Hearing Cyrus mention his former identity, Doflamingo's expression remained unchanged, but the veins on his forehead became even more prominent.
Evidently, this matter was a great source of deep irritation for the Warlord, but in front of Cyrus, no matter how furious he was, he would not show it unless he wanted to confront the monster head-on.
However, Doflamingo found something strange. Based on the abilities Cyrus had displayed previously at the Sabaody Archipelago and Mary Geoise, his Conqueror's Haki should at the very least be of the absolute highest tier, but the clash just now left Doflamingo somewhat puzzled.
'Perhaps Cyrus isn't being serious?'
Just as he was thinking this, a round, dark shadow burst in through the window, and a small figure flew straight toward Cyrus.
Smack!
Cyrus casually raised a hand and caught the neck of the person flying at him, allowing a pair of small hands to scramble onto his arm.
It all happened in a flash, but Sugar had indeed touched Cyrus.
The people still conscious in the palace were overjoyed at this sight.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Held in midair by her neck, Sugar's mouth gaped open as she coughed, her two hands flailing about wildly.
Cyrus looked at the small girl he was holding, a slight smile appearing on his face.
It was completely ineffective!
Those who witnessed this scene instantly understood: Sugar's Devil Fruit ability was completely useless against Cyrus.
Although they had long known this was a distinct possibility due to his overwhelming Haki, seeing the absolute trump card truly be ineffective filled the eyes of everyone present with sheer disappointment.
"You bastard, let go of Sugar!"
Seeing Sugar struggling in Cyrus's grasp, Baby 5's eyes widened.
She shouted before anyone else could speak, looking as if she was about to charge right at him.
Just as she adopted a charging posture, Cyrus glanced up at her.
"Pardon me, could you please get me a glass of fresh juice?"
"Yes, of course!"
The charging figure abruptly stood up straight.
Baby 5 nodded immediately, then turned and headed for the door.
The others watched, utterly speechless, as Baby 5 was turned away with a single sentence.
Even Sugar, who was being held by the neck, rolled her eyes.
Oh, wait, Sugar wasn't speechless, she was actually suffocating from having her neck squeezed and was on the verge of passing out!
Buffalo cautiously climbed to his feet and stood to the side, looking completely at a loss.
The air fell completely silent.
It wasn't until Sugar finally fell to the floor after passing out from asphyxiation, and Baby 5 returned with a glass of fresh juice, that the atmosphere in the palace regained some semblance of life.
"Are there any other orders?"
With the juice safely delivered into Cyrus's hand, Baby 5 looked at him expectantly, awaiting the next request.
"Please go and release Violet," Cyrus requested after a moment's thought.
"Okay!" Baby 5 walked off, practically overjoyed to be useful.
The others watched everything unfold, completely speechless.
"Five Color String!"
Just like that, completely out of the blue, Doflamingo suddenly attacked.
The distance between Cyrus and Doflamingo was not great, meaning the moment he struck, the sharp strings were already right in front of Cyrus's face.
As if he had sensed it long ago, Cyrus raised his hand, infused it with Armament Haki, and simply grasped the incoming threads.
But just as Cyrus grabbed the strings, the ground around him and the walls of the palace suddenly came to life.
The stone deformed, quickly binding and sealing Cyrus's body in place.
"Hell's Ten Million Ton Vice!"
With a loud roar, Machvise leaped into the air and came crashing down toward Cyrus with his shield.
"Hmm, you're the only one who won't do!" Cyrus's voice rang out.
A ball of fire suddenly appeared, igniting the sticky mucus flying toward him in midair.
After igniting the slime, the flame flew back along the trail toward the direction the attack had come from.
Trebol's eyes were filled with gravity as he ducked to avoid the incoming fireball, but after flying past him, the flame exploded, landing squarely on the mucus-covered Executive.
In an instant, intense flames engulfed him, and a skinny figure quickly rushed out from within the fire.
Trebol, now several times smaller than his usual slime-coated appearance, looked nervously at the flames that had burned his mucus armor to ashes.
Cyrus raised a hand and swatted the descending ten-million-ton vice upward, sending Machvise crashing straight through the palace roof.
The animated stone that had locked the space around him shattered directly from Cyrus's casual movement.
After finishing the juice in his hand, Cyrus stood up.
The stones surging toward him from all directions could not restrict his movements in the slightest.
Pica tried his absolute best, letting out a sharp, high-pitched roar, but it was of no use.
"Lao G!" Just as Cyrus was about to pick up the sword at his side, the martial artist's entire body twisted into a strange shape as Lao G charged toward him.
It had to be said, the members of the Donquixote Family had excellent coordination.
Bang!
The attacking Lao G was sent flying backward even faster than he had charged in, crashing through the palace wall and disappearing outside.
Pica's pained scream rang out from the stone again.
Snap!
Cyrus gripped his sword once more, looking at the executives surrounding him in a semicircle.
"It seems you've made your decision." He scanned the room, his gaze finally falling back on Doflamingo.
"Monet!" Doflamingo shouted, his expression grave.
Whoosh!
A chill wind poured into the room from outside the window, bringing with it countless freezing snowflakes.
The wind swept up the snow, forming a localized blizzard that surged directly toward Cyrus.
Appearing along with the snowstorm was the very ground, which began to churn underfoot as a pure white color spread toward the Guild Master.
Swish!
"Stroke Cut!"
Cyrus's voice sounded as his body seemed to teleport right behind Doflamingo.
A vertical slash cleanly cut the Warlord in two!
However, what was cut was only white string; this String Puppet of Doflamingo's instantly collapsed into threads and merged into the ground, which had also turned entirely into string.
The surrounding members of the Donquixote Family were immediately submerged and pulled away by a massive wave of strings.
Standing atop the churning sea of threads, rising and falling with the waves, Cyrus turned his head to survey his surroundings.
'The String-String Fruit Awakening. That makes sense.'
It was almost the year 1515, only five or six years before the start of the main story.
Judging by the Awakening techniques Doflamingo used when fighting Straw Hat Luffy in the original timeline, this guy's fruit must have awakened long ago; he just hadn't revealed his ultimate abilities until now.
The moment Doflamingo's attitude had changed earlier, Cyrus's Observation Haki had sensed that something was off with him.
However, this String Puppet technique could actually deceive Observation Haki.
Cyrus narrowed his eyes, contracting the range of his Observation Haki to tightly envelop only the royal palace.
"Found you!"
Ignoring the incoming white strings, Cyrus's body transformed into pure flame.
The fire spread rapidly, and the surrounding white strings began to burn away beneath the intense heat.
"Thousand Arrows Pierce the Heart: Feather Strike String!"
Within the flames, Cyrus's body coalesced just as Doflamingo's voice rang out from his hiding spot.
Several thousand strings, all heavily infused with Armament Haki, shot toward Cyrus in unison.
"Torchlight!"
His sword was already sheathed.
A massive Fire Tornado swept out in all directions, causing the temperature to soar and the very air to begin to distort.
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