"Boom..."
At nearly teleport-like speed, Galahad Anne, transformed into a witch, thrust herself straight at Yemu.
"So fast!"
For an instant, Yemu felt as though even his Observation Haki couldn't keep up with her movements.
With Haki fully coating them, Galahad Anne's legs had become the most terrifying weapons imaginable.
Yemu hurriedly raised his arms, crossing them in front of his chest as Armament Haki spread across them to block the strike.
"Boom!"
"What overwhelming power!"
It felt as if Yemu had been hit head-on by a solid cannonball.
That kind of force could shatter metal and stone with ease.
But his shock didn't end there. In the next moment, an even more terrifying power erupted from the point where they collided.
"This is… Haki emission!"
Yemu sensed it instantly.
The violent impact slammed into him like a small mountain, sending his body flying backward.
His feet tore through the ground, carving a long, deep trench across the earth.
"Incredible!"
Just that brief exchange was enough to make Yemu completely reevaluate Galahad Anne.
Rayleigh had been right after all.
She was beautiful, but just as dangerous as her looks was the power she possessed.
And this was only the beginning.
Compared to using her fists, Galahad Anne clearly preferred attacking with her long, slender legs, the part of her body she took the greatest pride in.
She leapt high into the air, and like a hawk diving on its prey, her straightened legs turned into a witch's spear, plunging straight down from above.
The ground split apart in an instant...
...
"Has it already started?"
When Rayleigh arrived with the others, the scene before them was nothing short of unbelievable.
Volcanic ash billowed into the air, darkening the sky. The atmosphere was stiflingly hot and dry, filled with a choking smell of sulfur.
In this dim, ashen world, only the glow of molten lava provided any light.
Looking down into the massive crater, they saw Yemu standing at its center.
All around him were countless figures of Galahad Anne, appearing at different positions almost instantaneously. Her body danced through the air as she unleashed an endless barrage of astonishing kicks at Yemu.
Each collision of power sent shockwaves rippling through the air, exploding outward.
Yemu was clearly at a disadvantage, forced into pure defense.
The ground beneath his feet continued to collapse as streams of searing magma began to surge upward.
"Incredible..."
"Incredible..."
The same word came from two different mouths.
One was Flare. The other was Gloriosa.
The two exchanged a glance before Gloriosa finally spoke.
"He actually managed to block Anne's Demon Bind..."
"Demon Bind!?"
Just hearing the name sent a wave of unease through everyone present.
"Yes."
Gloriosa didn't try to hide anything, nor was there any need to.
"It's Anne's unique Armament Haki technique. She wraps her Haki around her body and even her clothing. In this state, she can freely switch between offense and defense at any moment, using different Haki techniques and pushing both her attack and defense to their limits."
"And because she looks like a demon crawling out of hell when she uses it, this technique is called Demon Bind."
Gloriosa's explanation left a heavy sense of unease hanging in everyone's hearts…
…
At the center of the battlefield, Yemu was under wave after wave of Galahad Anne's dazzling yet deadly kicking techniques, and the shock he felt was undeniable.
It wasn't that he didn't want to counterattack. He simply couldn't.
It was almost unbelievable.
Even while forced into a purely defensive position, careful observation allowed him to discern something terrifying about Galahad Anne's current state: her exquisitely refined use of Haki.
This woman's control over Haki had reached an almost unfathomable level.
She wrapped Haki around her body and even her clothes, granting herself overwhelming defense while retaining precise control over it. At any moment, she could trigger explosive bursts similar to Haki emission, converting that defense directly into devastating offensive power.
That was something Yemu still couldn't do.
To put it simply, he couldn't maintain full Haki coating and outward emission at the same time. He could layer Haki over hardened defense, but the moment he attempted emission, all the accumulated Haki would pour out at once.
But she managed it.
And on top of that, her physical combat skills were flawless, especially her kicking techniques. Every strike fell like a violent storm, leaving no room to breathe, let alone counterattack.
Still, that didn't mean Yemu was helpless.
His eyes locked onto Galahad Anne as she flickered relentlessly through the sky.
If finesse wouldn't work, then he would crush her with sheer power.
As Galahad Anne's legs came crashing down like massive cannons, radiating a pitch-black glow that seemed capable of piercing anything, Yemu gathered everything he had into his right fist.
At the instant he caught his opening, his clenched fist opened into a palm, and a violent surge of Haki erupted outward.
"Oh!"
Galahad Anne's eyes burned with battle intent as the Armament Haki on her legs intensified even further.
In an instant, black lightning crackled through the air.
The collision of their power sent shockwaves tearing through the surroundings. The violent impact blasted everything nearby away, the air itself trembling under the force.
In that moment, it seemed as though victory had tipped in Yemu's favor.
Galahad Anne's control over Haki was exquisite, but supported by his overwhelmingly powerful body, Yemu's Haki was equally monstrous. The emitted shockwave he unleashed was nothing short of terrifying.
"Looks like I've won."
A flash of surprise crossed Galahad Anne's eyes. She managed to hold on for only a few seconds before her body was flung away like a kite with its string snapped. Her dark silhouette streaked across the sky like lightning, slamming violently into the rim of the volcano.
With a deafening roar, the entire crater split apart.
...
"How… how is that possible…Anne-sama actually lost again in a contest of Haki…"
Among everyone present, the Kuja warriors were the most stunned. In their understanding, their empress's Haki was already overwhelmingly powerful.
The last time she lost to a man named Rayleigh, Gloriosa had explained just how terrifying that man truly was. Knowing that, her defeat had been easy to accept.
But now, looking at the man before them, someone even younger than their empress…
"So this is the monster with a bounty of 940 million Belly in the outer seas…"
A trace of worry surfaced in the Kuja warriors' eyes.
If the outside world was filled with monsters like this, then what would become of the Kuja's future?
Sensing their unease, Rayleigh spoke up to reassure them.
"Don't worry. Monsters who completely defy common sense like young Yemu are extremely rare even in the outer seas. There's no need to be overly concerned. The Kuja are still very strong."
"Really!?"
Though Rayleigh's words were likely meant as comfort, Gloriosa and the others did seem to relax somewhat.
Just then, Enel spoke up from the side, his tone filled with confusion.
"Yemu's body is absurdly strong. Could it be because of that D-something the old hag mentioned?"
The moment those words left his mouth, before anyone else could react, Rayleigh froze on the spot.