Ray's expression was ice cold.
He pressed his sword downward, and a violent storm of energy gathered around the blade.
A colossal azure dragon, formed from countless slashes of pure power, roared to life in the sky.
It was a hundred meters long, a terrifying beast of destruction that charged forward, annihilating everything in its path.
Even from a distance, Luffy and the others could feel its overwhelming pressure, making their hearts pound in their chests.
Buggy, who was already struggling to deal with the Poison Claws, knew he had no hope of dodging an attack this massive.
The chilling feeling of certain death washed over him.
"Damn it! I have to try!" Buggy gritted his teeth, and in an instant, his entire body was coated in black Armament Haki.
"Chop-Chop, you bastard! Raaah!!!" he roared, ignoring the searing pain of the poison claws as he unleashed his full power, sending his own body parts flying out to collide with the Azure Dragon.
The two attacks met in a catastrophic explosion.
Azure-blue energy erupted in every direction, tearing apart the already cratered and corroded ground.
The entire mountain was simply erased, flattened into a barren plain.
…
On another hilltop, far away.
Luffy and the others could only stare, their faces filled with pure disbelief.
"Is that kind of power even possible for a human?" Nami whispered, her heart racing as she looked at the disaster zone where a mountain used to be.
"I've still seen so little of the world," Luffy muttered, his usual grin completely gone.
He realized with sobering clarity that he was nowhere near the level of either Ray or Buggy.
'There are probably tons of guys like them out on the sea. I have to get stronger.'
The resolve in his heart hardened like steel.
Zoro could feel the unrestrained sword energy still lingering in the air.
He finally understood the massive gap between himself and a true master.
'I thought I could just sail out and challenge Hawkeye. How naive I was.' His gaze sharpened as he looked toward the battlefield, his decision made.
The town mayor had fainted long ago.
The butcher's wife clung to her husband's arm, terrified.
The butcher himself just frowned, a single thought running through his mind.
'Where was that mountain-splitting power Buggy used before? This was different.'
…
As the smoke cleared, the battlefield was a scene of utter devastation.
In the center of it all stood Buggy, covered in blood, his skin cracked and broken.
He was severely injured.
Ray landed gently about ten meters away, watching him calmly.
"If you hadn't managed to split the initial force of my attack," Ray said, "you'd be in much worse shape."
Buggy swayed, struggling to stay on his feet.
"I should thank you," he coughed. "If you hadn't pushed me to the brink of death, I never would have been able to pull that off."
"I've tried to awaken my Chop-Chop power so many times," he continued, "but I always failed. Like with that mountain. I used it for practice. Every time I split it, it would snap back together almost instantly, and the backlash would nearly kill me."
Hearing this, Ray finally understood.
The butcher hadn't seen a display of controlled power; he'd seen a failed experiment.
Buggy wasn't effortlessly splitting and restoring the mountain—he couldn't control it at all.
'He really is the luckiest man alive,' Ray thought, almost laughing out loud.
'Everything he does accidentally makes him look like a monster.'
"So why did it work this time?" Ray asked.
Buggy was silent for a moment, then looked up at the sky.
"Maybe… I just got lucky." He looked back at Ray. "You won. I've got nothing left. What are you going to do with me?"
Ray's cold gaze made Buggy shiver.
"Hmph. You don't have any killing intent toward me, so I won't kill you," Ray replied simply.
"Keh-hah—cough cough… You're an interesting one, White-Haired Swordsman," Buggy laughed, coughing up more blood.
Ray turned to leave, but Buggy called out to him again.
"Hey! If I hadn't split your attack… would you have still done it? Would you have detonated all that power yourself?"
Without turning back, Ray started to walk away.
"The answer is the same," he said calmly. "The only thing that would have changed is how badly you were hurt."
He paused, then added, "Buggy, as you are now, you're no match for me. I hope we get to fight again someday."
With that, he flew into the air, heading back toward Luffy and the others.
Watching him go, Buggy smirked.
"Definitely," he whispered.
As Ray disappeared from sight, he closed his eyes, and a memory came flooding back.
…
"Buggy, you'll never awaken your fruit's true power if you keep running away!" Rayleigh, the Dark King, yelled.
"A Devil Fruit is tied to its user's spirit! If you're a coward, it'll only be good for escaping! Now, brace yourself!"
Rayleigh swung his sword, sending a terrifying beam of energy straight at a 13-year-old Buggy.
"Rayleigh-san, stop! I'll die!" Buggy screamed, frozen in fear.
With a sigh, Rayleigh sent out a second slash to cancel out the first.
"Buggy, the crew is about to disband. How will you survive on your own if you stay like this?!"
"I'm great at running away! I could've dodged that!"
"That's too reckless! If I had added—"
"Let him be, Rayleigh," the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Everyone has their own way of living." He turned to Buggy.
"No one will be there to save you anymore, Buggy. So use your own strength to chase your dreams."
"Got it, Captain Roger! Besides, I was a great swimmer before that damn Shanks tricked me!" Buggy complained, all his fear forgotten as he ran to Roger's side.
…
The memory faded.
Buggy lay on the flattened ground, staring at the sky as tears streamed from his eyes.
"Captain Roger… I miss you so much."
"I didn't want to bring shame to your name, so I tried to get stronger. But every time I tried to awaken my power, I felt this overwhelming fear… like I was going to be torn apart. I'm still so scared of dying. I'm scared that if I die, I'll lose all my precious memories of our time on your ship."
He was silent for a long time.
"Captain… I just met a man with white hair. His attack made me feel death right in front of me. And in that moment… I suddenly wasn't afraid anymore. I'm one of your crew! A crewmate of the Pirate King! How could I possibly be afraid of death?!"
"Just you watch. I'm going to make the whole world remember the name Buggy the Clown! I'll prove to everyone that no one who sailed with the Pirate King is weak!"
"From now on, I will never hesitate again!"
"Thank you… Ray."