At this moment, when Sero saw Doflamingo, he suddenly remembered that he still had a mission to defeat Doflamingo.
The main reason is that once Sero defeated Doflamingo, he would be rewarded with the temporary assistance of a peak-form Golden Lion who would follow his commands without question for one full day.
With that reward, he'd be able to leave Onigashima alive.
Originally, Sero had planned to complete this mission during the Marineford War and to use the reward then.
But now, he wasn't even sure if he could leave Onigashima alive. He had to use the reward now; it was do or die.
Hearing Sero shout, Sabo, Doflamingo, and Sasaki all looked dumbfounded.
Especially Sasaki, who was currently locked in a sword duel with Sero.
"You little brat! You think I'm not worthy to be your opponent?!"
Enraged, Sasaki swung his mechanical spiral blade with even greater force at Sero.
What's more, the blade's spiraling intensified, increasing its impact power several times over.
Caught off guard, Sero was knocked several meters back.
"What the hell?! Weren't we supposed to be just testing swordsmanship?!"
Sero didn't see anything "pure" about Sasaki's technique.
What was he bullying Sero because his katana didn't spin?
"Heh! You damn brat. Go to hell!"
Seeing that Sero had believed what he, a pirate, said, Sasaki couldn't help but burst out laughing.
If pirates were trustworthy, there wouldn't be so many of them locked up in Impel Down.
Naïve, just so naïve.
"Then I won't play around anymore!"
A steady flow of water began to pour from Sero's katana.
Sure, his blade didn't spiral, but it flowed with water.
When it came to flashy swordsmanship techniques, Sero was confident: no swordsman on this sea could outdo him.
"Water Breathing! First Form: Water Surface Slash!"
Charging head-on into Sasaki's spiraling blade, Sero forced Sasaki back with a powerful slash.
Seizing the advantage, Sero decided to finish Sasaki off in one go, unleashing the entire sequence of Water Breathing techniques at him:
"Water Breathing! Second Form: Water Wheel!"
"Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
"Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
"Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought!"
"Sixth Form: Whirlpool!"
"Seventh Form: Piercing Rain Drop Thrust!"
"Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!"
"Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow!"
"Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"
With the final slash, Sasaki's spiral blade shattered into countless fragments, scattered across the floor.
Sasaki's massive body was now covered in sword wounds.
Yet, he still hadn't fallen.
"You think a brat like you could take me down that easily?! I'm SASAKI!! RAAHH!!"
In a burst of fury, Sasaki transformed into an even larger Triceratops form.
With a furious roar, he nearly blew Sero off the loft entirely.
"Vertical Lift Horn!!"
Now in Triceratops form, Sasaki's frill began spinning at high speed, just like a helicopter rotor.
Sero was stunned.
He genuinely couldn't figure out how a triceratops could do something so scientifically impossible.
While Sero was distracted, Sasaki, still airborne, suddenly launched a barrage of slashes, attacking Sero from all directions.
"The hell?! You can DO THAT?!"
Bizarre—Sero was in shock.
Still, he didn't forget to dodge.
Because the loft was too small, and Sasaki's attacks were omnidirectional, Sero had no choice but to jump down into the main hall.
Sabo and Doflamingo had been fighting fiercely in the main hall the whole time.
They hadn't stopped just because of Sero's earlier shout.
Now, seeing Sero leap into the hall, both men instinctively paused for a moment.
"Sero! If we keep dragging this out, we'll be the ones worn down! We need a plan!"
Back-to-back with Sero, Sabo was panting heavily—he was exhausted.
He had already used up a lot of stamina fighting Fuz Fu earlier.
Now fighting the much stronger Doflamingo, he was close to collapsing.
Sero, on the other hand, looked fine.
Hardly a drop of sweat.
It was only then that Sabo truly understood why Sero could be Boa Hancock's boyfriend.
The guy was insanely powerful.
Whether they made it off Onigashima alive now all depended on Sero.
