Almost at the same instant, thousands of arrows tore through the air.
If they had merely been ordinary attacks, they would have meant nothing.
But the arrows fired by these powerful Kuja warriors were wrapped in Armament Haki!
A dense storm of Haki-infused arrows shot toward Ren. Even if he barely dodged them, a fully prepared Giant Perfume Femur would be waiting for him.
"Boring little tricks!"
It looked as though he had fallen into danger.
That was, if the corners of Ren's mouth had not curled upward.
"Conqueror's Haki—is used like this!"
A sinister demonic shadow emerged along with his mocking voice. A flash of black and white swept past.
The true form of the Blood Demon appeared, wreathed in black-red lightning-like aura, and with a single sway of his body, he surged to a hundred meters tall!
He looked down upon the land like a Demon God. Beneath his crimson gaze, a terrifying pressure of Conqueror's Haki erupted!
"Crushing Pressure: Black Flash!"
The almost tangible shock wave of Conqueror's Haki surged like a tide, further reinforced by Armament Haki coiling around the impact wave!
A black-red sphere of light appeared where Ren stood. Then, like an explosion, it abruptly expanded outward, transforming into a violent "hurricane" that pushed in every direction!
Everywhere it passed, houses shattered, rivers reversed their flow, and even the earth split open with countless fine cracks.
The Haki arrows that were first to come into contact with it were crushed and burst apart in the blink of an eye, scattering into fragments that filled the sky!
The tens of thousands of Kuja warriors had no room to resist at all. In a single breath, they were all swept over and pressed deep into the ground.
Several seconds later, that two-colored Haki shock wave, comparable to a natural disaster, had swept across nearly one-third of Kuja Island, leaving behind a landscape of broken walls and ruins.
High in the air, Hancock kicked at the air with all her strength to evade, but she still could not escape being violently crushed by the two-colored Haki impact!
The savage force sent her smashing into a palace, embedding her headfirst into the wall.
Rumble—!
Thunder flashed, and Ren followed close behind. When he saw the shapely rear and long legs exposed outside the wall, he froze for a moment.
Uh… wall-butt—no, damn it!
It was all the Sweet-Sweet Fruit's influence!
Although a ripple stirred in his heart, cold reason still held the upper hand.
Ren grabbed Hancock by the ankle, violently overpowering her struggle. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he began a Hulk smash!
On the first swing, Hancock was yanked free, her long hair whipping into a straight line through the air before the back of her head smashed into the ground.
On the second swing, she moved in the opposite direction at the same speed, her forehead once again shattering the earth.
The third… the sixth… the ninth… left, right, left, right, left, right!
Rumble—!
The palace balcony beneath them could no longer withstand such power and began collapsing outright.
Just as her center of gravity slipped away, Hancock struggled with all her might and arched her upper body toward Ren.
Ignoring her disheveled, torn clothes and the exposed curve of her chest, she unleashed a dazzling Mero Mero Mellow from both hands, applying the influence of intense light and petrification.
Ren narrowed his eyes.
The image of the northern and southern hemispheres imprinted in his mind made the petrification effect far stronger than before.
The immunity effect from his Haki slowed slightly.
"Release me!"
The hand clamping her ankle finally loosened, and Hancock flipped one hundred and eighty degrees into the air.
The air became flat ground beneath her feet. With a point of support, she immediately launched a kick.
Ren met her leg with his fist. A sharp ringing burst from the point of impact, and Hancock was blasted backward as if struck by lightning.
A kick against a punch—and his fist force had actually overwhelmed her leg strength head-on!
'This man… his strength…'
Hancock desperately adjusted her posture, trying to break free from her stiffness.
However, her opponent was faster. He kicked through the air and charged over, then leapt up midair and paid her back in kind with a flying volley kick!
Boom—!
A white meteor streaked across the sky, triggering an intense tremor when it crashed into the earth.
'Troublesome ability. I just used a major move, so my Haki's running a little low… Mm, I should be fine until daybreak.'
Ren frowned and dispelled the petrification effect, but he did not continue chasing.
Observation Haki and Premonition Sense activated together, capturing the hostility coming from the side.
"Sister!"
"You bastard!"
"Lady Snake Princess!"
"Intruder! What is going on?!"
A chaotic chorus of voices rang out at the same time.
It seemed the commotion just now had drawn out the people who had not appeared earlier.
Boa Hancock's sisters—Boa Marigold and Boa Sandersonia!
There were also over a hundred national defense warriors carrying prey. They threw down the prey in their hands and rushed over in fury and agitation to provide support.
The two leading them, Marigold and Sandersonia, transformed instantly.
The former's massive body, already over four meters tall, swelled up like an inflating balloon.
Her original round, heavy-featured appearance turned hideous and serpentine. More precisely, she had become a snake!
Layers of snake-belly patterns appeared across her increasingly massive body, and the tongue she spat out became a long, forked snake tongue!
Zoan-type—Snake-Snake Fruit, Model: King Cobra!
Her height alone shot past ten meters, giving her a combat level worth at least a bounty of two hundred million.
The latter also transformed into a similar snake-woman form.
The enormous snake-woman body she took on was covered in black stripes, and her tail was even longer.
Zoan-type Devil Fruit—Snake-Snake Fruit, Model: Anaconda!
She also had a strength level around two hundred million in bounty terms.
