July was still puzzling over what Moria's ability truly was when a bloodcurdling scream suddenly echoed from the direction of the Marine warship.
She hastily leapt to the bow and looked out.
Beneath the blazing sun, on the deck of one warship, the bodies of the Marine soldiers began to emit white smoke, as if they were burning alive, and in an instant they crumbled to ash!
July: ???
What kind of eerie ability was this?
Meanwhile, the Marine commander on the other ship did not look good either.
He knew Moria was a user of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, but he had not known the man possessed the ability to consume another person's shadow.
And those who lost their shadows actually perished beneath the blazing sun...
This ability was undeniably terrifying.
A moment's inattention leading to a lost shadow could mean death, even for the mightiest warrior.
After escaping from July, Moria had charged toward one of the flanking warships.
After settling his crew aboard, he had set upon the Marines!
Now the Marine soldiers on that ship had all perished, while Moria's body had swelled several times over, as though he had injected some substance into himself to expand his form!
"Hee hee hee hee! Shadow's Asgard!"
Having absorbed a great number of shadows, Moria's strength surged.
Not only had his body grown larger, but his might had become immense.
Still, he remained somewhat wary of July.
He did not attack her immediately, instead fixing his gaze on the other Marines.
The ship with the Marine vice admiral was not to be trifled with, but the other vessels were a different story.
"Become my nourishment! Shadow Box!"
The swelling shadows at his feet instantly transformed into countless bats, spreading their wings as they rose from the ground and swooped toward the Marines!
These ordinary Marines had low individual strength, perfect targets for his harvest!
A sky-darkening swarm of bats bore down on the Marines, snatching up the soldiers and dragging them back.
The Marine vice admiral tried to intervene, but was hindered by even more bats swarming around him.
What made the vice admiral feel so powerless was that these shadow bats felt no pain and could not die.
Breaking free of them in a short time was nearly impossible.
Though they could not harm him, they also prevented him from coming to his men's aid.
But he soon realized this was a Devil Fruit ability, which might not work in the sea.
So he immediately roared, "Into the sea, quickly!"
A fair number of Marines had survived, and now they leapt into the sea one after another, like dumplings dropping into a pot.
Moria did not mind.
The number of shadows he could absorb at once was limited, and these were about enough.
"Hee hee hee! Shadow Cut!"
Tossing the captured Marines together in a pile, he bent down, his clawed left hand ripping a great swath of shadows from the ground.
With a single swing of the greatsword in his right hand, he severed all of their shadows at once!
"Ahh—"
Every one of those who had their shadows severed let out a bloodcurdling scream.
They began to burn beneath the blazing sun, as if subjected to some agonizing torture!
In the blink of an eye, every last one of them crumbled to ash!
July watched with her heart pounding.
She now understood what Moria had been attempting earlier.
"That guy was definitely trying to bite my shadow off!"
A wave of belated fear washed over her.
If he had succeeded just now, she would be among the dead Marines.
"Paramecia users really are impossible to guard against."
Of the three Devil Fruit types, the Paramecia was indeed the most troublesome.
Without knowing the user's secrets in advance, you might be killed before you even realized what had happened.
By now, having devoured a great number of shadows, Moria once more turned his gaze toward July.
He leapt directly toward her, his massive, heavy body crashing into the bow and nearly capsizing July's ship!
Moria stood with his back to the sun, his shadow swallowing July's small frame.
It was like a monster eyeing an innocent little girl.
"To die beneath my present power, you should consider it an honorable death, no?"
"You just got a bit bigger. Quite the bold words."
July was not about to be cowed, but she did ready herself for an all-out battle.
"You say, just got a bit bigger?"
Moria repeated.
The next instant, his massive palm swung up without warning, crashing down toward July!
Now Moria's palm alone was one and a half times July's size.
If this slap landed, it could crush a person into a pulp!
"DUANG—"
A thunderous crash!
As if an earthquake had struck!
This guy had actually punched a giant hole straight through the steel deck with one palm.
If he did that a couple more times, wouldn't he tear the whole ship apart?
July, having dodged the strike, felt her eye twitch, somewhat surprised by his destructive power.
"So you dodged it? You won't be so lucky next time!"
Moria realized his strike had missed, and once more charged at July.
July, seeing the mountainous fist descending toward her, entered her Oni form to withstand his power.
Her petite frame began to stretch, soon exceeding two meters tall.
A slender tail extended from her lower spine, her hands and feet transformed into terrifying dragon claws, and her delicate face became fierce and savage, as though donning a mask of dragon bone!
"BOOM—"
Moria's fist crashed down, the wind from the blow kicking up another shockwave.
But the result was clearly completely different from what he had expected.
His massive fist stopped dead in front of that small figure, unable to advance a single inch further.
This made Moria, who had just been feeling triumphant, panic once more.
"Impossible! My strength actually—"
After using Shadow's Asgard, his strength was still inferior to someone else's—this was a first!
For a moment, even Moria's confidence began to waver.
"Could it be that the quality of this batch of shadows is just too poor?"
"Yes, that must be it!"
"If only I could get that Marine vice admiral's shadow..."
Moria scrambled to seize the Marine vice admiral's shadow.
Whether or not he could succeed was one thing, but July would never allow him to try.
She did not even seem to take a step.
The next second she had vanished from where she stood, reappearing in front of the several-stories-tall Moria.
One kick sent him hurtling in the opposite direction.
"BOOM—"
The gigantic Moria crashed down onto the deck, clutching his face and rolling across the floor in agony.
"You got bigger, but you also got clumsier."
July taunted him.
At this point, Moria did indeed look stronger, but he had also become bloated and clumsy.
In truth, he was even easier to deal with than before.
[
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