Chapter 15: A Mythical Zoan? My Name Is 'Yuji'!
Outside the Great Forest, at the watchtower.
"Hey! Wake up, men! Wake up!"
The Lieutenant Colonel, having fled here on Commodore Lanley's orders, felt a mix of relief and anxiety as he looked at the wounded Marines in the ruined watchtower.
He was relieved that the situation was better than he'd feared. Although the tower was completely destroyed, the men were all still alive. He guessed the other four bases were in a similar state.
He had already reported the attack to Headquarters.
But his anxiety stemmed from the same fact.
"The nearest support is half a day out."
"And even if they get here... can we even help in a fight of that level?"
He muttered, looking back toward the center of the Great Forest.
"Clang! CLANG! CLANG!"
Massive, thunderous impacts echoed from the forest, clear even at this distance. With every clash, he could see another giant tree fall, sending up a plume of dust.
Now and then, a massive flying slash would shoot out of the forest, carving through the dust cloud.
This was, without a doubt, a battle beyond anything he had ever witnessed.
"Can Commodore Lanley... win?" he whispered.
...
"I can't win."
At that same moment, deep in the forest, Commodore Lanley came to a grim conclusion as he battled Roy.
"So this is the power of an Ancient Zoan?" he muttered.
His master, Vice Admiral "Burning Mountain," had warned him about how troublesome Ancient Zoan users were. In fact, one of the infamous Seven Warlords of the Sea was famous for his Ancient Zoan ability.
As his master put it: "Facing one is like facing the ancient, savage world itself."
Lanley hadn't understood. Now, he did.
BOOM!
A massive tail came whistling through the air. Lanley barely managed to swing his tachi to counter.
"Volcano Style: Burst Slash!"
He put all his Haki and strength into the block. But in the next second, he felt like he'd been hit by a mountain and was sent flying, tumbling out of control.
CRASH!
His body gouged a massive trench in the earth, snapping giant trees as he went.
Lanley felt another rib crack. "Is that three or four now?"
He used his sword to prop himself up, swallowing the blood that rose in his throat. His ragged breaths showed he was in bad shape.
He looked up at his enemy.
The monster was standing not far away. On its massive tail, he could see the gash he'd just inflicted.
But as he watched...
Lanley could clearly see the muscle and membrane of the wound... knitting themselves back together.
In just a few moments, the bleeding gash had been reduced to a faint red mark.
This was the source of Lanley's despair.
"Vitality, stamina, speed, defense, power... we're not even in the same league."
The monster wasn't even using Haki—maybe it couldn't, or maybe it just didn't want to.
Even though Lanley was using his Haki to its fullest... the gap was too great. The life force granted by an Ancient Zoan fruit was just too monstrous.
"My training is still not enough... If Master Burning Mountain were here, he could have cut this thing in two."
"In a straight fight... I have no chance."
"I have to bet everything on the next... and final... slash."
His decision was made.
...
"This fruit... it's a freak of nature. No wonder every Ancient Zoan user is at least a Tobi Roppo or an All-Star in the Beasts Pirates."
At the same time, Roy's clone was having a similar thought.
He was, in fact, using this powerful Commodore as a "whetstone" to get used to his new abilities.
And as the wielder, he understood even better than Lanley just how powerful the Quetzalcoatlus fruit was.
"My own combat skill is decent, and with this fruit... I guess my combat power is approaching a Marine Vice Admiral."
That was his conclusion. Of course, considering the massive power gap between the weakest and strongest Vice Admirals, that was a conservative estimate.
"And that's not even counting... hmm?"
Just as Roy's clone was analyzing his strength, his animal instincts flared. He snapped his attention back to Commodore Lanley.
Lanley had emerged from the dust. His tachi was now sheathed.
He was crouched low, his right hand on the hilt, his eyes terrifyingly sharp.
"Going for broke?"
Roy's clone understood. This was the final move.
"Fine by me," he thought. "I'm used to the Quetzalcoatlus fruit now. It's time to end this."
He faced Lanley.
HSS... HSS... HSS...
Lanley's breathing was heavy as he gripped the hilt, Haki and all of his remaining strength coiling within him. He was a volcano, gathering pressure, about to erupt.
"When you face a great enemy," his master's voice echoed in his mind, "it is a crisis, but also an opportunity. Focus your will. Bet everything on one strike. This is the 'Stance of the Soul'."
And then...
BOOM!
The blade flashed.
Like a volcanic eruption!
It was a slash unlike any before. Its speed and intensity tore the atmosphere. The surrounding trees were split in two, and the air itself seemed to explode.
"The will moves, the sword follows. Mind and blade as one. This is the 'Combined Draw'."
Lanley was satisfied. This was the strongest slash he had ever executed.
"Volcano Style: Iai Slash - BURNING MOUNTAIN!"
For a split second, even Roy's inhuman, slitted pupils widened in surprise.
The slash flew.
Pfft!
The rooster-masked, scale-covered head... flew silently from its neck.
A clean decapitation.
Lanley finally, finally, let out his breath.
"I... won..."
He collapsed to a sitting position, gasping. It felt like he couldn't even move.
But...
"Not a bad slash."
The voice that spoke made Lanley's heart stop.
"Wha..."
He turned his head, his eyes widening in disbelief.
And he saw the most impossible thing he would ever see.
Roy's decapitated, rooster-masked head... was dissolving into countless, "golden particles of light."
And then...
Vmmm!
The scattered particles of light swarmed, flowing back to the headless neck.
In a flash of brilliant light, the head reformed.
In a matter of seconds, Roy's clone was whole again.
But he had changed. Golden bands of light now wreathed his body. His claws seemed to glow with a golden aura.
The forest was dead silent.
Lanley's mind went blank. He stared at this... this thing.
"A Zoan user... but... elementalization!?"
His brain was struggling to process it. He knew what he'd seen. It was just like... just like what he'd heard about Admiral Kizaru's power.
A Zoan who could turn to light... He could only come to one, terrifying conclusion.
"You're... a Mythical Zoan?"
Only the rarest fruit in the world, a Mythical Zoan, could possess such an impossible power!
And with that... came another, even more horrifying realization.
"This whole time... you weren't even fighting me seriously."
If he was a Mythical Zoan... it was the only explanation.
Lanley was horrified. He was confident he could beat any Marine below the rank of Vice Admiral. But this... this monster... had beaten him without even trying.
"Who... who are you..." he choked out.
He saw the creature raise its claw. A golden light began to gather there.
VMMMM!
The light pulsed.
BOOM!
And Lanley's world went black.
As he lost consciousness, he thought he heard a calm, confident voice.
"Who am I? My name... is 'Yuji'."