Katakuri slowly rose to his feet. There was blood on his breath, and he listened to Diarmuid's words with a sense of helplessness.
Did he think he didn't want to use his Awakened power? He just couldn't handle it!
Diarmuid thought Katakuri's stamina was dropping fast, but Katakuri knew it was more than that—his condition was terrible. He was only pushing through out of pride.
Did anyone think that Diarmuid's Planetary Devastation was a pleasant experience? The feeling of immense gravity, plus a warship-sized mass of earth and rock pressing down on him, was a nightmare.
At that moment, Katakuri was on the verge of total collapse, which was why he failed to finish Diarmuid in that final push. Now, he was barely using his Awakened power just to keep up with Diarmuid.
But that guy is right. If this continues, I will definitely lose. I might as well bet everything on a final, all-out attack, Katakuri thought to himself.
Once his mind was made up, the weak aura he had been projecting flared up again. He had already sensed the changes at the port with his Observation Haki and knew his retreat had been cut off by the Marines. The only way he could escape was to defeat Diarmuid.
With the talent Diarmuid had shown, even if he wasn't famous now, he was certainly highly regarded at Marine Headquarters. If Katakuri could take him hostage, he might be able to force the Marines back and escape. With this in mind, Katakuri had no more reservations. His aura began to climb again.
"That's more like it," Diarmuid said softly. He slowly dropped his fighting stance, and his own aura began to rise. A faint purple glow swirled around his feet as he prepared to use his ability at any moment.
"Unstoppable Doughnuts!" Katakuri roared, once again using his Awakened power. Several massive doughnuts made of mochi suddenly appeared in the air around him.
Diarmuid's eyes flashed. He reached out an empty hand, and his Nagasone Kotetsu, which had fallen to the ground, flew into his palm guided by gravity.
"Gravity Blade: Roaring Tiger!"
Diarmuid swung the sword at Katakuri. The blade transformed into a tiger, letting out a fearsome roar.
Katakuri also roared, "Mochi Ginchaku!"
A moment later, the giant doughnuts around him shot out massive mochi arms, coated in Armament Haki, to pummel Diarmuid. The powerful attack shattered Diarmuid's Gravity Blade.
Diarmuid stomped his foot and retreated rapidly. At the same time, waves of energy built up on his Nagasone Kotetsu, ready to be unleashed, but Diarmuid kept it tightly suppressed on the blade.
After that single combo, Katakuri was already feeling overwhelmed. His vision went black for a moment, a sign of total exhaustion. But his will was strong. He stomped his foot, steadying his swaying body. His eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils had shrunk.
"Rampage, Mochi Feast!" Katakuri screamed. He unleashed all the power in his body without holding anything back. In a blink, everything his eyes could see seemed to turn into mochi, shooting out from the ground like a spiderweb. In just a moment, it covered the entire battlefield.
"What is this…?" Diarmuid looked up. A sticky white mochi was raining down, threatening to swallow everything. His feet were already stuck to the ground by the mochi, which was affecting him.
He quickly used his Observation Haki to search for an escape, but there were no openings. Diarmuid had no memory of this attack.
"Gravity Blade: Earthrend!" Seeing that he couldn't dodge, Diarmuid roared, unleashing the massive energy he had been suppressing on his Nagasone Kotetsu. His target, however, was not Katakuri, but the ground.
The massive amount of mochi finally covered the entire battlefield. Katakuri stood panting for a few seconds, a look of relief in his eyes. Did I finally win?
The powerful aura that had been sustaining him quickly receded. In just a moment, he was back to his normal state, so weak that even an ordinary person could have defeated him. After catching his breath, Katakuri took a step forward, intending to get closer to check.
But then, he realized something was wrong. The enormous amount of mochi that should have settled down was rapidly receding, flowing towards Diarmuid's last known location and into the ground beneath.
Before Katakuri could figure out what was happening, a slash tore through the thick, heavy mochi.
A figure stumbled out, a complete mess, and fell to one knee. It was Diarmuid.
One of his arms was unnaturally bent, a sign of a severe fracture. A closer look revealed a bloody wound on his forearm, with a sharp, broken bone jutting out. He had a severe compound fracture!
