~ Bonus Chapter Every 500PS!
~ 25 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
<><><><><><><><>
"MY SHADOW!"
"I CAN'T CONTROL MY SHADOW!"
Terrified screams erupted from the Marine officers.
Their shadows twisted and laughed, completely out of their control, a chilling sight to behold.
The Shadow-Shadow Fruit—even among Paramecia types—was a powerful ability. Especially when Awakened. Moria no longer needed a pair of scissors like in the original story—he could freely manipulate and steal the shadows of anything around him.
If one's Haki couldn't block the power of the Awakened Shadow-Shadow Fruit, their shadow had no protection.
It would be completely controlled by Moria, even twisting and laughing demonically at its owner, pushing the sense of eerie horror to its absolute limit.
And once the shadow's owner felt fear, their spirit would be crushed, and their Haki would shatter along with it. After that, they would fall completely under the control of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit user.
The user could change the shape of the shadow to control the body's movements. To the user of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, a shadow was, in a sense, another form of a soul.
Just like in the original story—Moria had controlled Oars's shadow to make his Giant Body stretch and shrink freely—like the Nika Fruit.
And that was with an un-Awakened Fruit, where he could only control himself and the zombies created from stolen shadows. But with the fruit Awakened, the user could directly affect the shadows of their surroundings.
Once a person's Haki was broken, the user just had to control their shadow to make them do their bidding.
And unlike the control of the String-String Fruit—controlling through a shadow was much more flexible. Just like with Oars, he could even distort the shadow's shape to affect the physical form of the body—
<><><><><><><><>
"M-My arm!"
A Vice Admiral stared at his arm in horror.
It was twisting grotesquely, like a pretzel.
His Haki wasn't particularly outstanding among the Vice Admirals. It was just like at the Warlord meeting—when Doflamingo had used his String-String Fruit to break the Haki of two Vice Admirals and turn them into his puppets.
The Haki of an ordinary Vice Admiral stood little chance against the power of the Awakened Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
"Y-Your neck!"
"NO! NO! THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!"
Terrified screams echoed continuously.
The Marines whose shadows were being controlled by Moria were in a horrific state. Some had their necks twisted into knots.
Some had their eyeballs pop out of their sockets, the optic nerves clearly visible.
This area had become a true house of horrors, utterly terrifying and grotesque.
"KISHISHISHI! THIS IS TRUE HORROR! A TRUE PARADISE!"
Moria let out a demonic laugh.
Before, he had used his Shadow-Shadow Fruit to create a zombie army—building a horror paradise on the World's largest pirate ship, Thriller Bark.
But that had relied more on the environment of the Florian Triangle and the zombies to create a spooky atmosphere.
But now, with his fruit Awakened, by freely twisting and controlling the shadows of those around him to change their physical forms...
He could create a true horror paradise that instilled terror deep within one's soul.
<><><><><><><><>
"WORORORO! THE SHADOW-SHADOW FRUIT IS FINALLY STARTING TO LOOK DECENT IN YOUR HANDS, MORIA."
Kaido, seeing this scene of a terror park, actually burst out laughing.
Back when he wasn't yet an Emperor, fighting for territory in the New World, Moria had once challenged him. But Moria's strength and forces were on a completely different level. He had been utterly defeated, and all his comrades were killed by him.
After that, he became a Warlord, a complete and utter loser.
But now... it seemed that dying once had finally made Moria look a little more respectable.
"Hmph. Kaido, I'm not just fighting for strength anymore,"
Moria glanced at Kaido. Then, looking at the scene of his terror park, he broke into an incredibly heartwarming smile.
This heartwarming smile, combined with Moria's demonic appearance, sent a shiver down even Kaido's spine.
"Perona... would probably like a scene like this—"
Moria smiled.
Perona had been adopted by him as a child. Whether it was her nature or his influence, she had always loved spooky and scary things.
"FATHER! YOU'RE SO COOL!!"
Perona's excited voice came from a Transponder Snail in Moria's pocket.
"KISHISHISHI!!"
Moria scratched his head, looking embarrassed but smiling with pure, radiant joy.
"Ugh... why is he so creepy to watch??"
Zoro's eye twitched.
"Yeah. Yeah."
Luffy, Sanji, and Ace all nodded vigorously.
Even Kaido nodded seriously.
That expression was just too out of place on Moria's demonic face.
"YOU BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU!" Moria shrieked, embarrassed and enraged.
"Hahahahaha! This look suits you much better," Luffy and the others burst out laughing.
Kaido was laughing so hard he was pounding Moria on the shoulder, tears streaming from his eyes.
Moria's lip twitched furiously.
This bastard Kaido... He's just jealous that I have a good relationship with my daughter, Perona!
Thinking of how Kaido's own daughter—Yamato—treated him, Moria's mood instantly improved!
<><><><><><><><>
"DAMN IT! DISPEL YOUR DEVIL FRUIT ABILITY, MORIA!"
Akainu roared, looking at the tragic state on the Marines' side, glaring at Moria.
"Dispel?? Alright," Moria said with a demonic grin.
"Shadows Asgard——!!!"
Moria's piercing laughter echoed.
RIP! RIP!
As if torn by an invisible hand, the shadows of numerous Marine officers were violently ripped from their bodies.
They flowed like streams of darkness towards Moria.
And the Marines who had their shadows stolen—their eyes rolled back in their heads, and they collapsed into a temporary coma.
If it weren't for the Five Elders' arrival, which had blotted out the sky with dark clouds, if they were hit by direct sunlight.
These shadowless Marines would have been slowly vaporized.
