"The dark clouds press upon the city, threatening to crush it."
At some point during their grueling battle, the sky above the Jewel Ice Sheet had darkened. The once bright, clear sky was now completely blanketed by heavy, oppressive storm clouds, blocking out the sun.
Moria and his Doppelman stood side-by-side, perfectly mirroring each other's stances. Because Moria was still utilizing Shadows Asgard, his physical body was noticeably larger and more muscular than the pitch-black shadow replica. Both versions of the Warlord gripped identical Cane Swords.
"Piercing Secret Technique: Drill Lancer - Moonlight Double Gates!"
Moria and his shadow moved in perfect unison. Thrusting their swords forward, they each unleashed a terrifying, swirling, drill-shaped shockwave. As the two massive shockwaves shot across the ice, they rapidly converged, merging into a single, colossal double-helix drill. The two individual drills spun rapidly in opposite directions while simultaneously rotating around a central axis, creating an apocalyptic vortex of destruction.
This was the absolute pinnacle of Moria's recent training. It was a completely original technique born from a flash of inspiration while in his Shadows Asgard form, fusing Don Chinjao's Hasshoken Secret Technique: Drill Dragon, Drill Nail - Chinjao Opens the Gate with the knowledge of several other elite shadows and his own Devil Fruit prowess.
While the attack's destructive power was apocalyptic, its execution had a major flaw: Moria could currently only use it while empowered by Shadows Asgard and the combined experience of multiple elite shadows. He hadn't truly mastered the technique yet. When the day came that he could execute this move purely with his own base strength, the technique would finally be considered complete.
'It's too fast!'
Bardock's Observation Haki actually struggled to track the chaotic, erratic trajectory of the converging double-helix. He pushed his Fiery Golden Eyes to their absolute limit. The world around him seemed to slow to a crawl, allowing him to finally perceive the true terror of the incoming attack.
Because the two drills were spinning in opposite directions while orbiting each other, the resulting aerodynamic shear created a massive, localized hurricane. The sheer wind pressure acted like a colossal industrial blender. The legendary Jewel Ice Sheet—which was significantly harder than steel—was effortlessly pulverized into fine powder upon contact. Even massive chunks of the glacier were violently sucked into the center of the vortex and instantly ground into nothingness.
'The area of effect is massive. And it acts like a vacuum!'
Bardock quickly calculated that dodging was nearly impossible; the intense suction force would likely pull him right into the vortex if he tried to sidestep. Besides, why did his blood feel like it was boiling? Why did every instinct in his body scream at him to meet this apocalyptic attack head-on?
'Wait... what if...?'
A brilliant, reckless idea flashed through his mind, and he acted instantly.
Bardock's body violently expanded, transforming into his thirty-meter-tall Great Ape form in a heartbeat. He stomped his massive foot into the ice. Combining his terrifying physical strength with the localized shockwave manipulation of the Hasshoken, the stomp shattered the glacier, creating a massive, radiating crater that perfectly anchored his footing.
The cloud of Flying Nimbus swirling around him instantly condensed, transforming from armor into a colossal bo staff gripped firmly in the Great Ape's hands. Bardock funneled every ounce of his Armament Haki into the weapon. The snow-white cloud instantly shifted into a deep, metallic purple-black.
The double-helix drill was mere meters away, the sheer wind pressure violently whipping the Great Ape's golden fur.
"I'M SENDING YOU TO THE STRATOSPHERE!"
Bardock roared, swinging the massive staff upward with every shred of strength his body possessed. Thanks to his Fiery Golden Eyes, he had spotted the attack's fatal flaw. Because Moria's physical body was currently much larger and stronger than his shadow replica, the two drills weren't perfectly balanced! The Doppelman's drill was noticeably smaller and weaker than Moria's. That was the weak point!
If he could strike the weaker drill with enough force to alter its trajectory, he could force it to crash into the larger drill, violently disrupting the delicate balance of the double-helix structure. He would use the shadow's drill to destroy Moria's drill!
BOOOOOOM!
The Haki-coated staff collided violently with the swirling vortex.
In the fraction of a millisecond before impact, Bardock executed a highly advanced technique he had gleaned from his Hasshoken training. Instead of keeping his Armament Haki evenly distributed across the staff, he forced the entirety of his Haki to rapidly flow toward the exact point of impact, creating an explosive burst of outward-flowing invisible armor. In the Wano Country, this advanced application of Emission Haki was known as Ryuo.
The sheer physical exertion of the swing instantly drained Bardock's stamina. He couldn't maintain the massive Great Ape transformation, rapidly shrinking back down to his normal human size.
