"To think Mama would even resort to a technique like burning her lifespan to enhance her power..."
Feeling Big Mom's rapidly surging aura, Katakuri's expression showed a hint of surprise. He hadn't expected Allen to push her to such extremes.
An oppressive Haki raged wildly, with countless dark red lightning bolts faintly flashing around her as fierce winds blasted outward in shockwaves!
"Magellan! Hera!"
Big Mom grinned, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth. She gripped her massive sword with both hands and raised it high. The thundercloud Hera flew over in response, wrapping around the crossguard and surging with lightning that clung to the blade.
"Emperor Sword: Maheshvara Divine Blade!!"
Big Mom roared, slashing the massive sword through the air!
*Zing!!*
A massive blade of energy shot forth! Glowing with blue light and carrying the violent power of lightning, it tore through the earth as it cleaved vertically toward him!
Faced with this terrifyingly powerful attack, Allen's face remained completely unfazed. Having absolutely no intention of taking it head-on, he sidestepped, dodging the colossal slash that plowed through the entire forest.
*Boom!!!*
The lightning slash tore through the ground, flying past the coast with undiminished momentum before crashing into the sea, parting the waters as if cleaving the ocean in two.
Back on the island, after dodging the attack, Allen let out a loud shout and slammed his large palm heavily onto the ground!
*Smack!*
"Black Hole!!"
In an instant, endless black mist billowed out from Allen's body, surging in all directions like a dark tide!
"This disgusting ability again! What are you trying to do now?!"
Watching the black mist spread across the ground, Big Mom's eyes were filled with anger and disgust.
The dark power that could absorb every attack unleashed by her Homies absolutely sickened her.
Big Mom once again raised her massive sword horizontally by her side, the blade rapidly cloaking itself in powerful Haki and lightning.
Right at that moment.
*Clap!*
Allen spread his legs into a half-squat. His gaze sharpened as he forcefully clapped his palms together in front of his chest and let out a low shout.
"Dark Court: Paradise Lost!!"
The instant his palms clapped together, at the edges where the black mist covered the ground, the darkness suddenly began to rise.
Big Mom's face blanked for a moment. She suddenly felt some power within her being suppressed, and she looked around in astonishment.
The black mist from all directions continued to rise, converging toward a central point in the sky, as if weaving into a black curtain that enveloped the entire hemispherical space.
At the same time, the sword Homie in Big Mom's hand revealed a pained expression. The electrical arcs on the thundercloud weakened, and even the power she had just gained by sacrificing her lifespan was rapidly draining away!
"What's going on?! I wasn't even touched!"
Now Big Mom was truly panicking, staring at her own hands in disbelief.
Previously, Allen needed to make physical contact to suppress her abilities, and he couldn't indirectly affect the independently existing Homies.
But this time, without even touching her, both she and her Homies were suppressed simultaneously!
"Is it this barrier's doing?! Watch me cleave this piece of trash apart!"
Big Mom raised her massive sword high and furiously unleashed a giant blade of energy, slamming it into the black mist with majestic force!
However, the energy blade was swallowed by the darkness like a stone dropping into the ocean. In the next instant, it was released back out from the black mist, slashing straight toward Big Mom!
"What?!"
Big Mom's expression shifted to shock. She hurriedly raised her thick, Armament Haki-hardened arm to block, and was instantly knocked back several meters by the majestic slash!
"Don't waste your energy. Once the Dark Court is formed, it will persist indefinitely. Not even I can stop it."
Not far away, Allen suddenly spoke up, his tone cold.
"Once the barrier is formed, even I cannot cancel it. There is only one way to dispel this barrier, and that is to kill me."
[Dark Court: Paradise Lost] was a technique he created by combining [Black Hole], which absorbed everything, [Darkness: Liberation], which released things from the dark space, and [Blackwater], which absorbed and sealed abilities.
Any attack directed at the barrier would be absorbed and reflected back, whether it was matter, energy, or an ability unleashed by a Devil Fruit user.
