Kaido, who had been charging wildly a moment ago, looked ready to rush in again, but the strange rise in temperature made him instantly pull back the attack he had been preparing.
"What is this?"
Shanks was startled at first, then seemed to realize something, and surprise filled his face.
Was it that man?
Although he had never personally experienced Cyrus's methods, news about Cyrus had already spread widely across the sea.
Most people naturally paid attention to his terrifying strength.
As for Cyrus's ability, the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit, many people knew about that as well.
Some of Cyrus's previous attacks had also spread across the sea.
Extreme heat and terrifying flames had become the symbol of his power.
Now that the temperature had suddenly risen like this, it naturally made people think of the man who stood at the peak of that ability on the sea.
But Observation Haki had not detected any powerful figure approaching.
That was the strangest part.
As one of the strongest men on the sea, Shanks's Observation Haki might not be unrivaled in the world, but it was still extremely powerful and covered a vast range.
Yet now, within the area his Observation Haki covered, he had not found Cyrus's figure at all.
All he could sense was the high temperature covering the entire area.
That heat made the air across a huge space scorching and distorted.
Kaido, who had moved into a guarded stance, was clearly the same as Shanks.
The towering figure gripping his kanabo was now turning his head wildly, searching for the possible source of the arrival.
Even after becoming a demon, he still remembered how Cyrus had scared him off back then.
As for the Red Hair Pirates, they were exchanging uneasy looks.
The heat was already making some of the weaker members struggle to bear it.
Across such a large area, the air had become heavy and oppressive under the high temperature.
But it did not last long.
Flames appeared out of thin air, small clusters burning in the air before gathering above the island like meteors.
Countless flames dragged long tails behind them and converged in one place, condensing into a huge fireball.
The fireball radiated terrifying light and heat, as if another sun had appeared out of nowhere.
"Bastard! It really is you!"
Kaido raised his head and stared at the fireball above.
He suddenly roared, bent his legs, and then straightened them violently.
His body shot into the sky, shattering the ground beneath him as his huge frame turned into a black line and rushed straight toward the fireball.
Conqueror's Haki wrapped around the kanabo in his hand as he swung it in a full arc toward the fireball.
Boom!
Before the Haki-wrapped kanabo could hit the fireball, a flame-covered foot appeared and kicked Kaido directly in the chest.
The air exploded.
The space around the area struck on Kaido's chest distorted violently.
Kaido fell downward even faster than he had risen.
His body smashed into the ground, and the earth trembled fiercely.
Then, as if an eighteen-magnitude earthquake had struck, enormous cracks spread across the island in an instant, and the land squeezed upward and buckled.
In a single moment, the island's terrain was completely transformed.
Shanks stared with wide eyes.
Before he could speak, the flames contracted, and a figure holding a long blade appeared in midair.
Hair dyed gold by the flames drifted softly, while golden fire trailed behind him like a long cloak, fluttering wildly in the air.
His figure was tall and straight, and his face still looked young, with some traces of boyishness not yet fully gone.
But the terrifying aura radiating from him made people instinctively ignore those details.
"Quite lively here."
Cyrus looked down at the Red Hair Pirates below and spoke softly.
He did not immediately deal with Kaido. Since he had arrived, Kaido would not be leaving this time.
Instead, his attention was drawn to Red-Haired Shanks.
This person, whom countless people had analyzed in all kinds of ways before Cyrus crossed over, did interest him a little.
After all, Shanks's identity as a Celestial Dragon could not be fake.
He was also the only one left among the old Four Emperors.
He had an excellent relationship with the protagonist of the world, Straw Hat Luffy.
One could even say he was the guide who led Luffy onto the path of piracy.
Was he a schemer or a hero?
Cyrus's gaze swept over Shanks for a moment before he withdrew it and looked back down.
Seawater poured into the split island, completely flooding the huge crater Kaido had smashed open.
However, Kaido's aura had not weakened at all.
Cyrus did not know whether it was because of Kaido's Fish-Fish Fruit, his powerful body, or Imu's ability.
What he could feel was that Kaido was gathering strength beneath the seawater.
Cyrus drifted down and landed with both feet on the ground.
The heat was fully withdrawn.
By common sense, even if the flames disappeared, the heat they created should linger for quite some time, especially with heat spread across such a vast area.
But now, the flames and the heat vanished together.
Cyrus's control over his ability had grown even stronger.
