"Law! You brat, you really are lucky to have joined such a powerful pirate crew!" Doflamingo sneered, his voice dripping with malice. "But tell me, what is the price for taking my life? Is it the Eternal Youth Surgery of the Op-Op Fruit? Fuffuffuffu!"
The Eternal Youth Surgery!
If word of this reached the outside world, countless people would scramble and kill each other to get their hands on Law. Whether it truly granted immortality or just extended one's lifespan, as long as it was associated with "Eternal Youth," people would flock to it like moths to a flame—even if it were just a smoke screen!
However, Doflamingo didn't see the greedy expression he expected from Ren Kurogane.
Ren, and even his entire crew, remained exceptionally calm. It was as if the concept of immortality meant absolutely nothing to them!
And indeed, it didn't, because Ren and his crew were all equipped with Pure Gold. While they didn't know the exact limits of Pure Gold, living for tens of thousands of years shouldn't be an issue. Thus, Doflamingo's words sounded utterly ridiculous to them.
Immortality? That was something they already had within reach. (Ren figuratively tucked his hands on his hips in triumph!)
"Law, can you handle this guy yourself?" Ren asked.
"No problem!"
Law stepped forward slowly, his eyes burning with murderous intent directed at Doflamingo.
"Room!"
Wasting no more words, Law instantly expanded his domain. A blue, translucent barrier enveloped Doflamingo and his "family" members.
"Amputate!"
Law drew his long blade, Kikoku, and slashed at the air dozens of times!
Shring! Shring! Shring!
The sound of blades cutting through the air echoed. Behind Doflamingo, his family members were instantly dismembered, their body parts floating haphazardly through the air!
Doflamingo managed to dodge the attack thanks to his high-level Observation Haki, but he was already break out in a cold sweat.
"How is this possible?! It's only been a little over a year, and this brat has grown so much stronger!" Doflamingo's heart hammered against his ribs, sweat trickling down his forehead.
His family members shouted and cursed in panic, but in the next second, Law teleported them all outside the domain, leaving Doflamingo alone.
"Donquixote Doflamingo! If you take your own life now, I might let your family go," Law said, a wickedly cold smile playing on his lips.
"Take my own life?" Doflamingo paused, then erupted in fury. "Don't get cocky, brat! You're just a lucky waste! Even if you've found a powerful backer, it doesn't change the fact that you're a loser!"
Doflamingo curved his fingers like claws, swinging his arm toward Law!
"Five Color Strings!"
Threads, nearly transparent and razor-sharp, shot from his fingertips straight toward Law's face!
Law didn't dare to be careless. While Ren Kurogane looked down on Doflamingo, it was only because Ren was so powerful that Doflamingo was like a child to him. Law, however, did not possess Ren's transcendent strength; he had to remain extremely cautious to avoid an upset.
It wasn't that he couldn't be saved, but Law had just declared he would handle this alone. If he had to call for help immediately, the humiliation would come far too fast...
Flash!
Law swapped places with a small pebble, letting the Five Color Strings hit nothing but air. Simultaneously, Law appeared behind Doflamingo. Kikoku was coated in a blue glow, the same color as his Room.
Upon closer look, the blue barrier that had previously surrounded them had vanished, its entire energy condensed into Law's current strike!
"Scalpel! Heart-Break!"
Doflamingo's Observation Haki screamed a warning. This move was dangerous; if it hit, he might very well die right here!
"Bastard!"
Doflamingo roared. Faced with Law's teleportation, he didn't have enough time to turn and block.
"Die, Donquixote Doflamingo!"
Law shouted. Just as the attack was about to connect, Doflamingo's body seemed to be jerked forward by an invisible force, narrowly avoiding the blow.
"What?" Law followed the direction of Doflamingo's movement and saw a thin string extending from Doflamingo's hand to a distant rock. He had pulled himself out of harm's way.
As expected, landing a single-target strike on Doflamingo is difficult unless he gets careless, Law thought. But with Ren Kurogane watching from the sidelines, Doflamingo wouldn't dare be careless.
To defeat Doflamingo head-on, Law realized he needed to use extraordinary means—perhaps awakening his Devil Fruit to use those inevitable, distance-ignoring techniques! Only then could he truly kill the man.
However, Law's inner turmoil hadn't been fully resolved, making a Fruit Awakening nearly impossible. For now, he would have to win the hard way.
"Overheat!"
Doflamingo swung his leg in a whip-kick. A thick, glowing orange string extended from his toe, slicing through the air with lightning speed toward Law!
"Room!"
The blue domain expanded again. Law swapped places with a pebble to dodge. Then, coating his blade in Armament Haki, he swung a massive flying slash!
"A swordsman?!"
Doflamingo dared not be reckless. He crossed his arms, weaving strings into a massive web in front of him.
"Spider's Web!"
Boom!
The slash struck the web, resulting in a blinding explosion. When the light faded, Doflamingo's defense was perfectly intact.
"Fuffuffuffu! Law, it seems I overestimated you. If you weren't an ally of those people, I would have killed you by now," Doflamingo sneered.
"Tch! Stop talking to yourself. That was just a test. The real fight begins now!"
The moment Law finished speaking, he vanished and reappeared less than a meter from Doflamingo's face. His Haki-coated blade, radiating a chilling intent, was already at Doflamingo's throat!
"This brat!"
Doflamingo bent backward sharply, narrowly avoiding the horizontal slash.
Whoosh!
The white blade-aura tore through the sky, kicking up storms.
"Brat!" Doflamingo looked up to snap back, but Law was gone.
He vanished?
Before the thought could settle, a familiar whistling sound reached his ear.
Slice!
