"Don't joke around!"
"That's right! When warriors of Elbaf duel, it is absolutely always one-on-one!"
Dorry and Brogy roared in unison, glaring at Bardock as if he had just deeply insulted their honor.
"Ah, my apologies! Let's just draw lots to decide who fights first then!" Bardock quickly placated them. He knew that if he let these two stubborn boneheads argue about who was 'Elbaf's Greatest Warrior', they would literally bicker until the sun went down. "If I win against the first challenger, I'll immediately fight the second."
"Hmph. You definitely won't beat either of us, Bardock, but I agree to drawing lots," Brogy nodded, turning his massive head to his rival. "What do you think, Dorry?"
"Drawing lots is fine. But how do we ensure it's completely fair and impartial?" Dorry stroked his long beard thoughtfully.
In Elbaf culture, drawing lots was incredibly rare; disputes were almost exclusively settled through combat. For a duel to remain undecided after roughly seventy-three thousand consecutive rounds over a century was unprecedented even in Giant history.
What the two Giants didn't realize was that, in a purely fair fight, they could keep battling for another hundred years and still never determine a clear victor. According to the original timeline, Brogy would only secure a 'victory' because Mr. 3 (Galdino) rigged the duel with explosive booze, severely wounding Dorry from the inside. Though, since they had both returned to Elbaf together after the timeskip, it seemed the 'victory' had ultimately been voided anyway.
"It's simple," Bardock proposed. "Brogy's helmet has two horns, representing 'Even'. Dorry, you only have one helmet spike, representing 'Odd'. I'll go snap a random leafy branch off a tree. There's no way I can instantly count all the leaves on a dense branch at a glance. We'll count the leaves together. If the total number is Odd, Dorry fights first. If it's Even, Brogy fights first. How does that sound?"
Brogy scratched his beard. "I have no objections. Let's do it your way."
Dorry nodded in agreement. This was genuinely fair. For warriors of their caliber, rigging a coin toss was child's play. But snapping a completely random branch off a random tree in an unfamiliar jungle was impossible to manipulate. "Very well. Let the will of the gods decide."
Bardock didn't waste any time. He leaped onto the canopy of a nearby ancient tree, snapped off a massive, leafy branch, and dropped back down to the clearing.
"Alright, I'll start counting. One... two... three..."
Bardock meticulously plucked off the leaves one by one as the Giants watched closely.
"...one hundred and twenty-two... one hundred and twenty-three."
Bardock tossed the final leaf aside. "One hundred and twenty-three. Odd. Dorry, you're up first."
"This is the arrangement of the God of Elbaf," Dorry announced solemnly, gripping his massive longsword and shield as he stepped into the center of the clearing.
"Gabababababa! Looks like I won't even get a turn!" Brogy laughed, supremely confident in his lifelong rival's strength.
Since Bardock's primary goal was to gain practical combat experience against giant-sized opponents, he instantly shifted into his Beast-Human Monkey King form and expanded his body to twenty meters tall, stepping into the ring.
"Pick up your weapons," Dorry rumbled, a hint of displeasure in his voice as he looked at Bardock's empty hands. He felt the boy wasn't taking the duel seriously.
"Fair enough!"
Respecting the Giants' traditions, Bardock opened his mouth and spat out a massive cloud of Flying Nimbus. Instead of forming a staff, he willed the cloud to condense into a colossal, two-handed broadsword. He then channeled a massive surge of Armament Haki into the weapon, instantly turning the fluffy white blade into a solid, pitch-black slab of indestructible steel.
"Excellent Devil Fruit control! And an impressive level of Armament Haki!" Dorry praised, his eyes widening slightly.
Dorry was naturally a master of Haki himself. The only reason his and Brogy's weapons hadn't shattered into dust after ninety years of daily, world-shaking clashes was because they constantly coated them in dense Armament Haki. The reason their weapons were currently chipped and worn down was simply because their daily duels always ended in absolute, total exhaustion—meaning their Haki ran out before the weapons stopped clashing.
It was a well-known fact that Giants generally heavily favored Armament Haki and completely neglected Observation Haki. Seeing Bardock coat his weapon, Dorry immediately responded by enveloping his own longsword and shield in a terrifyingly dense layer of invisible armor.
Wielding his colossal two-handed sword, Bardock didn't hesitate. He kicked off the ground, charging forward and initiating a ferocious assault.
CLANG!
The moment their weapons clashed, Dorry's eyes widened in sheer shock. 'What incredible physical strength!'
Despite the initial surprise, Dorry was a warrior forged in a hundred thousand battles. He seamlessly transitioned into a defensive stance, using his shield to deflect Bardock's heavy blows while executing rapid, precise counter-slashes.
Standing on the sidelines, Brogy scratched his head nervously. As a spectator, he could clearly see the flow of the battle. Bardock was completely suppressing Dorry! If Dorry couldn't find an opening to launch a counter-offensive, he was genuinely going to lose! 'If Dorry loses... wait! If I fight Bardock next and win... doesn't that prove I'm stronger than Dorry?!'
While Bardock definitely held the upper hand, Dorry proved to be incredibly tenacious. The Giant possessed a terrifying arsenal of completely unorthodox, brutal techniques that occasionally forced Bardock onto the defensive.
