Ray.
He showed absolutely no sign of strain.
He wasn't panting and he wasn't sweating either.
That world-ending slash clearly was just an ordinary strike for him.
'It was like a simple jab,' Katakuri realized, sweat beading on his forehead.
'Can he spam that?'
And indeed, for Ray, the Wind Scar was like a sustainable basic attack, or a small skill that could be used repeatedly.
Ray only needed to channel a small amount of Demonic Power to execute it with Tessaiga's assistance.
Truly the ultimate skill for clearing mobs!
After comparing Tessaiga and his old Tokijin once more, Ray better understood why Sesshomaru had been so desperate to seize this sword from Inuyasha back then.
Experiencing it firsthand was truly exhilarating!
With his total Demonic Power and rapid recovery speed, Ray estimated he could unleash the Wind Scar about twenty times consecutively.
Thinking this, Ray smirked.
"Let's see how many you can take, Linlin."
He decided to let Big Mom experience true terror.
...
Big Mom had just taken the residual shockwave of the Wind Scar head-on.
Though unharmed, the sheer power of the strike left her momentarily flustered.
She was contemplating her next move.
'My swarm tactics failed,' she thought grimly. 'And my long-range attacks seem overpowered by his sword. Is there really no choice but to resort to... that?'
She looked toward the castle, where her children were gathered.
Absorbing their souls...
Big Mom still retained some rationality.
Directly eating her own children's lifespans to empower herself was something she remained conflicted about—at least when she wasn't in a hunger pang.
'But if I don't, I might genuinely be slain by Ray today,' she reasoned.
'If I die, the Big Mom Pirates fall. My children will perish anyway. Only by surviving can this warm, family-bound crew continue to exist!'
With this twisted logic, Big Mom resolved herself.
"I have to do it."
Just as she prepared to rise and fly toward her children's location to start the harvest, an unexpected development occurred.
SHING!
"Another one?!"
A second claw-shaped golden blast, identical to the previous one, shot straight toward her face.
"Ray, you—!"
The Wind Scar was too fast and Big Mom had no time to curse.
To counter it, she could only fire another attack.
"COMBAT!"
She fired a blast of fire and lightning.
The outcome was like the earlier attack—her attack failed to neutralize the golden wave completely.
But this time, Big Mom wisened up.
Since standing still would only leave her scratched by the remnants, she chose to dash toward her children's direction even before the collision fully subsided.
But who was Ray?
Her movement trajectory had already been captured by his haki.
Naturally, Big Mom possessed the same Observation Haki.
The moment she flew out of the previous Wind Scar's residual range, she immediately foresaw what awaited her in the next second.
Her eyes bulged.
"YOU!! SHAMELESS BRAT!"
Greeting her was a fresh..... third Wind Scar.
VWOOM!
Big Mom realized with horror that she had fallen into a battle of attrition.
Ray's attacks were too swift to dodge completely, forcing her to expend massive amounts of energy to block them repeatedly.
Her only option now was to fly toward her children while trading blows with Ray's slashes using Ikoku Sovereignty.
Remaining standing still was worse—since her power couldn't fully block the attacks, she'd still have to endure the residual shockwaves head-on.
If she didn't flee, she'd drain both her stamina and health.
If she did flee, it became a pure contest of who had deeper energy reserves.
Big Mom would exhaust her Haki.
Ray would exhaust his Demonic Power instead, and thanks to his flawless Demonic Power's rapid recovery...
This battle of attrition seemed already won by Ray.
But variables remained.
...
Big Mom intermittently clashed with Ray five times in the span of a minute.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
It left Big Mom panting heavily, sweat pouring down her face.
She couldn't help but lament internally.
'This brat.. does his Haki reserves exceed all limits??! He's not even tired!
Fortunately, she was steadily closing in on the castle ruins where her children and guests were gathered.
"Just a little closer..."
No sooner had she thought this than another Wind Scar shot straight toward her mid-movement.
SHING!
Big Mom was so enraged she couldn't even find words.
She just screamed in frustration!
On the other side of the battlefield, Katakuri watched the relentless assault.
He was so terrified by Ray's spamming of ultimate moves that his "cool guy" persona completely shattered.
His scarf slipped down to his neck because his jaw had dropped wide open, exposing his mouth to the world.
At this moment, Katakuri realized one terrifying truth:
'My proud ability to foresee the future is useless.'
'In a true battle between monster like this, future sight meant nothing.'
'Ray could foresee the future. Mama's could foresee the future.'
'Yet their battle was straightforward and unadorned.'
'Why? Because what difference did seeing the future make if you couldn't change it?'
'When a massive AOE attack covers the entire map, knowing it's coming doesn't help you dodge it.'
'When speed reaches a certain level, your body can't keep up with your eyes.'
'It basically came down to a clash. '
'What truly matters is raw strength and stamina,' Katakuri thought while trembling.
From this perspective, it seemed his mother was likely to lose.
Katakuri could sense it with his Haki—his mother's chest was heaving heavily.
Her aura was flickering.
She was already extremely fatigued, while Ray stood there, ready to swing his sword for another attack.
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