Corrida Colosseum—The Ring!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Three consecutive explosions of metal meeting bone shook the arena. Estoc clashed against bestial claws, sending violent shockwaves rippling outward with every strike. The residual force from their collision surged into the ground, tearing jagged fissures across the ring's surface until the stone was a spiderweb of deep cracks.
"He's not paralyzed by the electricity?!" Vito's ink-blue reptilian pupils constricted with suspicion as he watched his opponent's stoic face. Is he neutralizing it with the Armament Haki coating his blade?
"A mere current," Haunger replied calmly, his estoc tip tapping the ground with rhythmic precision. "It's stronger than a Mink's discharge, certainly, but it just takes a bit more Haki to buffer."
Though Haunger was a few years younger than the likes of Roger and Garp, he was a legend of their era. In his long life on the high seas, he had crossed blades with Mink warriors before; Vito's lightning was a familiar foe.
"That feat alone proves your reputation isn't just talk," Vito hissed, his eyes narrowing with a predatory glint.
To use Armament Haki to completely insulate against millions of volts traveling through a metal weapon was a feat beyond most masters of martial arts and Haki.
Vito didn't waste another breath. He stomped his foot, shattering the ring and leaving a massive crater behind as the recoil propelled him forward. He vanished into a blur of blinding lightning.
"Hmph. Flashy tricks. Cran Estoc Style: Thirty-Six Lotus Flashes!"
Haunger let out a disdainful snort. With a low cry, he raised his blade and unleashed thirty-six thrusts in a single second toward his right flank.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The audience saw only streaks of cold light blooming in the air. Amidst a symphony of clashing metal, a massive figure wreathed in electricity was forced out of the void. Vito tumbled across the ground, leaving a trail of blood spatters on the stone.
CRACKLE—!
Suddenly, the fallen Vito swung his arm. Arcs of electricity surged from his claws, coalescing into a bolt of lightning that streaked toward Haunger.
Tough scales! Haunger thought, his face tightening as he flicked his body aside. The lightning struck the floor, detonating in a shower of stone fragments and leaving a scorched pit.
"Try one more!" Haunger shouted. His feet barely touched the ground as he closed the distance to Vito in an instant. He lunged, his estoc aimed directly for the beast's skull.
As the sharp point accelerated toward him, the wind of the strike whistling in his ears, Vito let out a primal roar. He reached out with a clawed hand, attempting to catch the blade mid-air.
However, Haunger's thrust was too fast and too powerful. Even with all his strength, Vito couldn't pin it. The sound of the blade grinding against the reptilian scales was a bone-chilling screech. Hardened by Armament Haki, the sword tip tore through the scales on Vito's chest, scales that could normally shrug off naval cannon fire, as if they were parchment.
"Bastard!"
Vito grunted in pain, his feral instincts taking over. He clamped one hand tightly onto the blade embedded in his chest, while his other fist, crackling with blinding blue-white lightning, swung directly at Haunger's face.
"Crap!"
Haunger's eyes widened. He yanked at his sword, desperate to retrieve it and dodge the incoming blow.
But as a Mythical Zoan user, Vito's raw physical strength far outclassed Haunger's. The old man's face turned crimson as he struggled to pull the blade from the beast's grip. The delay was fatal. He could only watch as the lightning-shrouded fist slammed into his chest.
THOOM!
A dull explosion of air followed the impact, sending a violent gust of wind outward.
"GAH—!"
Haunger took the full brunt of the blow. He coughed up a spray of blood and was sent spiraling backward.
Whether influenced by the previous brutality of "Demon Snake" Juka and "Human Bear" Fran, the battle between Vito and Haunger had turned into a desperate war of attrition. Within minutes, both men were covered in wounds.
"Hiss..."
Vito inhaled sharply. His massive frame was peppered with over a dozen bleeding holes from Haunger's previous "Starry Sky" assault. Fortunately, his scales were dense; except for the deep chest wound, the rest were mostly superficial punctures through the hide and muscle.