Diarmuid suddenly coughed up a huge amount of blood. This was not like before; it was like he was throwing up, and there was a lot of it. He used his uninjured arm to stab his Nagasone Kotetsu into the ground to keep himself from collapsing.
After he finished vomiting blood, Diarmuid seemed to feel a bit better. He slowly raised his head. He was covered in mochi, which was stained crimson with his blood, a sight of utter carnage. His eyes were fixed on Katakuri, and Katakuri's eyes were fixed on his.
After a long moment, the truth of what happened was revealed. About a foot behind Diarmuid, a massive, bottomless chasm had appeared in the ground, as if a meteor had struck it.
As the immense mochi had come down with unstoppable force, Diarmuid had made a slash with his sword, but his target was the ground beneath him. He knew that even with his Awakened ability, Katakuri couldn't turn the geology of an entire island into mochi. He was right.
The powerful gravity he had suppressed on his blade for so long had finally broken through the mochi and created a massive hole under his feet. This gave Diarmuid a chance to dodge and survive.
Even so, he was still severely injured and barely holding on. Now, the sticky mochi was pouring into the chasm. From above, it looked like someone had dug a huge hole just to hold the mochi.
"Cough cough," Diarmuid coughed again. A hint of a manic, vicious smile appeared on his face as he looked at Katakuri and spoke in a weak voice. "You see how hurt I am, but you're not attacking… Katakuri, you're not such a kind opponent… let me guess. You're so exhausted you can't even stand, and you don't have the energy to fight anymore?"
Katakuri stared at Diarmuid in silence. After a long time, he finally caught his breath and said, "Perhaps you're right, but I'm the one who's still standing…"
"You're not the only one," Diarmuid interrupted. To Katakuri's surprise, Diarmuid gripped his broken arm, leaned on his Nagasone Kotetsu, and slowly but surely stood up.
Once he was stable, Diarmuid pulled his sword out of the ground and pointed it at Katakuri. "You lost! 'Perfect Man'!"
As soon as he said that, a weak wave of gravity shot out from the blade. It was much weaker than before, almost powerless. But when the weak force grazed Katakuri's body, his tall frame finally gave out. He fell backward, hitting the ground with a thud.
"Heh," Diarmuid laughed softly, his breathing smelling strongly of blood. He couldn't even hold his Nagasone Kotetsu anymore. The famous sword fell from his grasp and stood vertically in the ground, its sharp tip piercing the earth.
Diarmuid took a few heavy, labored steps, holding on to his last bit of strength, and walked to Katakuri's side. He looked down. Katakuri's eyes were closed, his breathing was shallow, and he had completely lost consciousness.
Diarmuid was about to say something victorious, but seeing Katakuri's closed eyes, he felt a sudden sense of emptiness. What was the point of mocking a loser? As a winner, he should have the grace and composure of one, even though he himself was a mess.
"I wonder if Zephyr-sensei will cuss me out when he sees me like this," Diarmuid chuckled, muttering to himself. He then turned and started walking toward the port.
But after just a single step, his body froze. "He's unconscious, right?" Diarmuid said, looking down with a sense of helplessness.
Katakuri's hand, he didn't know when, had grabbed his ankle. As Diarmuid tried to pull away, a powerful surge of energy burst from Katakuri's body. This unexpected burst of energy stunned Diarmuid. His eyes rolled back, his body swayed, and his legs became weak. He fell backwards.
"Conqueror's Haki…" Diarmuid thought, just before his consciousness was about to break. But the moment he was about to fall, his eyes snapped back to normal. At the same time, a force just as powerful as Katakuri's Conqueror's Haki burst from his own body.
"No way! I won't lose to your meaningless Conqueror's Haki after all that!" Diarmuid roared.
The two Conqueror's Haki clashed, and the shockwave spread across the entire island. Black lightning erupted from the air, and the very space around them began to crack. But the clash came as quickly as it went.
After a few moments, Diarmuid's Haki overpowered Katakuri's. After all, Katakuri was unconscious, and his Haki was just an unintentional burst. Although Katakuri had awakened his Conqueror's Haki early, he could never control it. If he could have, he would have used it much earlier in the fight.
At the same time, on the warship, Zephyr looked on at the chaotic clash of Conqueror's Haki on the island. He murmured in shock, "Is that Conqueror's Haki? That kid, Diarmuid… he has Conqueror's Haki?!"
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