So, when it came to dealing with King afterward, Ren gained an absolute advantage.
He truly had not expected the Lunarian race's natural gifts, combined with advanced Armament Haki for defense, to make King that absurdly durable.
Even so, when facing two suns, King had no chance of turning things around.
His only hope was to stall—to drag things out until the energy Ren had swallowed was exhausted.
After all, this power only existed because he had forcefully devoured it through Meteor Burst.
King might not know the exact principle behind it, but he understood very clearly what the phenomenon represented.
No matter what, once Ren revealed his trump card and used his ultimate move, he truly possessed the strength to defeat King.
But strength at that level was still nowhere near enough in front of Kaido.
That punch Ren No. 2 had landed on top of Kaido's head just now had been a solid, heavy blow.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been enough to send King flying thousands of meters away and make him cough up a huge mouthful of blood.
Yet it had only managed to daze Kaido for a moment.
The other side had not even used Haki. He had blocked it with nothing but his dragon scales.
It was just like when Luffy had first encountered Kaido and struck him in Gear Fourth.
Practically speaking, it had done no damage at all.
That alone was enough to show that even with an S-rank domain, Kaido still stood at a level far beyond Ren's.
He might even have reached some incomprehensible realm like S++.
In a situation like this, if Ren wanted to keep fighting to temper himself—no, if he wanted to pose an actual threat to Kaido—
then there was only one path left.
He had to take the unconventional route!
The energy swallowed through Meteor Burst is unbelievably massive—enough to destroy an entire island.
But Kaido can do the same thing. The difference is that I can do it in a short burst, while he needs a little more time.
But looking at it the other way around, it's the same.
The only reason I can do it so quickly is because I'm releasing all the energy at once.
Kaido, meanwhile, is only constantly firing off Breath attacks. He's barely putting in any real effort.
In other words, the power I currently possess holds no advantage in any aspect. Even in terms of sheer scale, it still falls short.
On top of that, I've got a buff that makes my power hard to control. Forget using ten points of strength to unleash twelve—I'd be lucky if ten points came out as five.
But that isn't something that can't be changed!
The root cause of my lack of control is that my body can't fully command the power of plasma.
It's so overwhelming that my body is even starting to fail under the burden.
If that's the case, then why not just install an external armament for myself?
If I'm not qualified to be a humanoid nuke, then I'll just become the pilot of a Gundam!
Ren's eyes flashed as his passive ability, Spider-Sense, activated again and again.
At the same time, he stared at the thing before him as it gradually took shape.
In this step, the wrapping of Haki was absolutely vital. It coiled around that enormous energy and, through the fusion property of Qi, transformed it into "material substance."
By filling it in, the originally illusory crimson demonic shadow was turned into something real.
It still bore six wings, but the former holy radiance was gone, replaced by mad killing intent.
Its whole body looked as though it had been dyed in dark crimson, black, and violet—a sinister sight that inspired instinctive fear.
Within that gradually forming "external armament,"
Ren No. 2 reached out and touched the now-solid ferocious shadow.
The Datafication trait activated.
The meridian network on his body extended invisible yet tangible tendrils, linking itself to the monstrous shadow.
An indescribable sensation instantly welled up inside him, as though he had gained a second body.
But this body was vastly larger, sturdier, and more powerful than the one he had now.
And so, the energy around Ren No. 2 also began to pour out, continuing to fill that six-winged dark angel.
The Cursed Blade: Thousand Edge appeared at his side and was seized by the ferocious shadow, dragged into the process of assimilation.
He understood it clearly.
Once Spider-Sense had given him this judgment, success was only a matter of time.
And once it was complete, he would officially enter the second stage of Meteor Burst.
The Blood Demon is, by nature, an extremely special existence. It possesses a physical body, but it also has a body that is almost conceptual in nature.
That is why it cannot truly be erased. It exists eternally, and the Blood Demon Art was built upon that foundation.
Those who cultivate it draw in human blood, refine negative emotions, and nourish the Blood Demon in exchange for feedback.
It grants immense power and makes its user exceptionally hard to kill.
Its only flaw is that the newly born Blood Demon can easily devour its host instead.
But for me, with the help of Spider-Sense, I spent a full year feeding the Demon Lord Killing Intent into it as nourishment.
At the same time, I used Datafication to unify the Blood Demon Token and Killing Intent, creating a Blood Demon named "me."
It won't backlash against me, nor can it influence me in any way.
Because it is a part of me.
Ren No. 2 silently felt it, controlled that part of himself, and murmured inwardly, And during that year of special training, I completely mastered the Blood Demon Art.
My attainments aren't very deep. I can only use it to this extent.
But Blood Demon Art is an evil heterodox technique to begin with. It was never something that needed deep refinement.
Its true strength lies in the Blood Demon nourished by negative emotions, and in the techniques derived from that Blood Demon.
Before this, all my attention had been focused on Meteor Burst, which made me overlook one thing.
Isn't Blood Demon Art an incredibly effective energy converter?
With me as the power source, the demonic shadow as the external armament, and Blood Demon Art as the high-efficiency output system—
combine all three and let them move in sync, and you get a perfect state!
