This time, Badak struck first, using Shave to swiftly position himself in a straight line with Moria and his shadow. With one vertical and one horizontal slash, he unleashed two simultaneous strikes that merged into a massive cross-shaped Flying Slash.
He had used this same move against Moria before, and now he wanted to see how Moria would counter it this time. Whether Moria blocked or dodged, Badak could immediately follow up with another attack, keeping Moria on the defensive.
"Kishishishi, useless."
Moria's Shadow Doppelganger transformed into a swarm of shadow bats, evading the slash before pouncing on Badak from all directions to disrupt his next move. Moria himself didn't block the cross slash either, merely sidestepping through an opening.
As the first bat swooped down, Badak headbutted it, sending a shockwave forward that repelled all the bats, causing them to dissolve into ink-like liquid.
This was the advantage of the Eight Impact Fist—and the very reason Badak valued it so highly. Its shockwaves were excellent for both offense and defense, with an added knockback effect.
The liquid on the ground quickly gathered, reforming into Moria's Shadow Doppelganger.
Seeing this, Badak frowned in thought. This wasn't working—the shadow couldn't be killed. The only way was to defeat Moria himself. But how could he prevent Moria from swapping places with his shadow?
"Kishishishi, out of ideas, eh, Badak? You're done for."
Moria rejoined his shadow, and together they launched a coordinated assault on Badak. In an instant, blades and shadows filled the air like a storm.
Badak was like a butterfly caught in a downpour—one misstep, and he'd be struck down. The onlookers held their breaths; until now, Badak had never been at such a disadvantage.
Robin clenched her hands silently. Her Observation Haki had improved significantly, allowing her to clearly sense Badak's precarious situation—it was like dancing on the edge of a blade.
Daz Bones and Sai, however, remained composed. On one hand, they had faith in Badak. On the other, being more experienced in combat than Robin, they could tell that despite appearing in danger, Badak hadn't even suffered a scratch yet. The fight was far from over.
Once again, Moria swapped places with his shadow to evade Badak's counterattack. With a sigh, Badak unleashed a powerful Flying Slash to force Moria and his Shadow Doppelganger back.
"Moria, you're definitely a pain to deal with now. But do you really think numbers alone make you special?" Badak spat out the Somersault Cloud, which morphed into a white battle suit resembling Vegeta's attire, complete with four Armament Haki-coated tentacles sprouting from his back.
This was an ability Badak had developed in his spare time, inspired by Kaneki and Spider-Man—ideal for fighting against multiple opponents. The tentacles could extend and retract freely.
Badak rarely used this technique, partly due to lack of opportunity and partly because it was mentally taxing. But with conventional methods proving ineffective against Moria for now, he had no choice but to bring it out.
"More arms for more opponents—let's see how smug you are now." With that, Badak closed the distance, engaging Moria in close combat.
Sure enough, with four additional tentacles, Badak immediately gained the upper hand, putting Moria in a desperate struggle.Moria's life-saving skill, Shadow Doppelganger, was practically useless now, as Badak could simultaneously attack both the Shadow Clone and Moria's main body. Switching places would only result in the same injuries.
At this point, it became clear that despite Moria's significant improvement in strength, there was still a gap between him and Badak in terms of raw power. His swordsmanship was inferior, his Eight Impact Fist technique was lacking, and his Armament Haki was weaker. His Shadow-Shadow Fruit was indeed an exceptional ability, ranking among the top of all Devil Fruits.
From a distance, Robin and the others let out a sigh of relief. They had been worried sick earlier, almost certain that Badak was in danger. If Badak had lost, would Moria still be as cooperative as he was now? He probably would have taken Badak's shadow. Fortunately, Badak still had a trump card, and once he played it, the situation immediately turned around.
"Dammit, don't get cocky! Shadow's Asgard—ten shadows!" Moria, covered in wounds—though all superficial—looked utterly disheveled.
Ten shadows quickly merged into Moria's body, and then... nothing. Just ten shadows.
Badak was baffled. What was going on? After all this time, it was impossible to have as many shadows as before, but surely more than just ten? Absalom's records alone had more than that.
"Geeheehee! Curious, Badak? I've figured it out—power just needs to be sufficient. Anything beyond that is completely unnecessary. Excess shadows disrupt my mind and reduce my combat time." Moria regained his confidence. This time, though he only had ten shadows, they were all high-quality. The best, of course, was Chin Jao's shadow, while the other nine were about two or three tiers lower.
"Excess shadows were your weakness. Now, I can't exploit that like last time. Seems you've truly mastered the Shadow-Shadow Fruit." Badak sighed helplessly. This was going to be a tough fight. He activated his Great Ape Form, planning to use Size Alteration more flexibly this time.
With Chin Jao's shadow enhancing him, Moria's Eight Impact Fist became his strongest ability. He even sheathed his cane sword, relying solely on the Eight Impact Fist to fight Badak.
Badak also wanted to test the enhanced version of Moria with Chin Jao's shadow. He sheathed both his swords, adjusted his height to match Moria's, and met him with pure martial arts.
If their earlier swordplay had been flashy and perilous, this clash was simple and direct. A punch thrown, a block, then a counter—both were skilled in the Eight Impact Fist, so their defenses were solid. Despite the intensity, neither gained much ground.
Gradually, however, Badak began to lose the upper hand. Moria was only growing more fluid in his movements.
"Eight Impact Fist Secret Technique: Martial Head!" Moria's head shot toward Badak.
This—Badak nearly laughed out loud.
Moria didn't have a head like Chin Jao's. The Martial Head technique couldn't replicate Chin Jao's effectiveness. This must be the shadow's influence messing with Moria's judgment.
Without mercy, Badak drove his fist—wreathed in powerful Armament Haki—straight into Moria's head.
With a loud thud, Moria was sent flying. Even with Armament Haki coating his head in advance, the blow left him dazed and disoriented."Ah, this is infuriating!" Moria was seething with anger. Just as the tide of battle seemed to be turning in his favor, he had a momentary lapse at the critical juncture, and the advantage swiftly turned into a disadvantage. "Is my stamina already running out?"
Moria understood that today's battle with Badak—with the constant application of various abilities and relentless exchanges of swordsmanship and martial arts—had left him utterly exhausted.
He could only blame himself for wasting so many years. While his innate talent kept his strength somewhat intact, his physical endurance had deteriorated terribly. It was a pity he had learned the Shadow Training Method too late.
"In that case, I have no choice but to unleash my ultimate move."
Moria's Shadow Doppelganger reappeared. Due to the inconsistency between his Shadow Asgard form and his actual shadow, he couldn't use the Shadow Swap ability at this time.
"Badak, be careful! The next move is absolutely terrifying! Don't die on me!"