"Trebol! Diamante! Pica! The three of you take everyone to the town on the mountaintop and go kill that idiot Diez Barrels!" On the foot of the mountain, Doflamingo looked in the direction of the town with a grim expression, cursing furiously. "To let the Ope Ope no Mi get stolen... What an utterly useless piece of trash! A bunch of morons!"
"Doffy, what about you?" Diamante nodded before asking.
"I'm going to find that brat, Amphitrite Cross!" Doflamingo calmed down, a strange glint reflecting off his sunglasses. In a low voice, he said, "As much as I hate to admit it, Vergo is probably no match for that monster brat! His strength has grown incredibly fast over the past few years, and I don't know how long Vergo can stall him!"
With that, Doflamingo shot into the sky, his pink feather coat fluttering as a few feathers fell. He left one last warning: "Don't be careless. Watch out for lightning strikes from the sky!"
....
"What a heavy punch..." Vergo shook his dizzy head and struggled to his feet, a mix of snow and broken bricks rattling off him. The force of that punch was so great that even his Armament Haki almost couldn't block it; it was a close call that he didn't get knocked out cold.
"Still able to stand up, huh... You've trained your Armament Haki well!" Cross held his sword and walked step by step through the soft snow. Behind him, a fireball, as bright as the sun, hovered in the air with a sinister, personified smile, exuding a blazing heat.
Vergo stared intently at the approaching Cross, still thinking about his next move, when he saw the other man suddenly quicken his pace, then break into a run. Using the momentum from his sprint, Cross unleashed a thrust.
"One Sword Style: Hawk Assault!" Cross's attack was so fast that he arrived in an instant, his sword heading straight for Vergo's heart.
Vergo was startled and quickly rolled in the snow, barely dodging the attack.
Boom!
The next second, the sword's wind-like slash exploded like a cannon, instantly snapping a withered tree a dozen meters away in half and sending wood fragments flying everywhere.
Vergo quickly got to his feet and lunged forward, swinging the 'iron staff' in his hand at Cross. The 'iron staff' whistled through the air, indicating the immense force behind the blow.
However, Cross remained unfazed. He casually swung his sword outward, deflecting the attack with a clang, and then swung his sword several more times at Vergo, but the other man blocked each one.
Clang, clang, clang, clang...
The jarring sound of clashing metal rang out continuously, with sparks flying with each strike. But Cross's strength was astonishing. Each of his attacks was so heavy and powerful, like an axe or hammer coming down, that it made Vergo's hands go numb, and he was gradually losing his grip on his weapon.
Suddenly, Scáthach silently appeared behind Vergo and swept a kick across his waist. Vergo sensed the danger but couldn't react in time.
Thud!
With a dull sound, Vergo was caught off guard and sent flying again, his body bent into a "C" shape. He crashed into the snow a dozen meters away like a cannonball. The impact created a large crater in the snow, but he continued to slide backward for a considerable distance, plowing a noticeable trench in the snow.
Cross didn't let the opportunity pass. He took a long stride and swung his sword forward.
"One Sword Style: Great Sky!" As he swung his sword, he was still dozens of meters away. But then, as if riding the wind, he floated forward, crossing the distance in an instant, so fast it seemed slow. By the time his sword slash came down, he was already right in front of Vergo.
"What?!" Vergo felt the sharp force coming toward him and was shocked. He quickly got up, holding the 'iron staff' in front of him to block.
Clang—
A spark flashed in the air, and the wooden stick hardened with Armament Haki was instantly cut in half. The blade of Shusui continued its trajectory, slicing into Vergo's shoulder. The immense force knocked him back to one knee. In that moment, the blade sank into his flesh. Blood trickled down Shusui's blade, staining the white snow red.
"Looks like my Haki is a little bit stronger!" Cross grinned, gripping Shusui with both hands and pressing down hard, as if trying to cut off Vergo's arm.
"Urgh..." Vergo gritted his teeth, groaning in pain, but didn't cry out. Instead, he jabbed the remaining half of the wooden stick in his right hand toward Cross's throat. Although the stick had no blade, under such immense force, it could still pierce through a person.
In a flash, Cross decisively pulled out his sword and spun around, landing a roundhouse kick on Vergo's face, sending him flying several meters away with a thud.
"Black Box!" Cross yelled fiercely. Scáthach's body split into hundreds of shadow bats that flew out.
"Huh?!" Vergo hadn't even recovered from the heavy blow when he saw a swarm of bats fly toward him and surround him, blacking out his vision. The hundreds of shadow bats merged, quickly forming a black cube that trapped Vergo inside.
"Hehe~ Let's see if your Armament Haki can block this! One Sword Style: Hawk Assault!" Cross sneered, running forward without hesitation. He gripped the hilt of Shusui with both hands and, using his momentum, thrust his sword toward the black cube in front of him.
However, the next second, when Cross was only a meter away from the 'shadow', his face suddenly changed. He abruptly stopped, even reversing his momentum, and pushed off the ground with one foot to retreat.
Sss—
A barely audible sound was heard, and a thin, deep crack appeared in the snow, as if it had been cut by an invisible blade. The footprint Cross left while retreating was only a centimeter away from the crack. It was clear that if Cross had continued forward, he would've been sliced by the invisible attack.
"Fuffuffuffu~"
Just then, a familiar, strange laugh reached his ears. "Attacking my family in front of me, that's not very nice, is it, Commodore Cross! Fuffuffuffu~"
Cross's expression turned serious, and his gaze sharpened as he looked toward the source of the voice. He saw a flamboyant man wearing a pink feather coat flying toward them in mid-air. Several fine, nearly invisible strings descended from the sky, attaching to his body and allowing him to fly.
"So, it's your turn to make an appearance... Donquixote Doflamingo!"
"Fuffuffuffu~ It's been a while. You're looking more and more like a real man!" A gust of cold wind swept in, the pink feather coat fluttered, and a figure descended from the sky, landing steadily in the snow, right on the cut-out crack.
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