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Chapter 457: Shinra Tensei, A Squadron Leader Explodes into Blood Mist
The Mantis Monster didn't even try to dodge. It simply raised one of its bone-blade arms and swiped casually.
Bang! Luffy's fists slammed into the flat side of the bone blade with a dull thud. The massive recoil sent Luffy flying backward, tumbling several times across the ground before finally coming to a stop.
"So hard!" Luffy shook his numb arms, baring his teeth in pain.
"Is that all the strength you have?" The Spider-Legged Gorilla walked over impatiently. Its eight legs scuttled across the ground with astonishing speed. "Stop playing around. Kill them quickly so we can take them back."
The gorilla monster raised its thick arms, aiming a vicious smash at the fallen Luffy.
"Fire Fist!"
A mass of searing flames struck from the flank. Ace leapt high into the air, his right fist wrapped in the elemental power brought from the dungeon as he smashed it heavily into the gorilla monster's back.
Flames erupted. The gorilla monster was staggered by the massive impact. A large patch of black fur on its back was scorched, giving off a putrid stench of burning hair.
"Hot, hot, hot!" The gorilla monster roared in fury. It spun around, swiping its massive palm at the airborne Ace.
Unable to maneuver in mid-air, Ace could only watch helplessly as the palm—larger than his entire body—swung toward him.
"Wind Vortex!"
In the nick of time, an emerald-green cyclone materialized out of thin air beneath Ace. The cyclone carried his body, forcibly altering his trajectory in mid-air. The gorilla monster's palm missed by a hair's breadth, grazing the edge of Ace's clothes. The massive force struck empty air, producing a sharp sonic boom.
Sabo maintained his hand seals, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "Ace! Don't fight them head-on!" Sabo shouted his warning. "These monsters have strength and speed far above ours!"
Ace landed steadily. Gritting his teeth, he glared at the enraged gorilla monster. "I know. But we can't exactly run away, can we?"
The Frog-Headed Monster had remained motionless the entire time. Its bulging eyes swiveled. "Humans who can use fire and wind? Those are rare genetics."
The Frog-Headed Monster opened its large mouth. A deep, gurgling sound echoed from its throat.
Splat! A glob of dark green slime shot out of its mouth like a cannonball. The slime moved incredibly fast, directly cutting off Ace and Sabo's retreat.
"Dodge!" Sabo grabbed Ace, throwing them both to the side.
The slime splattered onto the ground behind them.
Sizzle— A harsh, corrosive sound filled the air. The weeds and dirt were melted by the slime, emitting plumes of white smoke. A crater half a meter deep appeared in its place.
Looking at the crater, a chill ran down Ace's spine. If that stuff hit a person, it would melt them down to the bone.
"That was close." Luffy ran over, standing back-to-back with Ace and Sabo.
The three kids now understood completely. This wasn't hunting on Mt. Colubo. This was a life-and-death struggle. Even the slightest mistake would turn them into rations for these monsters.
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Standing on the tree canopy, Ivankov stomped his feet anxiously as he watched Luffy's group being suppressed below. "Dragon-boy, are you really not going to intervene? Your boy is about to be pounded into a meat patty by a gorilla!" Ivankov complained in a hushed voice.
Dragon stood with his arms crossed, his gaze calmly tracking the battle below. "He won't die." Dragon's reply was concise.
Kuma stood to the side, holding his iconic Bible. "The potential for Conqueror's Haki within him hasn't been forced out yet." Kuma offered a fair assessment.
Just then, a slight shift occurred in Dragon's normally placid eyes. A faint glow rippled across his purple Rinnegan. "Something is coming."
Dragon turned his head, looking toward a specific direction deep within the forest. Kuma turned his head as well. His Observation Haki had captured an aura far exceeding the three monsters below.
"It's strong," Kuma judged. "Dozens of times stronger than those three down there combined."
Ivankov also dropped his joking demeanor. The aura made no attempt to hide itself. It was heading straight for the tree canopy where the three of them were hidden.
The newcomer didn't even spare a glance for Luffy's group below. Its target was clear: the three hidden, high-energy entities up in the canopy.
"I'll handle it." Dragon uncrossed his arms. Before Ivankov could speak, Dragon's figure had already vanished from the branch.