Standing in the hall, hope was behind him.
Sero started to panic.
He had somehow become the village's last hope.
"I'll take on Doflamingo, Sabo, you handle that triceratops with the rotating frill."
The real hope lay in defeating Doflamingo.
If Sero could do that and summon the peak Golden Lion, then not only could they escape, they could drag the whole island to Marineford if they wanted to.
Don't be fooled by how fierce Triceratops Sasaki looked right now.
He was fierce.
But he was also clearly on his last legs, purely on willpower.
Given Sabo's current state, he should be able to exhaust that last bit of energy from Sasaki.
"Cannon Horn!!"
Unable to wait any longer, Triceratops Sasaki launched another attack on Sero, diving down from the loft like a meteor.
"I'm leaving this to you, Sabo!"
Sero quickly dodged aside, leaving Sabo standing in place.
Looking up at the oncoming "meteor" that was Sasaki, Sabo only wanted to say: "Thank you for nothing."
But against such a clunky enemy, Sabo, empowered by the Flame-Flame Fruit, had a good shot.
He had defeated the mammoth Jack, who was even bigger than this.
So surely, he could handle this smaller dinosaur.
"Flame Dragon King!!!"
With a roar, Sabo released a massive blaze, forming into a giant flaming dragon.
Standing within the flaming dragon, he met Sasaki's triceratops form head-on in midair.
The two dragons collided violently in the air of the main hall.
Neither gained the upper hand.
They landed on opposite sides, staring each other down.
"Why am I stuck fighting you, fire-wielding brat? Where's that sword-swinging bastard?!"
Sasaki hadn't yet avenged himself against Sero, and his rage hadn't subsided.
But Sabo summoned a towering wall of fire, encircling them both in a space no more than 30 meters across.
"With a freak dinosaur like you, I'm more than enough. No need for Sero to step in!"
"Let's see if your body is as tough as your mouth!"
Fueled by fury, Sasaki charged Sabo with unstoppable force.
And Sabo, using what little strength he had left, transformed once again into a Flame Giant, beginning an intense close-quarters battle within the fire.
Hearing the deafening impacts from within the fire, Sero knew it was time to take on Doflamingo.
"Fufufufufufu… Just who the hell are you, kid?!"
Sensing Sero's fighting spirit, Doflamingo is calm as ever. First, he was asked about his identity.
Ever since he saw Sero outside Onigashima, Doflamingo had been trying to dig up any info on him.
But even now, he had no clue who Sero was.
And the fact that this powerful swordsman, strong enough to one-shot Page One and Ulti, was completely unknown terrified Doflamingo.
Add in that Sero was allied with Sabo, the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army, and Boa Hancock, a Warlord…
And now even Kaido's daughter Yamato had joined their group.
At this rate, the Red-Haired Pirates' reputation for being unbreakable might have to be handed over to Sero's crew.
"Who am I? You can call me… Ginitaime!"
Since Doflamingo had asked so earnestly, Sero graciously bluffed him.
Though it didn't seem to work that well.
Doflamingo muttered "Ginitaime… Ginitaime…" under his breath, then looked at Sero with suspicion.
Maybe he thought the name sounded too noble for someone like Sero.
"Enough talk! Taste this slash I've trained for over two and a half years, Doflamingo!"
Sero's katana, infused with advanced Armament Haki (Ryūō), slashed straight at Doflamingo.
A seasoned fighter like Doflamingo immediately noticed the advanced Haki wrapped around Sero's blade.
He didn't dare block; he dodged instead.
Even if Sero had only trained for two and a half years, this was still advanced Haki, a skill Doflamingo wished he could train.
All he could do was watch with envy.
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
Suddenly, a huge crash came from the loft.
A figure dropped like a meteor between Sero and Doflamingo, forming a massive crater.
"Cough… cough…"
The figure stood up from the crater after coughing a few times, apparently unharmed.
"This black-faced gorilla is still as tough as ever…"
.