Two monsters continued to clash.
Norwell D. Giovanni tightened his grip around the cutlass of Gol D. Roger.
The blade felt incredible.
Balanced perfectly.
Heavy with history.
The moment he wielded it
His entire presence sharpened.
Across from him
Charlotte Katakuri noticed immediately.
"…You changed."
Giovanni rolled his shoulder once.
A grin spread across his face.
"Nah."
He raised the legendary blade slightly.
"My sword did."
BOOM!!
The floor exploded beneath him.
Giovanni vanished.
His speed had increased noticeably.
Roger's cutlass screamed through the underground chamber in a massive horizontal slash.
SHRAAAAAK!!
The pressure alone split the corridor walls apart.
Katakuri's Observation Haki activated instantly.
The future unfolded before him.
He tilted sideways.
The slash missed by millimeters.
But
Giovanni's eyes sharpened.
'There.'
For a fleeting instant
He saw it.
Not clearly.
But enough.
The image of Katakuri dodging appeared in Giovanni's mind moments before it happened.
His body reacted immediately.
The slash shifted mid-swing.
Katakuri's eyes widened slightly.
CLANG!!
For the first time
Katakuri was forced to block.
Black Armament Haki coated his forearm as Roger's cutlass crashed against it violently.
The resulting shockwave detonated throughout the underground structure.
BOOOOOOM!!
The corridor behind Katakuri exploded apart.
Giovanni's grin widened instantly.
"I touched you again."
Katakuri pushed him backward forcefully.
Their weapons separated in an eruption of sparks and black lightning.
The Sweet Commander's expression hardened.
'He's adapting too quickly.'
Katakuri attacked first this time.
Mochi surged outward like tidal waves.
Gigantic fists erupted from every direction simultaneously.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
The underground chambers vanished beneath the barrage.
Giovanni moved desperately between the attacks.
But now
Something had changed.
His Observation Haki no longer reacted purely on instinct.
Tiny fragments of the future began appearing in his senses.
A fist from the right.
A spike from below.
A kick descending from above.
Brief glimpses.
Blurry.
Giovanni twisted sideways.
A mochi fist barely missed his skull.
He ducked.
Another attack passed over him.
Katakuri appeared directly behind him instantly.
A blackened elbow crashed downward.
Giovanni saw it
Half a second before impact.
He crossed Roger's cutlass upward.
CLANG!!
Black and red lightning exploded violently across the corridor.
The force shattered every nearby pillar.
Katakuri's eyes narrowed sharply.
'He blocked it.'
Not luck.
Not instinct.
Prediction.
Giovanni skidded backward across rubble.
Breathing heavily.
But smiling wildly now.
"This is insane."
Katakuri stared at him silently.
"You're beginning to see it."
Giovanni pointed the blade toward him.
"Yeah."
His grin sharpened.
"And now you're getting nervous."
Katakuri did not answer.
But the slight tightening of his eyes told enough.
BOOOOOOM!!
Both men exploded forward simultaneously.
The underground shook violently.
Roger's cutlass collided against hardened mochi fists coated in Armament Haki.
Black lightning erupted everywhere.
The sheer pressure split apart the surrounding chambers.
Giovanni spun low.
Katakuri saw the slash beforehand and stepped back
Only for Giovanni to reverse the attack mid-motion.
SHING!!
The blade sliced across Katakuri's shoulder.
A thin line of blood appeared.
Silence.
Giovanni blinked.
"…Wait."
"I actually cut you."
Katakuri slowly looked at the wound.
His eyes darkened.
Then
BOOOOM!!
An eruption of Conqueror's Haki exploded from both men simultaneously.
Dark red lightning tore across the underground chambers.
The walls cracked apart instantly.
Loose debris floated upward from the sheer pressure.
Nearby unconscious pirates were launched through the corridors.
The clash between their kingly wills became physical.
Visible.
Violent.
Giovanni's hair whipped wildly in the storm of Haki.
Katakuri's scarf fluttered sharply.
Their eyes remained locked.
Neither yielding an inch.
Then suddenly
Katakuri disappeared.
Giovanni's Observation Haki flared desperately.
A glimpse.
A future image.
Left.
Giovanni turned instantly.
WHAM!!
Katakuri's kick still slammed into his side.
But weaker this time.
Partially blocked.
Giovanni gritted his teeth and retaliated immediately.
Roger's blade erupted upward in a crimson arc.
Katakuri leaned backward narrowly.
The slash carved through the ceiling instead.
KRAAAAAASH!!
Entire sections of the underground collapsed downward.
Stone rained around them.
Both men leapt backward simultaneously.
Landing atop opposite ends of a fractured chamber.
Breathing heavily now.
Katakuri stared at Giovanni in silence.
And for the first time since the battle began
Genuine caution entered his gaze.
Because Giovanni was no longer merely attacking wildly.
He was beginning to see the future itself.
And he was evolving with terrifying speed.
Giovanni slowly rested Roger's cutlass against his shoulder.
Black and red lightning crackled faintly around the blade.
His grin became feral.
"You know…"
He rolled his neck slowly.
"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this."
---
The skies above Dressrosa had become a battlefield of monsters.
Entire sections of the city burned below.
