"Linlin! Cover me!!"
Fortunately, Kaido was infamous for his beastly toughness. Even after being kicked into the wall, he shook his head and stood up as if nothing had happened.
Barking at Charlotte Linlin—who still hadn't even figured out what was happening—he charged at Boros once more.
Boom!
And once again, he was sent flying back, this time carving a trench several meters deep into the solid flooring.
"Linlin! Why didn't you cover me?!"
This time Kaido didn't recklessly rush in again.
After being beaten down so many times, even a monster like him had come to understand one thing: there are levels to being a monster.
He was a monster. Boros was the greater monster.
At last, Kaido remembered he wasn't alone—he had an ally who could fight alongside him. If they fought together, even if they lost, at least he wouldn't be the only one getting thrashed.
"How the hell am I supposed to cover you when I don't even know what's going on?! What kind of mess are you pulling, and what's with that eye of his?!"
Charlotte Linlin, who was being questioned by Kaido, was already burning with anger. First, she had been lured here by King, only to then watch with her own eyes as Kaido got beaten to a pulp by some unknown figure.
Before she could even wrap her head around what had happened, Kaido suddenly started demanding answers from her.
If it weren't for the fact that Kaido looked so utterly pathetic from the beating he had just taken, Charlotte Linlin wouldn't have minded cutting this bastard down herself!
"Didn't I tell you already? Forget it! It doesn't matter! Just help me kill that one-eyed freak! I'll owe you the biggest favor of my life!"
It was only then that Kaido realized he hadn't mentioned his intention to team up with Linlin.
Luckily, since they were once crewmates in the Rocks Pirates, Kaido knew exactly how to sway her.
"The biggest favor, huh? Fine, that's a deal! Prometheus! Zeus! Let's go!"
Just as Kaido predicted, the moment Linlin heard those words, she stopped caring about what exactly had happened here.
Back then, when she had given Kaido the Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit: Azure Dragon form, it had only been in exchange for a single promised favor from him.
Now, though she had no idea what madness had taken hold of him, the promise of the greatest favor was enough to make Charlotte Linlin personally take action.
Her Homies, Prometheus and Zeus, transformed into blazing sun and stormy thundercloud, unleashing fire and lightning to cover the charge of the two Yonko as they rushed toward Boros.
"Everyone, get the hell back!"
Seeing Kaido gearing up to fight Boros again—this time with Big Mom by his side—King, who had nearly been beaten into a pig's head earlier, immediately yelled at the other Beast Pirates to get as far away as possible.
Even though the hall spanned tens of thousands of square meters—larger than any battlefield or arena—it still wouldn't survive long under the rampage of three monsters.
Right now, all King could do was pray that this flying ship was truly as indestructible as Quinn boasted, or else the entire Beast Pirates crew would be swimming home.
For Kaido, who had sailed smoothly to Yonko status ever since leaving the Rocks Pirates, this period facing Boros was the most humiliating time of his life.
Even when he was scarred by Kozuki Oden back then, that had merely been the desperate struggle of a dying man.
But in front of Boros, no matter how he fought back, all that awaited him was merciless suppression.
Worse still, every scheme and calculation of his was treated by Boros as nothing more than a joke—mere amusement for a bored tyrant.
For someone as prideful as Kaido, such humiliation was unbearable. Anyone else in his shoes would have felt the same.
That was why, the moment he gained such a powerful ally, Kaido erupted with unprecedented fighting spirit and bloodlust. Without waiting for Linlin to fully catch up, he roared and hurled himself into a ferocious assault against Boros.
"Descent of the Three Worlds: Into Naraka!"
His spiked kanabo, wreathed in countless arcs of black lightning, crashed down like a thunderclap from the heavens. Overflowing with hatred toward Boros and fueled by boundless rage, Kaido's furious strike unleashed power well beyond his limits.
For once, Boros seemed stirred by excitement. His massive single eye gleamed with satisfaction as he lifted his arm, preparing to take Kaido's all-out blow head-on.
Boom!
The already half-collapsed throne platform was completely obliterated by Kaido's strike. The ground, as hard as steel, split apart into rubble, the entire temple quaking violently as debris rained down in torrents. Even the battleship was forced several meters lower under the crushing force of Kaido's monstrous power.
