From afar, Sengoku watched the black-haired Giant exert his terrible dominion, a pressure so immense even the Fleet Admiral's heart hammered. His scalp prickled with unease.
In that moment, he had to admit: Big Mom's words weren't entirely wrong.
The World Government had driven Darren to the brink. CP0 was likely already skulking through Marineford. With that brat's vindictive temper, he was capable of anything.
If he truly snapped and raised a pirate flag, Sengoku didn't dare imagine the ruin to come.
A single Golden Lion had already embarrassed Headquarters and nearly razed Marineford.
What then of Darren—whose strength and cunning eclipsed even the Golden Lion's?
Cold sweat slid down Sengoku's back.
If Darren became the Marines' enemy… and worse, if he fell and allied with that madwoman Big Mom…
The world would tip into chaos.
Damn it… Your Excellencies truly have lost your minds this time.
Darren had been fine as a Marine. Yes, he craved power, money, women—venial sins, weighed against his value. In almost every other respect, he was the model of a great Marine.
He'd piled up unmatched military merit for the Marines and the World Government, and yet the Gorosei insisted on forcing him into rebellion.
What did they expect?
Push him far enough and he might "submit" to Big Mom—mad as she was, she still possessed a mature allure…
The tangle of thoughts collapsed into a tired sigh as Sengoku threw himself back into the clash, meeting Big Mom's ferocious swings head-on.
---
Deep within the island.
The snow-capped mountain gave way.
The sky-piercing Giant exhaled a plume of white heat, then flung the sandworm he'd torn in half—still writhing—down like a snake charmer casting off a viper.
BOOM!!
A crater ripped open for nearly a kilometer, fractures webbing outward as debris geysered.
Saint Saturn and the others couldn't stop their eyelids from twitching.
"There's something wrong with that brat."
"He can transform into a Giant?!"
"This never appeared in any intel!"
A ring of monsters, each leaking malevolent force, closed in on the black-haired Giant. Even their guttural roars carried a thread of fear.
"Nusjuro, how do you feel?" rumbled Saint Warcury, a charging Fengxi.
"Bakotsu" Nusjuro staggered upright, panting, black smoke knitting torn bone and hide. "I-I'm fine."
The enormous sandworm had already pulled itself together, rearing with a sinuous twist.
"It seems you possess powers we were never told about," snarled Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, venom in his voice.
Never in his life had he been humiliated like this—ripped apart like an insect by this damned brat.
"Enough," Warcury cut in, cold. "Finish it."
Fengxi thundered forward.
Rumble…
The ground groaned.
Darren answered with a feral grin and met him squarely.
BOOM!
The two titans crashed, a peal that shook the sky. Seizing Fengxi's tusks, the Giant stamped his heel down on the boar's skull.
BOOM!
Fengxi's head slammed into the earth. The ground heaved and split like a nest of earth dragons writhing below; kilometers shattered to rubble.
Bakotsu's chill form flickered in behind the Giant—only for Darren to drive an elbow back without looking.
BOOM!
The midair detonation snapped ribs like kindling and hurled the skeleton away.
The sandworm whipped around the Giant's torso like a python and constricted. Darren roared, tore it free, and smashed it down—when Saturn's Gyuki, a colossal spider-ox demon, lunged in to crush him.
"Come, sword!"
Darren threw back his head with a wild laugh and opened a blood-slick hand.
From nothing, a black phantom swelled and unfurled—becoming a blade over a hundred meters long.
Demon Blade Enma.
The sword rumored to cut even Hell itself.
He caught Enma in both hands, grin feral, and cleaved down.
A black slash split the clouds.
Chrrk!
Green blood geysered as half of Gyuki's bulk parted. The beast crashed, shaking the island; smoke boiled, gore rained.
Ivankov's Hormone Fruit, Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit—Darren felt power like nothing before. The stimulant high, the repelled pain and fatigue—Dragon's two officers were an unparalleled support pair on these seas.
"Come on, beasts," he growled, eyes burning.
He hefted the black greatsword one-handed and faced the four smoke-wreathed monstrosities like a war god. A savage smile cut across his face.
"Round two starts now."
"Insolent!"
"You court death!"
"Insect!"
"..."
The four Gorosei roared and charged again.
Kilometers away, Ivankov and Kuma stared, faces blank, lips twitching.
"Th-this is insane," Ivankov managed.
"No human could do this," Kuma said, voice flat with shock.
They watched, stunned, as the colossi collided, hacked, and tore the land to pieces. It beggared belief. Even when they'd first met Dragon, they'd been awed. But they'd never imagined something more fearsome than him stalked this sea.
They could not hope to join a battle like this.
Unseen by them, the four Gorosei felt no less shaken.
He was overwhelming.
If not for their "immortal body" mechanism, they would already be finished. Even four against one, they could not press an advantage.
"Don't think you've won yet, Little Brat Darren!" Fengxi roared, ramming the Giant's chest and driving him back.
Warcury hissed, "Zephyr can't protect your wife!"
Darren grunted, but his expression stayed crooked with defiance. "Don't underestimate that stubborn old purple-haired geezer! He's—"
Clamping one hand over Fengxi's head, he hauled up the black sword and drove it into the boar's eye.
Thwack!
A fountain of crimson; Fengxi's scream split the clouds.
"—my sensei!"
To be continued...