For instance, Dorry deliberately left his guard wide open, allowing Bardock to swing his massive sword straight down toward his head. Instead of blocking with his shield or sword, Dorry caught the blade directly with his Haki-coated helmet spike, using the impact to violently jerk his head downward and launch a lethal, point-blank upward thrust at Bardock's exposed stomach!
It was a suicidal maneuver. If Dorry's Haki had failed to block Bardock's slash, his skull would have been cleaved in two. Bardock honestly wasn't sure if his Blood Dandelions could revive a Giant whose brain had been split in half.
Rattled by Dorry's sheer willingness to die for a single strike, Bardock tightened his focus, shifting to a more controlled, overwhelming offensive.
Finally, after a prolonged exchange, Bardock found an opening. With a brutal upward swing, he parried Dorry's sword with such force that the massive weapon was violently torn from the Giant's grip, embedding itself deep into a nearby cliff face.
Dorry instantly raised his shield, preparing to charge forward in a desperate, bare-knuckle tackle, but Bardock was faster.
The pitch-black tip of Bardock's Nimbus broadsword came to a dead stop, hovering exactly one inch from Dorry's throat.
"You lose," Bardock declared calmly, dispelling the massive sword back into a cloud of vapor.
Dorry froze, staring at the empty air where the blade had been. He remained completely silent for a long moment.
"Why didn't you kill me?" Dorry finally asked, his voice heavy. "In the traditions of Elbaf, dying in a sacred duel is the highest honor. You won. You should have completed the ritual and allowed me to end my life in glory."
"I'm not from Elbaf. And you aren't my enemy," Bardock replied flatly, turning his massive head to look at Brogy.
Brogy snapped out of his shock and immediately charged into the clearing. "Gabababababa! Dorry! You lost so quickly! Watch closely as I defeat Bardock and claim the title of Elbaf's Greatest Warrior!"
"Keep dreaming! I'll never surrender that title to you!" Dorry roared back, though a rare, genuine smile touched his lips. He slapped Brogy on the chest as he walked past him. "Be careful. Don't lose."
As Dorry moved to the sidelines to watch, Brogy excitedly hefted his axe. "Do you need to rest, Bardock?!"
"That was just a warm-up! Let's get started!" Bardock grinned. While the fight had definitely consumed some stamina, his Mythical Zoan recovery rate was already rapidly replenishing it. He was more than ready for round two.
"Here I come!"
Brogy roared, coating his axe and shield in Armament Haki. Unlike Dorry, who favored technical swordplay and counterattacks, Brogy was a pure, aggressive brawler.
Whether it was a cultural hallmark of Elbaf or simply the personal styles of these two captains, their combat techniques were brutally simple and devoid of any flashy, unnecessary movements. Every swing was designed for maximum efficiency and pure destructive power.
Brogy's axe howled as it cleaved through the air; Bardock's Nimbus sword hummed as it met the strikes head-on. The jungle shook as the two titans clashed.
Much like Dorry, Brogy was entirely willing to trade his life for a decisive blow. During a fierce exchange, Brogy deliberately lowered his shield, allowing Bardock's blade to carve a massive, bloody gash across his chest just so he could launch a completely unblockable, point-blank axe swing at Bardock's head.
Having already learned his lesson from Dorry, Bardock was fully prepared. He instantly activated Soru, vanishing into thin air and completely dodging the lethal strike.
With Brogy heavily wounded from his own reckless gambit and completely off-balance from missing his swing, the fight was effectively over.
Bardock had won two consecutive matches against legendary Giants. Yet, he felt no arrogance. He had fully expected to win; in fact, he hadn't even utilized his full arsenal of techniques during either fight.
"Brogy! Are you alright?!" Dorry immediately ran over, seeing the massive pool of blood forming under his rival.
"Gababababa! Well, Dorry... it looks like we both lost," Brogy laughed weakly, struggling to sit up as blood poured from his chest. "We're back to square one!"
"Don't move, Brogy. Your wound is incredibly deep. I'll go fetch some bandages," Dorry said, turning to run back to the camp.
"Wait," Bardock interrupted, shrinking back down to human size.
He pulled several Blood Dandelions out of his pouch and pressed them directly onto the Giant's massive wound. The glowing spores instantly melted into the flesh. In a matter of seconds, the horrific gash completely closed up, leaving behind smooth, unblemished skin.
Brogy touched his chest in sheer disbelief. "It's completely healed! That medicine is a miracle, Bardock!"
"It's nothing. I'll leave a few extra with you guys before we sail. They can save your lives in an emergency," Bardock smiled.
He then got straight to the point. "By the way... I've heard rumors about a legendary Elbaf technique called Hakoku (Sovereignty). Why didn't either of you use it during the fights?"
"You know about Hakoku?" Brogy asked, genuinely surprised. "That is indeed the ultimate, sacred technique of Elbaf. It can be unleashed by a single warrior, but it is infinitely more powerful when executed simultaneously by two. However... the technique requires a significant amount of time to gather focus and physical momentum. It's incredibly difficult to utilize in a high-speed, close-quarters, one-on-one duel."
"I see," Bardock nodded thoughtfully.
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