Kairo could feel the Conqueror's Haki oozing from Nika, this bastard was just excited at the idea of a fade.
His power was increasing by the second. While Luffy's current strength would place him at like a Yonko Commander 2-ish, maybe 1—
He would scale above Doffy but below Kid and Law in Wano.
Maybe roughly the same level as the Scabbards, as those guys were decently strong even if they were kinda bums.
He was in the sweet spot, basically.
Yet... Nika...
Using Luffy's power, had upgraded Luffy's strength from that level to somewhere close to Kaido and Big Mom in Wano.
Long story short—
Kairo would have to actually try now, and go all out, or close to all out. He wasn't fully aware of his full strength yet, but he knew he had gotten a boost recently.
Well, there was only one way to find out.
"Ahahahahaha!!"
The debris began bouncing as Nika danced, the floor now rubber. The god laughed as he saw fit—this was fun to him.
And come on, who doesn't like a little fun in their life?
"He is ramping it up..." Kairo's frown deepened. He took a deep breath, his sword being imbued with a shit ton of Conqueror's Haki.
He wanted to use it—but at the same time, he wasn't trying to kill Luffy.
He was going with the same strategy he used on Kuzan.
The Conqueror's Haki blows he landed on Nika weren't for show—his Haki was inside Nika. To be more precise, between the link of the fruit and Luffy's soul.
When he ripped out someone's Devil Fruit, he kinda abused that link, destabilized it, and just yonked that shit.
But now, he was reverse engineering it.
From the anime, he had seen how Conqueror's Haki could affect Devil Fruit users—hell, Law couldn't use his Shambles on Big Mom and Kaido because of their Haki.
And Joyboy's Conqueror's Haki reverted the Elders.
So using that knowledge, alongside Kairo's in-depth understanding of the soul and Devil Fruits—
He planned to set up a bomb in Luffy's soul.
One final hit that would release all of his Conqueror's Haki between that link.
If his theory worked out well, it would be enough to negate the fruit's power long enough for Luffy to come back.
From the crater, Nika could be seen.
"That kinda hurt—"
Kairo was not having it.
His flames went off, his eyes burned with focus.
BZZZT—BOOM!
He appeared right in front of Nika.
He punched Nika with so much force the entire area seemed to shake.
CRACK.
Nika's face caved in—Kairo's fist buried deep into it.
Then—
BOING!! 🎈
Nika's face bounced back like rubber.
That was annoying.
"You hit kinda hard 😊," Nika said, smiling, before launching a sword slash.
Kairo blocked it, tilting his head as the blade curved like a cartoon—WHOOP!—trying to wrap around and hit him anyway.
"..."
Yeah, he hated this.
Nika's shadow grew bigger.
More dangerous.
It began splitting—
Again.
And again.
And again.
POP! POP! POP! 🎭
Multiple versions of Nika peeled off like stickers.
The surroundings shifted, warping into a ruined battlefield—like someone painted reality wrong.
Kairo had a tick mark on his forehead.
This fucker.
Kairo launched forward.
Now, no longer caring about hurting Luffy.
Why?
Because—
They met in the middle.
KRRRRAAAACK!!!
Conqueror's Haki exploded outward—
Splitting the island in half.
The sky itself trembled.
Nika got sent flying back—
SMASH!!
Crashing against the seal in the sky.
"Uuuuhhhh... 🌟🌟" Nika's eyes spun, stars circling his head.
Kairo didn't give him time.
He rushed into the sky—
Nika reached out...
And grabbed the seal.
Like it was tangible.
"❓"
A question mark appeared above his head.
Then—
"💡"
Lightbulb.
A slow, dangerous grin spread across his face.
"heheheheh 😈"
He began crushing the seal.
CRRRRCK—
Kairo's eyes widened.
He launched a kunai—
Nika dodged—
Then—
GRAB!
He grabbed the sky itself.
And then—
SWITCH
WHAM!!!
Kairo slammed into the ground at full speed.
...
Back on the Merry—
"Did... he...?" Nami's mouth hung open.
"He flipped the sky... the hell?" Franky muttered.
"Oh my... I never thought my eyes would see such a thing... although, I don't have any eyes... Yoohohoho 💀🎻"
"This is not the time for joking!" Nami snapped.
Yeah.
Nika had flipped the sky and earth.
Kairo, flying toward him, instead got dragged into the ground by his own momentum.
Back with Nika—
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 😂😂😂"
There was something demonic about fighting someone, doing them dirty, and then laughing in their face.
Nika suddenly paused.
"🤔"
Then—
"💡"
"Ohhh!!"
He reached into the air—
Pulled out paint.
🎨
And started painting mid-air like a lunatic.
An anvil.
Crooked.
Ugly.
Picasso would've cried.
Then—
It became real.
"😁"
DROP.
WHOOOOOO—
BAM!!!
The anvil smashed down.
Dust exploded.
Silence.
...
Nika blinked.
"❓"
Kairo was gone.
Then—
He was in front of him.
"Shadow split."
Even toonforce can get caught off guard.
Kairo had left a clone behind.
And when Nika's guard dropped—
He used the kunai to teleport right in front of him.
One swing.
Just one.
But it carried an absurd amount of Conqueror's Haki and Ryo.
The blade passed through—
SHIIIIIING—
And though it looked like one slash—
An X-shaped mark appeared on Nika's chest.
Nika's eyes rolled back.
"...oh."
"That hurt 😵💫"
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A burst of Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body.
The sheer amount forced into him—
Exploded outward.
The seal in the sky—
SHATTERED.
The clouds split.
Thriller Bark began crumbling.
The rubberized environment snapped back.
Nika's white hair vanished—
"..."
Luffy's body went limp.
Eyes white.
Falling—
Kairo caught him.
...
Silence.
...
Well.
That was a close call.
A/N vote with powerstones