Seeing Caelan raise his sword to block him, Jack wanted to scream.
Such a large blade looked as small as a toothpick to him, ten stories tall.
Strength was what he was most proud of.
"Let me show you my power!"
Jack laughed wildly and put all his strength into his forelimbs.
Before they landed, the immense force compressed the air, exploding into rings that knocked over many nearby onlookers.
He seemed to see Caelan stumbling back in embarrassment. The thought of making a Yonko-level powerhouse lose face thrilled him.
However, the elephant leg suddenly stopped and hovered two meters above the ground.
The extreme shift from motion to stillness made everyone uncomfortable, as if their heartbeats had stopped.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the unbelievable scene.
The tiny two-meter-tall human was contending with a thirty-meter-tall mammoth, yet the mammoth's leg was stuck in the air, unable to descend.
The contrast was so absurd it felt ridiculous.
"He really blocked it!"
Ain could not help being shocked.
Jack's thick elephant leg pressed down on Caelan's sheathed Shusui.
There seemed to be an invisible wall, preventing the leg from moving even a little.
Caelan had completely blocked Jack's attack with his scabbard.
"How is that possible!"
Jack's pupils shrank, unable to accept what he was seeing.
He had attacked with all his strength, yet Caelan had stopped it with a simple lift of the hand.
The gap was so vast it was hard to believe.
It felt like he was not competing with Caelan, but with the boundless earth itself.
Even against Kaido, the difference in power had never felt this great.
No.
He refused to believe the gap between him and Caelan could be that large.
"Get down here!"
Jack's eyes bloodshot, he tried with all his might to force the scabbard down even a little.
At the very least, he wanted to prove something and find the limit of Caelan's strength.
But it was useless.
No matter how hard he pressed, the scabbard felt rooted in the void, utterly immovable.
Caelan's power was like an unfathomable abyss.
"Your courage is commendable, but that is all."
Caelan looked at the giant mammoth and gently flicked the scabbard.
Jack felt an irresistible force, then the world spun.
The thirty-meter mammoth was thrown into the air, soaring a hundred meters up.
Boom.
The giant slammed into the Beasts Pirates' ranks, crushing hundreds into paste.
Jack was dizzy, his mind muddled.
Just now he had been like a small boat at sea, suddenly tossed skyward by a violent wave.
Queen and King were both stunned by Caelan's strength.
With power like this, was Jack the ancient beast, or was Caelan?
If they remembered correctly, this God Slayer had never eaten a Devil Fruit and was not a special ability user.
In other words, this strength was all his own.
Such power exceeded human limits. He was a monster.
As expected of a God Slayer as famed as Boss Kaido, his strength was overwhelming.
After sending Jack flying, Caelan drew Shusui from its sheath and examined it. "Not bad. Worthy of the Black Blade, Shusui."
Shusui's bright edge gleamed as ever, without a bend or crack from the mammoth's trampling.
It seemed its description was no exaggeration. Even a Tyrannosaurus could step on it without bending it.
Jack struggled to his feet, looking at Caelan with fear and fury.
The absolute disparity in strength terrified him, and being swatted down in one move humiliated him.
He wanted to trade a few more blows with Caelan to regain some face.
"Come again?"
Caelan watched Jack struggle and shook his head, bored.
He had originally wanted to test the quality of the Black Blade, but after one exchange, he had no interest in playing with Jack anymore.
So Caelan raised Shusui high and brought it down toward Jack, clean and efficient.
His expression was indifferent, radiating unmatched authority.
Shusui's keen edge traced an arc through the air, unstoppable like thunder from the heavens.
"I am dead!"
Jack stared at the oncoming blade, his life counting down.
The power gap between him and Caelan was absolute, and Caelan was an absolute master of the sword.
If this strike landed, he would die.
At that incredible moment, even time seemed to slow in Jack's last second.
His past flashed by.
His run under the sunset, his lost youth.
"Roar!"
An enraged dragon's bellow sounded, followed by a pillar of scorching flame.
"Bolo Breath!"
Kaido's Bolo Breath collided with Caelan's sword light, eroding its power.
At last, just as the slash was about to reach Jack, it was completely neutralized.
"Whew, I survived!"
Jack returned from death's door, giddy with relief.
He looked excitedly at the seven-meter-tall giant, the governor of the Beasts Pirates, the Yonko, Kaido.
"Kaido-sama!"
"Kaido-sama!"
In an instant, the Beasts Pirates' momentum, previously suppressed by Caelan, surged back as they shouted his name.
Even the Neo Navy behind Caelan, including Yamakaji, took a step back under Kaido's pressure.
Kaido ignored the reactions, hefted his mace, and stared straight at Caelan. "You want to kill my subordinate on my turf. Did you ask whether I agree?"
"Tsk. I want to kill him, and you cannot stop me."
Caelan met Kaido's gaze and laughed coldly.
Without hesitation, he raised Shusui again.
Inky-black Armament Haki coated it, and Conqueror's Haki crackled along the blade.
The long sword, wreathed in purple-black lightning, slashed toward Jack once more.
This time it was not a distant flying slash, but the strongest close cut of a swordsman.
Caelan flashed like lightning, arriving before Jack in an instant.
The death-dealing blade fell decisively.
"Stop!"
Kaido was both shocked and furious.
Caelan's attack was sudden and extremely fast. He had no time to intercept.
In desperation, he exhaled another Bolo Breath at Caelan, hoping to force him to defend.
But Caelan ignored it and brought his blade down on Jack.
Under Jack's horrified gaze, the sword descended with overwhelming dominance.
He had just returned from the gates of hell, only to meet the King of Hell again.
This time, Kaido could not save him.
In a flash, the blade passed.
Boom.
Jack's massive mammoth body split cleanly in two and crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact, throwing up a cloud of dust.
Right under the Beasts Pirates' noses, right under Kaido's gaze.
Caelan cut Jack in two.
The Beasts Pirates' All-Star, Jack the Drought, was dead.
"Careful!"
Ain and Hina cried out anxiously.
Behind Caelan, Kaido's Bolo Breath was about to strike him.
Without even turning his head, Caelan swung Shusui again, cleaving the flame blast apart.
With a flicker, he returned to his original spot and faced Kaido head-on.
Before another Yonko, he had slain one of that man's proudest subordinates with a single cut.
He then casually dispersed the counterattack. When the blast roared behind him, his poise was unreasonably cool.
Such a Caelan was truly domineering.
Not to mention women like Hina and Ain.
Even Yamakaji, Momonga, and the other burly men looked at Caelan and felt their blood surging uncontrollably.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)