Dorry clicked his tongue in amazement. "This kid isn't just some brute who only knows how to hammer his body. His combat skill and battle experience are terrifying too!"
"If this keeps going, the two of us are going to lose!"
The giant race lived three times longer than humans. After going out to sea, they had fought in countless battles, and on Little Garden, every time the volcano erupted, he and Brogy would fight each other once more.
Battle after battle, the two of them had built up an absurd amount of combat experience.
And yet now, they could not rely on experience or technique to seize victory.
That was the flaw of spending decades fighting only on Little Garden. The only opponent each of them had was the other, a fellow giant. Their fighting styles had long since been completely read through and understood.
But Ares was different. What he had learned was an incredibly mixed collection. Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Rocks, Charlotte Linlin, Zephyr, Garp...
He had learned far, far too many fighting techniques and moves. His variations were countless.
Hearing that, Brogy's heart skipped a beat. His expression turned anxious as he said, "That won't do. If the two of us lose while fighting together, then the giants' honor will be completely ruined by our hands!"
At that moment, Ares deliberately slowed down his attacks, conveniently giving them a chance to catch their breath. Both giants retreated, their footsteps landing with heavy booms.
With perfect tacit understanding, Brogy and Dorry raised their arms, thick as sky-supporting pillars. Veins bulged across their solid muscles.
"Hakoku!"
Their auras blazed fiercely. Although the power of their combination move was somewhat weaker without weapons, it was still not something to be taken lightly.
Ares' tiger-like eyes burst with brilliance. This was exactly the scene he had been waiting for.
His blood surged hotter inside him, and excitement beyond words filled his chest.
"Combat is far more interesting than dull, repetitive training. But without their weapons, the two of them seem a little weaker. This still isn't quite enough to satisfy me!"
"Dragon Roar, Conquest of the Sea!"
The shockwave blasted from his fist collided in midair with theirs like two furious tidal waves crashing together.
Rumble!
The earth split apart. Trees vanished as though they were snow melting away.
Ares, who was deliberately controlling his strength, was sent flying back by the stray shockwave. A massive cloud of dust exploded everywhere he passed.
The impact striking his body did not make him feel searing pain. Instead, it felt almost like a deep massage.
"Awesome!"
Still, he did not let the momentary thrill cloud his mind. His thoughts replayed the scene of Brogy and Dorry using that combination move again and again.
Frame by frame, he began breaking it down and learning it.
Ares desperately wanted to master the giants' combination techniques. That was a power capable of rising above the level of the Four Emperors and Admirals.
In his memories, when Kaido and Linlin used a combination move in the future, one strike of Conquest of the Sea had practically crippled Zoro, leaving him wrapped in bandages like a mummy.
But combination moves required two people to use. Kaido and Linlin had been separated on the battlefield, which led to them being defeated one by one.
The battle at Onigashima ended in defeat.
What Ares wanted at this moment was different. He wanted to learn this move and perform a combination technique by himself. Only with enough overwhelming offensive power could he quickly decide victory or defeat against top-tier fighters like the Four Emperors and Admirals.
He valued that immensely.
Only then could he break free from the standard Four Emperor and Admiral tier and step into a higher realm.
Inside his mind, Ares repeatedly studied and analyzed Hakoku, comparing it against Linlin's Ikoku, trying to thoroughly grasp this giant tribe secret art as quickly as possible.
Seeing Ares blasted away, Brogy and Dorry both let out long breaths.
"This kid... if we didn't fight together, one on one we really wouldn't be his match." Brogy panted heavily, large beads of sweat forming on his rugged face.
Dorry's chest rose and fell as feeling slowly returned to his numb arms. "This guy must be one of the new monsters rising out at sea. Even back when we first set sail, it was rare to see someone this strong."
The era when they had gone to sea dated back decades. Brook might still vaguely remember Roger as a newcomer, but these two did not even know Rocks' name. Back then, he probably had not even been born yet.
But soon enough, both of their expressions changed. Their faces turned grim as they stared at Ares walking out from the dust completely unharmed.
Brogy blinked rapidly, but what filled his sight was still Ares' gleaming body of swollen, knotted muscles, smooth and shining like forged steel.
"That guy doesn't have a scratch on him?"
"To tank our combination move like that... his body is absurdly tough," Dorry muttered as he quietly clenched his fists again, ready for Ares' next attack at any moment.
Ares' eyes only grew brighter. He had entered a state that was both excited and strangely sacred. Beneath the fanatical gleam in his deep eyes was intense concentration.
Trying to use a two-person combination move alone was unbelievably difficult.
The only method he could think of right now was...
using his Devil Fruit ability.
In the blink of an eye, most of Ares' heavily muscled body became covered in azure-blue scales, mainly over his limbs and back. His abdomen, however, was still exposed, showing sharply defined abs and chest muscles full of violent lines.
Even in beast form, the abdomen was still one of the body's vital weak points. That was also where Kaido had been slashed by Kozuki Oden in the original story.
Had Oden struck anywhere else, he might not have been able to wound Kaido at all.
At the same time, Ares' body swelled dramatically in size. Though he still could not compare to the two giants, the sight was no longer like an adult looking at a child.
"That is..." Brogy's face filled with shock. "A Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit ability?"
Fine sweat appeared across Dorry's forehead as he said gravely, "Be careful. He seems like he's about to get serious."
What they did not know was that Ares had been holding back this entire time. Otherwise, they would already have been defeated.
Behind Ares, he poured his consciousness into his tail. That was one of the applications of Life Return. By channeling awareness into it, he could control the power in his body more precisely.
The enormous dragon tail swayed lightly, creating ripples in the air. A dark violet aura wrapped around it, giving it a mysterious feel, almost like some kind of magical weapon.
"The tail is the blade. The fist is the spear..." Ares murmured. In his mind, the giants' combination move was still replaying.
His dragon tail rose straight up, like a giant sword held high at the left side of his body. Splitting his focus in two, he simultaneously controlled both his tail and his fist, preparing to execute a combination technique.
That sight immediately made both Brogy and Dorry widen their eyes in disbelief.
"He actually wants to use our combination move by himself?" Brogy blurted out.
It felt too unreal.
Dorry's expression darkened. "He's still gathering power. This is his first time trying it, so he's not fully familiar with it yet. But whether he can pull it off or not... if he really can..."
"The power will be terrifying!"