The moment Darren's taunt reached him, Golden Lion's eyes burst with red veins, his brow bulging with fury. A tidal wave of rage surged through his chest, monstrous and uncontrollable.
"You're dead, you Marine brat!!"
With a savage snarl, his left hand tightened around the famed blade Oto. The sword shrieked as it came down with murderous force.
Clang!
Steel met steel—no, steel against talon. The black Three-Fingered Dragon Claw locked against the Meito, sparks hissing in the storm-churned air. Darren's grin gleamed through the shower of light, arrogant, feral.
Golden Lion's fury faltered for an instant.
This strength… it's different.
On Coin Island. At Marineford. He had crushed this upstart with ease, overwhelming him in every clash. But now—
His power… it's grown beyond reason!
Golden Lion's seasoned instincts screamed. The force straining against him was titanic, like the grip of a Giant warrior.
Six months. Barely half a year since our last clash. What in hell has this Marine brat been through?
He could feel it—Admiral-class strength. Gold-Tier. Darren had reached the summit.
Golden Lion's face twisted. Something's not right…
But Darren gave him no time to think. The Dragon Claw lashed upward, angled straight for his groin.
The attack cut the air with a shriek sharp enough to split bone.
Golden Lion's stomach clenched in cold dread. "That treacherous little—!"
Clang!
Kogarashi swung down in a desperate reverse grip, the edge catching the claw just in time.
Darren's lips curved into a razor smirk. A faint crackle flickered between his fingers—static dancing in the storm.
Golden Lion's eyes narrowed. What is he—
And then he felt it. The pull.
The Marine's target was not his blades. Not even his body. It was the helm buried in his skull.
A surge of magnetic force lashed outward, arcs of lightning flashing through the air. Darren's grin widened.
"I've got him."
If he could rip that wheel free, Golden Lion's grotesque wound would tear wide open. Even if the pirate survived the moment, he wouldn't last long.
The helm was metal. Darren could feel its weight in his grasp.
The electricity sparked, the magnetic field tightened—
And froze.
Darren's eyes widened.
The helm was gone from his grasp—buried under an impenetrable sheath of black. Liquid darkness wrapped Golden Lion's head, flowing over the wheel like molten iron.
Armament Haki. Dense, unyielding.
"Jihahahaha! I'm no fool like Roger!" Golden Lion's roar split the storm, his eyes burning with madness.
"Marine brat! Your Devil Fruit is tricky, but you forget—Haki reigns supreme. Enough Haki, and no ability can touch me!"
The instant of hesitation was all he needed. Golden Lion's leg lashed out in a blur, his kick wreathed in Armament.
Chiih!
The strike ripped Darren's chest wide open. Flesh split, blood sprayed, hot and scalding across the Golden Lion's snarling face.
The Vice Admiral staggered, eyes wide, blood erupting from the wound in a geyser.
Golden Lion's laugh was savage. "So you've bulked up, have you? But true strength isn't raw power—it's every skill, every instinct, hammered into the soul and unleashed without mercy! That's what makes a king of the sea!"
His blades whirled down, slashing Darren into the wreckage below.
BOOM!
The strike carved the sea itself open, a wound in the ocean stretching for a kilometer. Darren's body smashed into the deck of a shattered ship, coughing blood, barely clinging to breath.
"DARREN!!!"
Sengoku's roar tore from the distance, his eyes bloodshot as he turned from the fleet's command.
But before he could move, lightning surged.
"Looking away mid-battle, Sengoku? That's sloppy."
A blade wreathed in black and crimson Haki slammed down. Sengoku's body swelled, golden light bursting outward as he met the strike with a colossal palm.
BOOM!
Shockwaves shredded the air as both fighters skidded back. Sengoku's eyes narrowed. "Dark King… Rayleigh."
But his gaze still darted back, desperate, toward Darren.
"Jihahahaha!!"
Golden Lion dove, no mercy in his eyes. Blades reversed in his grip, he plummeted like a meteor, the storm of his killing intent tearing the air.
"Lion Demon: Meteor Fall!!"
The blades screamed downward—
"Is that all you've got?"
Enma howled upward in a dark arc. Golden Lion batted it aside with a casual sweep, never breaking his dive.
Darren rolled, electricity snapping in his wounds, dragging himself inches aside.
BOOM!
The ship beneath him exploded into shards, raining splinters skyward. Golden Lion surged through the wreckage, eyes locked, lips curling in a predator's grin.
"Run if you like, Marine brat. You'll never escape me!"
He shot forward again, faster than the eye could follow—
"Borsalino!!!" Sengoku's voice cracked across the battlefield.
"Got it…"
A golden beam lanced upward. In the blink of an eye, a towering figure of light spread its arms.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Golden hail rained down, a storm of divine fire.
"Jihahaha!! You yellow monkey! Again?!" Golden Lion roared, and the sea itself answered.
Waves surged high, rising into a titanic lion that roared against the storm of light.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Sea and light clashed, steam shrouding the battlefield in a choking fog.
And when it cleared, Golden Lion was gone.
Borsalino landed softly on the deck, hands in his pockets, his lazy drawl carrying a hint of regret. "Blocked again. Looks like catching him won't be so easy."
Sengoku's jaw clenched. "Damn it!"
But there was no time for rage. He snapped back to command, forcing down the dread gnawing at his chest. "Encircle them! Exterminate the Roger Pirates!"
The fleet roared into motion.
Yet even as he gave the order, one thought seared his mind.
That brat Darren claimed to have mastered the Indestructible Body… so how did Golden Lion tear through him so easily?
And that blood—far too much.
Something doesn't add up.
To be continued...