King was instantly terrified; no one dared to doubt the lethality of Rowen's thunder.
If this halberd strike landed, he would definitely be decapitated!
"Ha!"
Suddenly, Rowen roared, and the heavy halberd, wrapped in Thunderlight and Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), mercilessly descended.
Sss...!!
A pool of crimson blood splattered in mid-air, like a rain of blood.
However, Rowen was not satisfied with this result. He frowned and turned to look into the distance.
Hundreds of meters away, King was clutching the massive gash on his shoulder, breathing heavily. Blood seeped through his fingers, making his black gloves even darker.
"Oh? You canceled your Beastify form change to shrink your size and avoid the attack... huh?"
Shua!
Rowen shook his thunder halberd, scattering the blood on the crescent blade, and slung it over his back: "As expected of an Awakening-level Zoan! Your physical strength isn't much weaker than BIG·MOM's."
The electric current left by that halberd strike was enough to completely incapacitate ordinary strongmen, such as Vice Admiral Momonga or Smoker. In fact, under the interference of the current, apart from their heads remaining clear, they wouldn't even be able to feel their bodies, let alone control them.
However, King was able to control his Devil Fruit ability to revert to his Humanoid form in such a situation... making Rowen admit that, in terms of physical development, none of the members under Hundred Beasts were easy to deal with.
"Likewise, you're not bad either!" King sneered as he put his hand down.
The wound was wide but not deep, not reaching the bone, and it was already starting to stop bleeding.
An Awakening Zoan at the pinnacle of the world possessed such incredible restoration power!
He focused intently on his opponent, speaking in a steady and powerful voice: "As expected of the Marine Soryu (Azure Dragon), who strikes fear into the hearts of pirates worldwide!"
"Your every move, every style, is calculated!"
When he suddenly appeared earlier, King instinctively focused on the direction of the attack, which gave Rowen the opportunity to use the extended thunder blade to paralyze him with electricity.
Fighting him truly required constant vigilance.
"So... shall we continue?" Rowen remained unfazed, tilting his head: "Last time at old G-5, our brief encounter ended without a clear outcome, which really annoyed me! I bet you feel the same, don't you?"
"Do you think I'm afraid of you Soryu (Azure Dragon)?" King opened his torn mouth, roaring like a wicked ghost, and turned to draw his sword.
Cremation·Hell's Red Lotus!
Shua la la!
With a swing of his sword, the twilight sky was instantly filled with a vast expanse of fiery clouds stretching for kilometers. But this wasn't the result of the setting sun; instead, it was a multitude of eerie fire lotuses floating in the air, dyeing the world crimson.
Within the Crimson Hell, it felt like being inside a massive furnace. The terrifying high temperature caused the air to shimmer, and the visual range became distorted.
"This temperature is almost on par with Fleet Admiral Akainu's Lava-Lava Fruit... Is this the power of the 'Flame Blade' Blazing Concubine? How many people must you have killed to achieve this?"
Rowen's body was surrounded by electric currents as his Devil Fruit Awakening activated.
Through the characteristics of Awakening Fusion Assimilation, he created a barrier around himself.
At that moment, his ears twitched, and he pulled back his thunder halberd, turning to deliver a heavy slash!
"Cremation...!"
King, who had somehow maintained his Half Beastify Form, appeared behind him. The concubine's blaze was wrapped in flaming fire, and the surrounding red lotuses, like iron filings attracted to a magnet, rushed toward him as he swung his sword.
Kuang dang!!
Halberd and sword clashed in midair with metal sound ringing out in each direction!
The two separated instantly. The heavy halberd, accompanied by thunder, slammed into the blade, and King felt an overwhelming monstrous power surge through his body, sending him flying backward.
Rowen, however, only retreated a few meters.
But that was enough!
King, looking at the red lotuses rushing toward him, roared: "Flame Spirit Descending Star Revolution!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The red lotuses exploded before they could reach Rowen's true body, scattering flames into every inch of space. Thousands of fiery red lotuses exploded simultaneously, instantly forming a massive spiral nebula in the sky.
Every rotating particle of dust was a scorching flame!
The fiery nebula revolved around Rowen, tightly enveloping him and repeatedly burning him. The core temperature was beyond calculation.
"Just the outer layer of the spiral nebula reaches 2000 degrees, enough to instantly melt steel! You're too careless, Soryu (Azure Dragon)!" Seeing his attack succeed, King couldn't help but laugh maniacally.
The pain from the tear in his mouth was excruciating, but it couldn't suppress the joy in his heart.
Even if he's an undying monster, so what?
Hundred Beast Pirates never fear anything!
On the coast, Smoker, lying on a stretcher receiving emergency treatment from soldiers, looked up at the sky.
"Hey, hey, stay alert! This is a battle that determines the survival of G-11!"
If it weren't for his inability to adapt to aerial combat, Smoker would have rushed up to take Rowen's place.
However, his worry was unnecessary because...
"Is that all? King the Conflagration!" Suddenly, Rowen's calm voice came from within the roaring fiery nebula.
King's eyes widened in disbelief: "Impossible, how could you...?!"
"What's so strange about it?" At that moment, a black spot appeared within the egg-shaped fire cloud vortex. The black shadow suddenly expanded, like a black hole that devoured everything, swallowing the surrounding roaring flames.
Rowen stood in the Void, surrounded by a vacuum of flames.
In his hand, he held a swelling black sphere, Raigo - Thunder Greeting, exuding a chilling aura of menace.
"No matter how strong the Blazing Concubine's power is, it will never reach the mysteries of Devil Fruit Awakening... Didn't your Sensei tell you that only Awakening can confront Awakening?"
Zī Zī!
Bright lightning snakes danced around the 'Raigo - Thunder' Greeting black sphere, the invisible power of Awakening Fusion rapidly spreading outwards.
Even the light vanished at that moment, leaving behind a space filled with annihilating thunder, devoid of any impurities!
Shuā... pa!
Suddenly, the 'Raigo - Thunder Greeting' black sphere swelled in the wind, and the surrounding spiral nebula burst like an exploding balloon, scattering sparks everywhere, which were then quickly engulfed by the black sphere.
Rowen looked at King, whose expression was one of horror, and suddenly realized.
"Oh right, I heard you're self-taught and have no Sensei, so that makes sense."
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" King, from shock to anger, roared: "The power of Awakening is also divided into levels; how could that kind of high temperature be devoured by you?!"
"Unless..." Suddenly, King thought of a possibility, and his expression darkened.
"Awakening Third Stage, Assimilation!" This was a term coined by some self-proclaimed experts, but it gradually became a measure to distinguish the levels of Awakening users, recognized by some powerful individuals.
Awakening First Stage: Replacement.
Second Stage: Fusion.
Third Stage: Assimilation.
Doflamingo's Ito Ito no Mi (String-String Fruit) was at the Second Stage of "Fusion," as he could only turn materialized objects, like rocks, bricks, and trees, into white strings before controlling them.
In contrast, "Assimilation" could create something from nothing, turning the surrounding space into one's domain, allowing for complete freedom.
Especially for Logia!
Logia is known as the strongest type of Devil Fruit, not only for its Elementalization ability but also because of the existence of Awakening Third Stage "Assimilation."
In this state, Logia is nearly godlike!
"Correct! Although I don't know why, I woke up one day and found my ability had evolved again, but it's quite useful, isn't it?"
With that, Rowen slightly smiled, raising the Raigo - Thunder Greeting black sphere, which swelled again, enveloping everything at a speed of thousands of meters per second.
Awakening Technique: Black Prison Thunder Realm!
(End of Chapter)
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