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At the same time, a bolt of black-red lightning descended from the heavens, engulfing Mountain Ancestor beneath a thunderous storm.
"ROAR!!"
The incomparably massive Mountain Ancestor was instantly driven into a frenzy by the electric current, thrashing violently, yet it was completely unable to move. The paralyzing effect of this evolved lightning was terrifying beyond belief. Mountain Ancestor could only watch helplessly as its armor rapidly melted away under the thunderlight, letting out the wail of a beast on the brink of death.
Bēng kā!
Muffled thunder rolled across the sky. In an instant, a dangerous aura swept over the ocean. Imu frowned and looked up into the air.
"What is this?"
"A kind of extermination lightning… born after fusing the power of the Goro Goro no Mi with my own."
Lightning wrapped around Rowen's body as he stood midair, gripping the thunder halberd with its crescent blade in one hand.
Then he asked,
"And what about yours?"
"Heh!"
Imu bared his teeth in a cold laugh. "Just the instinct of reclaiming the power I once dispersed."
"But I only saw seven types?"
"Seven… is more than enough!"
Killing intent burst from his eyes. As the words fell, Imu tore away the obstructing robe from his body, revealing muscles knotted and powerful, no less impressive than those of a young man.
Bang!
The ground beneath his feet exploded with force, propelling him forward as he lunged straight at Rowen.
If he could retrieve them all, would this day even exist?
The mockery in Rowen's words couldn't have been more obvious.
Facing the charging Imu, Rowen's lips curled upward. "As expected, ever since you started creating Devil Fruit seeds to erode this planet, you've been bound to it as well."
Only when the seeds fused with the world's origin could Devil Fruits be born. If Imu could retrieve all the seeds, it would mean he had already successfully seized the world itself.
But clearly, that wasn't the case.
Which was why he could only selectively retrieve a handful of them.
Eye of the Firmament!
The opponent's movement path was unpredictable. His trajectory couldn't be captured by vision or even Observation Haki, without question, this was power granted by the Vampire Fruit.
Rowen decisively activated the Eye of the Firmament. With the help of countless tiny electric arcs spread throughout space, he locked onto Imu's true position.
Shuā!
The dark-colored heavy halberd crashed down, its momentum overwhelming, cold light flashing in an instant.
Imu, who had just flown in front of Rowen, sensed the sharp and dangerous aura and decisively halted, crossing both arms in front of himself.
Kuāng dāng!!
Steel collided with flesh, yet the sound that rang out was like metal striking metal.
The recoil force surged along the thunder halberd and spread through Rowen's entire body, making the weapon vibrate incessantly.
Rowen frowned. The earlier Imu might have been tough, but he had never possessed such terrifying defensive power!
At this level, it was no weaker than Kaido!
And don't underestimate what "no weaker than Kaido" meant for Imu. From beginning to end, Imu had never once used Haki.
It seemed he was unable to use that innate ability all people possessed, "Haki."
So,
This defensive power had been achieved purely through the physical body alone, reaching the level of Kaido's Soryu (Azure Dragon) fruit enhancement combined with Armament Haki!
Imagine it: a Whitebeard with Kaido-level defense… and after adding assistance from other Devil Fruit abilities, possessing even greater destructive power than Whitebeard, with far more comprehensive combat techniques.
Such an Imu could absolutely be called invincible in the current era, without the slightest exaggeration.
Even Rowen truly had no confidence at all.
The situation had gone from "risky"… straight to "certain death."
Fortunately, he was no longer the same as before.
Clang… screee!
The crescent blade scraped along Imu's arm, dragging sparks through a piercing screech and leaving behind a pale white mark.
"Hah!"
Forcibly deflecting the thunder halberd, Imu was just about to lunge forward when an overwhelming sense of danger exploded in his mind. His sixth sense screamed at him, charging now would end disastrously!
"Danger!"
He snapped backward at once. Sure enough, the thunder halberd that should have been knocked away suddenly transformed in Rowen's hand like a living serpent, flexibly drawing a streak of black-red cold light as it swept past Imu's front.
Zī zī!
The lightning flickered and vanished, but a thin black line appeared in the space between them.
A line where even space itself could not withstand the densely compressed, unknown lightning, and was directly torn open.
If he hadn't dodged,
If that terrifying power had landed on his neck,
No one could say what would have happened.
