"As expected of the World's Strongest Man. This power is truly terrifying."
Bege tumbled through the air before quickly landing, shattering the ground underfoot to arrest his momentum. An unnatural flush colored his face; a result of the impact from Whitebeard's earlier blow causing his blood to surge.
Yet, his eyes blazed with fighting spirit. The supremely ferocious Haki emanating from him grew increasingly violent and wild. His body underwent a visible change as a blood-red aura enveloped him. The cursed sword in his hand seemed to grow even more excited, its blade igniting with blood-red flames.
"So, you're excited too, are you?" Bege glanced at the trembling Cursed Sword Hannya and suddenly burst into a wild laugh.
In the next instant, Bege took a step, his figure vanishing and then reappearing right in front of Whitebeard. The Cursed Sword Hannya slashed down, a vicious wave of blood-red sword qi hurtling forward.
A white, quaking aura enveloped Whitebeard's left fist. He punched, striking the blood-red sword qi and shattering it along with the very space it occupied. Whitebeard then swung his bisento with his right hand, a chillingly cold glint of light, wreathed in the same white aura of his Tremor-Tremor power, slashing horizontally with incredible speed.
As the bisento entered Bege's projected defensive field, Bege attempted to manipulate the field to alter the weapon's trajectory and evade the blow. Immediately after, he aimed a kick carrying a sonic boom straight at Whitebeard's waist.
Whitebeard's left hand shot out, intercepting Bege's attack. The astonishing force behind the kick, however, still managed to slide Whitebeard's massive frame back several dozen centimeters.
The bisento flipped, instantly slashing back with even greater speed. Bege hastily raised his sword to block.
Yet, the force behind the bisento was immense, pushing Bege back several meters as his feet skidded across the ground.
Just then, the very air before him seemed to crack and shatter. A destructive force, like a monstrous tidal wave, surged towards him. Bege looked up, his pupils contracting.
Whitebeard had punched the air, shattering space itself, and a torrent of devastating power was rushing at him.
Bege immediately contracted his projected field, forming an invisible barrier around his body. Simultaneously, he threw a savage punch of his own. The destructive vibrational power carried by Whitebeard's iron fist smashed through the invisible barrier on Bege's fist, and the two attacks, one large and one small, collided.
A dull, yet enormous, thud reverberated across the entire island.
Bege let out a muffled grunt, staggering back more than ten steps. The Armament Haki on his fist rapidly crumbled, and his entire arm, even his body, trembled.
"Take another one, brat!"
Towering over him, Whitebeard looked down at Bege. The quaking aura materialized around his left hand again as he threw another punch. Space fractured, and his fist, carrying the power of shattered space, crashed down.
Bege gripped his sword with both hands, meeting the attack head-on with another slash.
The force, like that of uprooting mountains and filling seas, was almost too much for Bege to bear. Blood trickled from his lips as he was violently thrown back once more.
Whitebeard's eyebrow twitched. A shallow sword mark had appeared on his fist, from which a drop of blood fell.
"Not bad sword qi. But you're still a long way off."
Whitebeard raised his bisento high, like a pillar holding up the heavens, and brought it crashing down, unleashing astonishing power and the destructive force of his tremors directly at Bege.
Bege expanded his projected field again, attempting to redirect the bisento. But this time, the vibrational power on the bisento suddenly erupted, directly shattering the projected field. The impact even struck Bege's spirit, and his eyes momentarily dimmed.
The bisento, its path unaltered, descended straight towards his head.
Bege's expression shifted slightly. He raised Hannya to block, and the incredible force slammed into him, causing the ground beneath his feet to explode downwards once more. Bege's right arm went numb, and more blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
He gritted his teeth, and in an instant, his left hand drew the Fire Cloud Sword from his right hip, delivering an immediate horizontal slash.
A terrifying wave of flaming sword qi slashed towards Whitebeard, striking him directly.
Whitebeard's colossal body stumbled back five or six steps. But even as he was hit, he counter-attacked almost instantaneously. The bisento swept out again, making Bege's scalp tingle.