Even temperature itself was now within his grasp.
"You…"
Shanks watched Cyrus warily and was just about to speak when Cyrus raised a hand.
"Wait a bit. Stand aside for now, i want to deal with this guy first."
Cyrus did not even turn his head as he raised a hand and stopped him from speaking.
Shanks's expression stiffened, but he did not insist. He turned and returned to the Red Hair Pirates.
"Captain!"
Seeing Shanks get shut down like that, the members of the Red Hair Pirates seemed to be holding back laughter, but felt it would not be appropriate, so they could only force themselves to look serious.
"It's him."
Beckman's expression was grave as he spoke in a low voice.
"Of course it is. I've only seen him in the newspapers before, but now that I'm seeing him in person, the papers were wrong about him."
Shanks shook his head slightly.
"The way the newspapers described his strength was too weak."
Those words made the people around him look strange.
In truth, the World Economy News Paper's reports on Cyrus were fairly objective.
Of course, after coming into contact with Cyrus, their coverage had become a little conservative, but not by much.
The main reason was simply that Cyrus grew stronger too quickly.
Cyrus's growth speed was far faster than Straw Hat's.
After all, when Cyrus first went out to sea, he was already much stronger than Straw Hat had been at the start, and he grew even faster afterward.
"Just looking at his back makes me feel a little chilled."
Yasopp hugged his gun and stared at Cyrus's back in the distance.
"Yeah. I believe now that he defeated Big Mom, Golden Lion, and the others by himself on Whole Cake Island."
After those words were spoken, quite a few people looked a little embarrassed.
When they had first seen that news, they had once fought Big Mom themselves, so they had felt that the report might be somewhat exaggerated.
Of course, they believed Cyrus was strong.
But Big Mom, together with Golden Lion and those three other legendary pirates, all being defeated by Cyrus alone? No matter how they thought about it, it sounded too absurd.
That was something even Roger could not have done.
Back then, when the Golden Lion Pirates fought the Roger Pirates, if not for that sudden storm, the result would have been uncertain.
But now that they were seeing Cyrus in person and had felt that terrifying pressure from earlier, none of them doubted it anymore.
Cyrus was simply not on the same level as everyone else.
He was so powerful that he did not even seem human.
The Red Hair Pirates silently watched the direction where Cyrus stood and stopped speaking.
They were waiting for the battle that would come next.
Kaido in his current state was extremely troublesome.
Benn Beckman, however, gave Shanks a look.
He was asking whether they should take this chance to leave.
Cyrus was the chairman of the Hunter Guild, while they were pirates.
Kaido was powerful, but judging from what had just happened, his defeat was only a matter of time.
If Kaido lost, then they would have to face this man directly.
At that point, the situation might become even worse than facing Kaido.
Shanks shook his head slightly.
Based on the information they had received before and the way Cyrus had appeared just now, even if they wanted to leave, they would not be able to.
Cyrus's mobility was even above Kaido's.
Under these circumstances, unless Cyrus and Kaido's battle continued for several days and he neither stopped nor paid attention to them, they might have a chance to get away.
But Shanks had a feeling that this battle would not last long.
Seeing Shanks's response, Benn Beckman, as the tactician of the ship, naturally understood the reason.
After taking a few deep breaths, his eyes locked onto Cyrus.
...
At this moment, Cyrus really was not paying attention to Shanks and the others.
His Observation Haki was locked onto Kaido.
His earlier attack had sent Kaido deep into the island, and with seawater pouring in, Kaido's aura had become somewhat hard to grasp.
Of course, that was only for other people.
Cyrus had not held back much with that kick.
Just from the feeling of the impact, Cyrus could tell that the flesh in the area of Kaido's abdomen that had been struck had been crushed.
But now, according to what his Observation Haki sensed, Kaido's body had long since recovered, almost as if he had never been injured at all.
'As expected.'
Cyrus, who had fought immortals before, was very familiar with this sight.
Even if the head was cut off, it could recover.
However, where was the mark that served as the anchor for the demonic power on Kaido's body?
Cyrus narrowed his eyes.
But he did not have to search for long, because Kaido, who had been gathering strength, was ready to come out.
The unsettled seawater in front of him suddenly seemed to boil, and red light appeared beneath the sea.
Cyrus took several steps back, and a blast of heat breath covered the spot where he had just stood, shooting straight into the sky.
