The giant race was famed for its raw power. Adult giants generally stood around twelve meters tall, while Brogy and Dorry were among the very best of them, each towering over twenty meters.
After years of battle, they had forged immensely developed, powerful bodies. One could easily imagine just how terrifying the strength contained within them was.
Both had trained since childhood, formed the Giant Warrior Pirates, and set out to adventure across the seas. Even after being stranded on Little Garden for decades because of their feud, they had never stopped fighting.
With their long lifespans, every battle they had lived through had sharpened them further.
That was why both their strength and combat power were anything but ordinary.
A red and a blue "slash wave" crossed in midair, then fused together as naturally as water and milk blending into one.
Its might rose another level.
The effect of one plus one was greater than two.
"This..." Even Ares was stunned. He had not expected them to fuse their attacks like that.
His eyes sharpened, and he could not help but wonder, "Is it because of their will?"
"Or because of... their chemistry? Their shared origin?"
When they saw Ares freeze for a moment, Brogy and Dorry's expressions changed at once.
Dorry shouted anxiously, "Hey, Ares! Throw a punch and block it!"
"Stop spacing out! If you do not defend yourself now, you are going to die!" Brogy roared as well, his thunderous voice making the air tremble violently.
What they did not know was that Ares had never intended to block it in the first place. From the very start, he had planned to use his own body to experience the power of Conquest of the Sea.
Only by doing that could he truly understand it and turn it into a technique of his own.
Facing the world-destroying red-and-blue shockwave woven together into a single torrent, Ares opened his eyes wide. His tiger-like gaze burned with an overwhelming hunger for power.
He understood clearly that if he wanted to defeat Rocks, if he wanted to overthrow the World Government, then he needed power beyond the Four Emperors, perhaps even power that stood above all others.
And that road was undoubtedly one lined with thorns and hardship.
But Ares had no intention of becoming just another stepping stone for "Background King" Luffy the way Kaido, Whitebeard, and Charlotte Linlin had.
He knew that changing the future could never be achieved simply by killing Luffy in the cradle. That was the act of a coward.
A true powerhouse carved his own bloody road across the seas.
And Ares believed in one thing with absolute conviction.
Whatever cannot kill me will only make me stronger.
As he faced the combined Conquest of the Sea unleashed by Brogy and Dorry, Ares' lips curled upward. He spread his arms wide, as if embracing death without hesitation, and laughed with wild, soaring spirit.
"Hahaha! I have already died once before, so what if I do it again?!"
At the sight of that, Dorry's face filled with shock, and he roared in exasperation, "He's gone mad! This brat has completely lost his mind!"
"He is trying to get himself killed!"
That way of thinking was something he simply could not understand, and no ordinary person could do something so insane.
Even with the naked eye, anyone could tell how terrifying that attack was. And for those with Observation Haki, for those whose senses were far sharper than ordinary men, the destructive power within it was even clearer.
Brogy stamped his foot furiously and cursed, "What is wrong with this guy's head?!"
"How can anyone be this stupidly confident at a moment like this?!"
At that moment, even Laboon let out a worried cry, his call urgent and anxious, clearly concerned for Ares.
After all, Ares was his benefactor.
More importantly, Ares knew something about the Rumbar Pirates.
That alone was one of the reasons Laboon had kept living all this time.
On top of Laboon's head, Crocus' eyes widened in alarm. "Hey, hey, hey! Why is that blockheaded brat acting stupid at a time like this?!"
Olvia had just started to run out, only for Dr. Kureha to grab her with sharp reflexes and pull her back. "That brat's physique is monstrous. He seems to be pursuing the strongest body in the world."
"But even so, he should not be abandoning all defense and taking the giants' attack head-on..." Olvia's face was tense with panic. She was so worried her voice had turned hoarse and cracked.
Boom!
Before she could finish speaking, Conquest of the Sea struck Ares square in the chest, and the red-and-blue radiance of the shockwave swallowed him whole.
Olvia's face turned deathly pale. Tears welled in her jewel-like eyes as she cursed, "That idiot! He promised he would take me to see the Poneglyphs scattered across the world..."
"How... how can he do something this reckless?!"
She immediately spun toward Dr. Kureha and Crocus, her voice rasping with urgency. "What are you two standing there for? You're doctors!"
"Go save him now!"
Wearing his sleeveless shirt, Crocus was the first to leap off Laboon's head. With a splash, he dove into the sea and began swimming hard toward the island.
Dr. Kureha, meanwhile, first finished the liquor in her bottle in one gulp and tossed it aside before sighing. "Sigh... that brat really is reckless. If I'm going to save him, he'd better pay my treatment fee."
Then she followed after Crocus, heading for the island as quickly as she could, hoping she could still make it in time.
Seeing Ares swallowed by the radiance of Conquest of the Sea, Brogy and Dorry's faces fell at once.
"Well... that's it."
"That brat's brain really must be broken. Who in the world just stands there and takes it without defending themselves at all?" Dorry said numbly.
The Conquest of the Sea that he and Brogy unleashed together was something even the strongest opponents would never face without preparing themselves.
To simply take it with one's body alone...
Ares was truly the first person in history to do something so absurd.
Brogy let out a long sigh. "I thought we'd finally get a proper, satisfying fight out of this brat. Who knew he'd throw his own life away. Come on, let's dig a hole and bury him."
"What a waste. If he hadn't acted like a madman, his name definitely would have become legend on the seas one day," Dorry said, his expression tinged with regret.
Because in their lives spanning more than a hundred years, this was the first time they had ever encountered someone with talent as extraordinary as Ares.