Chapter 72: King's Resolve
On the ruined island battlefield...
The sky was dark, a swirl of magma and steam, the air filled with the roar of the sea.
Rumble—!
The rubble exploded.
Kaido slowly rose from the deep crater. His body was covered in a web of wounds, but as his scales glowed with an azure light, his Mythical Zoan healing factor kicked in, and the wounds began to seal. At the stump of his broken horn, new scales were already beginning to grow.
This kind of damage would have been fatal to anyone else, but for Kaido, it was just a warm-up.
"WORORORO...!"
He laughed, grabbing "Hassaikai" and slinging it over his shoulder, his aura returning like a waking mountain.
"Brat... are you ready for round two?!"
Opposite him, Roy stood on a shattered cliff, his coat snapping. He looked calm, but his brow was slightly furrowed. That last clash had left his internal organs rattling, and Kaido's invasive Haki was still tearing through his body.
"I can't drag this out..."
He took a deep breath, his eyes flashing—
"Instant Surgery!"
It was a new technique, inspired by Law's Devil Fruit, that he had spent years developing.
Space itself trembled. An invisible, blade-like warp passed through Roy's body. In that one instant, all his internal damage—the bruised organs, the torn muscles, the lingering Haki—was teleported out of his body and into the void.
Boom! Roy's body was clear. His aura flared, returning to its peak!
"What?!"
Kaido's eyes narrowed. His Observation Haki was covering the entire island, but he couldn't track that ability!
"He was just injured... How did he recover in an instant?!" For the first time, Kaido felt a flicker of genuine caution.
"This move heals me instantly, but the stamina cost is enormous..." Roy thought, his breathing steadying. "In theory, we took about the same damage, but I just spent a massive amount of stamina to erase it. I have to end this fast!"
Kaido was already charging, his club wreathed in lightning, his grin savage.
"BWAHAHAHA! You're full of surprises, brat!! If you're not going to run, then I'll just have to break every bone in your body!!!"
Their eyes met. Boom! The ground exploded as both figures vanished, launching themselves at each other!
At the same time, in the skies above the island.
The battle between King and Gion (Momousagi), which had paused during the Haki clash, resumed.
"FWOOSH!"
Gion was using Geppo (Moonwalk), her figure flashing as she unleashed a golden slash. "Tempest: Flying Swallow!"
King dodged, countering with an "Imperial Flame!"
Gion dodged the fire tornado, but sensed it immediately— "That's not his full power! He's not trying to win... he's trying to disengage!"
She looked up. King, in his Pteranodon form, was flying higher!
Gion's heart stopped. "He's trying to get away! But why...?"
"Soru!"
She pushed her speed to its limit, chasing him into the upper atmosphere. Below them, the battle between Roy and Kaido was shaking the heavens.
King's expression was cold. "Kaido-san is getting lost in the fight. This isn't Wano. We can't stay here. The Marines' reinforcements could arrive at any second. And Jack... I have to get Jack back!"
He silently pulled a small, singed piece of paper from his coat—Jack's Vivre Card.
The paper was pointing... to the Marine warship, hidden dozens of miles away!
King's Observation Haki flared, and he locked onto the ship's location. At the same instant, Gion's Haki sensed the Vivre Card.
"His target is the ship!!!"
King didn't hesitate. He flapped his massive wings, pouring fire into one last, massive attack. "Imperial Fire Dragon: Flame Slash!"
He unleashed the attack as a diversion, forcing her to block.
"Flowing Shadow Slash!" Gion's golden blade met the inferno.
BOOM—!!
The explosion lit up the sky. Gion's face went pale. King was using the explosion as cover, his Pteranodon form streaking away, a blur of black fire, heading straight for the warship!
"His target is Jack!!!"
Gion roared and gave chase, but aerial combat wasn't her specialty. The high-altitude, high-speed chase, forcing her to use Geppo and Soru repeatedly, had exhausted her.
King looked back and sneered. "You can't catch me."
"Sky-Piercing Flame Dragon!"
He became a streak of fire, diving toward the warship's location!
On the Marine Warship
The alarms blared!
"High-energy target approaching! All hands, intercept! Protect the brig—Protect Jack and Doflamingo!!"
The next second, King's attack hit.
BOOM!
The deck of the warship exploded in a shower of steel and wood!
Gion, still miles away, was desperate. "Slashing Wave: Sky-Line!"
She launched a massive, horizontal slash of Haki, a golden line that tore across the sky, trying to cut off his path. But King just barrel-rolled, dodging it easily.
"Naive!"
At the same time, on the ruined island.
Roy, in the middle of a high-speed exchange with Kaido, suddenly froze. His Observation Haki... he saw King's dive.
His eyes snapped wide. He roared, "KING... YOU DARE?!"
Kaido was on him in an instant.
"Brat! You look away in a fight... YOU DIE!!"
"ROARING THUNDER BAGUA!!"
"BAM—!!"
Roy snapped back, gritting his teeth and forcing a last-second Warp-Strike, vanishing. But he was too slow. The Haki-infused aftershock of the blow still caught him, exploding a spray of blood from his shoulder!
He stumbled, clutching his shoulder, his eyes fixed on King's distant, diving form.
"I can't... let him succeed!"
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