"Surtur, Blade of Divine Fire!!!"
"Right, Master!"
Cross received confirmation from his strike against Doflamingo, and his grin grew even more sinister. He immediately commanded Surtur to fuse with his body. In an instant, the distant Surtur stopped chasing Vergo and its massive flame body transformed into a brilliant fireball, like a miniature sun, floating in the air. It then arced across the sky like a meteor and slammed into Cross's body.
RUMBLE—
A fierce wave of fire exploded outward, turning a radius of several dozen meters into a sea of flames, melting the surrounding snow. But soon, the vast and scorching sea of fire converged inward, revealing the demon-like, pitch-black Cross.
On top of his head was a hovering crown of flames with a menacing expression, from which four fiery ribbons hung, wrapping around his neck, armpits, and the huge bat wings on his back. Shusui was also covered in scorching flames, transforming into a blade of fire.
"Still have a clone, do you...?" His crimson eyes moved, their sharp, murderous gaze falling upon Doflamingo's puppet clone made of strings.
"What the hell?! What is that form?!" The puppet clone was controlled by Doflamingo, so even from hundreds of meters away, he could see Cross's current appearance through it.
Sss—
Rumble!
Suddenly, Cross shot forward like a fiery bolt of lightning. Before Doflamingo could react, a scorching, fiery katana slashed down, cleaving the string puppet clone in half from head to toe.
Doflamingo didn't even have time to make the clone retaliate. The clone's body was split in two, and the severed strings burst into flames. The ground behind it was also torn open by the overwhelmingly powerful slash, as if a hot knife was slicing through butter. It even created a huge, burning crack, a fiery path that seemed to stretch on forever.
"Doffy!!" Vergo, who had just arrived, saw Doflamingo's body split in two. His face was filled with horror, and he cried out instinctively.
"Hmph, Vergo!" Cross turned his head, his voice low and hoarse.
"C-Cross?!" Hearing the somewhat familiar voice, Vergo looked at the monster in front of him. When he met its crimson eyes, a chill ran down his spine, a sense of terror as if he were being watched by a ferocious beast.
"I heard that Sengoku-san has his eye on you. I think I'll let him deal with you!" As he spoke, Cross's huge bat wings flapped, kicking up a fierce gale. Like an arrow shot from a bowstring, he instantly crossed nearly a hundred meters and appeared before Vergo.
"So fast!" Vergo's heart pounded. He instinctively squatted down.
Whoosh—
The blazing katana passed quickly over Vergo's head, unleashing a scorching sword wind that instantly cleaved a large protruding rock hundreds of meters away.
Rumble!!
The huge rock was split diagonally. The top half, which was easily seven or eight meters high, slid down and crashed heavily onto the ground. The cut was charred and scalding, as if it had been sliced by a high-temperature laser.
"Rankyaku: Heavy Axe!!!" Cross saw Vergo dodge his slash. He followed up with a high kick that struck down with immense power, like a heavy axe.
Rumble!
Vergo quickly rolled away, narrowly avoiding the attack. Cross's foot landed in the exact spot where Vergo had been, and the tremendous force shattered the ground, creating a crater several meters in diameter. A powerful airwave, mixed with cold snow, shattered rock, and dirt, sent Vergo tumbling away.
"You monster, die with me!" At that moment, Vergo instantly got back on his feet and charged at Cross, throwing a punch.
However, in the next second, Cross not only dodged Vergo's heavy punch but also reached out and pressed his hand against the other man's face, forcing him backward and down to the ground.
Rumble!!
The ground shook violently. Vergo's head was plunged into the thick snow, and the rocks and soil beneath were dented. But Cross wasn't finished. He followed up with a heavy kick to Vergo's stomach.
Rumble!!
Another loud crash. The ground caved in, forming a large crater more than five meters in diameter. Vergo inside was already unconscious, his eyes rolled back and blood coming from his nose and mouth.
"You damn punk, you're dead—!!" Suddenly, an angry roar came from the sky.
Cross looked up and saw Doflamingo flying toward him, a look of furious rage on his face. His pink feathered coat fluttered in the biting wind. A razor-sharp string, almost invisible to the naked eye, sliced towards him.
Cross gave up on Vergo, flapped his huge bat wings, and quickly flew up.
Sss—
A nearby large tree was cut down. The top half of the trunk, with its sparse branches and thick snow, toppled over, crashing heavily into the snow.
"Die!!" Doflamingo roared in the air, creating a series of invisible, fine strings and slicing them toward Cross, who flew to meet him, but Cross dodged every one.
In an instant, the trees, houses, rocks, and hills on the island became collateral damage. They were all as fragile as tofu, easily sliced apart by the sharp strings.
"Blazing Shadow Spear!" Suddenly, Cross extended his left hand toward Doflamingo. His arm, burning with fierce flames, elongated, forming an ever-extending black spear covered in flames.
Doflamingo didn't try to block it. He used his strings to pull his body away and dodged the attack.
RUMBLE!!!
Immediately, a black spear burning with fierce flames, as fast as lightning, extended for hundreds of meters. It pierced right through a small hill, and the violent tremor caused the snow covering the hill to break away, triggering a massive avalanche.
"Athlete!!!" Doflamingo seized the opportunity, quickly flying over. He created eight nearly transparent strings from his tiptoes and kicked them toward Cross.
Clang—
Cross had just retracted his arm and had no time to counterattack. He could only block Doflamingo's kick with Shusui.
An airwave was immediately generated between them, followed by a fierce gust of wind mixed with a dozen red and black lightning bolts that swept out in all directions. However, since Cross didn't have enough of a foothold in the air, Doflamingo's kick sent him flying.
Swoosh—
Rumble!!!
Cross, like a fiery meteor, plummeted from the sky and crashed into an abandoned house on the highest peak of Minion Island. With a loud crash, the entire house collapsed. A powerful tremor, accompanied by a tremendous air current, swept out like a blizzard.
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