The spiderweb wall woven from countless strings tempered with Armament Haki should, in Doflamingo's understanding, have been enough to withstand a slash from almost any top-tier fighter.
Yet before Zaraki's seemingly ordinary blade, that wall was as fragile as a dried-out fishing net.
There was no expected clash of metal, not even the slightest resistance.
Shhk—
A faint tearing sound rang out.
Nozarashi passed through the colorful web like a red-hot iron slicing through butter, silently cutting it in two.
Every string that touched the blade was cut cleanly through, its Armament coating crushed by the heavier pressure riding Nozarashi's edge.
Behind Doflamingo's cracked sunglasses, his pupils froze, then filled with uncontrollable horror.
How was that possible?
His defense had been cut through?
Before the thought could finish, the remaining force of the slash condensed into a wave of sword pressure and slammed into his chest.
"Pfft—!"
Doflamingo spat out another mouthful of blood. His body flew backward as if he had been hit by a siege hammer, crashing hard into the ruined palace atop the King's Plateau and throwing dust high into the air.
But the slash did not tear wildly through the town below.
Zaraki had angled it upward.
The sword pressure crossed the upper face of the King's Plateau, carving through the palace wall, empty terraces, and shattered watchtowers before vanishing into the sky.
Stone and soil split apart like waves, and a deep smoking cut remained across the mountain's upper side, but the plateau itself did not collapse.
Several abandoned palace buildings turned to dust. Broken boulders tumbled down across the inner slopes, forcing nearby Donquixote guards to flee in panic, but the town below was spared from a rain of stone.
Dellinger, watching from behind a broken fountain with one snapped heel still hanging from his foot, stared blankly upward at the King's Plateau.
The eerie madness on his face was long gone, leaving only dazed terror.
One slash had carved through the palace?
Was that really something a human could do?
Zaraki slowly lowered his blade. He did not even look at the destruction he had caused. His gaze simply turned toward the dust cloud where Doflamingo had vanished, and he spoke calmly.
"If you thought you could beat me with that level of Haki and the basic use of the String-String Fruit, you'd already be dead."
Zaraki paused, the corner of his mouth curving with amusement.
"Still not planning to use your awakening, Heavenly Yaksha?"
A violent coughing sound came from deep within the ruins. A battered figure struggled out of the rubble.
Doflamingo's iconic pink feather coat was torn and ragged, its front stained with dust and blood.
His sunglasses still clung crookedly to his face. Only one lens remained mostly intact.
Beneath the broken frame on the other side, a bloodshot eye burned with madness and violence.
Blood kept spilling from the corner of Doflamingo's mouth and dripping down his chest, making him look like a cornered beast.
"Fufufu... Fufufufu..."
Doflamingo leaned against a half-collapsed wall, letting out a low laugh like a broken bellows. There was no trace of composure left in that laughter, only bone-deep hatred.
"You really gave me one hell of a surprise, War Demon."
Doflamingo raised his head, his lone visible eye locked on Zaraki. His voice was hoarse and vicious.
"I'll admit you've got some ability, brat. But even if you destroy everything here, don't think you'll leave this Birdcage alive today."
Before he had finished speaking, Zaraki clearly saw countless white strings, barely visible to the naked eye, pour out from Doflamingo's body.
Like living vines, they moved beneath his skin, forcibly reconnecting broken bones and stitching torn organs back together.
In only a few breaths, Doflamingo's injuries visibly stabilized.
"Using strings to perform surgery on yourself?"
Zaraki watched the scene, undisguised mockery appearing on his face.
"Convenient. Pathetic, but convenient."
It was crude compared to real healing, but effective enough to keep a monster like Doflamingo fighting.
Zaraki stepped forward, and the invisible pressure around him made even the air feel heavy.
"You don't have much time left."
"Brat, are you telling me how to do things?"
Zaraki's contemptuous gaze and words stabbed into Doflamingo's twisted pride like a red-hot iron.
The smile on Doflamingo's face disappeared completely, replaced by a cold darkness unlike anything before.
"Fufufu... Good. Very good."
Doflamingo slowly straightened.
Around him, the ground and the remaining buildings began to squirm and twist without warning, as if turning into soft white wax.
Zaraki's grin widened.
So this was it.
The real form of a Paramecia awakening!
"Since you want to see hell so badly..."
Doflamingo spread his arms, and the ground beneath him began to turn white.
"Then I'll show it to you."
Doflamingo's voice rang across the shattered palace.
"Break White!"
With him at the center, the earth and the palace ruins came alive.
The ground churned violently. Stone and soil transformed into countless giant white serpents of string, roaring as they burst from beneath the surface.
Those strings tangled and gathered, forming a massive white wave that blotted out the sky. With enough force to devour everything, it surged toward Zaraki.
It was a domain-like erosion, as if everything around Doflamingo was being dragged into the logic of his Devil Fruit.
In the distance, Yamakaji and the others felt their scalps go numb.
So this was the power of a Paramecia Devil Fruit user after awakening.
To turn the surroundings into part of one's own ability was almost like something only a monster could do.
And yet, standing at the center of that white tide, Zaraki's mouth curved instead.
Interesting.
This was much more interesting than the little tricks from before.
Zaraki spread his feet slightly and lowered his stance, one hand resting on Nozarashi's hilt.
The giant wave of strings swallowed him in an instant, letting out a shriek sharp enough to tear steel.
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