They charged at the descending Ren—until the black-red sphere of light was unleashed again!
The terrifying Haki shock wave erupted once more. The natural disaster-like hurricane mercilessly crushed the incoming Haki arrows and pressed the hundred-plus national defense warriors into the ground.
Only the two Zoan ability users withstood that mountain-like pressure.
Marigold and Sandersonia attacked with twisted expressions, their hair surging and wrapping itself in Armament Haki.
"Snake Hair Possession: Yamata no Orochi!"
"Snake Hair Possession: Flame Snake God!"
A mass of blue snakes and twin serpents covered in flames surged together, striking toward the location predicted by Observation Haki.
"In the way."
Ren cast them an indifferent glance and activated Thunder and Flame Mastery.
Rumble—!
Thunder exploded across the sky. Two pillars of lightning, carrying terrifying thunderous might, turned into sharp swords and pierced through the two of them.
"Ah!"
Amid their shrill screams, he reached out again, and the lightning coursing over the snake-women came under his control.
"Tornado destroys parking lot!"
The two enormous snake-women were forcibly lifted up, spinning as Ren spun, whipping up a gigantic hurricane across the flat ground.
When the centrifugal force reached its peak, he loosened his grip and flung them away. The two flew off directly, causing an earthquake-like tremor upon the distant ground!
A strength level of two hundred million—
before the current Ren, it was no different from a toy.
"Hah. That felt good."
Ren rarely showed a smile, then solemnly patted the dust off his body.
Damn it. This was the normal standard a fight should have!
No wonder he looked like this.
Ever since leaving the East Blue, most of the time, he had not had the chance to fight a stomp battle against small fry.
To be precise, it was always someone else stomping him, the small fry.
From Alabasta until now, his battles had all involved either racking his brain to weaken the opponent before acting, or fighting with the mindset that dying once was not necessarily unacceptable.
Even in the future, that would most likely remain the case… When had he ever enjoyed a one-sided battle like this?
Battle!
Power!
Ren strode toward Hancock's location. As his gaze swept around, he also saw the impact caused by his two Haki shock waves.
It was almost equivalent to a natural disaster. The flat cluster of buildings inside the bowl-shaped terrain of the island had turned into ruins.
The rivers had reversed their flow, sending water rushing everywhere. Trees had been uprooted and thrown far away.
Even the buildings carved into the surrounding rock walls of the sea-bowl had been cracked by the shock waves.
This was a new move and a new attempt.
Pure Conqueror's Haki pressure could not achieve something like this.
Perhaps Red-Haired Shanks could, but Ren was still far from touching that realm.
There were two reasons he could do it.
The first was external release of internal energy from the Blood Demon Art, just like in the duel between Wu Liuqi and Redtooth on Chicken Island in Assassin Wu Liuqi.
As the referee, Qingfeng released a blood-red barrier, and even the park ground used as the battlefield had been plowed up by the barrier.
The Blood Demon Art naturally possessed similar techniques.
Using that technique as a foundation, he wrapped it in Armament Haki to strengthen its power.
Then, by mixing in the impact of Conqueror's Haki, he created this strike.
The effect and name of the move matched perfectly.
Crushing Pressure—an indiscriminate suppression that caused enemies to collapse.
Black Flash—described the sensation during its release.
Like Thunderflame Greatblade, this move also had a higher version.
Stepping across the ground, Ren arrived where Hancock had fallen, and just as he expected, he encountered resistance.
"I won't let you pass!"
Elder Nyon stood in the enemy's path, holding her snake cane.
Her aged face was tense for once, and her eyes were full of determination and resolve.
In her youth, she had also been a capable fighter!
"You've already aged to this degree, yet you still want to trade your life for time?"
Ren glanced at her sidelong, his footsteps never stopping. But he did not attack either.
"You should be able to feel it, right? The reason you can still stand here, and the reason no one has died yet.
"Compared to throwing your life away by blocking me, why not keep it and do something later? Save this country and its emperor."
His indifferent words struck Elder Nyon like thunder. Before she even had time to question him, Ren had already brushed past her.
Complete and utter disregard, as though he was certain she would not make a move.
In truth, she did hesitate because of that.
Because the other party was a swordsman, and up until now, he had not drawn his blade!
After that brief delay, Ren crossed the ruins and followed the trench to its end.
It was a place that could be called a crater.
Fragments of several houses were scattered around the huge pit, but Hancock was nowhere to be seen inside.
Creak.
The abrupt sound of a door opening came from one side, accompanied by the sound of someone taking a deep breath.
Oh?
Did she have some sort of plan?
Ren looked over curiously, and then froze in the truest sense.
Because what entered his sight was not a battered and miserable Hancock. She seemed to have used that small gap in time to tidy herself up.
The dust on her body and all the disheveled parts had disappeared.
If it had only been that, he could probably only say that women's thought processes were truly strange.
However… that was not what truly made Ren freeze.
"…"
Hancock bit her lower lip, her deep blue eyes staring fixedly at Ren.
Her peerlessly beautiful face was tinged with rosy clouds, and mixed with the anger and unwillingness in her expression, it formed a breathtaking contrast.
It carried an almost bewitching impression of "I'm obviously unwilling, but I'm still letting you see."
Rustle—
Her pale pink coat slipped from her shoulders and rested in the crook of her arms. Then she made a motion of spreading her hands open.
(End of Chapter)