Boom!
Darren's fist tore through the air, detonating a monumental shockwave.
King's body was blasted backward like a cannonball, his tightly contracted pupils trembling violently.
Crack…
Hairline fractures spread across his mask before it shattered apart, revealing a strikingly handsome face. Silver-gray hair spilled free, whipping in the gale, enhancing his wild, domineering presence.
Behind him, black wings wreathed in crimson flames beat furiously. He forced himself to halt mid-flight, boots gouging long trenches into the ground as he landed and skidded backward for dozens of meters.
At last he rammed his sword into the earth, using it as a brake, gasping for breath.
"You're late too, you sadistic bastard who loves torturing people!" Queen snarled, struggling to push himself off the ground, teeth clenched against the pain.
"Shut your mouth, you deadweight," King snapped without looking back, fingers tightening around his sword hilt.
He panted heavily, but his eyes never once left the black-haired youth standing before them.
That madman…
Beneath the fury smoldering in King's gaze, a deep, unsettling shock churned. His hands trembled almost imperceptibly on the hilt.
He's holding back.
Otherwise, that punch wouldn't have hit my sword.
Yet that single blow, redirected into his blade, still carried the crushing weight of a collapsing mountain.
It felt almost like facing one of Kaido-san's full-force strikes.
The kind of power that made resistance feel meaningless.
Could it be… that this guy has truly reached Kaido-san's level of combat power?
But—
King ground his teeth, eyes flashing cold.
His target was my sword.
The realization sent an uncontrollable surge of rage roaring up from his gut.
How dare he look down on me.
Sizzle.
Crimson flames erupted along King's black wings. His body lifted slowly into the air as the fire around him flared brighter and brighter.
"I'll admit it—your strength has surpassed mine," he said coldly.
"But no matter what, I won't let you run wild in the Beasts Pirates' stronghold."
"Let me show you the ultimate power of my race—far beyond human limits!"
As his words fell, massive rings of fire exploded around him, forming a burning wheel in the pitch-black sky.
"Whoa, whoa, that's a bit much."
Cigar between his teeth, Darren raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sky full of fire, his tone carrying a hint of helpless amusement.
"The Lunarians' innate gifts… that freakish toughness, the regeneration, and those special flames… They really are on another level compared to humans."
"But…"
He turned his head, lips curling into a mocking smile as his gaze fell on Queen, who was trying to sneak away with exaggerated care.
"Overalls Fatso, do I still look like a normal human to you?"
Queen froze under that stare, the memory of that death-like punch still looming over him.
"N-no," he stammered, throat bobbing.
A thunderous roar split the sky.
"Die!"
King raised his sword high and slashed downward from afar.
Whoosh.
The sea of flame engulfing the heavens surged, twisting and coalescing into a colossal crimson fire dragon that roared as it dove toward Darren.
"Imperial Guardian Fire Dragon!"
Streaks of molten flame rained down around the dragon, every impact blasting craters into the ground and vaporizing stone, buildings, and anything else that stood in their way.
The dragon's charge was relentless, its roar shaking the heavens.
Within a kilometer radius, the world became a blazing hellscape. Queen's face turned ashen as the inferno bore down.
"You bastard! You trying to roast me too?!"
Before he could bolt, a figure stepped forward at an angle, placing himself directly between Queen and the incoming Fire Dragon.
The light swelled, dazzling and all-consuming, threatening to devour everything.
"A fire dragon, huh?" Darren grinned, right hand curling into the Three-Fingered Dragon Pearl stance.
Dragon Claw Fist.
Passed down from Dragon himself—Overwhelming Dragon Claws forged to tear through the chains of tyranny.
"You're insane! That's his strongest attack!" Queen shouted, recoiling in horror as he realized Darren was going to take it head-on.
"Exactly because it's his strongest move…" Darren murmured, eyes gleaming as he turned his head slightly.
"…it can't afford to miss."
In the next instant, under Queen's stunned and horrified gaze, the black-haired youth lunged straight into the oncoming inferno.
His claw, wrapped in crackling black-red lightning, shot forward—
And clamped down on the Fire Dragon's skull.
Roar!!
The impact was titanic. Darren's feet plowed backward, carving deep furrows into the charred earth. The ground instantly dried and cracked around him as he wrestled with the dragon of flame.
"Impressive power."
Steam rose from his body, his skin flushed red from the heat. Bathed in fire, he looked less like a man and more like some demonic god walking unharmed through hell.
With one hand pinning the Fire Dragon's head, Darren bared his teeth and unleashed his full strength.
"Dragon's Breath!"
A roar even more deafening than the fire dragon's tore from his claw, accompanied by a shockwave like the breath of an invisible dragon.
The Fire Dragon screamed. Its blazing body dimmed by more than half in an instant.
Then—
Darren charged straight through it.
Boom. Crash.
His claw crushed the Fire Dragon's skull in one savage blow. Ignoring the surging flames exploding around him, he pummeled its body again and again, smashing the dragon of fire into chunks that scattered like sparks in a storm.
From a distance, he was nothing but a streak of black light tearing through the dragon's body, then rocketing upward toward King.
King's face drained of color, horror flooding his features as he momentarily forgot to react.
He'd known Darren had gotten stronger, but not like this.
He'd expected Darren to block his strongest move somehow. He'd never imagined this kind of brute, overwhelming answer.
Swordsmanship, techniques, tactics, bloodline…
In front of that monstrous physique and raw, crushing power, they felt as fragile as paper.
This guy… he might actually… surpass Kaido-san…
The thought flashed through King's mind as the pitch-black Overwhelming Dragon Claw closed in, filling his vision.
Crackle, crackle, crackle—
A colossal surge of purple lightning suddenly exploded across the sky.
"Young Darren! You're asking for death!"
The thunderous roar shook the heavens as a godlike figure tore through the clouds, wrapped in roaring purple lightning as he descended from above.
In his hand, the massive black Kanabo crackled with crimson-black thunder.
"Trisamsara: Guide to Naraka!"
He's here.
The strongest creature on land, sea, and air… Beast Kaido!
To be continued...