Waves of compressed air surged and collapsed, expanded and recoiled—again and again.
Red-hot Heat Breath, blue electromagnetic blasts, golden laser beams, and the pitch-black fist of a titan collided mid-air.
Each force crashed into the others like wild beasts in the sky, spiraling into violent storms. Flames spilled downward, crashing onto the cracked and shattered earth.
A deafening roar followed as the explosion's shockwave expanded, sweeping across the sky.
The titan that Bullet had become cracked—webs of fractures creeping over its surface before the whole structure disintegrated with a blast.
Bullet was flung out, hurtling like a cannonball into the ground. He slammed down hard, carving out a crater. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
King's Pteranodon form was thrown back, engulfed in flames. His body smashed into the distant mountain wall, exploding into dust and debris that reached dozens of meters high.
Darren staggered back two steps, his face pale.
Then Kaido's voice boomed from above—a growl of thunder incarnate:
Darren and Bullet looked up, eyes narrowing.
The colossal shadow in the clouds was gone—only thick smoke and drifting fire remained.
Like a meteor crashing through the sky, a monstrous figure burst through the flames and smoke, diving straight at them with terrifying speed!
Kaido had transformed into his dragon-man hybrid form. His bulging, green-scaled arms gripped a massive spiked kanabō. His black hair whipped like wildfire in the wind. His eyes burned blood-red.
Black and crimson lightning erupted from his body, dazzling and deadly, wrapping around the kanabō like writhing serpents.
The full force of his Conqueror's Haki flooded the battlefield like a tsunami.
The Haki clung to his weapon—infused, pressurized, devastating.
The air itself seemed to collapse under the weight.
Yet Darren's eyes flared with defiance and wild intensity. He grinned savagely.
"I TOLD YOU—STOP ORDERING ME AROUND!!"
Bullet roared, but the killing intent surged again in his eyes.
No need for signals. No need for words.
They moved in unison.
The ground beneath them collapsed half a meter from the force of their leap. Like twin cannonballs, they launched upward toward Kaido.
Black, cold, steel-like Haki wrapped tightly around their arms.
Madness, bloodlust, and unshakable will blazed in their eyes.
The past seven days of agony—the brink of death under Queen's viral torture, endless battles with their breaking bodies...
All of it boiled over in this moment.
They had to know—had to feel—just how far they still were from a monster like Kaido.
From below, they struck.
One punch each. In perfect sync.
"Three World's Conquest: Ragnaraku!!"
"Combination Technique: Nation Shatter!!"
Kaido's lightning-wrapped kanabō and the Haki-cloaked fists of Darren and Bullet collided in the sky.
It was like a comet striking a planet.
Black and red lightning tore the heavens, distorting the very air, warping and twisting reality itself.
The ground shook violently. The prison and buildings below collapsed into the spreading fissures.
From the distant mountain wall, King—now back in his human form—crawled out of the shattered rock.
His black mask hid most of his expression, but his eyes... they trembled.
A bead of sweat slid down his brow.
"They... they blocked Kaido-sama's full power... together?!"
Elsewhere, Queen, half-charred, missing chunks of his arms and tail, stood dumbfounded.
Eyes bulging, tongue lolling, jaw hanging open.
Mid-air, Kaido's aura and the joint pressure from Darren and Bullet clashed violently.
Two cyclones—one of dark crimson, the other of obsidian black—twisted against each other.
Kaido gritted his teeth and pushed harder, trying to smash down his kanabō.
How had these two grown this strong in just a few days?
It didn't make sense.
He'd locked them away. Queen had been in charge...
Kaido's eyes narrowed to bloody slits. He turned.
"QUEEN, YOU IDIOT!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!"
Queen looked utterly lost.
"What did I do?! I just... cut some corners, sang a little, danced a bit, slept around... but I DID TORTURE THEM with the virus! On schedule! I swear!"
Kaido nearly coughed up blood.
The clash reached its peak.
With a thunderous explosion, a shockwave blasted from the center.
Kaido was hurled backward.
Darren and Bullet spat blood, crashing into the earth.
Dust and smoke rose in waves, cloaking the battlefield in haze.
Kaido skidded back across the ground, carving trenches in the earth. He came to a stop, panting, still gripping his kanabō.
A flicker of blue lightning danced across the air.
From the distant direction of the weapons factories, sparks began crawling across the surfaces of towering black smokestacks.
One after another, the towers twisted and warped like licorice sticks.
The heat trapped below exploded.
A chain of massive detonations rocked the earth.
Kaido roared in fury.
The entire weapons complex—built with countless resources, the very core of the Beasts Pirates' war power—was going up in flames.
Giant fireballs erupted skyward. Explosions triggered secondary detonations—munitions, powder stores, furnaces.
Flames shot into the heavens like volcanic eruptions.
The island had become a living hell.
Scarlet fire painted the sky.