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In a clearing five kilometers away from them, a slender Chimera Ant covered entirely in dark purple scales was moving at high speed. Its upper body resembled a human's, but it possessed a pair of broad, leathery bat wings on its back. Its head was that of a hideous lizard.
Cruelty and excitement gleamed within its slitted pupils. This was a Squadron Leader-class Chimera Ant.
"Premium food!" The lizard-headed Chimera Ant flicked its forked tongue, licking its lips as it sprinted. It could sense the terrifying life energy contained within the three lifeforms ahead. If it devoured them, it would definitely evolve to a level that even the Royal Guards would fear. It might even be able to usurp the position of the King.
The more it thought about it, the more excited it became. The leathery wings on its back flapped violently. Its speed skyrocketed again, leaving a sonic boom cloud in its wake.
Just as it was about to charge straight into the towering tree, a figure wearing a dark green cloak appeared without warning, blocking its flight path.
The lizard-headed Chimera Ant slammed on the brakes. The massive inertia carved a long trench into the ground. It narrowed its slitted pupils, assessing the human who had suddenly appeared.
He had a strange red square tattoo on his face. His eyes were as flat as if he were looking at a rock.
"Are you one of those three premium meals?" The lizard-headed Chimera Ant peeled back its fang-filled jaws in a grin. It didn't sense any particularly strong aura from this human. In its perception, this human wasn't emitting even a single drop of Nen. He's too good at hiding it.
Dragon didn't answer its question. He simply stood there silently, his purple Rinnegan appraising this so-called Squadron Leader.
"Your physical durability is indeed quite good," Dragon assessed. If biological weapons like this were to breed in large numbers, it would be an absolute catastrophe for ordinary civilians. They needed to find the source as quickly as possible—the so-called "Queen" and "Ant King".
Being ignored enraged the lizard-headed Chimera Ant. It was a dignified Squadron Leader, after all.
"Lowly human, how dare you look at me with those eyes!" With a roar, the lizard-headed Chimera Ant pushed off violently with its legs.
The ground collapsed. Its body turned into a purple streak of lightning, appearing directly above Dragon's head. The muscles in its right arm bulged high, and a layer of visible Nen coiled around its sharp claws.
This was its proudest killing technique: a toxic, tearing strike that could easily shred steel.
"Die!" The sharp claws, carrying a foul wind, slashed viciously toward Dragon's head.
Dragon didn't even look up. He merely raised his right hand slowly. His purple Rinnegan contracted sharply.
"Shinra Tensei," Dragon murmured, spitting out the words.
An indescribably terrifying repulsive force erupted outward, with Dragon at the epicenter. There was no gale. There was no explosion. There was only absolute, extreme spatial repulsion.
The lizard-headed Chimera Ant's claws stopped dead, half a meter away from the top of Dragon's head. The cruel smile froze on its face. A massive force it couldn't comprehend—like an entire mountain range—slammed onto its body without a single blind spot.
Crack! The crisp sound of shattering bone echoed. The hard, Nen-coated scales that the lizard-headed Chimera Ant was so proud of were as fragile as paper before this repulsive force.
The scales shattered inch by inch. Its muscles were forcibly torn apart.
"Wha... what is this..." For the first time, fear appeared in the lizard-headed Chimera Ant's slitted pupils.
But this wasn't enough. Dragon curled the fingers of his right hand slightly.
Armament Haki.
In the blink of an eye, pitch-black Haki coated his entire arm. The surrounding air was tinged a dark red by the aura. This wasn't ordinary hardening. This was Ryuo, the Advanced Armament Haki capable of internal destruction.
Dragon directly injected the Advanced Armament Haki into the repulsive field of Shinra Tensei. The repulsive force and the Haki fused perfectly.
BOOM! The lizard-headed Chimera Ant didn't even have time to scream. Its body exploded directly into a cloud of blood mist in mid-air. Those hard bones, the poison glands it was so proud of, the energy-rich chunks of meat—under the dual execution of repulsion and internal destruction, they were thoroughly ground into fine powder.
Not a single intact drop of blood or piece of flesh was left behind.
The trees, rocks, and dirt within a hundred-meter radius were all leveled by this single strike. A perfectly smooth, semi-circular massive crater appeared on the ground, as precise as if it had been drawn on paper with a compass.
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