Bege crossed his swords defensively in front of him with lightning speed. The immense force sent him flying.
Whitebeard leaned on his bisento, flames still burning at his waist. With an unfazed wave of his hand, he dispersed the fire. The clothes at his waist were shredded and burned away, revealing his pitch-black, Haki-coated skin.
A distinct, crimson sword mark was visible on the blackened skin.
The dark Armament Haki quickly faded, his skin returning to its normal color, only making the sword mark stand out even more.
"Good one, kid. That almost got through my Armament Haki."
Whitebeard looked at Bege, the anticipation in his eyes growing stronger. He broke into a run, the vibrational power on his bisento intensifying.
"I'm about to get serious now, brat! Don't you dare die on me!"
Bege spat out a mouthful of blood, his expression growing even more excited. Blood vessels began to appear in his eyes. The blood-red aura behind him flowed wildly, outlining the phantoms of one blood-red behemoth after another.
Castle gates manifested on his body. Shadowy figures flew out from them and were swallowed by Bege. His body began to thrum, power rapidly surging within him.
One by one, the blood-red bestial phantoms behind him drilled into his body. His aura became even more ferocious and wild.
"Come on! Let me witness the true power of the World's Strongest Man!"
Bege's eyes were blood-red, like those of a terrifying demonic beast.
Seeing this, Whitebeard grew even more excited. The vibrational power on his bisento amplified once more. He swung his weapon, and the space within a hundred-meter radius completely shattered. All trees and boulders in the vicinity instantly disintegrated into fragments.
"Pops is getting serious! Get out of here, quick!" Marco and the others' faces changed drastically as they rapidly retreated further away.
In an instant, the entire battlefield was rocked by tremors. The destructive vibrational energy spilling from the bisento spread outwards, devastating everything in its path with chaotic fury.
That terrifying, destructive power made hearts tremble.
The man before him was strong, so strong that even Bege felt a sense of trepidation.
Taking a deep breath, Bege's blood-red eyes sharpened, gleaming like the edge of a blade, full of unwavering resolve and a readiness to advance.
"Come… Come on!" Bege roared, his voice like the snarl of a ferocious beast. A torrent of blood-red energy erupted from the Cursed Sword Hannya.
"Beast King!"
Bege unleashed his strongest slash. A dazzling, blood-red blade aura erupted in full force, easily tearing through the already fractured void as it collided with the tyrannical, destructive might of the bisento.
Hundreds of meters of space shattered in an instant. All trees were pulverized. The entire island trembled, the ground unable to withstand the assault, collapsing again and again. At the epicenter, the cataclysmic power, beyond measure, erupted chaotically, sending debris and dust plumes rocketing far into the distance.
The shockwave, vast and mighty, swept across the entire island. All forests were flattened in an instant by the violent impact, trees and earth flung high into the air.
Beyond the island, the shockwave continued unabated, surging out over the sea. The ocean surface churned violently, forming towering waves that, in a bizarre reversal, pushed outwards, away from the island and towards the distant sea.
The Whitebeard Pirates were also hit by the shockwave. Jozu stepped forward, transforming into his diamond form to withstand the impact. Marco transformed into his phoenix form, shielding those behind him, his body pierced by countless pieces of debris, only to regenerate instantly.
"With just that one attack… the Demon Dragon is already stronger than any of us!"
Vista said gravely, his voice laced with an indescribable solemnity.
The others had expressions of shock and utter disbelief, mixed with a strong sense of unwillingness to accept it. Bege was around their age, perhaps even younger, yet the power he displayed far surpassed their own. These were all incredibly proud and confident individuals, especially Marco, who possessed a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit rarer even than a Logia. His pride was particularly stung.
Three years ago, on Black Fist Island, he had admitted he was no match for Bege. But in these past three years, under Whitebeard's tutelage, he had made immense progress. Deep down, he had believed he was no longer inferior to Bege.
However, that terrifying clash made him realize that the distance between them had not only failed to shrink but had actually grown even wider.
This realization dealt a severe blow to his pride.