That light, mocking greeting echoed faintly through the great hall of Onigashima.
The entire Beast Pirates, thousands of elite members, stood frozen in place, dumbstruck.
Utter humiliation.
Since the end of the Rocks era, on these seas, even the man hailed as the world's strongest, Whitebeard Newgate, could not possibly block a full-power swing from Boss Kaido with nothing but a bare palm, not even hardened with Armament Haki!
What the hell kind of human was this?!
"Arrogant Navy scum..."
A heavy, ragged breath escaped from deep within Kaido's throat, transforming into a visible white shockwave that blasted away the shattered stone slabs beneath their feet.
He abruptly released his grip on the kanabo, stomped his feet heavily on the ground, and his massive body shot backward dozens of meters to create distance.
BOOM—!
The violent, black-red Conqueror's Haki Pressure intensified exponentially at this moment! The solidified shockwaves of wind scraped painfully against the faces of the nearby Tobiroppo, nearly peeling their skin off.
"The boss has completely lost it! People are gonna die! Get the hell away!"
Queen's eyes nearly popped out of his head in terror. Dragging his incredibly elastic bulk, he scrambled and tumbled out of the hall's wreckage, diving headfirst into a pile of distant boulders where he trembled uncontrollably.
High above.
"Fire Calamity" King hovered in the clouds, his wings spread wide. Beneath his iconic mask, a bead of cold sweat the size of a pea slid down his temple, his eyes fixed intently on the slender figure clad in a Justice Coat below.
Too bizarre!
Even the so-called God Race with the world's greatest defense—the Lunarian Tribe—could never find such a casual, effortless way to counter that kind of pure, monstrous physical collision!
Just what kind of monster was hidden within the human shell of this Navy Admiral codenamed "Calamity"?!
"ROOOOAR—!!!"
A grating, teeth-chilling sound of muscles and bones grinding frantically against each other suddenly erupted.
Kaido's originally massive, demonic humanoid body rapidly expanded against the wind! His limbs stretched infinitely, dense blue-green scales burst through his skin, and the ferocious twin horns on his head shot skyward.
In less than two seconds!
A blue-green dragon, hundreds of meters long and blotting out the sky, roared as it coiled and rose! Its incomparably enormous body forcibly shattered the top of Onigashima's fortress!
BOOM! CRASH!
Tens of thousands of tons of rubble mixed with broken steel rained down chaotically from mid-air.
Above the clouds, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.
The Azure Dragon extended its colossal head, its golden vertical pupils looking down upon the tiny human figure below, its long dragon whiskers dancing wildly in the fierce wind.
"Uwohohohohoho!"
Mad, booming laughter rolled down from deep within the clouds, shaking the raging seas around Onigashima, causing towering waves to crash against the shore, churning up layers of white foam.
"To catch my club with one hand... you truly have the right to be arrogant! Among the lapdogs raised by those World Government trash, there's finally a monster who can let me have a bit of fun!"
The Azure Dragon twisted violently amidst the rolling black clouds, its massive maw—capable of swallowing entire cities—suddenly gaped wide.
Sssss—!
The oxygen within a radius of several thousand meters was instantly drained away. An utterly terrifying, destructive heat compressed and gathered madly deep within the dragon's throat!
A blinding, deep orange-red light instantly illuminated the night sky over all of Wano Country! Even civilians deep in the mountains of Kuri could see that despair-inducing celestial phenomenon.
The extreme high temperatures caused the air above Onigashima to warp and refract severely, distorting the surrounding scenery into bizarre, surreal shapes.
Orochi lay collapsed beneath a table, tears and snot streaming down his face, hands clutching his head, so terrified he even forgot to use his Mythical Zoan Eight-Headed Serpent abilities.
"That madman! Doesn't he care about my life at all?!"
The Beast Pirates underlings who hadn't run far enough were in even more miserable states. Without even touching the flames, their skin was already sweating oil, their hair curling and scorching in patches, unable to even utter cries for help.
"Die, Calamity!!!"
The Azure Dragon let out a tyrannical, savage roar.
Bolo Breath!!!
BOOM—!!!
A pillar of orange-red fire over a hundred meters in diameter, piercing through heaven and earth, poured down from the dragon's maw!
Everything in its path was utterly incinerated.
Where the fiery pillar passed, massive rocks directly melted into crimson magma, stretching out a destructive net of heavenly fire in mid-air.
The bullseye of this attack was Kane, whose stance hadn't shifted an inch.
