Calling the rooster 'giant' might be a bit of an exaggeration, but compared to a normal rooster, its ostrich-like size certainly qualified as enormous.
The rooster held its head high, radiating an air of arrogance. With each step, its sharp, hook-like claws were visible.
Its body was covered in fiery red feathers, its beak as sharp as an eagle's, and atop its head was a crown of flames… real, burning flames, like those of the Olympic Torch, eternal and unyielding.
Its flame-like tail feathers arched upward, pointing toward the sky, reminiscent of a peacock's tail, thus exposing its rear. From there, fist-sized eggs with fiery patterns emerged, dropping to the ground and remaining motionless.
The rooster laid one egg every thirty-two steps… not one step more, not one step less. At this time, there's already eight eggs lay on the rocky ground.
Law and Kuro watched in silence, unsure what to make of the scene.
Suddenly, a mound-like shape bulged from the magma river near the rooster.
In an instant, it formed into a snake-like creature with wings made of magma, breaking free from the river and soaring into the air before diving straight toward the rooster's back.
The rooster seemed to sense it. It leaped five or six meters into the air, avoiding the magma winged snake's attack.
The magma snake, having missed its target, immediately adjusted its course. It turned to look at the rooster hovering mid-air and lunged upward again.
"Cluck, cluck!"
A pigeon-like coo sounded as the rooster flapped its wings, flying even higher.
This sudden change caused the magma snake to misjudge its trajectory. It traced a graceful arc in the air before plunging back into the magma river.
"Cluck, cluck."
The rooster flapped its wings, casting a disdainful glance at the snake now submerged in the magma.
It then landed back on the rocky ground, took five more steps, exactly thirty-two steps in total from the last time it laid egg, and from its upturned tail, another fiery-patterned egg calmly emerged and dropped to the ground.
At that moment, the magma river stirred again. The unwilling magma snake surged upward once more, tracing an 'inverted U' trajectory as it dove toward the rooster from above.
This time, the rooster seemed uninterested in dodging. It flapped its wings and leaped, the flaming crown on its head blazing wildly.
Flames flickered in its eyes. Its eagle-like beak opened and snapped shut, precisely catching the magma snake. Somehow, despite the snake's frantic twisting, it couldn't break free from the rooster's beak.
If it were an elemental entity, it should have been able to disperse its form and reassemble, or perhaps shed part of its body like a lizard losing its tail to escape danger.
But the magma snake did neither. It merely struggled helplessly in the rooster's beak, its size visibly shrinking.
From a distance, Law focused his gaze. He could see abundant Aura radiating from the rooster, brimming with vitality.
He knew well that, in human terms, this was an Aura from Nen, but for magical beasts, it was the application of life force.
"What a nourishing chicken!" Kuro exclaimed, his eyes gleaming.
His voice immediately drew the rooster's attention.
The rooster elegantly stretched its wings, tilting its head to look at Law floating mid-air and Kuro in his smoky form.
Suddenly, it threw its head back and swallowed the snake in its beak as naturally as if it had just eaten a small insect.
That was a creature made of magma, and it had been swallowed whole.
Law frowned slightly, 'That winged snake seemed similar to the magma bird from Whale Island's active volcano… likely part of the same system. But what was this rooster?'
After swallowing the magma snake, the rooster ignored Law and Kuro. Instead, it turned to look at the nine eggs lined up on the ground, lowering its head as if deep in thought.
Just as Law found this strange, the rooster suddenly moved. Like lightning, it lunged at them without warning. Its speed was worlds apart from when it had dodged the magma snake earlier.
'Had it been holding back?'
Startled, Law used [Sky Walk], his body darting sharply to the right. Kuro reacted a split second slower, veering left only after Law had moved.
One went right, the other left. The rooster shot through the space between them, coming to a halt dozens of meters away in the air. As its wings beat, sparks scattered around it.
The rooster seemed to possess high intelligence. Hovering with its wings, flames flickering in its eyes, it stared at Law and Kuro. Surprise mingled with killing intent in its gaze, though it didn't launch another attack.
From the moment Law and Kuro noticed the rooster, it had also detected them but pretended not to see them.
It had calmly gone about its business, like laying eggs and pecking at magma creatures, while feigning slowness, waiting for the right moment to strike.
What it didn't expect was that these two unknown beings capable of manipulating life force had reacted so quickly, evading its ambush.
Law stabilized himself mid-air. Fortunately, he had Sky Walk, a Nen Technique allowing high-speed aerial movement, or else he wouldn't have dodged the rooster's treacherous sneak attack.
"Ouch, ouch!"
Kuro's cries of pain reached Law's ears. Turning, he saw Kuro in his solid form, with severe burns along one side of his body.
In his smoky form, Kuro should have been immune to heat damage. Yet, just a slight brush from the rooster had caused serious burns.
This characteristic was likely similar to that of the magma bird from Whale Island's active volcano… both could inflict real damage on Kuro even in his intangible state.
However, there was a clear difference: the magma bird didn't use Nen, while this ostrich-sized rooster did.
First, Kuro felt physical pain, then heartache… because he had to waste some of his stored Nen to heal the burns.
He glared at the flying rooster in anger, then transformed back into a wisp of black smoke and retreated into the tattoo on Law's hand.
Before fleeing, he said, "Kill that stupid chicken! I want its legs!"
Law glanced at the fiery tattoo on his hand, speechless. But it was just as well, as he could now summon weapons at will.
With a thought, Shin appeared in his palm.
Law watched the motionless rooster as he descended toward the ground, which was crisscrossed with countless magma veins amidst the red glow.
He stopped about twenty to thirty centimeters above the ground, the tip of his sword pointing directly at one of the magma veins.
Within moments, the sword gradually turned red, obscuring its glaring rust stains.
Law lifted the blade tip at the right time. The sword glowed fiery red, evidence of the extreme heat here. Yet, he remained unaffected, thanks to the Grass Jelly's effects.
The rooster didn't move, but Law did.
From the rooster's earlier ambush, Law had discerned its uniqueness.
He now saw the rooster as prey, but he didn't underestimate it in the slightest.
'What would your meat taste like? How much would it benefit me? And what cooking method should I use?'
A faint smile appeared on Law's lips. These thoughts, conveyed through his Aura, reached the rooster's consciousness.
Instantly, the rooster erupted in rage, the flaming crown on its head blazing upward.
'How dare this creature... treat me as food?'