"You’re courting death!!"
At those mocking words, the Golden Lion’s eyes instantly filled with countless bloodshot veins.
A killing intent unlike anything before erupted from his body. He raised his blades and unleashed a flurry of furious slashes.
SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!!
Golden sword arcs, sharp as crescents, ripped through the air like divine whips of judgment. They hurtled toward Darren at blistering speed.
"Lion’s Thousand-Cut Ravine!!"
But before the blades could reach their mark—
A figure, radiant with golden light, suddenly appeared before Darren.
Sengoku roared, eyes blood-red. As the Great Golden Buddha, he slammed his massive palm forward.
A surging shockwave crashed headlong into the incoming sword slashes.
The deafening blast sent a tsunami of air pressure rippling out in all directions, hurling away cannons, rubble, and unfortunate pirates caught too close.
The very next second—
The Golden Lion burst through the smoke like a raging beast. His golden mane billowed as he dove at Darren with murderous speed.
"Marine brat... you’re finished!!"
"We’ll see about that." Darren grinned fiercely.
He didn’t even move. The demonic blade behind him—wreathed in purple-black flame-like patterns—shot forward, slicing through the air toward the Golden Lion’s face.
"Jihahaha!! You think childish tricks will work!?"
The Golden Lion scoffed, slashing with his blade.
Sparks exploded. Enma was knocked flying.
But in that moment—the Golden Lion’s pupils contracted sharply.
The earth beneath him twisted. Cannons warped into spiraling spikes of blackened metal, lunging upward like fanged serpents.
"This sneaky little brat!!"
The Golden Lion cursed, slashing swiftly with both swords.
He cut down the metal spears, but they kept coming—denser, sharper, endless.
Even when severed, they reformed under Darren’s magnetic control and lunged again.
From afar, it looked like he had fallen into a pit of writhing iron snakes—completely surrounded.
The Golden Lion roared. His blades darkened with Armament Haki.
A cross-shaped slash burst forth, shattering the swarm of spears in a storm of metal fragments.
"Your fleet is gone, Shiki! This isn’t your playground anymore!"
Sengoku’s voice rang out as he soared into the sky, appearing behind the Golden Lion.
Golden light surged in his palm, crackling with streaks of black and red lightning.
"Then let’s see if you can stop me, Sengoku!!"
The Golden Lion laughed wildly, slashing backward without looking.
His blade, too, crackled with black-red lightning, trailing thunder.
Fist and sword clashed through the air.
A core of black-red energy compressed violently between them, then burst outward in a shockwave that ripped through the island.
The earth exploded in a ten-meter-high tsunami of mud and steel. The heavens darkened. Clouds tore apart. It was like the end of the world.
A clash of Conqueror’s Haki.
Weaker pirates fell unconscious from the pressure alone.
"Jihahaha!! Sengoku—your fists still don’t hit as hard as Garp’s!"
The Golden Lion sneered.
He twisted his left blade and slashed toward Sengoku’s abdomen.
Sengoku backed away instinctively, dodging the blow.
Their attacks broke apart. The Conqueror’s clash dispersed in a violent burst.
Using the momentum, the Golden Lion flipped backward, landed with one hand on the ground, and flicked his right wrist.
"Lion’s Threat: Earth Bind!!"
The ground beneath erupted like a flood. It surged upward, shaping into a towering lion dozens of meters tall.
Its jaws opened wide—ready to swallow Darren whole.
"Let’s see you block this, Marine brat!!"
The Golden Lion laughed madly.
But the laugh died in his throat.
Blue arcs of lightning danced across Darren’s fingers, gone in a flash.
A magnetic pulse rippled outward.
And the towering lion froze mid-lunge—as if gripped by an invisible hand.
"Float-Float might be powerful—but this is my battlefield."
Darren smiled coldly, lifting his hand and pressing down.
The giant lion—crafted from the Golden Lion’s Devil Fruit—suddenly twisted...
And turned its gaping maw toward its own master.
The Float-Float Fruit could lift islands—but its lateral strength paled before Darren’s magnetic field.
The Golden Lion’s eyes burned with fury.
"Then I’ll cut you down myself!!"
His swords flared with Haki. He charged toward the metallic behemoth and slashed.
A storm of blade aura exploded. The iron lion shattered into a thousand pieces.
A massive figure burst through the falling debris, charging straight at him.
"KAHAHAHA!! Finally, it’s my turn!! Found your opening!!"
The Golden Lion’s fury erupted.
Ever since arriving at this island, he had suffered one humiliation after another at Darren’s hands.
Used to temper Observation Haki.
His invincible fleet—gone.
Even his Devil Fruit powers—countered!
Yes, the island’s structure played a part—but the Golden Lion, feared across the seas, could not accept this!
And now—this bastard, who had done nothing but watch, wanted in too!?
The volcano of rage within him finally exploded.
Webs of black-red lightning spread across his body like molten veins.
He swung both blades in a furious cross-slash toward Bullet.
Sensing the surging bloodlust, Bullet’s expression changed.
No longer laughing, he summoned metal and earth to form a massive arm. Armament Haki coated it in black, and his own Conqueror’s Haki surged.
For a brief second—they clashed.
Bullet’s fused arm shattered like glass.
Blood spurted from his mouth as his body flew backward like a missile, crashing through building after building.