Along with the heat breath emerged a towering half-dragon figure.
Dragon scales covered his entire body, while his hands, arms, and legs had completely transformed into clawed limbs wrapped in scales.
Kaido's eyes were so red they had nearly turned black, his pupils shrinking into tiny black dots.
"You bastard! I've wanted to kill you for a long time!"
Kaido leapt into the air, locking his eyes onto Cyrus as he shouted. His voice was filled with excitement and rage.
That also made his voice sound somewhat sharp.
Cyrus frowned slightly and raised a hand to dig at his ear, which felt uncomfortable from the piercing sound.
Then he lifted his eyes and looked at Kaido as he jumped.
"You think you can deal with me now?"
Staring at Kaido, Cyrus gave a soft snort.
"Die!"
Gripping the kanabo with both hands, Kaido charged toward Cyrus. He raised the weapon high and smashed it toward Cyrus's head.
Black lightning fell along with the kanabo, but in the next instant, the rapidly descending weapon froze in midair.
Cyrus had raised his right hand and caught the tip of the huge kanabo.
From extreme speed to complete stillness, it took only an instant.
The wrists of Kaido's hands gripping the kanabo even let out the sound of bones cracking.
Cyrus had easily caught the attack, yet the ground beneath his feet did not suffer even the slightest impact.
It was as if Kaido's strike had only looked fierce but carried no real force at all.
The strange scene left the distant Red Hair Pirates completely bewildered.
"What's going on?"
"Did Kaido hold back?"
"When he was hitting us earlier, the impact was huge."
Shanks, who had understood part of the situation, stiffened slightly.
Then he lowered his head and gave a bitter smile.
The gap was too wide.
Before this, he could not have imagined that someone at Kaido's level could end up in this kind of position.
It was like a child meeting an adult, and not just any adult, but an incredibly powerful one.
They were simply not on the same level.
But why would someone like Cyrus appear?
Was this really a level that could naturally exist in this world?
An extraordinary creature.
That was the feeling Shanks had.
On Kaido's side, the expression on his face changed from rage and arrogance to blank shock in only an instant.
Kaido stared at the kanabo in his hands, then at the relaxed-looking Cyrus.
'Is this right?'
That was the only thought left in Kaido's mind.
Then he did not even have a second thought.
Cyrus, who had raised his hand to hold the kanabo, swept his leg sideways and kicked Kaido directly in the left side of his waist and abdomen.
Bang!
The enormous figure flew sideways with a white shockwave trailing behind him.
Clang!
The huge kanabo was casually tossed onto the ground by Cyrus.
At the tip of the weapon, a very clear handprint had appeared.
"Still not good enough."
Looking at the handprint at the tip of the kanabo, Cyrus shook his head slightly.
If he could fully control his strength, that catch should not have left any mark on it.
Now that a handprint had been left behind, it meant he still had not perfectly mastered his own power.
When he caught that attack just now, he had used slightly too much force.
However, Cyrus did not dwell on it for long.
He applied a little strength through both feet, and his figure disappeared from where he stood.
Then he caught up to Kaido, who had been sent flying sideways by the kick, and planted the tip of his foot directly on Kaido's chest.
Kaido's sideways flight slowed violently, and his body scraped across the ground, carving out a trench.
Cyrus stood on Kaido's chest. Kaido's chest had already caved in, and the spot Cyrus stepped on was exactly where his heart was.
That previous kick had already caused Kaido's heart to burst from the pressure.
But before Cyrus could withdraw his foot, Kaido's heart had already fully restored itself.
It really was abnormal.
However—
Cyrus raised his hand and gripped his sword hilt.
Swish, swish!
Several flashes of blade light appeared, then vanished. The sword returned to its sheath.
Kaido's eyes suddenly widened. Even with his incredible recovery power, the pain was still real.
His arms and legs had all been severed.
"It isn't here?"
Cyrus raised a hand and touched his chin, looking down at Kaido beneath his foot.
The places where his limbs had been cut off were rapidly growing back.
The severed parts remained behind.
'Could it be the head?' Cyrus thought for a moment, and another blade light flashed.
Kaido's furious expression froze, and a line appeared across his thick neck.
Then a strange scene occurred as a new head grew out.
Cyrus stared, his expression turning somewhat odd.
'Is this right?'
No, this was definitely not right.
If his head grew back, was that still him?
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