Sword energy carved through the battlefield in sweeping arcs, each strike carrying an oppressive pressure that distorted the air itself. Teach and Redyat fought with absolute seriousness, each blow thrown with the full weight of their power. By now, ravines scarred the ground in every direction, carved out by their relentless slashes.
The clearing at the center of the island had doubled in size, the surrounding jungle erased by the clash of their sword intent. Even the distant observers from the Nightfall Pirates had withdrawn another hundred meters, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.
"Dragon Abyss: Thunderclap Flash!" Teach roared.
He gripped Dragon Abyss with both hands. Golden sword aura surged, lightning crackling along the blade as he released a massive white-gold slash. The attack twisted mid-flight, its shape warping into something primal. Thunder roared with the voice of a furious beast as the slash transformed into a lightning dragon, fangs bared as it streaked toward Redyat.
Redyat responded the instant Teach fired.
"Absolute Shadow: Shadow Devour!"
His blade released a pitch-black slash that morphed into a strange, incomplete shadow dragon. Its form wavered, as if it didn't fully belong to the world, yet it lunged forward with equal ferocity.
The two dragons collided mid-air.
Light swallowed everything for a heartbeat. A thunderous crack split the sky, stones shattered, and the ground caved inward beneath the explosive shockwave. A massive crater formed at the epicenter of the collision.
Teach and Redyat stood firm, facing each other as the shockwave rippled past them. Their clothes and hair whipped wildly. Farther back, some of the Nightfall Pirates crouched behind tree trunks, others covered their faces with an arm, bracing against the hurricane of dust and debris. A few simply lay flat on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.
"How long are they gonna keep this up? It's already been half a day!" Nelson shouted over the wind, sounding defeated. "The power difference between them and us is just too big. One random hit from either of them would erase me."
Pouf adjusted his glasses, watching the battlefield with interest. "This is still just warm-up. The Captain specializes in physical combat, and Redyat clearly has a Zoan Devil Fruit. Judging by his presence, it's almost certainly a Mythical Zoan. Those are rarer than Logias. And anyone considered Teach's equal won't just be a swordsman. He'll be monstrous up close too."
Pouf himself knew plenty about Devil Fruits. His family had once lined up multiple rare fruits for him to choose from. He chose the ability that matched him best, not the one with the flashiest reputation.
Laffitte trembled with excitement, eyes gleaming. "Unbelievable. Two monsters here, and another in the New World. The three kings of the Nightfall Pirates. This is exactly what the Captain described. A crew that can shake the whole world."
He remembered Teach's casual words from days ago.
"I once thought about inheriting the Whitebeard Pirates. But Pops' legacy is too deep. I'd rather build something that surpasses them entirely."
Teach and Redyat continued their brutal exchanges. Their Observation Haki was useless now; both were far beyond the point where prediction mattered. They understood each other instinctively, clashing purely through strength, speed, and instinct honed by countless battles.
But both knew that swordsmanship alone would never decide this fight. This was still the prelude.
Their true battle had not yet begun.
Finally, during one blistering clash, Teach unleashed his strength with both hands. Dragon Abyss descended in a diagonal arc, golden sword light radiating from its darkened blade. The slash hummed with a sharpness so intense it felt like the air itself might split.
Redyat met him head-on, his eerie dark-purple sword aura flashing as he swung his famed blade, Zetsuei.
Their weapons collided.
A spark flared between them, followed by crackling dark red lightning. Conqueror's Haki burst from both their bodies, weaving around them like caged storms. Unlike before, they controlled their auras tightly, compressing the overwhelming presence around their frames.
Teach's arms swelled, veins bulging, muscles taut from exertion. Redyat's arms transformed, scales twisting into jagged black patterns that radiated raw might.
Teach recognized it immediately.
Dragon scales.
Dragon's might.
This was a Zoan Mythical Zoan.
A Dragon-Dragon Fruit.
Which type, he didn't know. There were many variations of dragons across history and legend. But the overwhelming aura was unmistakable.
The ground cracked under their feet. The sky above was an empty blue, every cloud had been blown away long ago.
Teach felt his blood boil with excitement. He hadn't felt this exhilaration since fighting Ares. And considering Ares' monstrous growth, that man's strength likely surpassed even his now. If Ares had reached Admiral-level power, it was only a matter of time before he climbed even higher.
But right now, Teach's entire world narrowed to the opponent in front of him.
Their blades locked for ten full seconds before the pressure eased. Both fighters slid backward, leaving deep grooves in the ground.
Teach stabbed Dragon Abyss into the earth.
Then, in a single fluid motion, he grabbed his collar and flung his pirate coat aside. His coat ripped through the air, fluttering like a banner. He unclipped the gold and silver pistols from his belt, then removed Purgatory and Thunderclap. Every weight strapped to his limbs clattered to the ground with several heavy crashes, each creating a crater.
Freed of their mass, his body felt light and explosive.
He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and inhaled deeply.
The real battle began now.
His fighting spirit surged skyward, bright and overwhelming. This fight wasn't just about testing strength. It was for his dream, for the future he envisioned. For the Nightfall Pirates' rise as a trio of absolute monsters who would shake the world.
He wrapped his weapons and weights inside his coat and hurled them toward the crew.
The bundle fell like a meteor.
Nelson didn't panic. He touched the bundle with his power, "Ability Exchange," swapping its position so it appeared safely to the side, crashing into the earth and forming a crater.
Redyat also removed his tattered robe, revealing a black combat suit beneath. A metallic belt around his waist unfastened when he pressed a button. The heavy device dropped, but before it hit the ground, his shadow spread outward and swallowed it whole.
Zetsuei and his torn sleeves were devoured as well.
"Is that his ability?" someone whispered.
It confirmed what many suspected.
Redyat was absolutely a Mythical Zoan.
Teach expected nothing less.
Redyat took a breath, his presence shifting.
"Zoan: Dragon-Dragon Fruit: Shadow Dragon Form. That is the power I wield."
Teach didn't answer. He only steadied his breathing, raising his state to its peak.
The air thickened. The battlefield vibrated, as if waiting for something catastrophic to erupt.
Then both their auras spiked.
In the next instant, both vanished.
They collided in the center of the battlefield with a deafening crash. Teach's hands were no longer human. They transformed into massive demonic claws, grotesque and powerful, wrapped in flowing Haki sharp enough to shear steel.
Redyat entered full beast-human form. Jagged black scales covered his body. Dark purple spiral horns extended from his head. A long, angular dragon tail bristling with spikes snapped through the air behind him.
Teach ducked under a claw strike and countered immediately, raking Redyat's chest. His claws tore into the scaled flesh, carving bloody marks. Redyat barely flinched. The injury was shallow, his regeneration quick.
He retaliated with a twist of his body. His dragon tail struck Teach with brutal force.
Teach flew back.
He stomped twice in mid-air, stabilizing himself before landing. Lightning coursed across his body as he charged forward in a blur.
Redyat smirked and sank into his shadow.
He vanished completely.
Teach couldn't sense him. The battlefield was wide open, yet shadows were everywhere. And among them moved Redyat's shadow, the one that shouldn't exist in daylight.
Teach scanned the terrain. His micro-level Observation Haki picked up a difference. Where normal shadows were faint under the sun, Redyat's was darker, richer, alive.
Teach locked onto it.
And the next phase of their battle truly began.