Smoke rose endlessly into the night.
Collapsed towers littered the streets.
And high above all of it
Three figures continued tearing the heavens apart.
King.
Marco.
And Donquixote Doflamingo.
BOOOOOOM!!
Blue phoenix flames exploded across the clouds as Marco slammed into King at full speed.
The impact generated a shockwave powerful enough to split the surrounding storm clouds apart.
King was blasted backward through the air.
But immediately
Black flames erupted from his body.
His massive wings spread wide.
"Imperial Flame Wing!"
A gigantic crescent inferno tore across the sky.
Marco crossed his wings.
Blue flames and black fire collided violently.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
The explosion illuminated the entire kingdom beneath them.
Citizens screamed as windows shattered from the pressure alone.
Meanwhile
Thin razor strings descended from above.
Doflamingo attacked.
"Overheat!"
A burning string sliced downward like divine judgment.
Marco twisted aside.
The attack narrowly missed him
And carved directly through an entire clocktower below.
KRAAAAAASH!!
The tower collapsed into the streets beneath.
Doflamingo laughed wildly while descending through the smoke.
"Fuffuffuffuffu!"
"You two are monsters!"
His fingers danced again.
Parasite strings erupted toward both men simultaneously.
King's eyes narrowed.
His sword ignited.
One slash.
SHRAAAAAK!!
The strings were annihilated instantly.
Doflamingo's grin faltered slightly.
Then suddenly
Marco appeared directly in front of him.
'Too fast.'
Doflamingo's Observation Haki barely warned him in time.
WHAM!!
Marco's flaming kick crashed into his ribs.
The Heavenly Demon coughed blood instantly.
His body shot through the air like a cannonball.
BOOOOOOM!!
He smashed through a rooftop several streets below before forcefully catching himself with strings.
Doflamingo hovered above the city again slowly.
Breathing harder now.
His expression darkened.
'Damn monsters.'
He already understood it.
Very clearly.
King and Marco operated on another level physically.
Their durability.
Their speed.
Their raw destructive power.
Completely absurd.
Especially Marco.
The phoenix continuously regenerated through nearly everything.
And King
That lunarian body was a nightmare.
Doflamingo clicked his tongue.
He could keep up temporarily through versatility and Devil Fruit mastery.
But in direct combat
The gap was obvious.
King shot downward like a black meteor.
His sword ignited with blazing fire.
Marco accelerated to meet him.
The collision shook the sky itself.
CLANG!!
Black flames and blue phoenix fire exploded outward simultaneously.
The resulting shockwave blasted apart nearby clouds.
King swung repeatedly.
Heavy.
Violent.
Each strike carried overwhelming force.
Marco blocked and countered fluidly.
Like a bird dancing through destruction.
Blue flames regenerated every wound instantly.
King's flaming kicks tore through the air.
Marco retaliated with spinning talon strikes.
The choreography became impossible for ordinary eyes to follow.
Two airborne monsters moving at speeds beyond comprehension.
Doflamingo re-entered the battle from below.
"Five Color Strings!"
Razor-thin cords slashed upward.
King dodged one.
Marco tanked another with regeneration.
The third sliced across King's wing slightly.
The lunarian's eyes sharpened instantly.
Doflamingo realized his mistake too late.
King vanished.
BOOM!!
The air exploded behind Doflamingo.
The Heavenly Demon barely turned in time.
King's kick slammed directly into his torso.
CRACK!!
Several ribs shattered instantly.
Doflamingo rocketed through the sky before violently stabilizing himself using strings.
Blood dripped from his mouth now.
His breathing had noticeably worsened.
Meanwhile
Marco looked almost completely fresh.
The difference between them was becoming increasingly obvious.
Below the battlefield
King Riku and the royal army watched helplessly.
Entire buildings collapsed every few minutes from stray attacks.
Blue flames rained from the sky.
Fire cut through streets.
Strings sliced towers apart.
One soldier stared upward pale-faced.
"…How are they even human?"
No one answered him.
Because nobody knew.
Even King Riku himself could only stare silently at the destruction.
This battle had surpassed ordinary understanding entirely.
High above the city
King finally created distance from Marco.
The reinforced case containing the Dog Dog Fruit, Model: Fenrir remained clutched tightly beneath his arm.
Doflamingo hovered nearby warily.
Marco's blue flames illuminated the night.
For one brief moment
All three monsters paused.
Then
A fourth presence arrived.
STEP.
Someone walked onto the air itself.
Then another step.
And another.
Sky Walk.
All three fighters turned simultaneously.
Shanks emerged calmly through the clouds.
Hands in pockets.
Red hair swaying in the night wind.
Completely relaxed.
As if he were arriving at a tavern rather than a battlefield destroying a kingdom.
Marco blinked once.
Then laughed softly.
"Of course you'd show up, yoi."
Doflamingo's expression darkened immediately.
King's eyes narrowed behind his mask.
Shanks glanced toward the Devil Fruit case.
Then smiled.
"That fruit."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"It's for my best friend."
Dark red lightning crackled faintly around him.
"And I'm going to take it."
The atmosphere froze instantly.
Even the sky itself seemed to tense.
Because another monster had entered the battlefield.
---
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