Kane shifted once more, his form stretching and twisting until a colossal dragon soared into the skies.
Part of him longed for a man's fight, hand-to-hand with Jack. But the last clash had shown him the truth.
He hadn't mastered Haki. He had no real combat training. In close combat, he would fall to Jack… or even to Foz F.
There was only one choice. His ultimate technique.
"Still alive?" Runti looked up, stunned, as Kane climbed higher and higher.
Foz F frowned, unease prickling at him. Kane wasn't running—he could feel it.
"After him!" Foz F barked, slashing upward, blades of air shrieking skyward. Sasaki joined him, horns gleaming as he hurled slashes of his own.
But both were far too slow. In moments, Kane was gone.
From the Skull Dome, Jhin asked calmly, "Lord Kaido, do you want me to intercept?"
Kaido's laugh boomed like thunder. "No need! A coward who flees the battlefield isn't fit to be my chief advisor!"
High above the clouds, Kane hovered, wings beating against the thin air. He ignored the slashes that had chased him—they couldn't reach him here.
This is my edge.
Jack and the others could not follow. In the pirate world, true flight was a rarity.
Bell had once said there were only five confirmed methods of flight in the world. Whether or not that was true, the scarcity spoke for itself.
Even among the Four Emperors, only Kaido and Big Mom could fly. Among the Navy Admirals, only Kizaru. And Moon Step? Useful, but temporary—no one could chase him here for long.
Kane closed his eyes.
An invisible pulse radiated outward, a strange wave spreading into the boundless void beyond the atmosphere.
His eyes snapped open.
"Let's start with an appetizer."
"Meteoric Swarm!"
Dozens of meteorites, drifting in the planet's orbit, were wrenched from their paths, dragged down by Kane's will.
The atmosphere caught them, burning them into roaring fireballs with blazing tails.
On Onigashima, Kaido froze mid-drink, sake spilling down his chin.
"That brat… does he mean to destroy my island?!"
Quinn and Jhin hadn't even processed his words when Kaido roared, "Jhin! Quinn! With me—now! Don't let them strike the fortress below!"
"Brother, what are you—wait… wha—?!" Quinn's sunglasses shattered as his eyes bulged. "M-Meteorites?! A whole shower?!"
On the battlefield, panic spread like wildfire.
"Xiao Pei, run!"
"Sister, run!"
Runti and Page One shouted at once, fear plain on their faces.
Sasaki trembled, fat rippling as his voice cracked. "Is this… something we can even fight?"
"No… no way…" Foz F's lips twisted into a mad smile. "You can summon meteorites too?"
Above them, the sky burned red. Dozens of massive fireballs tore through the heavens, promising nothing but annihilation.
Jack bellowed, defiant as always. "Kane! Do you think I'd cower before a rock from the sky?!"
His body surged back into orc form. Twin scimitars gleamed black with Haki. He charged toward the descending inferno, blades raised high.
At the same moment, Kaido and his All-Stars unleashed their own strikes.
"Black Flames!""Fire Dragon Emperor!""Thunder Bagua!"
Their combined attacks shattered most of the meteorites mid-air, explosions blooming like fireworks. Burning fragments rained down across the island.
But three meteors slipped through, aimed perfectly at the battlefield below. Kaido and his two lieutenants made no move to stop them.
This was the true battle for the banner.
Foz F, Sasaki, Runti, and Page One broke instantly, fleeing in streaks of desperation, not daring to look back.
The meteors struck.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground erupted, deafening blasts tearing the air. Cracks spiderwebbed across the battlefield, shockwaves ripping outward. Dust and flame consumed everything.
The heart of the battlefield became a burning wasteland, cratered and ruined.
Jack staggered, pushing aside a slab of molten rock. His arms bled, his body charred with burns. His breathing rasped like a broken bellows.
Still, his eyes burned with rage. He was ready to fight again—
Until the sky roared.
A dragon's cry split the heavens.
Ten thousand meters above, Kane's body blazed with fire, his scales wreathed in molten light.
"Flash Charge!"
He dove like a comet, trailing a blazing vacuum.
"Damn it!" Jack forced himself upright, mammoth form swelling, Haki armoring his head. No room to dodge. No chance to retreat.
Only to endure.
Dragon met mammoth.
Bang!
The collision froze the world for a heartbeat.
Then the ground erupted, a fireball bursting upward, a mushroom cloud of flame blooming into the sky.
The earth caved beneath Jack's feet, leaving a pit the size of a plaza.
The battlefield trembled. The fight for the banner had reached its crescendo.