New World, thousands of meters above a certain stretch of sea.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
High in the atmosphere, two figures clashed at supersonic speeds. Every collision of fist and foot rang out like muffled thunder. Terrifying shockwaves erupted continuously, sending visible ripples of distorted air outward from the center of the fray, while the surrounding atmosphere crackled with the concussive force of air bursts.
BOOM—
Suddenly, a deafening explosion shook the heavens. The air vibrated violently, unleashing a gale-force atmospheric tide that scattered the surrounding clouds, leaving a massive circular void nearly a thousand meters wide in the sky.
Even the ocean far below felt the impact; the water surged, kicking up waves dozens of meters high.
The two figures were sent flying backward by the recoil, soaring hundreds of meters before coming to a halt, hovering suspended in the air at an altitude of several thousand meters.
Phew...
"What a persistent bastard!"
Aeridar exhaled a breath of turbid air, his brows furrowing as he glared at the fiery-red figure hundreds of meters away.
Saint Amphitrite had already entered his Dragon hybrid form. Standing nearly five meters tall, he possessed a crimson dragon head and skin clad in fire-red scales. His limbs had morphed into sharp dragon claws, and a thick, spiked tail trailed behind him.
Huff... Huff... Huff...
Saint Amphitrite breathed heavily, his brown vertical pupils fixed intently on the man before him. Several scales on his body were cracked, and though the wounds were slowly knitting back together, it was clear he had come out on the losing end of the previous exchange.
Without a word, their gazes sharpened simultaneously, and they lunged at each other once more.
Boom!Boom!
The air roared as sonic booms formed around them; in an instant, they were upon each other again.
Fuuuu—
Saint Amphitrite's chest surged as he opened his maw, unleashing a torrent of searing, high-temperature flames. The Dragon Breath shot toward Aeridar like a flaming bolt.
Even before the fire reached him, Aeridar felt the rolling heatwave. Had he not been shrouded in Armament Haki, his hair would have likely ignited instantly. This was the breath of a dragon, its temperature far exceeding that of ordinary flames.
Acting quickly, Aeridar threw a punch. The sheer force compressed the air in front of him, releasing a massive annular Impact Wave.
Rumble!
The Dragon Breath collided with the shockwave and exploded, creating a sea of fire that engulfed a hundred-meter radius.
Suddenly, a figure burst through the flames. It was the Draconic Saint Amphitrite, his wings beating with arrow-like speed. In the blink of an eye, he reached Aeridar, his claws swiping toward the man's heart.
Pop~
Aeridar vanished into thin air. A slight ripple shivered through the atmosphere as the claws struck nothing but empty space.
Almost simultaneously, Aeridar reappeared behind Saint Amphitrite, delivering a devastating roundhouse kick to the Human-Dragon's waist.
BAM—
A ring of pressurized wind exploded outward. Saint Amphitrite's body folded nearly in half as he was sent hurtling through the air like a red streak.
Without missing a beat, Aeridar pursued the red blur, bringing his fist down toward the Saint's head.
However, Saint Amphitrite spun mid-air, his thick dragon tail whistling through the sky. Aeridar's expression shifted; he retracted his fist and threw his arms wide, catching the tail with a heavy thud.
"Nani?!"
Startled, Saint Amphitrite raised his claws to shred his captor.
"Get lost!"
Aeridar roared, gripping the tail and spinning Saint Amphitrite around with such violence that the Human-Dragon lost all sense of balance. After several rotations, Aeridar let go, hurling him away.
A twisted, feral grin spread across Aeridar's face, touched with a hint of madness. He laughed crazily, "Heh heh heh... Exhilarating! Truly exhilarating! You're one hell of a durable red lizard!"
With that, he surged forward again, the air once more booming with a thunderous roar.
Meanwhile, having been flung hundreds of meters, Saint Amphitrite stabilized himself with his wings. He shook his dizzy head and privately massaged his aching waist, a sense of mounting frustration in his heart.
This lunatic...
Seeing Aeridar charging again, Saint Amphitrite felt even more annoyed. To be honest, he was in a "riding the tiger" situation—hard to get on, harder to get off.
He had only just woken up when they met and hadn't recognized Aeridar, so he had struck first. But that strike had ignited Aeridar's battle lust, and now he couldn't leave even if he wanted to.
The Reverie was only a few days away; he didn't have time to waste here. If this fight dragged on for days, he might miss the world summit entirely.
However, given Saint Amphitrite's pride, he couldn't bring himself to be the one to call for a truce. Facing the aggressive Aeridar, he could only steel himself and continue the clash.
What Saint Amphitrite didn't know was that Aeridar also had important business to attend to. It was just that his previous battle with Kaido hadn't been satisfying enough; now that his passion was rekindled, Aeridar had temporarily forgotten his original objective.
As a result, these two men, both with urgent matters elsewhere, found themselves unexpectedly trapped in a stalemate.
…
In the center of the Green Bit forest.
Fujitora (Issho) sat upon a severed tree trunk, his shikomizue, Yakuza Kasen, unsheathed and emitting a powerful gravitational field.
Trafalgar Law and Roronoa Zoro lay on the ground, blood trickling from their mouths and wounds covering their bodies. The crushing gravity pinned them down so forcefully that two craters had formed beneath them.
"Fuffuffuffuffu!"
Donquixote Doflamingo toyed with a square, translucent heart in his hand, letting out a cold, sinister cackle as he looked down at the duo in the pits.
"What a pathetic sight," Zoro muttered, his face grim with frustration. "A Marine Admiral... I really am still a long way off!"
"You flatter me. Your swordsmanship is quite impressive, Roronoa-san," Issho replied humbly.
Issho wasn't lying. Even within the vast ranks of the Marines, there were few officers whose blade-work could rival that of Roronoa Zoro.
"Doflamingo... You brought a Marine Admiral to collaborate with you so easily. Even with the 'Straw Hat' factor, your identity can't be as simple as it looks," Law said, turning his head to glare at the Heavenly Yaksha.
"Fuffuffuffu... so you've noticed!" Doflamingo sneered, his expression then darkening. "It's a pity, Law. While I wouldn't mind sharing a drink and chatting about our lives before we met, I simply don't have the time!"
"You bastard..." Law's teeth brushed together. He seemed to have already caught a glimpse of Doflamingo's true identity.
"Law, you've lost. Hand over Caesar," Doflamingo said, the light reflecting off his sunglasses. "I need to hurry back and deal with that Straw Hat brat in Dressrosa. Plenty of people have suffered major setbacks because they underestimated him, isn't that right, 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro?"
"Lost? Don't be so sure!"
Zoro grinned, a playful, knowing expression creeping onto his face.