SCREEEEEECH!
The deafening, ear-piercing sound of grinding metal echoed across the tundra as the two drills finally collided with each other inside the vortex.
However, to Bardock's sheer shock, the two drills didn't shatter. The structural integrity of the Moonlight Double Gates was far stronger than he had calculated!
Instead of detonating, the two drills violently sparked and ground against each other. But Bardock's massive, Ryuo-infused upward swing had successfully altered their trajectory. The colossal double-helix narrowly missed Bardock, shooting diagonally into the sky.
If Bardock hadn't run out of stamina and shrunk down to his normal size at that exact moment, the massive attack would have still clipped his Great Ape body. And considering he had just exhausted all of his Armament Haki on that single swing, relying purely on his Indestructible Vajra body to tank the hit would have been incredibly dangerous.
"Impossible...!"
Moria was in far worse shape than Bardock. His Doppelman had already vanished. The moment he executed the ultimate attack, his mental focus completely shattered, making it impossible to suppress the ten elite shadows inside him any longer. Desperate to prevent his prized shadows from escaping, he forcefully deactivated Shadows Asgard at the last possible second, violently locking them back inside his body.
Currently, Moria couldn't even stand. He collapsed onto the ice, panting heavily. Seeing Bardock flawlessly deflect his ultimate trump card left an indescribably bitter taste in his mouth.
If Moria had known that Bardock's survival at the end relied heavily on sheer dumb luck and a perfectly timed de-transformation, he probably would have felt a little better.
"He did it!"
Seeing Bardock successfully deflect the apocalyptic attack, Robin and the others finally let out a massive sigh of relief. The sheer scale of the clash had been utterly terrifying. They had all witnessed the indestructible density of the Jewel Ice Sheet over the past two months. Yet, the residual shockwaves of Moria's attack alone had effortlessly carved a massive, ten-meter-deep canyon through the glacier.
Daz Bonez stared at the vanishing double-helix drill, his stoic expression cracking into genuine awe. 'So flying slashes can be manipulated like that? Is it possible for me to replicate that level of control?'
Sai and Boo's expressions were even more dramatic. Their grandfather had been obsessively trying to crack this ice for decades! And yet, these monsters were casually carving massive canyons into it during a sparring match?!
Sure, Bardock and Daz Bonez had managed to cut through the ice previously, but their cuts were only deep, narrow fissures—not even wide enough for a person to squeeze through. Moria's ultimate attack was undeniably far more destructive than Don Chinjao's legendary Chinjao Opens the Gate technique!
"It's so beautiful..."
A brilliant beam of light suddenly broke through the gloom. Perona looked up. The apocalyptic double-helix drill had violently pierced through the heavy storm clouds above, blasting a massive hole in the overcast sky.
A single, glorious pillar of sunlight poured through the gap, illuminating Bardock as he stood amidst the ruined glacier. The golden aura of his Beast-Human form shimmered in the light, projecting an undeniably divine, transcendent presence.
Moria's Moonlight Double Gates had literally cleaved the heavens, opening a path for the light.
Bardock casually walked over to where Moria lay slumped on the ice. He morphed the Flying Nimbus back into a staff and pointed the tip at the Warlord's chest, a bright smile on his face. "Well, Moria. It looks like you lost again."
Truthfully, Bardock wasn't in much better shape. He couldn't muster a single ounce of Haki right now. However, his stamina was already rapidly regenerating—the terrifying advantage of an Awakened Mythical Zoan.
"Kishishishishi!"
Despite his initial disbelief, Moria actually started laughing. "I lost, Bardock. But in a way... I also won."
Moria grinned up at the boy. "Compared to our first clash, this was a genuine, back-and-forth battle of equals. And this isn't even my final limit. How about it? Do you have the guts to accept a third match in the future?"
"Hahaha! Moria, don't tell me you were actually worried I was going to kill you to tie up loose ends?" Bardock laughed heartily, immediately reading the subtext. "Relax! The stronger you get, the happier I am! I eagerly await your third formal challenge!"
Bardock had easily deduced Moria's anxiety. The Warlord was terrified that Bardock would view his rapid growth as a threat and eliminate him before he could become a genuine problem.
"A challenge? That's a bit harsh. But I suppose you earned the right to say it since you're currently stronger," Moria sighed, a massive weight lifting off his chest. He had genuinely been worried Bardock wouldn't let him leave. Honestly, if Moria had been the one who won today, he wasn't entirely sure he could have resisted the temptation to steal Bardock's shadow.