Boom—!!!
The collision between the iron hammer and the fire dragon shook the entire Aurust Castle, making it tremble and on the verge of collapse.
Rubble fell from the ceiling with a rustling sound, and cracks spread across the walls like spider webs.
Susanoo's arms were crossed in front of its body, the skeletal structure formed by Chakra barely withstanding this strike from Ragnir. Cracks spread across the energy surface, but with the continuous output of the Eternal Mangekyo's Ocular Power, they were quickly repaired.
Ragnir bounced back, spun in the air, the ice on its hammer body thicker than before, radiating bone-chilling cold.
It hovered in mid-air, its hammerhead trembling slightly, as if sizing up this opponent before it.
Makoto looked up at it, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
"Not bad."
"You are, so far, one of the highest-level opponents I've faced since coming to this world."
The power of Ragnir's previous strike was not much inferior to Rocks's.
Although Makoto hadn't used his full strength, opponents who could crack his Susanoo were indeed rare.
"No wonder no one in Elbaf has been able to eat the fruit you guard." Makoto continued.
Ragnir's hammer body trembled slightly, emitting a low hum.
That sound seemed like a response to Makoto's praise.
But Makoto's next words made Ragnir's hum abruptly stop.
"However—"
Makoto pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Airi, who was protected behind Susanoo.
"Today, I must let my woman eat that fruit."
Ragnir was stunned.
The ice on its hammer body paused slightly.
It had originally thought that Makoto intended to eat the Devil Fruit himself.
After their brief exchange, it also felt that he indeed had the qualifications… after all, it wasn't absolutely necessary for only a giant to eat that fruit.
But Ragnir hadn't expected—
Makoto wasn't eating it himself, but giving it to that weak-looking little blonde girl.
'Aren't you insulting me?!'
Hum—!!!
Ragnir's hammer body trembled violently, emitting an angry roar.
Ice frantically spread from the hammer body, the air temperature plummeting by dozens of degrees. The breath exhaled by the Aizono sisters instantly condensed into white mist.
Ragnir was enraged.
Boom—!!!
The sky above the castle suddenly darkened.
Ragnir's power triggered a change in the sky and earth.
Black clouds gathered from all directions, shrouding the entire Aurust Castle in shadow.
Within the clouds, lightning flickered, thunder rumbled, as if countless thunder dragons were tumbling among the clouds.
Rumble—!!!
Bolts of lightning struck down from the clouds, converging on the surface of the hammer.
Blue-white electric light intertwined with blue-white ice, forming a totem of ice and thunder on the hammer's body.
The power of lightning.
The power of ice.
Both elemental forces erupted simultaneously, pushing Ragnir's momentum to its peak.
It hovered in mid-air, like a small meteor about to fall, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.
"Angry, are you?"
Makoto asked with a smile.
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes spun rapidly.
Complete Body Susanoo.
Gray-black energy surged from Makoto's body like a breached flood, instantly expanding, condensing, and taking shape.
A several-hundred-meter-tall gray-black giant rose from the ground above Aurust Castle.
Its head nearly touched the dark clouds, and when its wings spread, they blotted out the sun, casting the entire castle in shadow.
Before the Complete Body Susanoo, Ragnir looked like a mosquito.
"Come."
Makoto stood at the brow of Susanoo and beckoned to Ragnir with his finger.
Ragnir did not hesitate.
It charged at Susanoo with the force of thunder and lightning.
Electric light and ice trailed behind it like a blue-white tail, like a meteor streaking across the sky.
Boom—!!!
The hammer struck Susanoo's chest.
The power of ice and thunder erupted simultaneously, exploding like a blue-white firework on the gray-black energy armor.
Susanoo took a step back.
A huge dent appeared in the chest armor, cracks spreading around it.
But…
That was all.
Ragnir was sent flying back by the recoil, tumbling several times in the air before stabilizing itself.
It shook its hammerhead, emitting a dissatisfied hum.
Susanoo strode towards Ragnir.
Each step made the earth tremble, each step left a deep footprint on the ground.
Ragnir charged again.
This time, instead of a direct collision, it arced through the air, attacking Susanoo's leg from the side.
Boom!
Ice exploded on Susanoo's knee, freezing a layer of the gray-black energy armor.
But the next second, Susanoo kicked out, sending Ragnir flying.
Ragnir crashed into a distant mountain wall, leaving a huge crater.
Rubble flew, dust billowed.
But the next second, it flew out of the mountain wall again, the ice on its hammer body thicker, the electric light fiercer.
It charged again.
Time and again.
Each time more ferocious than the last.
But each time, it was blocked, deflected, and sent flying by Susanoo.
However—
Just as Susanoo and Ragnir were fighting fiercely, Makoto suddenly smiled.
He pointed downward, signaling Ragnir to look below.
"Hey, little squirrel, look down there."
Ragnir was startled.
It instinctively lowered its head and looked down.
Then—
Its hammer body trembled violently.
There, deep within the castle, beside the stone platform where the Devil Fruit was placed, stood a person.
Aizono Airi.
She stood right by the treasure chest, holding the purple-black Devil Fruit in both hands, her face flushed with excitement.
Ragnir whipped its head around to look beside Susanoo… there stood another Airi.
The same face, the same clothes, the same expression.
'Two little blonde girls.'
'What's going on?'
Poof-
The Airi beside Susanoo turned into white smoke and dissipated in the air.
Shadow Clone.
The 'Airi' who had been protected behind Susanoo the entire time had been swapped out at some point without anyone noticing.
"Makoto-kun! I found it!"
The real Airi raised the purple-black Devil Fruit high above her head, waving frantically at Makoto.
The surface of the fruit resembled black dragon scales, glowing dimly in the dark castle.
Mythical Zoan: Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Nidhoggr.
The treasure passed down through generations in Elbaf.
"Eat."
Makoto said to her with a smile.
Airi took a deep breath, looking at the Devil Fruit radiating a terrifying aura in her hands, her heart pounding.
Then, she opened her mouth and bit down.
"Mm—"
The indescribably disgusting taste exploded in her mouth, just as the dead Hayama Hayato had said, terribly unpalatable.
But—
"Roooar—!!!"
A dragon's cry echoed through the sky and earth.
Pure black energy surged from Airi's body, like a volcanic eruption, like a towering tsunami.
Her body began to expand, distort, and transform.
Her skin was covered with black dragon scales.
Her hands turned into massive dragon claws.
A pair of pitch-black dragon wings spread from her back.
A long, slender dragon tail extended from her tailbone.
Her figure rapidly expanded, in just a few seconds, from a petite girl less than 1.6 meters tall to a black giant dragon dozens of meters high.
When the dragon wings spread, they covered half the castle.
When the dragon tail swung, it swept away several stone pillars.
Her eyes turned into golden vertical pupils.
Nidhöggr form… the legendary [Black Dragon].
Although its size was far from the exaggerated scale of Loki, who had ancient giant bloodline in the original work, it was comparable to a Tailed Beast.
Dozens of meters tall, its spread dragon wings almost shrouded the entire Aurust Castle in shadow.
Marina looked at her younger sister who had transformed into a black giant dragon, her mouth wide enough to fit a fist.