"Jabba? Who the hell is that?!"
Silver Axe roared. His body, already swollen to over five meters tall, smashed through every building in his path as he charged straight at the sent-flying Carlo.
He looked like a savage, berserk beast in human form.
In the cratered plaza, Carlo—who'd just taken Silver Axe's terrifying slash—stood up as if nothing had happened, dusted himself off, spun his war halberd, and brought it down in a vertical cleave!
Shhk!
The earth split open along a hundred-meter fissure.
A black slash shot straight at the charging Silver Axe.
Silver Axe didn't even try to dodge; he let the strike land squarely.
With a sickening squelch, a blazing crimson line erupted from the crown of Silver Axe's muscular head to the soles of his feet.
Skin and muscle parted ruthlessly.
Blood gushed out like a waterfall, drenching his body and dyeing the ground beneath him scarlet.
The cut was so deep that stark white bone showed through.
Yet, despite such horrific wounds, Silver Axe kept charging as if nothing had happened.
Not only that—
as he ran, his ghastly injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Flesh knitted, muscles re-grew.
His five-meter frame shot up another full meter, reaching six-plus meters—now matching Carlo's height.
Seeing the bizarre transformation, Carlo understood at once.
No doubt about it.
The change was the work of a Devil Fruit.
The fruit that could turn injuries into strength had to be the Paramecia-type Causal Fruit.
The more damage the user took, the more power he gained.
That surge in strength manifested physically—
the more he was beaten, the bigger he became!
"So you're basically an unbreakable punching bag, huh?"
"Toss you over to Marineford for Garp to train on and the old man would be thrilled."
Carlo's arms blurred as he swept the heavenly dragon halberd again and again, carving black after-images through the air.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Dozens of jet-black, tens-of-meters-long slashes flew out in unison, all aimed at Silver Axe.
Silver Axe took every last one of them.
This time, after being flayed and even having bones severed, he healed once more.
His body ballooned to a titanic fifteen meters!
Coiled in muscle, Silver Axe finally reached Carlo, raising his giant axe for an overhead chop.
"Causal Annihilation!!"
Carlo planted his feet, gripping the halberd in both hands, and met the attack from below.
Armament Haki surged through him like black fire, coalescing into solid bolts of dark lightning.
The moment it rushed into the heavenly dragon halberd, the lightning expanded, crackling and roaring outward.
"Heaven-Dragon Obliteration Slash!!"
The giant axe descended.
The halberd shot upward!
The two colossal weapons collided with a deafening boom; the released shockwave sheared the surrounding high-rises clean off at the base.
The ground beneath their feet split lengthwise the instant the blades met.
A bottomless chasm raced all the way toward the towering Skull Mountain behind them,
as though it meant to cleave Hachinosu's landmark peak in two!
At Skull Mountain's summit, inside the eye-socket-like hollow Rocks had casually smashed out, the spectators lounging on sofas didn't so much as twitch.
Rocks sighed. "Hopeless lot. Having to step in myself—how embarrassing for a Captain."
He made no visible move,
yet the next instant
endless darkness gushed from beneath him, pouring out of the lounge and cascading like a black waterfall through the two sockets to coat the entire mountain.
In a heartbeat
the hundreds-of-meters-tall Skull Mountain was encased in a thick shell of obsidian light.
When the residual slash from Carlo and Silver Axe's clash struck the darkened rock, it let out a muffled boom.
When the dust settled
not a single crack marred the black surface.
Both fighters glanced over, stunned.
Silver Axe exclaimed, "What monstrous Armament Haki! He wrapped the whole mountain—and so densely it's like armor."
He sucked in a breath and bellowed, "Rocks!! I see you! Get down here and fight me!"
"Worororo, forget it. Worry about saving your own hide first—something nastier's coming; let's see if you can take it!"
Rocks's laughter rolled like thunder from the mountain's eye socket.
Silver Axe froze.
"What do you mean?"
In that instant of distraction he felt an overwhelming force travel up the shaft of his giant axe.
So immense was the pressure that even his fifteen-meter frame couldn't hold it; the axe was slowly pushed upward.
He looked down in shock to see Carlo calmly raising the heavenly dragon halberd, lifting man and axe bit by bit off the ground.
"Where the hell does your strength come from?!"
"I don't believe it!!"
Silver Axe clenched his teeth, veins bulging, arms straining to drive the weapon back down.
It was useless.
With a twist of Carlo's wrist the giant axe rang out and flipped high into the air.
The swing left Silver Axe's entire chest wide open.
A savage gleam flashed in Carlo's eyes, a cruel grin curling his lips.
The next moment
his right foot stamped the ground.
BOOM!
Half the plaza shook as ferocious physical power surged upward from that foot,
traveling through calf, thigh, hips, spine—
every muscle fiber adding its force until it all converged in his right arm.
That muscle-corded arm rose—and swung!
Thick black lightning burst along the crescent blade of the heavenly dragon halberd!
"Heaven-Dragon! Burst Slash!"
BOOM!!
Gale winds howled, air thundered; the black halberd cleaved deep into Silver Axe's chest and abdomen, carving through flesh to lodge inside.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!