"ROAR——!!!"
A tiger's roar shook the heavens, scattering the clouds!
His body expanded rapidly, transforming in an instant into the true form of the ancient ferocious beast, "Qiongqi."
Over ten meters in length, with a shoulder height exceeding five meters, his saber-teeth were as formidable as halberds.
The wings on his back fully extended, with a wingspan of more than twenty meters.
A savage, murderous aura swept across the entire sea like a tsunami!
This was the true form of General "Qiongqi."
This was why he was called the "Ferocious Beast."
At this moment, his imposing aura climbed to an unprecedented peak.
His powerful beastly legs stomped violently on the void, directly exploding the air, and using the recoil, he lunged straight at the Sword Qi Black Dragon!
His two massive claws were wreathed in boiling Blood-red Ryuo.
The tiger claws and the Black Dragon's head collided fiercely!
BOOM——!!!!
Destructive shockwaves rippled out in all directions.
This explosion far surpassed all previous ones in scale.
What the explosion stirred up was not giant waves, but a tsunami.
Centered on the point of impact, a wall of water over three hundred meters high surged outward at a speed exceeding that of sound.
Everything in the path of the water wall was swallowed and crushed.
The residual waves raged like a hurricane, completely clearing the clouds from the sky and revealing the azure blue.
But Kleist's enormous beastly form was forced back continuously under the terrifying impact.
With each step back, the space beneath his feet shattered like broken glass.
His tiger claws desperately held back the Black Dragon's head, Blood-red Ryuo and dark red Conqueror's Haki clashing wildly, the light from their annihilating energy blinding to the eye.
He was retreating.
But the speed of his retreat was slowing.
He was resisting.
And Raiver Sky gave him no chance to resist to the end.
In a flash, Raiver Sky appeared directly above his head.
He had used Space Jump to arrive just ten meters above Kleist's fully beastified, massive body.
"Damn it—!"
Kleist was horrified.
In his beastified state, his perception was sharper, his intuition for danger stronger.
The moment Raiver Sky appeared, he sensed a lethal threat.
Yet, at this moment, he was using all his strength to resist the Sword Qi Black Dragon and had no capacity to deal with anything else.
If he diverted his focus to defend against the attack from above, he would be devoured by the Black Dragon.
If he didn't defend… the attack from above was equally fatal.
A dilemma.
But Raiver Sky gave him no choice.
Raiver Sky slowly raised his hands, fingers spread, and softly uttered four words:
"Almighty Push."
BZZZT—!!!
This Almighty Push was completely different from before.
It wasn't an expanding repulsive force field, but a directed shockwave.
All the repulsive force was compressed into a cylindrical Shockwave merely three meters in diameter.
It shot from Raiver Sky's palms and slammed violently into Kleist's massive beastly form!
Target—the spine.
PFFT—!!
Kleist vomited a mouthful of blood wildly.
The spine was the key support for his enormous body.
Even after beastification, this weakness remained.
And Raiver Sky's Almighty Push struck this weakness with precision.
Kleist's gigantic beastly form stiffened abruptly.
The power resisting the Black Dragon faltered for an instant.
It was in that very instant.
The Sword Qi Black Dragon seized the momentum and surged forward, slamming fiercely into his chest and abdomen!
The hundred-meter-long Sword Qi Black Dragon concentrated all its energy in its head, crashing into him like a meteor.
Black Dragon impact, repulsive force crushing—a dual assault.
Kleist's massive beastly form was sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut.
One times the speed of sound, two times, three times...
The air was torn apart at high speed, emitting a piercing, shrill sonic boom.
Kleist's body tumbled and spun through the air, leaving a trail of blood rain in its wake.
Finally, he crashed into the vast ocean like a meteor.
Boom—!!!
The sea surface erupted with towering waves nearly a hundred meters high.
Kleist sank straight into the deep sea.
Meanwhile, high above the sea, Raiver Sky slowly withdrew his hands and took a deep breath.
The battle was over.
"Ding! Mission complete."
The system's prompt echoed in his mind, calm and mechanical.
"Reward issued: Congratulations, you have obtained top-tier Armament Haki."
A powerful surge of energy flowed from deep within his body, spreading through his limbs and bones.
Raiver Sky clenched his fist, feeling the new power coursing within him, then turned his gaze toward the distant Divine Right.
He had to leave quickly.
He immediately returned to the Divine Right, reactivated the Directional Void Stream, and sped off toward Hachinosu Island.
He needed to deliver the Celestial Dragon to Hachinosu Island as soon as possible to complete the task.
Who knew how many experts the Marines and the World Government would send to intercept and kill him.
...
Half an hour later.
In the territorial waters of the Sinatu Kingdom, on the shore of a deserted island.
Waves gently lapped at the beach, producing a rhythmic splashing sound.
A seabird landed on a reef, pecking at small fish washed ashore.
Suddenly—
"Cough... cough..."
Violent coughing sounds emerged from the sea.
The seabird, startled, flapped its wings and flew away.
A disheveled figure struggled to crawl onto the beach.
It was Kleist.
Or rather, Kleist restored to his human form.
He still wore his tattered admiral uniform, with a noticeable dent in his chest—the mark left by the Black Dragon's impact.
The clothing on his back, near his spine, was completely shredded, revealing extensive bruising on his skin, deep enough to glimpse bone.
He lay on his back on the sand, gasping for breath, each inhale accompanied by bloody foam.
His lungs were likely ruptured, and his internal organs severely injured.
But he was alive.
As the embodiment of the ancient ferocious beast Qiongqi, his vitality was terrifyingly tenacious.
Earlier, when he was blasted into the deep sea, if not for his full beast transformation granting him the ancient beast's resilience and defense, coupled with Ryuo protecting his body, he would have surely died on the spot.
Even so, he was gravely wounded.
The most troublesome part was that he was a Devil Fruit user; falling into the sea should have been a death sentence.
But he had undergone long-term desensitization and resistance training against seawater.
Though he couldn't fully negate its effects, he minimized the impact enough to retain basic mobility.
That was how he managed to swim ashore desperately.
Kleist laboriously reached into his chest and pulled out a soaked Den Den Mushi.
The Den Den Mushi was on the verge of death but barely managed to connect.
"Buru buru... buru buru... click."
"Hello, Kleist—have you retrieved the Celestial Dragon?"
Marshal Kong's voice came from the other end, carrying a hint of urgency.
Kleist let out a bitter laugh, his voice hoarse:
"Marshal Kong, I have been severely wounded by Raiver Sky. Please locate this Den Den Mushi's position immediately and send someone to extract me."
"What?!"
Marshal Kong's voice was filled with utter shock.
An admiral, severely wounded?
By a twenty-year-old pirate?
This...
"We'll discuss the details when we get back," Kleist said with difficulty. "Send someone to pick me up first... I can't move."
"Alright, I understand."
The communication ended.
The Den Den Mushi completely lost its vitality, slumping weakly in Kleist's hand.
He weakly let go, and the Den Den Mushi rolled onto the beach.
Kleist lay sprawled on the shore, gazing up at the blue sky and white clouds above, letting out a long sigh.
Exhaustion and helplessness nearly overwhelmed him.