"Kaien, are you trying to get in my way too?"
"In your way? If anything, you're the one getting in my way. You've targeted my client—that makes you an enemy of Fairy Tail."
"Hmph! In that case, disappear!!"
Lyon raised his hand and launched an icy meteor mace toward Kaien.
"ICEMAKE: Ice Shield!"
Gray leapt in front of Kaien and conjured a large ice shield.
BOOM—!
Both the shield and the icy meteor shattered.
Gray stared Lyon down. "Lyon, your fight is with me."
"Gray, is it? If that's what you want, then I'll take you down first!"
"Looks like it's three-on-one over here too."
Sherry and the others struck ready poses. They had just witnessed how terrifying Kaien's power was—if they left Lyon to face him alone, he might not stand a chance. As for the villagers? They could take care of them anytime.
"It's not three-on-one. It's three-on-two!"
Lucy stepped beside Kaien, already holding a Celestial Spirit Key in her hand.
"I'm here too!" Happy raised his little fists. "It's three-on-three now!"
Even if he didn't have much combat power, he couldn't lose in spirit.
"And me! Don't forget me! That makes it... four-on-three!"
Natsu waddled over, his body still mostly frozen, barely able to move.
Kaien couldn't help but laugh. "Gurararara!! You guys better focus on protecting yourselves. I don't need this many people to take care of these three."
"Got it!!"
Lucy and Happy quickly dragged Natsu away.
"Hey! Don't drag me—let go! I wanna fight too!"
Natsu struggled on the ground like an upside-down turtle, unable to even touch the floor with his feet.
"Look at you! You're in no shape to fight. Just be glad you're not a burden."
"Aye!"
Yuka's expression darkened. "Are you looking down on us? We used to be famous mages too, you know! You've heard of Lamia Scale, right?"
Toby added proudly, "Yeah! We've got the guy known as Jura of the Rock—Hey! Are you even listening?!"
Kaien was currently stretching and flexing, trying to get used to the sudden surge of power in his body. But this overwhelming strength—it felt incredible.
"Marionette Strike: Golem!"
Sherry had already begun her attack. With a wave of her hand, the ground trembled and boulders rolled in from all directions, rapidly assembling into a towering stone golem, over ten meters tall.
"Anyone who stands between me and Sub Zero Emperor's love—just die!!"
The massive stone golem hurled its fist at Kaien's head.
"Kaien, watch out!!"
Lucy cried out in alarm, but Kaien didn't move at all, as if he were senile and unresponsive.
BOOM—!!
The golem's gigantic fist slammed straight into Kaien's face.
"What?!"
They had expected Kaien to be knocked down instantly. Instead, he stood completely still, not even flinching, and showed no signs of injury.
This was Armament Haki—one of the three major types of Haki from the world of One Piece. Its core function was to enhance both offense and defense and allow users to touch Logia-type Devil Fruit users' real bodies. It was arguably the most practical form of Haki in the pirate world.
Kaien glanced at Sherry with a disappointed look. "Not strong enough."
That look triggered Sherry. She poured even more magic power into her attack. "Stone Golem, show him the depths of my love!!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
The golem launched a flurry of punches at Kaien. After a while, Sherry finally stopped. Even she had burned through a lot of magic power with such relentless attacks.
"What bad luck, running into someone like Sherry, the love-crazed lunatic," Yuka commented coolly. After taking so many hits, the guy had to be pulp by now.
"Yeah yeah!" Toby nodded.
As the smoke cleared, Kaien was still standing in the same spot—and now stretching.
"Ahhh, that felt good~~"
He gave Sherry a sideways glance. "Can you try a little harder? That massage was too weak. What kind of mage are you?"
"WHAT?!"
The three of them were stunned. Was this guy a monster? Sherry had gone all out with her stone golem, yet he wasn't even scratched—and he was asking for more?
"Sherry, move!!"
Realizing they were facing something inhuman, Yuka stepped in.
"Wave Pulse!!"
He raised his hand and fired a magical wave at Kaien.
BOOOOM—!!
The wave hit Kaien dead-on, erupting into a huge blast.
"Hmph! The waves I create can neutralize all magic. In other words, they nullify other magic completely. So even if your defense is strong, when it comes to my Wave Pulse..."
"Mmm... even more relaxing..."
Kaien's voice echoed from within the smoke.
"What?! That's impossible!!"
As the dust cleared, Kaien was once again completely unscathed.
All three were stunned. It was one thing for Sherry's golem not to work—but even Yuka's magic-canceling Wave Pulse didn't affect him?
"Looks like you're all done. Guess it's my turn now."
Kaien gripped Murakumogiri with both hands, muscles bulging, veins popping on his arms.
"HRAAAAHH—!!"
With a mighty shout, Kaien raised the massive blade high and swung it forward with earth-shattering force.
SWOOSH—!!
BOOOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!!
A colossal slash tore through the battlefield. The giant stone golem was cleaved clean in half. A massive fissure opened across the ruins. In the distance, a mountain was sliced in two. The slash reached the sea, splitting the ocean itself before finally fading away.
GAAAAAH—!!!
Everyone watching felt as if their throats were clutched and their hearts gripped by iron hands.
"A MONSTER—!!!"
The mountain was split, the ocean parted—if that wasn't a monster, then what was?
"Hahahahahaha!! That was incredible! GUURARARARARAAA!!"
Kaien burst into ecstatic laughter—reveling in the sheer joy of overwhelming power and releasing all the frustration from the Marineford War.
Only now, after merging with Whitebeard, did Kaien truly understand just how terrible Whitebeard's condition had been during that battle. Even if he hadn't participated in Marineford, that body wouldn't have lasted much longer.
His failing health had prevented him from freely using all three forms of Haki, and even the Gura Gura no Mi's power was no longer under full control. After that pre-battle surprise attack, Whitebeard had entered the war with barely a tenth of his strength. It had been a bitter, humiliating fight.
And in the end, it had cost him everything.
But now it was different. Kaien had received Whitebeard's full power. As long as he had enough magic, he could wield Whitebeard's peak strength.
He would make the name of "The Strongest Man in the World" echo throughout the Fairy Tail universe.