"KISHISHISHISHI... SO THE NUMBER OF SHADOWS I CAN ABSORB WITHOUT LOSING MY SANITY IS 500?"
Moria's body began to expand rapidly.
His voice was still his own. It hadn't become a jumbled mess of multiple shadow consciousnesses like in the original story, when he had forcibly absorbed 1000 shadows and lost his mind.
Before his fruit was Awakened, using Shadows Asgard was a reckless move—Moria hadn't fully mastered his ability.
But now, with his fruit Awakened, he could completely control its full power. Even when absorbing shadows into his body and becoming a being like an Ancient Giant, he could remain completely lucid.
This was crucial, because only by remaining lucid could he use Haki.
The Moria of the original story was a broken man who couldn't use Haki anyway, so he had just crammed as many shadows as he could into his body, eventually losing consciousness completely and becoming a sitting duck.
But the current Moria, while maintaining absolute clarity of mind and with no impairment to his Haki usage, could absorb a maximum of 500 shadows.
Don't be fooled by the number being less than the 1000 from the original story. The quality of these shadows was completely different.
These were the shadows of Marine HQ officers, the weakest of whom was a Commodore.
The shadows Moria used on Thriller Bark were mostly from a rabble of nobodies.
To a Shadow-Shadow Fruit user, a shadow is another form of a soul. The abilities and strength of the original body are inherited by the shadow.
Just as Moria had stolen Brook's shadow and placed it in Ryuma's body, giving the zombie Ryuma Brook's swordsmanship. And just as he had coveted Luffy's strength, stealing his shadow and placing it in the body of the Devil Oars to create his strongest zombie.
The strain of bearing the shadow of a strong person was incomparable to that of a weak one.
If it were the 1000 shadows from Thriller Bark, the current Moria could handle them with ease.
<><><><><><><><>
"KISHISHISHI! THIS FEELING... IT'S TRULY ADDICTIVE!"
Moria laughed loudly.
His form had now swollen to that of a Super-Giant Demon, no smaller than the Five Elders in their beast forms.
With Shadows Asgard—Moria's power had been massively enhanced.
His current body was a Seraphim created from the Lunarian bloodline and his own Lineage Factor. Its physical strength was already extremely high.
Combined with the power of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit and his considerably strong Armament and Observation Haki—this Seraphim already possessed the combat power of a Yonko Commander.
And now, with the power boost from Shadows Asgard, and with Moria's own spiritual power being even stronger than the original Seraphim's, his Armament Haki had also reached a new level.
Moria—with all these powers stacked together—naturally possessed Admiral-level combat power.
"What incredible presence!!"
The Five Elders and Akainu immediately sensed Moria's overwhelming aura.
Admiral-level power—there was no question about it!
<><><><><><><><>
"WORORORO! LET'S FIGHT, FIVE ELDERS! THE WAR... HAS BEGUN!"
Kaido laughed loudly, hefting his kanabo.
This Kanabo had been re-forged by Rowen using Kamui, based on Kaido's current size and his original weapon.
With the Kamui ability, if the Seraphim body Kaido inhabited were to change size, the kanabo could be adjusted accordingly.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Terrifying crimson-black lightning instantly wrapped around Kaido's kanabo.
AND—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Violent, tyrannical crimson-black lightning enveloped Kaido's entire body, forming a thin membrane of it.
The sign of complete mastery over Haōshoku Coating, the Haōshoku membrane. Under this power, the user's speed, attack, and defense were all terrifyingly enhanced.
CRACKLE!!
Kaido moved as if teleporting, appearing before Warcury—one of the strongest of the Five Elders, with incredibly powerful Conqueror's Haki.
The club smashed violently towards Warcury—
<><><><><><><><>
"OHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Warcury roared, his four tusks wrapping in crimson-black lightning.
Haōshoku Coating!
With the power of Haōshoku, Warcury slammed into Kaido's kanabo.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The kanabo and the tusks never even touched. They clashed in mid-air with frightening force—
—Countless streams of violent, tyrannical crimson-black lightning, split into two factions, tore at each other in the atmosphere.
The horrifying storm of energy tore the sky apart, made the earth tremble, and the sea roar.
The signature, contactless collision of Haōshoku Coating!
"Worororo! What Incredible Haki! Looks Like The Five Elders Haven't Gone Completely Soft From Sitting On Their Thrones. At Least One Of You Can Still Fight! Now This Is A Real Battle! This Is What War Should Be!"
Kaido laughed loudly.
As for the other Five Elders, Kaido ignored them completely.
Especially Saturn—and Peter in his Sandworm Form. Those two were the weakest of the Five Elders, relying only on their Awakened Mythical Zoan forms and their immortal bodies to fight.
Kaido had no interest in guys like that.
"KAIDO! YOU'VE GOTTEN TOO COCKY!"
Nusjuro let out a furious roar.
WHOOOOOOOOOSH!
CLANG!
Three terrifying attacks—wrapped in Haōshoku—instantly arrived before Nusjuro.
Nusjuro instantly transformed. His legs were still in the skeletal horse form of Bakotsu, but his upper body had returned to his own form.
In his hand, he held a Demonic famed sword.
Bakotsu—Hybrid Form!
<><><><><><><><>
"RORONOA."
Nusjuro's face was grim.
"Just as I thought... You have the aura of a swordsman. And that sword—"
Zoro showed a beast-like expression of finding his prey.
"—IT'S A CURSED SWORD, ISN'T IT,"
Zoro smiled.
One of the 12 Supreme Grade Swords—SHODAI KITETSU.
<><><><><><><><>
~ 25 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
<><><><><><><><>
~# Keep the chapters coming — Support with Power Stones!
~# Every 500 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter