Taro hovered in mid-air, looking down at the giant pig on the ground that resembled a hedgehog, momentarily feeling unsure of where to strike.
Weevil's bristles were nearly ten meters long, crisscrossing and standing upright to protect his entire body; only his belly, which was pressed against the ground, remained uncovered.
"Wave Slash!"
After some thought, Taro kicked out a Slash. The massive attack sliced vertically from Weevil's head toward his tail.
Clang, clang, clang, clang~
A series of metallic clashing sounds rang out. Taro's strike only severed dozens of bristles, which was clearly an inefficient way to deal with the thousands of bristles covering Weevil.
"Steel Bristle Strafe, snort snort!"
Weevil, lying on the ground, let out a furious roar. Within the forest of spear-like bristles on his back, some smaller bristles transformed into sharp arrows and shot out from his body.
In an instant, ten thousand arrows fired simultaneously, blotting out the clouds and the moon.
Taro deactivated his Transformation State, dodged the massive rain of arrows, and landed on the ground.
"Lions Might: Earth Roll"
With a horizontal sweep of his blade, surging Internal Energy poured out from the edge, overturning the entire ground. Sand, gravel, and vegetation rolled and tangled together, forming several giant lion heads that crushed toward Weevil from all directions.
Boom, rumble, rumble~
The giant lion heads instantly converged. After a thunderous explosion, another earth-shaking rumbling sound followed.
The restructured ground rose up, forming a giant stone pillar in the center of the battlefield, lifting Weevil's massive body into the air.
Weevil's head and limbs were exposed outside the stone pillar.
"Roar, roar! Mama, Mama!"
He struggled desperately, calling out for Miss. Bakkin.
"Weevil! Fight! What are you doing?"
Miss. Bakkin also grew terrified. She never expected Taro's methods of attack to be so varied. Since the start of the battle, Weevil had been suppressed by Taro's endless stream of techniques.
It wasn't that she hadn't paid attention to Taro. During the Marineford War, when Taro killed Lafitte and others of the Blackbeard Pirates, his continuous slashes were impressive, but she had full confidence in Weevil's defensive capabilities.
And just now, those slashes had indeed performed as she expected, failing to cause any particularly serious harm to Weevil.
It was only now that she realized those attacks were merely a fraction of Taro's many skills.
Hearing Bakkin's cries, Weevil struggled even harder, causing cracks to appear on the giant stone pillar.
Taro knew that if Weevil escaped, with his powerful recovery abilities as an Ancient Species, it would take a lot more effort to find another chance to defeat him.
Without further hesitation, he gripped his blade with both hands, maximizing the Internal Energy within his Meridians and internal organs.
"Second Gear"
"Armament Haki Infusion"
"Conquerors Haki Infusion"
"Vibration Energy Empowerment"
With his buffs fully stacked, Taro's Aura reached its peak. Surging Internal Energy swirled around him; the originally cyan-white energy turned almost pure white, illuminating the surrounding battlefield.
This was the first time in his life that he had poured all his Internal Energy into a single strike.
"Mihawk Slash: Swing"
"Die!"
With a roar, Taro leaped into the air. Holding the blade with both hands, he swung it from behind his back to the front, slashing toward the short, thick neck of Weevil's pig form.
"Ah~ Mama!"
"Weevil!"
Weevil and Miss. Bakkin cried out in terror simultaneously.
Splat!
The massive head flew into the sky. Taro's blade sliced in through the neck of the pig's head and out through the back.
"WEE! VIL!" Miss. Bakkin wailed heart-wrenchingly.
Accompanied by this wail, the world-destroying Slash left the blade and soared toward the sky.
Taro's body flew forward a bit further due to momentum. Beside him, Weevil's giant pig eyes, which refused to close even in death, were filled with disbelief. His lips trembled as he tried to speak, but no sound came out.
"Seven years ago, you severed an arm from my teacher, Zephyr. Seven years later, I'll take your pig head as payment with interest."
"This is only fair!"
Taro's tone was ice-cold, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
A blinding white light flashed high in the sky, instantly changing the color of the heavens and earth. The night was completely dispelled, making it as bright as day.
The light shone on Taro's stern face and on the dimming face of Weevil, whose life was fading as his head gradually reverted to its human form, creating a sharp contrast.
It also reflected on the face of Miss. Bakkin, whose entire world had collapsed, and on the faces of the four members of the Influence Pirates, who stood there dumbfounded.
Rumble, rumble, rumble~
It took a while longer before the earth-shattering sound of thunder reached everyone's ears.
Gekko Moriah, who had been cultivating his character for a long time, shuddered at the sound of thunder. Recalling what Taro had said to him during the Marineford War, he felt incredibly fortunate that he hadn't provoked Taro back then.
Tears and snot streamed down Miss. Bakkin's face behind her sunglasses. Her hands trembled as she gripped her cane.
"Taro... you bas..."
After landing, Taro kicked up White II's head and caught it by the hair. He spat disdainfully.
"You old hag, if you dare finish that curse, I can send you on your way to reunite with your precious'son'!"
Interrupted by Taro, Miss. Bakkin looked lost and soul-crushed, murmuring to herself.
"Decades of my hard work, ruined... all ruined... you deserve to die!"
"YOU! DESERVE! TO! DIE!"
Bakkin finally seemed to have gone mad, her expression frenzied as she roared at Taro.
Taro's gaze turned cold. He lifted thunderstorm, intending to give the crazed old woman a quick end, but suddenly paused and looked back.
In the sky, two streaks of blue flames streaked across the horizon, rapidly approaching.
"Phoenix" Marco descended from the sky!
He first surveyed the situation. The giant stone pillar in the center of the battlefield still stood, with Weevil's headless corpse, now back in human form, hidden within it.
Upon seeing the head Taro was holding, Marco's expression changed drastically, and he shouted angrily.
"Taro, you are truly bloodthirsty!"
Taro had initially felt a bit of unexpected joy at seeing Marco, but hearing this, his brow furrowed, and his tone turned cold.
"Marco, what did you say?"
Marco's face was grim as he said in a deep voice:
"Taro, among the Marines, besides Akainu, others only arrest pirates they defeat. Only you kill them all without mercy. You are more ruthless than Akainu. Is that not bloodthirsty?"
A wave of towering rage surged in Taro's heart. Looking at Marco's pineapple-like head, the coldness in his eyes intensified.
"Are you lecturing me? Is your neck tough enough?"
Damn it, White II destroyed the Captains under your Whitebeard Pirates' banner. I'm avenging Teacher Zephyr and conveniently solving your problem.
If you won't thank me, fine, but you dare call me bloodthirsty?
Marco frowned deeply and pointed at Miss. Bakkin. "This woman was on the same ship as Pops decades ago. For that reason alone, Weevil..."
"Marco, Weevil is Newgate's son! This guy killed Newgate's biological son! If you still consider Newgate your Pops, then kill him!"
Miss. Bakkin screamed out.
Taro snorted coldly and swung his blade toward the old woman.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.