Whether Jack was surprised or not, Taro didn't know, but he was certainly startled.
His gaze swept toward Moria. After covering his eyes with Internal Energy, the air behind Moria outlined three human figures.
Absalom had one arm around Wan Luo and Wan Shi, and the other stretched forward. His expression was fearful, as if he had just tried to stop Moria from attacking.
Seeing that Taro's gaze had clearly bypassed Moria and noticed him, Absalom felt his heart skip a beat, and his transparent body rippled.
The three people then became faintly visible, noticed by everyone on the battlefield.
"Huff Huff"
Moria's mockery made Jack's blood boil. He let out two heavy breaths,
"You... cough~"
As soon as he spoke, he suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of blood, and a jet of blood even sprayed from his nose.
Taro was stunned for a moment, then he understood.
Exactly, how could internal organ damage recover so quickly?
It turns out this guy was only temporarily suppressing his injuries; he hadn't actually recovered.
After coughing up blood, Jack seemed to feel a bit better and panted for a while longer.
"You piece of trash, the loser who was defeated by Boss Kaido 20 years ago..."
"Kishishishi, it was 21 years ago, I remember it very clearly!"
The similarly injured Moria directly interrupted Jack, his claw-like fingers twitching.
"A nobody from back then actually became one of the 'Three Disasters.' It seems Kaido isn't what he used to be!"
Taro was somewhat surprised. Did Moria get a concussion from Lucci? Why so provocative?
"Captain Moria, I... we should run! Those mad dogs will be catching up soon..."
Sweat beaded on Absalom's forehead, and his voice trembled slightly.
Facing Katakuri and Jack was one thing, but being this close to Taro made his heart pound with terror.
The group's original plan was to use the Clear-Clear Fruit to slip away quietly from the edge of the battlefield.
Lucci and the others couldn't turn invisible, so they certainly wouldn't dare to pursue in a straight line, giving them time to make their escape.
Who would have thought that Moria would suddenly launch a sneak attack on Jack, instantly exposing them all.
"Moo~"
Hearing Moria's words, Jack let out an angry bellow. Enduring the intense pain in his internal organs and the grogginess in his head, he gave up on Taro and lunged toward Moria instead.
Moria's arm transformed into a giant pair of scissors. Just as he was about to act, Absalom placed a hand on Moria's back.
"Captain Moria, please, let's just leave. Wan Luo and Wan Shi have no combat power!"
As he spoke, most of Moria's body had already become transparent.
He initially twisted, wanting to break out of the invisibility, but for some reason, he eventually gave up and his arm returned to normal.
By the time the last trace of Moria's figure vanished into thin air, Jack had already rushed close.
His thick elephant trunk lashed out wildly at the nearby ground, and his forelimbs reared up high before stomping down heavily.
Taro curled his lip; he was truly a reckless brute.
If Jack had observed patiently, he could have seen the opponent's movement path on the damp ground.
Or he could have identified Absalom's movements through scent.
But Jack, that muscle-brained fellow, simply smashed the entire area to bits, even churning up the dry soil from beneath.
In an instant, mud and sand splashed everywhere, and dust filled the sky. There was no way he could find Moria's position now.
Taro glanced at Katakuri out of the corner of his eye and saw the anger surging from him almost steaming, dyeing the surrounding air a blue-black hue.
Although Katakuri was very contemptuous of Moria's behavior, it wasn't enough to make him attack Moria.
He transferred all his pent-up rage onto Taro, his cheek muscles twitching as he spoke one word at a time from his throat:
"Ten minutes are up. It's my turn!"
Stepping forward, the ground beneath his feet instantly turned into mochi. The Mochi-Mochi Fruit Awakening was activated.
Taro didn't dare to be careless in the slightest, turning toward Katakuri with a solemn expression.
A cyclone formed beneath his feet, and Internal Energy surged out. The ground vibrated slightly, also turning into a fluid state.
"Mochi-Mochi Fruit Awakening!"
As Katakuri approached, the Awakening Domains of the two men finally intertwined.
"Boom~"
With a loud bang, cyan-red lightning and blue-red lightning suddenly erupted. This was a "Haoshoku Clash" in the awakened state!
"Rumble~"
Powerful forces instantly swept across the entire battlefield. A hurricane whistled through, the ground was overturned, and trees were uprooted.
Lucci's group, who had been shaken off by Wan Luo's marking, happened to reach the edge of the forest at this moment and were shocked into stopping by the intense hurricane.
Lucci braced his feet to steady himself, his pupils shrinking violently and his face darkening.
In the center of the island.
Doflamingo had also activated his Awakening. By now, he had discovered the flaws of those illusions.
Although they had powerful attack power comparable to the original, their defense was far inferior.
It only took a few attacks to dissipate the illusions.
"Fuffuffuffu, Redfield, your era has passed. Being quietly annihilated in history is your proper end!"
Mingo's face was covered in soot, and blood trickled from the corners of his mouth and forehead. Yet his expression was crazed as he panted.
His fingers plucked at the strings, controlling the Clones created from thread to attack.
In the Domain, the massive pillars of thread that kept surging up left Redfield struggling to cope.
Pato reverted to his small tanuki form. The "Transformation Leaves" his current ability could produce were limited, and he was now powerless.
He could only watch Redfield anxiously, tears welling in his eyes,
"Boss..."
Redfield was drenched in sweat, his body already overburdened.
After parrying another of Mingo's attacks, his figure flashed as he increased the distance between them.
"Berserk: Blood-Colored Hell!"
From his throat, an old and hoarse voice emerged.
Redfield forced his weakened body to activate a forbidden technique.
A surging power of blood-qi erupted, dyeing the surrounding air a crimson red,
His skin tightened, pulling at the corners of his eyes and stretching them thin,
"Cough~"
A mouthful of blood sprayed out, and blood also seeped from his blood-red eyes, with crimson blood-qi drifting from his nose and ears.
Bleeding from all seven orifices!
This was the consequence of forcibly activating a forbidden technique despite his physical condition.
However, he seemed to feel nothing, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth,
"Profound Truth: Illusory Dream!"
"Clang~"
A red light flashed. When he was visible again, the Bat-Handled Umbrella Sword had already been lightly clicked back into its scabbard with a crisp sound.
Amidst Mingo's expression of shock and terror, a blood-colored afterimage lunged forward, piercing straight through the thread Clone in front of Redfield.
This sword strike seemed to hit no resistance at all; its momentum increased rather than decreased as it pierced the white thread pillars of the Awakening Domain and charged straight at Mingo.
"Gah! Cough~"
A large amount of blood sprayed out. That blood sword pierced through Mingo's chest almost instantly.
The powerful impact swept Mingo and that Clone away like a cannonball, snapping all the trees along the path!
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