This is Phase Two—Six-Winged Fallen Angel!
The shadow within the magma pool was now almost completely solid.
It was a pitch-black existence born from light itself.
Its six wings gleamed with black radiance, while its golden armor had transformed into mottled blood-colored plate.
The halo above its head had become a black-violet crown of flame, like a demon's coronet.
Then an oni mask sprouted forth, covering Ren No. 2's cold, expressionless face.
Appearing alongside it was the fully assimilated Cursed Blade: Thousand Edge—
or rather, the Thunderflame Greatblade.
Violent energy surged into Thousand Edge, turning it into the very form it had taken during Body and Soul Obliteration.
But now, he no longer needed a spiral megastructure to compress lightning energy.
His own body now held an energy that was better, stronger, and greater.
All the Haki pouring into it had also finished compressing.
Just then, the sound of thunder came in from the light at the cave entrance, and a massive azure dragon head poked into the opening.
"Hey, what are you hiding in there for?"
Kaido's drunken face showed curiosity. The aura inside felt strange.
One presence had weakened and then vanished, while another was continuously growing stronger—to the point that even he had come over to see what was going on.
"I prepared a—"
Ren raised his head and gripped the Thunderflame Greatblade tightly.
"—surprise!"
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!
Boom—!!
A dazzling black-red blade of light appeared along with the slash, sending Kaido flying in the blink of an eye!
A savage hurricane swept up into the sky as the six-winged fallen angel advanced in a flash, bursting out of the crevice in an instant.
In the very next moment, the furious, thunderous roar of the dragon resounded across the heavens.
On Kaido's dragon neck, a fresh scar had appeared—one that still glowed with scorching light.
With a single slash, Ren had cut through scales that a full-force punch had previously failed to even scratch!
"I... I'm injured?!"
Even Kaido himself could hardly believe it. In just that short delay, his opponent's threat level had undergone a complete, earth-shaking transformation!
"Try getting a little more serious, Kaido!"
Up in the sky, the fallen angel issued his battle cry.
"Otherwise, you might actually die!"
And along with those words came a dense storm of black-red blades of light.
"That bastard... how did he get even stronger again?!"
Far away, King's eyelid twitched as he sensed the terrifying power contained in those blades.
It was different—different from before.
In that earlier form, although Ren's attacks had been terrifyingly powerful, most of that power had manifested as light and heat.
But after changing shape, the nature of his attacks had undergone an enormous shift.
They were compressed to an extreme, solidified to the utmost—
just like that beam that had pierced through him before!
The difference was that back then, there had only been one.
Now there were nearly hundreds of them!
Boom—!!
With piercing explosions, the swarm of slashes instantly engulfed Kaido and blasted him straight into the rock wall on the other side of Dressrosa!
King pressed his lips together, but in the end, he chose to leave and carry out the task Kaido had ordered him to do.
No matter what, he had to capture that pink dragon first!
He believed Kaido would never lose!
In this world, Kaido was the strongest creature in one-on-one combat!
At this moment, inside Dressrosa, the tense Nojiko finally let out a breath of relief after Kaido was dragged away into battle by Ren.
She quickly shifted back into her human-beast form, reducing how conspicuous she was.
After all, she could not even defeat Doflamingo, so there was no way she could possibly contend with Kaido.
Now that things had developed to this stage,
the only thing she really needed to do was make sure the citizens of Dressrosa came to no harm.
However, King's arrival disrupted Nojiko's movements.
"So it's you?"
King descended from the sky, staring at that pink figure who looked almost identical to Kaido.
The moment he saw her, his brows furrowed.
Too similar... no, it was practically identical!
Other than the color difference, she was almost a perfect copy of Kaido himself!
"Brat, what exactly are you?"
King's gaze turned unfriendly as he tightened his grip on his giant katana.
"You'd better explain yourself honestly. I don't want to drag your half-dead body back to Kaido-sama."
"You're in no position to say that when you look like that yourself."
Nojiko clenched her fists without losing any momentum, her eyes locked firmly on him.
"Heh."
King sneered disdainfully.
He might not be able to beat that monster, but could he really not deal with one of Ren's subordinates?
"You're asking for punishment instead of accepting kindness!"
The giant katana drew out a cold gleam, striking with a speed Nojiko could not react to at all.
In the very next exchange, the blade pierced through Nojiko's waist and abdomen, pinning her to the wall.
King gripped the hilt tightly, his face cold.
"So weak. Why don't you stop causing me trouble?"
Blood spilled from the corner of Nojiko's lips, but she opened her mouth, revealing a glowing sphere of crimson flame gathering inside.
Blast Breath!
Boom—!!
A savage torrent of crimson fire swallowed King whole.
Yet from within the flames, a large hand shot out and snuffed out Nojiko's Blast Breath in an instant!
"Too weak! Compared to Kaido-sama's Blast Breath, your imitation is laughably crude!"
King twisted the sword hilt with disgust, making Nojiko's entire body tremble.
She was no match for him.
That was only natural.
Even Ren had needed to reveal his trump card before he could gain the upper hand against King.
The title of a Yonko's right-hand man had never been given for nothing.
(End of Chapter)