"Getting in close for a short-range brawl with me… who gave you the courage?"
Rowen glared coldly. His halberd strike missed, yet instead of retreating, the thunder halberd surged forward again, launching an overbearing, relentless assault.
Having mastered the Lightning of Annihilation, head-on confrontation was exactly what he feared least!
Rampaging thunder stirred a storm, illuminating the world.
Empowered by that terrifying black-red lightning, Rowen pressed the attack nonstop, forcing Imu to dodge again and again.
But constant defense would eventually fail.
Suddenly, Rowen's ferocious offensive pattern shifted. The angle turned vicious and treacherous, stabbing straight toward Imu's armpit.
"Arrogant!"
Genuine fury flared in Imu's eyes. He snorted coldly, his left arm wrapped in Tremor-white light as he clamped it inward, clearly intending to trap the thunder halberd between his arms.
Boom!
He succeeded, but at that very moment, electric radiance flooded Rowen's left leg, and black-red lightning erupted violently.
Bang!!!
"Pff!"
That kick struck Imu's right waist, one of his vital points. A terrifying shockwave, accompanied by annihilating lightning, pierced through his body and blasted apart the clouds above.
Even Imu, who possessed Kaido-level defensive power, couldn't endure it completely. He spat out a mouthful of dark, congealed blood.
At the same time, one of Imu's hands reached out. The massive energy fluctuations of several Devil Fruits were forcibly compressed into the narrow range of his knuckles and slammed into Rowen's shoulder.
Pa…!
Hua la la!
Tremor, frost, darkness, flames, violent, chaotic energies exploded together, shredding Rowen's shoulder into flying flesh and blood. Even the muscles across his chest were pulverized into fragments under the savage blow.
Wuuuu!
The right arm gripping the thunder halberd was torn off entirely, spinning wildly through the air.
Suppressing the pain, Imu sneered. "How does that taste?"
In combat at this level, where every inch mattered, his primary objective when fighting bare-handed was to close the distance and engage in close-quarters combat.
However, that black-red lightning saturated with destruction was clearly no ordinary power. Combined with Rowen's battle-hardened techniques, it showed absolutely no fear.
Rowen understood this and used it deliberately. Naturally, Imu could see it as well.
"So that's it… like Life Return · Forbidden Esoteric · Momentary Magnificence, a kind of… extreme burst state?"
Rowen seemed to gain sudden insight.
Calling Imu a Whitebeard with Kaido's defense was no longer sufficient. At this moment, he also possessed an added attribute, undying immortality.
After all, in this exchange of injuries for injuries, there was an unavoidable problem: Rowen's undying nature ensured he would never lose out, but what gave Imu the confidence to do the same?
Looking at Imu before him, heavily injured yet with no sign of weakened aura, the answer was painfully clear.
Boom!!
Suddenly, both of them raised their legs at the same time and kicked each other away.
Lightning flashed briefly in Rowen's eyes. The severed limb that had flown dozens of kilometers away instantly shot back, reattaching to his body and healing completely in the blink of an eye.
"If I'm not mistaken, the Devil Fruits he's harvested are also consumables to him, used to replenish the deficit of his main body…"
Recalling how Imu's appearance had suddenly aged when he used the Dream Fruit earlier, Rowen formed a hypothesis.
"They're like fuel, rapidly consumed to drive his body to unleash power close to its peak… The price for doing this must be enormous, otherwise he wouldn't keep it hidden."
"And every Devil Fruit lets him move closer to his original strength from the ground up… maybe even surpassing his peak from eight hundred years ago!"
Rowen couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath.
"If he truly seized the world, and all Devil Fruits returned to his body…"
Just seven top-tier Devil Fruits pushed to their limits had already brought Imu to this terrifying level. If he truly succeeded in conquering the world, then at that point, not even Rowen would be able to stop him.
After all,
"In the end… this body still limits the upper bound of fusion… doesn't it?"
Clenching his fist, Rowen frowned silently.
Deep within him still lay a vast, powerful force he hadn't fully digested yet. Strength was never something that could be achieved overnight, especially not power of this magnitude.
Even if it was all "himself," complete fusion could never happen instantly.
"A troublesome bastard."
Their gazes suddenly collided, and both arrived at the exact same conclusion.
(End of Chapter)