BOOM! KA-THOOM—!!
CRACK—CRACK—KRRRACK!!
The entire underground chamber shook violently as fist and claw collided, unleashing a thunderous roar that split the air like a cannon blast.
A surging shockwave burst outward in concentric rings, tearing through the atmosphere with enough force to ripple the very air.
The ground beneath their feet caved in an instant, a crater several meters wide gouged into the reinforced floor.
Dust and debris exploded outward, blinding everyone as jagged cracks spiderwebbed across the room within seconds.
The entire basement groaned as if on the verge of collapse.
"W-What the hell…!?"
"This is insane!"
"Are they monsters?!"
"What is this, a monster mash tonight?!"
Clutching desperately to any handhold they could find, onlookers were nearly flung off their feet by the gale-force backlash.
Their eyes bulged as they stared at the destruction, one strike had nearly annihilated the supposedly reinforced stronghold.
"Y-You bastard…"
The one known as "Lion" gritted his teeth, his body trembling as he resisted the relentless waves of force.
His muscles spasmed under the strain, half of him had already gone numb. His boots scraped backward, inch by inch, unable to fully absorb the impact.
"Damn it… He's even stronger than I thought. What is this guy? Some kind of monster…?!"
"Hah! What's the matter, you dumb lion? You look like you're trying not to piss yourself!"
"Come on! Thought you were tough, what, you think you're Golden Lion Shiki or something?"
"You're nothin' but a joke! Now DIE!!"
Aeridar snarled, pressing his hand against the Lion's claws. The mocking grin on his face stood in stark contrast to Lion's grimace of struggle, the disparity in their states was obvious at a glance.
Suddenly, Aeridar's right arm swelled with power. With a sharp twist of his torso, he unleashed a crushing surge of force, and sent Lion flying.
KA-THOOM!
Lion's body blasted backward over ten meters before smashing into the far wall. The entire chamber trembled again as he crashed in, his frame embedding deep into the concrete like a nailed plank. Rubble cracked and tumbled down, clattering onto the ground below.
"Guh—cough! Cough…!"
Lion hacked up blood, forcing himself free from the wall with a painful grunt.
"Lion!!"
Gasps erupted from the bystanders, especially Tiger, Eagle, Wolf, and Nekk. Though none of them particularly liked Lion, they knew his strength.
For him to get launched like that, one punch, was a sobering wake-up call.
"Don't get cocky, you damn pirate!!"
Tiger roared and charged at Aeridar, his already massive body swelling further with muscle. He was like a living tank. As a member of the Five Guardians Council, he understood full well, after Nekk's betrayal, they were on the defensive. If Lion fell, the next in line would be them.
"Another beefcake, huh? That kind of muscle… you a Devil Fruit user too?"
Aeridar raised a brow as he eyed Tiger's absurdly exaggerated physique, noting how easily he manipulated his muscles.
In a blink, Tiger vaulted over the black conference table and bore down on him, his fist the size of a stewpot crashing down toward Aeridar's skull. The gust alone made his dark hair whip back wildly.
"That's more like it!"
Grinning, Aeridar met the blow head-on, not dodging, not flinching.
BOOM!
Fist met fist. One massive. One lean. The moment they collided, the entire room shook. A deafening shockwave ripped through the air, thick with smoke and pulverized concrete. Wind howled outward like a typhoon.
CRRACK—CRRACK—
A subtle sound from below. Cracks began to spread from beneath Aeridar's feet, splintering in all directions. Within seconds, they'd grown to seven or eight meters long.
"Damn, that's some power…"
Aeridar stared down at the fractured floor in surprise. He'd expected to overpower Tiger easily, but the brute's strength was far more than anticipated.
"Bastard! I'm a Paramecia-type, Muscle-Muscle Fruit! How the hell am I losing in raw power?!"
Though Tiger's face was hidden behind a mask, it was obvious from his body language: he was stunned. He'd gone all in on that punch, and Aeridar hadn't even budged.
"You've got some bite."
With a sneer, Aeridar planted his foot and shoved Tiger's arm aside, then brought his left fist crashing into his opponent's face.
Tiger stumbled, forced off-balance by the force of the blow. He raised his arms just in time to block, but the punch still sent him skidding backward several meters, dragging two deep grooves in the floor as his boots dug trenches. His arms burned with pain.
"Tch, damn, that hurts!"
Tiger winced, clutching his forearm.
But Aeridar didn't give him a second to breathe. In a flash, he was on him again, a sweeping roundhouse kick slicing through the air like a scythe.
"Nani?!"
Tiger's eyes went wide. He couldn't react fast enough. The whip-fast leg smashed into his face.
CRACK!!
His mask shattered, flying off in pieces as the full force of the blow whipped his head backward. The momentum yanked his entire body into the air—
SWOOSH—
—and launched him clear across the room like a ragdoll.
BOOM!
Half of Tiger's body slammed into the wall, his head embedding deeply into the concrete, leaving cracks spiderwebbing around the impact point.
"Damn... is this guy even human?!"
The Triangle Pirates and the surrounding Guardians were completely stunned. Was this for real? In just a few hits, this newcomer had taken out two elite Guardians like it was nothing.
"Bastard...!" Lion wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, eyes gleaming with a fierce glint.
Watching Aeridar crush Lion and Tiger in such overwhelming succession, Vito felt a flicker of unease settle in his chest. He hadn't gone all out yet, but even so, this guy's strength was far beyond what he'd expected.
"Is this guy really a rookie...? What kind of absurd power is this?" Eagle clenched his jaw, recalling the intel on Aeridar, none of it matched what he was witnessing now.
"The space is too damn cramped... I can't even go full power here."
Aeridar frowned.
Sure, he had just tossed two of the strongest enemies aside like ragdolls, but those blows weren't lethal. They didn't even break bone.
In this kind of enclosed underground chamber, going all-out would collapse the place entirely. A twenty-meter-deep basement... if it caved in, everyone would be buried alive.
"…Better punch us a way out first."
With his mind made up, Aeridar raised his eyes to the ceiling overhead, already webbed with fractures. He clenched his fist, muscles coiling beneath his sleeve like a beast awakening, veins bulging like entwined dragons.
Then he drove his fist upward in a single explosive motion.
WHOOM—!
As Aeridar's punch tore through the air, the entire basement howled with a sudden windstorm.
The atmosphere rippled wildly, the very air compressing into a cylindrical shockwave, a white, translucent pillar of force, like the leg of a divine elephant, surging straight up.
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