And the true effect of the Dark Court was to suppress the powers of any Devil Fruit user within the barrier. He didn't need to touch the enemy to completely seal all their abilities.
Of course, no matter how strong a Devil Fruit was, it had its limits. This large-scale ability-suppressing technique was not without its flaws.
That flaw was that he could no longer use the powers of the Dark-Dark Fruit either.
The principle behind this move was projecting the entire essence of his Devil Fruit power into the physical space. As long as he maintained this barrier, he could not use any other techniques of the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Allen developed this technique to compensate for the flaw of needing to make physical contact to seal an enemy's abilities.
At the cost of being unable to use his Dark-Dark Fruit powers, he forced his enemies into close-quarters combat with him until one side completely collapsed.
When this technique was activated, it was destined that only one of them—him or Big Mom—would walk out standing.
"I see. Forcing the creation of an arena meant strictly for close-quarters combat, thereby better utilizing your advantages in physical arts and Haki mastery?"
Big Mom's face darkened, but she suddenly broke into a smile, her mouth twisting into a fierce grin.
"A very clever approach. But do you really think you hold the advantage? Don't forget, when it comes to physical gifts, I am above you in both strength and defense!"
Saying that, Big Mom casually tossed aside the slumbering thundercloud Hera, along with the broadsword that had shrunk to the size of a mere dagger in her hands.
Armament Haki wrapped around her thick arms, quickly coating them in a dense, pitch-black hue. Big Mom clenched her fists tightly, staring at Allen with a chilling gaze.
Allen tore off his shirt with a large hand and tossed it aside. He spread his arms wide as the muscles on his back bulged, deformed, and twisted, gradually forming the terrifying face of a demon.
Demon Back and Demon Brain activated simultaneously. His body began operating at full capacity at an extremely rapid rate of consumption, as if every muscle and even every cell had been awakened.
Allen's eyes were filled with a mocking yet fanatical gleam. His wrists were similarly clad in pitch-black Armament Haki, shimmering with a dark luster.
The two faced off from dozens of meters apart, their auras rapidly climbing. Their meeting gazes sparked with intense battle intent.
In the next instant!
*Bang!!*
*Bang!!*
Allen and Big Mom kicked off the ground with all their might, their figures exploding forward simultaneously!
"Die!!"
Big Mom shrieked in fury, her thick arm driving a massive fist down in a vicious smash!
"Sonic Punch: Mach Burst!!"
Allen roared ferociously, concentrating all his strength into his fist as he met her attack with a terrifying hypersonic punch!
*Boom!!!*
The two fists, one large and one small, collided heavily in midair. The impact erupted into a powerful shockwave of fist aura, shattering the ground and sending countless rocks and chunks of turf flying!
Allen felt as though his punch had struck a towering mountain; unable to shake it in the slightest, the recoil left his arm numb.
Meanwhile, Big Mom had his Internal Destruction Haki injected into her arm, feeling an excruciating pain as if her hand bones were being pulverized!
Allen backhanded a grip onto the fat of Big Mom's arm, pivoted to generate force, and executed a shoulder throw, instantly hoisting her massive frame up and slamming her ruthlessly into the ground!
*Crash!!!*
Big Mom's head smashed down heavily! She cratered the ground, sending countless cracks spreading outward like a spiderweb!
Immediately after, a vicious glint flashed in Allen's eyes. He raised his leg and delivered a brutal stomp right into the abdomen of the inverted Big Mom!
*Bang!!*
His Haki pierced through her body of steel, wreaking havoc inside her. Accompanied by an explosive burst of immense physical power, the kick sent Big Mom flying away!
"Blergh—!!"
Big Mom spat out a large mouthful of blood in agony, her head plowing a trench through the dirt. After coming to a halt, she slapped her broad palm against the ground and quickly got back up.
With her hair disheveled, Big Mom's face turned extremely dark and chilling.