Chapter 229: Defeat
"Then I'll do as you wish!"
Doflamingo laughed again.
He had seen through Axel's provocation, but his pride would not allow him to back down in front of a child.
If he did, he would not be Donquixote Doflamingo.
In the next moment, he dove straight down.
Axel did not dodge.
He did not even move.
He lowered his head quietly, both hands hanging at his sides, not revealing the slightest motion. Yet at the corner of his mouth, a faint smirk appeared.
Just as Doflamingo was about to reach him, the seawater beneath Axel's feet erupted.
It was like a torpedo had exploded under the surface.
Countless droplets blasted upward, shooting toward the descending Doflamingo like a close-range shotgun blast.
Remembering what Axel had done earlier, Doflamingo was not surprised by this attack.
However, seawater was like a knockout drug to Devil Fruit users.
It was not necessarily fatal, but it could rob them of combat strength in an instant.
Doflamingo had no intention of taking such an attack for nothing.
He immediately mixed defense into his offense, and dense layers of threads appeared in front of him, blocking the assault of seawater.
The droplets splashed against the threads.
Part of the thread net went limp, but the seawater still failed to break through his defense.
Doflamingo stabilized his momentum and swung his threads to attack, only to find that Axel had already slid away across the sea like a slippery loach.
After avoiding the attack, Axel showed no intention of escaping.
Instead, he repeated the same move, striking at Doflamingo again with this seemingly provocative method.
Doflamingo casually blocked it, his face slightly distorted.
"The same attack won't work on me!"
Controlling the threads connected to the clouds, Doflamingo charged fiercely toward Axel.
Axel did not answer.
He simply continued his kite-like style of attack.
Doflamingo had already had enough of this feeling of being toyed with.
He suddenly released countless threads from his palm.
"Break White!"
In an instant, tens of thousands of white threads arranged in layers formed a massive attack under Doflamingo's control, blocking Axel's path and wrapping toward him.
Axel had no way to dodge.
He could only rely on the Reflection covering his body to block it.
A sensation like blades cutting across his skin spread through his body.
The threads continuously broke through his defense and sliced into him.
However, Break White was not without a solution.
Because it was fundamentally an attack created by a Devil Fruit ability, its only blind spot was below.
The surrounding sea.
Axel stepped against the surface of the water, then suddenly dove into the sea.
"What?"
Doflamingo was shocked.
Even if an ability user could manipulate seawater, this was the first time he had ever seen one willingly dive into it.
Was the brat unable to bear the pain and choosing suicide?
Impossible.
That brat was the same kind of person as him.
He would never choose that kind of ending.
Before Doflamingo's surprise could fade, Axel burst out of the sea again, swinging the seawater along with him and launching another attack.
Doflamingo frowned slightly.
He still did not understand what was going on.
But...
"Didn't I say it already?"
Doflamingo's fingers moved.
"The same attack won't work on me."
Countless droplets of seawater in the air were shattered by his threads.
But this time, the droplets did not fall like before.
Instead, they slowly hovered in midair, changed direction, and shot upward.
"That's enough..."
Axel muttered softly.
Doflamingo's expression changed slightly.
He naturally understood what those words meant.
The true target of the seawater was not him.
It was the thread connecting him to the clouds above.
Doflamingo immediately tried to alter his movement and avoid letting the seawater touch the thread.
But it was already too late.
The seawater struck the thread.
The thread instantly lost its effectiveness.
He subconsciously prepared to reconnect to the clouds, but when he looked up, he found that the clouds had already vanished.
There was nothing nearby for him to connect to.
What happened?
Although Doflamingo wanted to ask, there was no time left.
His body slowly descended.
Then, with a splash, he sank into the sea.
The pink feather coat on his body spread across the surface, slowing his descent slightly.
At that moment, Axel's voice came from nearby.
"Are you looking for the clouds in the sky?"
Then, as if answering his own question, Axel continued, "You should know that wind can blow clouds away."
"My target from the beginning wasn't you."
"It was the clouds."
Every attack had only been to draw Doflamingo's attention and lower his guard.
Doflamingo laughed.
Even at the edge of defeat, he did not look like someone facing death.
"Fufufufu..."
That familiar laughter rang out again.
"I didn't expect to fall at the hands of a brat."
His smile remained.
"What a pity..."
"What's a pity?" Axel asked.
"It's a pity I won't get to see the day those high and mighty people fall from their pedestals."
Doflamingo laughed.
"And it's a pity I won't witness the beginning of the chaotic era with my own eyes."
Axel thought for a moment.
Then he replied, "Don't worry. The sea is vast."
"I don't know what the world after death looks like, but perhaps you'll see it down there."
But just as his voice fell, a warship approached from the distance.
It was the warship commanded by Doberman.
A smirk flashed across Doflamingo's face.
In an instant, he connected a thread to the warship and slowly pulled himself out of the seawater.
Axel wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.
Only Doflamingo's demonic laughter and the echo of his words remained in the air.
"Fufufufu... It seems fate wants me to see the end with my own eyes."
"This time, it was my luck."
"But next time, you won't be so lucky."
"Brat named Axel!"
Axel watched Doflamingo leave, his expression somewhat stunned.
Although he had driven away the nearby clouds, he could not disperse the clouds in the distance.
After all, the range of his ability was limited.
Moreover, Axel did not think Doflamingo was weaker than Doberman.
Once Doflamingo reached the warship, the advantage Axel had established earlier would be difficult to regain, even if he and Doberman joined forces.
The reason Axel had been able to gain the upper hand this time was because his advantage had been too great.
So great that even Doflamingo's strength could not compensate for it.
On the sea, seawater could weaken Doflamingo's combat power.
And Doflamingo's only way to move across the sea was to rely on the clouds in the sky.
Axel, on the other hand, could use the wind, the sea surface, and could even move beneath the water.
That was something Doflamingo could never do.
As long as Doflamingo fell into the sea, it meant defeat.
Conversely, Axel had no such weakness.
Because fundamentally, he was not a Devil Fruit user at all.
He was not restricted by Seastone or seawater.
But that was also what worried him.
Failing to kill Doflamingo this time meant his advantage would be gone the next time they fought.
Axel did not believe that a mastermind among pirates like Doflamingo would knowingly launch another attack under the same conditions.
The next attack would likely be the most dangerous one.
However, after this incident, he should be able to welcome a period of peace.
Just as Axel was wary of Doflamingo, Doflamingo, having suffered a failure, would not act again until he had investigated everything thoroughly.
Moreover, Axel had left a backup plan.
.....
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