The storm whipped his Justice coat, making it flap loudly.
Facing the ultra-high-temperature breath capable of erasing an island from the map, Kane raised his right hand, pinched out his half-smoked cigar, and flicked it aside.
Simultaneously, his left hand steadily grasped the pitch-black hilt at his waist.
Shiiing—!
The friction sound of the blade leaving its sheath was exceptionally crisp and clear amidst the roaring flames.
As that slender black blade completely freed itself from the scabbard's restraint!
An aura more domineering, more overwhelming than the Azure Dragon in the sky violently awakened from within Kane.
Top-tier Conqueror's Haki.
Black-red energy swirled up from Kane's feet, tightly coiling into the edge of the Black Blade.
At the center of their clash, space instantly exhibited a visible phenomenon of collapse and depression! The countless falling rubble, upon reaching halfway into contact with this supremely powerful aura, all silently turned into the finest dust.
"Since you're so fond of playing with fire."
Kane gripped the hilt with both hands.
The Admiral's coat danced in the gale. The lines of his muscles bulged distinctly beneath his specially-made Navy shirt. Converging the one hundred points of Physical Prowess power that surpassed mortal limits, combined with the pinnacle swordsmanship of a Great Swordsman.
Without any elaborate or flashy opening stance.
From bottom to top.
He swung the blade.
"Getsuga—"
Kane's voice was soft, yet it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
"—Tenshō!"
Swoosh—!!!
A black-red, crescent-shaped supreme slash hundreds of meters long, spanning the entire sky above Onigashima, broke free from the pitch-black blade!
Carrying a savage will to tear the heavens asunder, it shot straight upward against the descending orange-red heavenly fire!
There was no earth-shattering energy explosion.
The anticipated scene of an evenly matched, mutually canceling stalemate did not appear.
Under the horrified, despairing gazes of Queen, King, and countless pirates.
That terrifying black-red crescent sliced with impossible smoothness into the ultimate Bolo Breath capable of melting islands!
Right down the middle, it split it in two!
Boom! Boom!
The two severed pillars of flame swept past Kane's sides, crashing into the inland sea behind him. Seawater evaporated by the ton into white mist, exposing and drying the seabed.
The crescent slash continued unabated, its momentum carrying it skyward with overwhelming sharpness!
High above the clouds, the Azure Dragon's golden vertical pupils abruptly contracted!
Its immense draconic body sensed the threat of death, instinctively wanting to twist and evade.
But, it was too fast!
Faster than the limits of Observation Haki could capture.
Riiiiip—!!!
The black-red light of the half-moon grazed past the Azure Dragon's massive head, cleaving through the thick thunderclouds and vanishing into the infinite heights of the firmament.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR—!!!"
A cry of utmost agony suddenly erupted in the sky.
It began to rain.
Only, it was a rain of blood.
Scalding dragon blood showered down from the clouds, drenching the remaining ruins of Onigashima below in crimson.
"THUD!!!"
A massive, sharp object larger than a house slammed heavily beside King's feet, creating a crater dozens of meters deep.
King stiffly lowered his head.
His eyes behind the mask lost focus, staring blankly at the pit's bottom.
It was an Azure Dragon horn, covered in spiral patterns, its severed base as smooth as a mirror.
The thousands of Beast Pirates members present, including the Disasters, collectively fell silent at that moment.
They craned their stiff necks, staring dumbly at the Azure Dragon clutching its broken horn and roaring in pain in the sky, then at the massive, steaming horn on the ground.
One slash.
Just one slash.
It had broken the "Strongest Creature's" breath and severed one of his horns?
"Uwohohoho... cough... Uwohohohohoho—!!!"
The pained roar soon transformed into a sick, maniacal laughter.
Kaido's enormous dragon head looked down at the figure on the ground. The blood flowing from his broken horn made his ferocious face appear even more twisted.
Far from fear, he was excited to the extreme.
I'll die!
I really will die!
This man can truly kill me!
Amidst the bloody rain.
Kane, with extreme showmanship, twirled his sword with one hand, flicked his wrist, and sheathed [Zangetsu] with precision.
He walked over to the dragon horn taller than himself, reached out, and lightly tapped it, producing a clear, jade-like sound.
Then, he looked up at Kaido in the sky and offered a friendly smile.
"Hey, Kaido."
"This horn of yours... must be pretty valuable, right?"
"How about we use it to offset a hundred million Berry?"
"You don't mind, do you?"