Teach moved like a storm through the noble district. His speed was terrifying, his blade rising and falling without pause.
Every minute, over a hundred people fell to his hand. His legs burned with strain, muscles swelling as if they might split, but he didn't stop. This was training too, both body and spirit.
The air thickened with death.
With each kill, the killing intent around him grew denser, pressing down like a suffocating cloak.
A howl cut through the night.
From the shadows lunged a 'pet', a man twisted into a wolf, body warped by both training and power. His noble master had even forced a Devil Fruit down his throat, the Wolf-Wolf Fruit. The transformation granted claws, fangs, fur bristling like steel. He was the noble's trump card, his prized beast.
He lasted three heartbeats.
Teach's blade split him in two, the shockwave rattling the marble walls. The noble gasped in disbelief, mouth open as if to protest, but Teach was already there.
One step, one swing, and the noble's head toppled free.
These nobles weren't satisfied with simple 'pets.'
They wanted perfection.
They broke humans until they imitated animals, then fed them Zoan Fruits to complete the illusion, dogs that barked, snakes that hissed, cats that prowled.
Their bodies warped, their humanity erased, until they were more beast than man.
Pitou was one of them. A 'perfect' pet. Cat habits etched into her bones, movements sharp, ears and tail sprouting when she grew careless. Even now, though she was learning to stand and speak, to be human again, her nature lingered. Teach never demanded she change, it was who she was.
When she curled to sleep, ears flicking, tail twitching, she was simply Pitou.
For the nobles, this cruelty was easy. With the Kate Merchant Guild supplying them, Devil Fruits weren't rare. Most were weak, common Zoans, but that was enough for their twisted games.
Along the way, Teach cut down eight pets who had eaten Fruits. In their estates, he also seized three more, the Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit, the Fox-Fox Fruit, and the Dog-Dog Fruit.
Useless to him in combat, perhaps, but still treasures of the sea, each worth at least a hundred million Berries. He pocketed them as spoils.
The vaults of gold and jewels he left behind. There was no time.
Teach's path was swift, merciless. By the time guards realized what was happening, it was already too late. He slaughtered from the shadows, while in the open streets Mobius drew attention.
Surrounded, bloodied, the boy gritted his teeth. More than a dozen guards already lay dead at his feet, but the circle tightened. He panted, sweat and blood mixing on his skin, and muttered to himself: "Snake Hand."
His arm shot upward, stretching unnaturally. He hooked the top of the wall, kicked off the ground, and yanked himself up in a single motion. Gunfire snapped beneath him, but he was gone, vaulting into another courtyard.
Mobius didn't stop. He burst into the next villa, blades flashing, nobles screaming. One after another, bodies fell. Not as many as Teach, but far more than the boy had ever imagined himself capable of killing. Dozens turned to hundreds.
Soon, the nobles realized the scale of the slaughter.
Entire bloodlines wiped out in their homes. Fear overtook arrogance. They cursed Mobius's name, branded him a demon, and swore vengeance but their anger was nothing before their terror.
The royal city itself had become a battlefield. The palace lay in ruins, its towers crushed by titanic beasts.
At the center, Kaido and Brady clashed.
Wave after wave of ferocious beasts hurled themselves at Kaido. Tigers, lions, monstrous reptiles, thousands died without hesitation. Among them, the true terrors, Brady's giant beasts.
Elephants that blotted out the sun, apes whose fists could flatten houses, dinosaurs pulled from lost ages. Many wielded Haki. Their strength rivaled Vice Admirals.
Against them stood Kaido.
He laughed as he fought, drunk on battle. A tiger the size of a ship leapt, his kanabo shattered its skull. A giant elephant's shadow fell—its foot slammed down, crushing Kaido into the earth. Dust roared skyward.
"Is it… is it dead?" a spectator whispered.
They weren't alone. Across the New World, screens lit by Den Den Mushi broadcast the war. Morgans's booming voice narrated every beat. "Ohhh! The Giant Elephant Stomp! Did Kaido meet his end at last?!"
The camera shook as the elephant's foot began to rise. Beneath it, a massive hand pushed back.
Kaido stood. With one arm, he held the elephant aloft. His aura poured out, suffocating even the wildest beasts. For a moment, they faltered, instincts screaming at them to flee, only Brady's ability forced them forward again.
Kaido sneered. "Is that all?"
Brady struck, fist clad in Haki, slamming into Kaido's chest. The blow landed with a thunderclap, only for Kaido to smirk down at him. "Are you tickling me?"
The kanabo came up, black spikes gleaming. Lightning danced along its length.
"Thunder Bagua!"
The swing cracked the air. Brady's heart seized. Too fast. Too strong. He leapt, desperate to evade, but even the shockwave struck like a hammer. Blood sprayed from his lips as his body hurtled backward, skidding across the battlefield.
His beasts howled in fury. A trunk whipped, a claw raked, a dinosaur's jaws snapped.
Kaido roared, Conqueror's Haki bursting from him in black-red lightning. His club smashed down, flattening three giants in one strike. Their massive forms twitched, then went still.
The crowd watching across the seas shivered.
This wasn't just a battle. It was the clash of monsters.
Even the Marines, glued to their own feeds, were shaken. A Vice Admiral scowled. "That Kaido… he's even stronger than before."
Another answered grimly. "Forget Kaido. Look at the Kate King. If this ability isn't contained, it could wipe out half our forces in a war. Those beasts… Vice Admiral-class, some of them. A whole army of them."
Vice Admiral Tsuru's voice was cold. "This ability is too dangerous. It must be marked as a priority threat."
Kaido, meanwhile, had had enough. He transformed, scales spiraling out as his body stretched and surged. In moments, a divine azure dragon coiled hundreds of meters long, blotting out the sky.
"Dragon's Breath!"
Fire like the end of the world poured from his jaws. Beasts shrieked and burned. Dozens fell. Even the giants staggered, charred and smoking.
Kaido dove from the clouds, reverting midair, kanabo raised high. His strike split a giant ape's skull like an egg, its corpse thundering to the ground. Brady barely rolled clear, sweat streaking his brow, heart pounding.
The duel raged on, hour after hour. Kaido's laughter shook the heavens. Brady's beasts fell and rose again, endless, inexhaustible. Neither side yielded.
Elsewhere, in the noble district, the massacre neared its end.
Teach leaned on his blade, panting. His legs trembled with fatigue, sweat dripping down his brow. Beside him, Mobius lay on the ground, covered in cuts and blood. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his body trembling with exhaustion.
His shoulder was wrapped in a rough bandage, blood still seeping where two bullets had been dug free. Teach had ripped them out himself and tied the wound tight. It wasn't fatal, but the boy would carry the scar.
The district was silent. Every noble was dead.
Mobius had slain hundreds, more than ten times every life he had ever taken before tonight. It had already changed him. He had grown harder, darker.
Teach had killed thousands. And though he had steeled himself, though his resolve was iron, the sheer scale pressed down on him. His Observation Haki made every death vivid, each spark of life snuffed out under his blade.
Once, just once, he had turned into an alley and vomited, bile burning his throat. He hadn't let Mobius see. A captain couldn't falter.
But he knew the truth. He was prepared to kill. He would never show mercy to his enemies. And yet, even Blackbeard could feel the weight of so much death.
The noble district of Kate Kingdom was no more.