Finally…
Feeling the changes surging through his battered body, Darren's eyes burned with a feverish light.
He had peeled back the layers of Kaido's "Thunder Bagua," grasping the true core of the technique—using lightning to forcibly stimulate the body and ignite its vitality—and with that, his Speed attribute had finally broken past the 90-point barrier.
And it wasn't just speed.
Under Kaido's "guidance," every aspect of his strength had edged upward.
Only his Devil Fruit Development, like his Conqueror's Haki before it, had reached a hard wall.
Devil Fruit Ability Development: 89.999.
Just one tiny step from 90.
But after his experience with Conqueror's Haki, Darren understood this last step was not something he could brute-force his way through.
He had a strong hunch that the moment his Magnet-Magnet Fruit broke past the 90-point mark would be the moment of true Awakening.
And because he had taken such a twisted, overclocked path to cultivate his Magnet-Magnet Fruit—far beyond anything Eustass Kid had ever displayed in the original story—the difficulty of that Awakening would naturally be much higher than usual.
Come on, Kaido-sensei… keep surprising me.
Ignoring the blood streaking his face, Darren bared his teeth in a feral grin and hurled himself at Kaido once more.
---
Hours slipped away.
The brutal clash raged on, shaking heaven and earth.
As the blood on their bodies darkened and dried, the sun crawled across the sky. Within a radius of several kilometers, everything had been flattened, the terrain completely reshaped. Onigashima itself shuddered under the strain, letting out low, ominous groans.
The Beasts Pirates watching from afar had gone through an entire cycle of emotion.
From shock and awe…
To speechless silence…
And finally, after watching slaughter for hours on end, to a kind of numb acceptance.
"It's settled at this point… that guy's definitely on Boss Kaido's level," Queen muttered, dragging out a little stool from who-knew-where and plopping down with a weary thump. Propping his jowly face up with one hand, a cigar dangling from his lips, he wore the hollowed-out expression of a man whose worldview had been personally shattered.
King heard him but said nothing, his lips set in a hard line.
No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, the cruel reality was right in front of them.
Battles between monsters of this level were rarely decided quickly.
At this altitude, the difference between two powerhouses' combat abilities was razor-thin. Unless it turned into a drawn-out war of attrition or a gang-up, one-on-one duels between beings like these almost never ended in a clean, instant victory.
Kaido-san and that bastard have been at each other's throats for more than half a day now.
Their wounds were gruesome—bones exposed, flesh torn—but King could still clearly feel the wild, surging battle intent and unbroken will raging inside both of them.
"We're screwed," Queen hissed, clutching his head. Seeing that King didn't refute him, he grew even more certain of his own dire conclusion. "If even Boss Kaido can't put him down, that lunatic is going to treat Wano like his own backyard—coming and going whenever he feels like it!"
"Are we gonna have to move again?"
He dragged deeply on his cigar, face flushing with despair.
"But where the hell would we even go?"
On this sea, islands with rich resources were extremely scarce, and almost all of them were already divided up by the great powers.
The Beast Pirates' previous main base had already been blown off the map by that damned Darren.
They'd finally found Wano—a closed country overflowing with mineral resources, perfect for building a war machine in peace—and yet this pest kept barging in over and over to stir up trouble.
If it were like before, it wouldn't be so bad. Even if Boss Kaido couldn't beat him outright, he could at least drive him away.
But now… now that Darren's strength had climbed to stand shoulder to shoulder with Boss Kaido…
Queen shuddered, imagining the miserable days to come, his future filled with nothing but beatings and "field tests."
"Enough!"
A thunderous roar boomed from the battlefield, shaking everyone out of their spiraling thoughts. Quite a few half-dozing pirates jolted awake in a panic.
The two rampaging demons had stopped.
They stood facing one another at a distance, both of them drenched in blood, chests heaving as they glared across the devastated earth.
"This is getting nowhere! It's boring!" Kaido growled, his tone thick with frustration. "Let's call it for today. I want a drink!"
"If you still feel like fighting after I'm done drinking, I'll be more than happy to keep going!"
He roughly wiped the blood from his face, rage flaring in his eyes as he slammed his kanabo into the ground.
The earth caved in, rubble spraying in all directions—a pointless but satisfying vent of pent-up fury.
Panting hard, Darren gave a faint, crooked smile. His face was pale, but he didn't object.
In truth, he was close to his limit.
Even after the "boosts" from his life-or-death battles with the Gorosei and the future Three Admirals had pushed him solidly into Legendary-level combat strength—allowing him to trade blows evenly with Kaido—there was still one key gap:
Kaido's Conqueror's Haki coating.
Every swing of that kanabo, wreathed in black-red lightning, contained enough destructive force to shatter mountains. Even with an Indestructible Body, the shockwaves could partially bypass his outer defenses, tearing into his organs again and again.
In a true fight to the death, Kaido still held a slight edge.
Even so, Darren didn't think Kaido's condition was much better than his own.
If Kaido were confident he could finish him off right now, he wouldn't be calling for a temporary truce.
"Got anything to drink?" Darren exhaled slowly, then grinned. "I'm pretty thirsty myself."
Kaido's expression froze.
This brat… does he really think Onigashima is his second home now?
King and Queen's faces both darkened, pupils shrinking.
Is he insane?!
He barges in, wrecks the place, fights our captain all day… and now he wants to drink with him?!
"Come if you've got the guts," Kaido said coldly, eyeing him from the corner of his eye. His tone carried a clear threat. "Your injuries are nothing to scoff at. If you get drunk like this, I won't promise I won't just cave your skull in while you're half-conscious."
"And don't forget, Queen and King might jump in too… You can't expect them to show mercy to a seriously wounded intruder."
Darren glanced at the two Calamities, the corners of his mouth curving in a sly smile.
"I'm actually kind of looking forward to it."
Queen shrank back on instinct, shoulders hunching in clear terror.
King's eyes went glacially cold, killing intent flickering like a blade.
"Tch."
Kaido snorted, flames and lightning still crackling faintly across his battered frame. "Come on then, you reckless brat."
---
One minute later.
"Fuhihihi! Darren, don't just stuff meat in your mouth! Come on, drink! Drink!"
Before a roaring bonfire, Kaido sat cross-legged, face flushed bright red with drink, raising a massive sake gourd as he laughed uproariously.
King stood rigid off to the side, expression as dark as ink. A tiny twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed the turmoil he refused to voice.
Overalls Fatso clutched his face in both hands, mumbling with a look of pure despair, "I knew it… I knew it would end up like this…"
To be continued...