A flash of steel. Doflamingo leapt off the ground, treading on invisible strings as he retreated into the sky. His face was darker than ever, and in his hand, a severed ear was a glaring sight. It wasn't Law's ear—it was Doflamingo's own.
Even though he had avoided a fatal blow, Law's sword-qi had sliced off one of his ears. He placed his hand over the wound, and invisible strings quickly stitched it back together, making the ear look as it had before.
"Law! You brat... you've really pissed me off!" Doflamingo growled. He raised his hand toward the sky, and a white light shot out, transforming into a massive dome of strings that encased the area.
"Birdcage!" Law's heart skipped a beat. Looking around, he saw that the cage was small this time—barely three hundred meters in diameter. Ren Kurogane and the others were locked outside. From this moment on, it was a true duel.
"Law, witness the true power of a Devil Fruit!" Doflamingo landed back on the ground. "Ever White!"
Starting from Doflamingo, everything in the vicinity began to turn white. Rocks and debris were transformed into thick white strings for Doflamingo's use!
"This is the true power of an awakened Devil Fruit! A Paramecia awakening allows me to influence the environment around me, turning this place into my personal playground!" Doflamingo laughed triumphantly.
In his mind, with the Birdcage blocking Ren Kurogane, killing Law here was child's play. Through their exchange, he felt he had a grasp on Law's combat power. Law was at the level of a master swordsman and relied on teleporting with pebbles to cause trouble. But now, everything was his string—there was nothing left for Law to swap with!
"I wonder if Ren Kurogane will bother hunting me over a dead man?"
Law's expression remained unchanged, but his grip on his sword tightened. Damn you, Doflamingo!
Law was feeling the pressure. The "Ever White" was closing in, and with the Birdcage trapping him, there was nowhere to run.
"Since I can't run, I'll just have to kill the source!"
Law suddenly smiled. The hatred in his eyes was joined by a sense of calm. He was here, his crew was behind him—win or lose, Donquixote Doflamingo wasn't leaving this island alive today. What was there to worry about?
"Doflamingo, you are definitely going to die today!" Law laughed.
Doflamingo's face fell, his gaze flickering with uncertainty. He couldn't understand why Law was still talking so big. "Heh, let's see you try!"
"Billow White!"
At Doflamingo's command, the ground's strings rose like waves, crashing over Law in layers!
"Scalpel!"
Law's blade glowed with a blue aura. With one swing, he severed the strings in front of him. However, these strings seemed to have lives of their own; even when cut, they didn't stop, pressing down on Law even more fiercely.
Outside the Birdcage, seeing Law in danger, Krillin immediately went to draw his sword to help. Krillin was confident he could cut through the Birdcage—after all, he was the man who had almost sent Kaido packing.
Ren Kurogane raised a hand to stop him. "Don't be in a hurry. Law hasn't lost yet."
The others settled down, watching the fight tensely. Behind them, Vegapunk looked on with an odd expression. Are these guys underestimating the Shichibukai a bit too much?
Vegapunk knew how strong they were—the World Government had been secretly developing the Seraphim project using their blood. He had expected the pirates to swarm Doflamingo. He never expected them to let Law take him on in a 1v1.
Arrogant pirates... the old scientist thought.
Inside, Law was constantly swinging his blade, running and dodging. The entire world had become Doflamingo's domain. No matter where he hid, attacks followed. But Law wasn't frustrated; he was actually enjoying the fight! After a year of being one-sidedly pummeled by Ren Kurogane, this feeling of an even match was refreshing!
"Thousand Arrows, Wing-Strike, String!"
Doflamingo crossed his arms, and the white strings shot out like arrows from ten directions, surrounding Law! The tips were coated in black Armament Haki, vastly increasing their power.
Law expanded his domain once more and slashed rapidly.
"Nerve-Cut!"
The severed white waves suddenly lost their white appearance, reverting to their original forms as rocks.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Large rocks fell into the sea of strings. To Doflamingo's shock, the rocks didn't turn back into strings.
"What kind of ability is this?" Doflamingo's eyes widened. He tried to re-assimilate the rocks, but he found he could no longer influence them. As Law continued to slash, more and more rocks fell from the sky, finally giving Law a place to stand.
Standing on a stone, Law smiled. "Doflamingo, I understand what an Awakening is now."
"What?"
Law didn't bother to explain. Just now, the world in his eyes had changed. The so-called assimilation ability was full of holes in his sight. With a single cut, he could sever Doflamingo's influence over the surroundings.
While Doflamingo was dazed, Law leaped up and slashed. The strike didn't hit Doflamingo, but left an invisible wall beside him. Law didn't stop, sending several more slashes that flew past Doflamingo without touching him.
"Heh! What is this, a 'Mercy Sword-style'?" Doflamingo mocked.
But he quickly stopped laughing. He realized his Fruit Awakening had stopped working! The "Ever White" had vanished, reverting entirely to stone and earth.
Veins bulged on Doflamingo's forehead. He reached out and touched an invisible wall. This wall had completely sealed his abilities within a cramped space; his awakening was now useless. Even worse, his "God Thread" attacks couldn't even make the transparent walls ripple.
"What is going on?!"
"It's a move I just realized," Law explained with a smile. "I used my new ability to perform 'surgery' on the space around you."
Law sheathed his sword, looking up at the collapsing Birdcage. He had succeeded. From this day on, while Donquixote Doflamingo might technically be alive, he would no longer "exist" as he was.
"Surgery on space? Law! What do you mean by that!" Doflamingo was losing his composure. He couldn't break the invisible walls with his fruit or his physical strength.
Law didn't want to explain anymore. A blue halo appeared in his hand, and he tossed it toward Doflamingo.
"Farewell, Donquixote Doflamingo."
After a flash of blue light, Doflamingo's figure and his voice vanished from everyone's sight.