After years of relentless training and countless battles, Darren had finally driven the Magnet-Magnet Fruit to its absolute limit—and crashed through the barrier he'd been stuck at for so long.
Devil Fruit… Awakening.
Unlike the widely accepted model of "extending outward and altering the environment," Darren—spurred on by Saint Michael's inadvertent hint—had flipped the logic entirely. Instead of continuing to reach outward, he turned his power inward, focusing on the biomagnetic field within his own body.
If the Magnet-Magnet Fruit allowed him to manipulate magnetic fields within a certain range, then why not apply that same control to the magnetic field inside his own flesh?
After all, the human body naturally produced a biomagnetic field—far weaker than the external forces he used to throw metal around, but real nonetheless.
Back in the North Blue, Darren had actually conducted experiments with human biomagnetism, applying carefully tuned fields to his own body to speed up recovery.
At the time, though, both his physical durability and his mastery of the Magnet-Magnet Fruit were lacking. He hadn't dared to violently "spin up" his internal biomagnetic field. If the magnetic force ran wild, his body might simply rupture from within.
But now, with his "Indestructible Body" as a solid foundation, and the Magnet-Magnet Fruit hovering on the edge of Awakening…
He finally had enough capital to gamble with his life.
By rotating his biomagnetic field, he could forcibly accelerate the activity of every cell in his body. His energy consumption and output would both spike far beyond normal limits.
Put simply: by manipulating the biomagnetic field within himself, he was subjecting his own body to brutal internal pressure and stimulation—forcing it to unleash overwhelming power.
That was the Awakening Darren had carved out for himself:
Magnetic Field Rotation.
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!!"
As purple arcs of magnetic lightning crackled uncontrollably across his skin, a primal sense of mortal danger crashed through his mind. Darren's entire body convulsed, an immeasurable power erupting from somewhere deep inside him.
The Magnet-Magnet Fruit was forcibly twisting its own field, making it spin at a fixed, high-speed frequency within his body. His heart and organs, his muscles and nerves, all roared like an engine redlining.
"ROTATE, DAMN YOU—ROTATE!!"
His eyes were bloodshot, his skin flushed a faint red. Every muscle, nerve, organ, and cell felt as though it were on fire, radiating a terrifying, godlike pressure.
Saint Michael watched in mounting horror as his Observation Haki felt the "insect" before him swelling with power. The man's aura was climbing at a staggering rate.
It wasn't just Armament or even Conqueror's Haki.
It was his raw physical potential itself that was evolving.
His life force was surging.
Through his heightened Perception Talent, Darren could also feel it. As he drove the Magnetic Field Rotation harder and harder, his core stats—which had remained frozen for so long—were finally moving again.
Physique +0.033, Physique +0.036, Physique +0.032…
Strength +0.085, Strength +0.079, Strength +0.094…
Speed +0.03, Speed +0.03, Speed +0.03…
Physique—hardness and resilience of flesh and blood, the body's recovery and immune defenses.
Strength—pure explosive power and brute force.
Speed—neural reflexes, flexibility, the body's ability to perceive and respond.
Those three fundamental attributes were skyrocketing together.
Under that relentless surge of rising power, Saint Michael's Holy Orb trembled violently. He let out a stifled groan, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Crackle—
The arc in the rapier's blade grew more and more pronounced. Even the invisible armor of Armament Haki wrapped around it couldn't withstand the inhuman pressure. Hairline fractures crept along the steel, creaking as if the sword itself were about to snap.
"This… this can't be happening!"
Saint Michael gritted his teeth, both hands pressing down on the bent blade. Bloodshot veins crawled across his eyes as he roared, desperately trying to hold back Darren's fist.
Boom!!
He detonated his own strength in a desperate burst. The black flame cloud ring around his neck shook wildly as his clawed feet drove deeper into the ground, gouging trenches beneath him.
"I am the Frostshadow Silver Wolf—the most enigmatic and elegant among the Mythical Zoans. I am the strongest!"
"You're just an insect… You can't possibly match my power!"
"…Is that so?"
Darren laughed—harsh, savage, half-choked with blood. His face twisted in agony, crimson streaming from his nose and mouth as if the overloaded magnetic field were crushing his insides.
He ignored it.
He reveled in it.
He threw himself headlong into the ecstasy of breaking his limits, of his biomagnetic field twisting and boiling, of the razor-edged pain and the brush of death. His bloodshot eyes burned with feral battle lust.
RIIIP—
The sleeve of his right arm exploded, cloth shredding and scattering in the air. His bare arm was a mass of coiled muscle, bulging like a giant python, white steam venting off it in rings like a rocket engine firing up.
Magnetic Field Rotation: Giant's Body… DETONATE!
Strength: 99.999!!
Like a meteor ripping across the horizon, Darren's fist—bearing that apocalyptic surge of power—came crashing down.
The rapier shattered on impact.
Shards of silver steel exploded in all directions. The silver-haired Celestial Dragon's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
"I've got my Strength damn near maxed out! What exactly are you planning to block this with?!"
He roared like a cornered beast as his brutal fist smashed into the Celestial Dragon's arms.
Bone shattered like dry kindling.
Bang!!
The shockwave blasted outward.
The Frostshadow Silver Wolf's expression froze on his face as his body bowed like a shrimp, then shot backward like a launched shell.
He tore across the island for kilometers, smashing through towering trees and punching holes through small mountains, until he finally vanished into the side of a massive peak at the island's heart.
Rumble—
The impact sent a plume of dust roaring into the sky like a dragon made of earth and stone.
The deafening crash halted Dragon mid-movement just as he finished off one of the CP0 agents. He couldn't help but snap his head toward Darren.
The sight that met him knocked the breath from his lungs.
A colossal ravine split the island open from under Darren's feet, carving a path straight through the land and stretching all the way to the distant mountain range at the island's center.
To be continued...