And Boros, who had wanted to take Kaido's strike head-on, was hammered straight into a crater like a nail, buried beneath countless chunks of shattered stone and rubble.
"Damn it! What the hell is that lunatic Kaido doing?!"
Even Charlotte Linlin, who had agreed to fight alongside him, hadn't expected Kaido to go this wild. She had been planning to claim this massive flying ship once the battle was over, using Kaido's promised favor as leverage—at the very least, she wanted its blueprints and construction technology.
But now, if she didn't help Kaido finish off the enemy quickly, this ship would end up smashed to pieces by Kaido himself!
"...S-So terrifying!"
Cracker, who had followed Katakuri to back up their mother, gulped nervously. In the face of an attack like that, even his proud biscuit soldiers and armor would be no different from actual cookies.
He had looked down on the Beasts Pirates' headliners for running away the instant the two sides clashed—but now he finally understood why they were so quick to flee.
"Watch out!"
Katakuri, closest to the battlefield, suddenly tensed. He thrust his hands forward, releasing a surge of mochi to form a massive wall that shielded both Smoothie and Cracker.
Boom!
From within the crater, Boros released a flood of Haki outward. As he shoved off the rubble burying him, the blast turned into an indiscriminate AOE attack against everyone in the temple.
The rubble, faster than bullets and packed with destructive force, slammed against Katakuri's mochi wall, making it shudder violently.
Fortunately, the wall's softness and resilience absorbed much of the impact, barely holding out.
Even so, seeing how close the debris had come to piercing through—and several chunks almost breaking past his barrier—made the corner of Katakuri's eye twitch. Just the aftermath of their clash is this outrageous?!
"Fall back! This is no fight we can afford to take part in!"
Without hesitation, Katakuri led the retreat toward the temple's exit. Even if his mother blamed him afterward, he refused to let his siblings stay in such a deadly battlefield.
If he didn't take the lead, Cracker and Smoothie would never dare move without Big Mom's command.
The two of them exhaled in relief. Once, after becoming part of the Sweet Commanders, they had thought themselves strong enough already.
Though they never dared openly defy their mother, deep inside, they had entertained such fantasies.
Now that they had witnessed what a true "monster" really was, the two of them simultaneously abandoned those unrealistic thoughts—no matter how humble those thoughts might have already seemed in the eyes of others.
"Kaido, just where the hell did you provoke this kind of monster from…?"
Charlotte Linlin, of course, had no need to flee. This level of attack was nothing to her—just a casual slash of her blade was enough to split it apart.
However, as she felt the terrifying pressure radiating from that one-eyed monster, her expression grew just as grim as Kaido's.
If it weren't for the pride she had to maintain as an Emperor of the Sea—and the fact that she was currently allied with Kaido—she truly couldn't imagine anyone else in this world being their opponent. At this moment, even she might have seriously considered the possibility of turning tail and running.
"How the hell should I know?! That one-eyed freak came knocking on my door himself!!!"
Kaido roared in fury. For some time now, he had been choking on his frustration, an indescribable sense of grievance boiling inside him.
He had been minding his own business, lazing about in his Wano stronghold, drinking a little and seeking some small amusement now and then—and out of nowhere, he was attacked in his own home.
Not only was his territory occupied and his crew stolen, but the most humiliating part was being forced to play the role of underling!
With Kaido's nature, submission was impossible. The result? Being beaten black and blue—every single day.
And each time, it was a beating to the brink of death. If it weren't for his monstrous defenses and regenerative powers, anyone else would've long since been pounded into minced meat.
Crack!
Boros glanced at the cracks spreading across the armor on his right arm, then casually crushed the nearly broken piece to dust.
When his opponents weren't strong enough, he had to wear that armor to limit his own power—otherwise there was no fun in the fight.
But Kaido's progress had slightly exceeded his expectations. Adding in another candidate for "top-class combatant," perhaps now he could finally cut loose a little.
"I am Boros, captain of the Dark Matter Pirates… Forget it. Saying more now is meaningless. I'll explain after the battle is over."
Boros shook his head. After having already subdued Kaido, he had a pretty clear grasp of this planet's customs.
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