"Then fall here!"
"I am prepared."
A voice rang out—resolute and fearless.
Issho raised his sword-cane and drove it down into the deck with force.
Instantly, the surrounding field began to distort violently.
Seawater churned and flipped between sky and earth.
The upright tendrils piercing the ship twisted and warped.
Even Doflamingo was caught in the warped space, gravitational force pulling him in every direction, threatening to tear him apart.
"You stubborn fool who knows nothing!"
Feeling the drastic shift in gravity around him, the smirk on Doflamingo's face only grew colder.
A specimen like this might be useful for experiments...
The tendrils embedded in the deck suddenly recoiled.
Enduring the crushing gravitational field, Doflamingo surged forward, closing in on Issho in a flash.
And then—he unleashed a barrage of punches like a storm crashing down!
...
No one knew how long had passed.
BOOM!!!
The thunder from the sky roared louder and louder.
Something massive was hurtling through the atmosphere.
Flicking blood from his left hand, Doflamingo stood atop the shattered deck, gazing upward with a cold, disdainful grin.
"Issho, was this your final trump card?"
At that moment, Issho lay on the deck, his sword-cane knocked aside. Covered in blood, barely conscious, he still managed to force out a few words.
"You... will remain here with me...!"
Even in such a dire state, he still guided the meteors toward their target.
Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...
The incoming meteor had accelerated to such a degree that it no longer created sonic booms—but a deep, eerie hum.
It grew ever larger in sight.
Blocking out the sun and sky.
Its diameter far exceeded even the largest battleship.
"Issho, your vision is far too narrow."
Behind Doflamingo, from his demonic wings, a swirling purple glow radiated—warping the air around it.
This was internal-destruction-level Armament Haki.
"Today, I'll show you what a true top-tier pirate really is!"
Two massive threads surged out from his wings.
They intertwined, spiraling skyward like a giant drill.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The moment of impact was like a high-yield bomb detonating in the sky.
A tangible shockwave spread outward.
Chunks of meteorite rained down like high-speed artillery shells, slamming into the sea and raising colossal waves.
Yet despite witnessing all of this, Issho forced a pained smile.
Because—
Through the smoke overhead...
More meteors were still falling.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Twenty.
They collided mid-air, merging into an even greater onslaught.
Like divine judgment descending from the heavens.
As if the gods themselves sought to punish the unworthy.
But did Doflamingo—who had already reached the Expert level in Observation Haki—not know this?
Of course he knew!
Crackling black-and-red lightning burst around him.
His power skyrocketed—stronger, faster, fiercer.
More than ten times greater than before!
BOOM!
Doflamingo bent his knees and leapt upward to meet the meteors head-on.
The deck beneath him finally gave way completely.
Issho dropped into the lower cabin of the ship.
Within the scope of his Observation Haki, he saw it clearly:
That spiraling purple-black light collided violently with the raging fire pillars above.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Surrounded by Conqueror's Haki, Doflamingo forced his way through the meteor—bit by bit.
Was his strength really greater than the power of dozens of falling meteors?
No.
It was the power of Conqueror's Haki.
The might of the world's strongest pirates!
This was a fundamental difference.
Like a steel needle piercing through wood—no matter how massive the wood, it still breaks first.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Dozens of shattered meteors continued to rain down, carving out a reef beneath the sea.
Perhaps one day, a new island would rise from this spot.
THUMP.
The ship, which Doflamingo had suspended midair, suddenly lurched downward.
In the rubble, Issho pulled a painful smile at the corner of his mouth.
He knew he had lost.
SWOOSH!
Someone appeared before him.
In Issho's final moment of perception—
A fist smashed down toward his head.
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