Vito's muscles constricted, instantly stanching the flow of blood from the smaller wounds as his body began to knit itself back together.
This was the advantage of a Zoan user: physical constitution far beyond ordinary humans. Vito, a rare Mythical Zoan user whose fruit was bordering on "Awakening," possessed a preliminary self-healing factor that, while not as "broken" as a fully Awakened user, was still formidable.
At the edge of the ring, Haunger crawled out of a pile of rubble, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The ground around him was a ruin of deep cracks.
Seeing both combatants wounded, Eden's eyes lit up. "They're both hurt... now's my chance!"
He didn't dare offend the Chris Pirates, but he held no such fear for the Aubrey Kingdom. The Chris Pirates were a nest of monsters, whereas the Aubrey Kingdom's top-tier military strength began and ended with Haunger.
Eden made his move. His black hair extended and lashed out in the air, transforming into a dozen spears that shot toward Haunger.
But Haunger, a master of Observation Haki, was well aware of the sneak attack.
"A mere clown dares to interfere?!"
Haunger roared, swinging his estoc in a wide arc. He severed the dozen hair-spears with a single vacuum slash. Without pausing, he followed up with a thin, razor-sharp wave of sword ki directed straight at Eden.
"Demon Hair Dance: Hair Web!"
Startled, Eden regrew his severed hair instantly, weaving it into a dense, fine-meshed net.
SHRIIIP—!
As easily as a master swordsman slices through silk, the sword ki tore through the obsidian hair-web. Eden watched in horror as the slender streak of energy slammed into his chest.
Blood sprayed as Eden let out a pathetic scream, sent tumbling back several meters.
"You piece of trash!"
"Who gave you the balls to interrupt my fight?!"
Vito's roar followed. Lighting surged around him as he blurred across the ring. He appeared before Eden in an instant, bringing a massive fist crashing down.
BOOM—!
Terrified, Eden had no time to react. He was driven into the floor by the sheer weight of Vito's strike. The entire ring shuddered; dust billowed into the air as fissures raced outward from the impact site.
When the dust cleared, the audience gasped. A crater several meters wide sat in the middle of the stage. Eden lay at the bottom, eyes rolled back, face covered in blood and half-buried under rubble. He was out cold.
"Absolutely overwhelming!"
"Master Haunger and Vito-sama took him out with one move each! The power gap is simply unbelievable!" Gatz screamed with passion.
Suddenly, Haunger flickered, reappearing directly behind Vito.
"Think again!"
Vito sensed the movement and spun around with a violent roar, sweeping his claws in a backward arc.
WHOOSH—!
Five invisible slashes flew from his claws, tearing through the outer wall of the preparation room dozens of meters away, leaving five deep, meter-long gouges in the stone.
"Dammit!"
"What the hell was that?!"
"Too reckless!"
Inside the preparation room, Cavendish, Burgess, and the others scrambled to dodge the stray projectile.
In that opening, Haunger closed in. He thrust his blade with a soft squelch. The scales that were harder than steel offered no more resistance than paper against the Haki-blackened blade. The estoc pierced straight through Vito's abdomen, the tip emerging from his back.
"Ngh..."
Vito grunted in agony. He immediately reached out with both claws and clamped them onto Haunger's shoulders.
"Let go!" Haunger sensed the trap and began to struggle desperately.
"Heh... hehehe..."
Vito looked down, a cold smirk crossing his beastly face. Arcs of electricity began to jump across his body. He leaned in and whispered raspingly into Haunger's ear: "Go to hell, you old bastard!"
CHIRP... CHIRP...
The air hummed with the sound of ten thousand birds. High-frequency electrical discharge filled the air, deafening and sharp.
In the next heartbeat, a blinding pillar of lightning erupted, illuminating the entire Corrida Colosseum.
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