Chapter 234: The Seven Deadly Sins vs. Jōraku Fūgetsu!
However, in the very next moment, Ban stood up.
It was as if nothing had happened—no blood, no injuries. He casually stretched his limbs with a lazy look on his face.
"Well, that was interesting. Felt like that attack didn't even come from you," he muttered, cracking his neck.
Then he turned to Ryuunosuke.
"Captain, I say let Escanor and I go all out. Maybe this time… we can actually kill him."
Ban placed a hand behind his neck and tilted his head toward Ryuunosuke, seeking approval.
That earlier move? It was just a personal test.
But if they were going to fight seriously, they needed the captain's call.
Ryuunosuke hadn't even opened his mouth when—
Boom!
Ban was suddenly split in half by a devastating strike. A massive explosion followed, and his body shattered into fragments mid-air.
A cold voice echoed through the dust.
"I don't know where your confidence comes from, and I'm not interested in your Devil Fruit's gimmick. If all you can do is regenerate… then you hold no advantage against me."
Jōraku gaze swept across the battlefield, finally landing on Ryuunosuke.
"I'm not here to kill anyone. I just want this meaningless fight to end," he said flatly. "So don't waste my time with tricks."
He was studying Ryuunosuke —curious, even intrigued.
How had this man gathered so many monsters under his command?
Was it personal charisma? A system? Bribes? Something else entirely?
Either way, Jōraku wasn't underestimating him.
But he wasn't afraid, either.
"I didn't come here to go to war with the Navy," Ryuunosuke finally said. "But now you're pushing me to make a choice I really didn't want to make."
He glanced at Garp nearby.
"Old man, if I defeat him… you'd better tell me who he really is."
"And if I find that interesting enough, maybe—just maybe—I won't flatten your entire Navy base."
Without waiting for an answer, Ryuunosuke nodded.
In an instant, Meliodas and Escanor appeared in front of Jōraku.
Their auras exploded.
Escanor shone like the sun incarnate, his magic surging with devastating heat. The sheer pressure from his presence alone cracked the earth beneath him.
Beside him, Meliodas raised the sacred weapon Lost Disaster. With one clean strike, he shattered the invisible force field shielding Jōraku.
The moment the barrier broke, Jōraku's eyes widened in disbelief.
Even Garp, seasoned as he was, looked shaken.
That force field had been strong—absurdly strong. Not many in history could've broken it. But here were two freaks, doing it like it was nothing.
And it didn't end there.
From the ground, Ban rose like a shadow reborn. Just moments ago, he had been lying motionless in a pool of blood.
Now, he was smiling.
With a flick, Ban's holy staff elongated like a spear and pierced directly into Jōraku's body.
A strange, dark energy was drawn out.
"…Huh?" Ban muttered, squinting. "No heart? What the hell are you made of?"
He twirled the staff, sniffed the energy, and chuckled darkly.
Ban, reformed once again, licked a droplet of the energy curiously. His eyes narrowed, and he turned to Meliodas.
No words were exchanged, but Meliodas understood immediately.
Power surged through the demon prince's body, and with another swing of Lost Disaster, he aimed to cleave Jōraku in half.
But this time, Jōraku reacted.
He raised his sword just in time, blocking the strike head-on.
Then came Escanor.
With the blazing might of his solar magic—now enhanced by the Sun-Sun Fruit—he unleashed a devastating barrage.
The very ocean behind Jōraku evaporated under the heat. A vacuum formed where the water should've been, unable to close in fast enough.
The Navy soldiers watching from afar were paralyzed in shock.
Had these monsters used such force earlier… none of them would've survived.
Now they finally understood what Ryuunosuke meant when he told Escanor not to kill the man.
As the dust began to settle, everyone's eyes turned toward the epicenter of the explosion.
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
"Well now… that was unexpected."
Jōraku emerged, wounded but alive.
"If I wasn't… special, that might've actually killed me."
"But now… your energies have exceeded what this world can handle. And that means it's time for a purge."
His words carried the gravity of judgment.
But before he could even finish—
BOOM!
A sniper shot tore through the air and blew off half of Jōraku's torso.
It was Mine.
Her eyes were steely, calm, and locked onto the threat. She had been waiting for this moment.
The Romantic Turret, her deadliest artillery, had just fired at full power.
The shot obliterated half of Jōraku's body.
And yet… the impossible happened.
Everyone saw it.
He began regenerating.
The body reformed slowly but surely.
But no one gasped. No one was surprised anymore.
They'd seen this before.
With Ryuunosuke. With his crew.
All of them could come back after death. Some kind of twisted rebirth.
But this wasn't just regeneration—it was resilience that scared the hell out of Sengoku and the other high-ranking officers.
If one Jōraku was this hard to kill… what if the whole Dragon Hunter Pirates were like him?
Could they ever be stopped?
"Do you still want to keep fighting?" Ryuunosuke asked, stepping forward.
"My crew may not have the power to kill you just yet, but they can restrict your movement. And I believe…"
He raised his hand, summoning his gear.
"…That killing you isn't impossible."
His Dragon Hunting Armor wrapped around his body with a deafening roar of metal and energy.
Then, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto descended—transforming into a brilliant energy core that fused into his chest.
In his hand, the artifact known as Roar of the Evil Dragon materialized.
Ryuunosuke's aura surged.
Haki exploded from within him—raw, untamed, godlike.
His power kept rising—no limit in sight.
By the time he reached Meliodas, Escanor, and Ban, even Jōraku's expression had changed.
For the first time, he looked uneasy.
He could feel it—Ryuunosuke had the power to hurt him.
Not with brute strength alone, but through Haki. Real, true, Conqueror's Haki.
Garp and the others had it, sure.
But Ryuunosuke could wield it with precision and pressure that cut through even immortal bodies.
"…Heh," Jōraku finally chuckled, raising his sword just a little. "You're something else, kid."
"I really wanted to see how far the new generation has come. But if I die now, well—that would be a pain."
He sheathed his blade.
"Come find me at Raftel, Ryuunosuke. That's where we'll finish this."
And with that…
He vanished.
A ripple of energy spread through the air, and Jōraku was gone—already far out over the distant sea.
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