"A challenger should act like a challenger. With your meager skills, you don't have the right to spout such nonsense at me!"
Allen shouted, a fierce grin twisting his lips. He kicked off the ground and lunged forward, his figure weaving through the countless falling metal parts as he rapidly closed in on Kid!
Faced with this explosive charge, Kid hastily raised his arm and aimed it at him, several purple arcs of electricity bursting from his palm.
A ring of magnetic energy expanded outward, covering the surrounding metal parts. Under the pull of the magnetism, the metal pieces began to vibrate violently.
"Magnetism: Reflection Storm!!"
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Kid roared, clenching his fingers tightly. The swords, spears, and halberds around him, along with various miscellaneous pieces of metal, all shot out explosively under the repulsive force of his magnetism!
As the dense barrage of attacks flew toward him, Allen's eyes darkened. His relaxed body turned as thin as a piece of paper, dodging swiftly like a leaf fluttering in the wind.
*Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!*
The weapons rained down like a fierce storm. Every single strike was incredibly fast and powerful, blasting craters into the stone-paved ground and the walls of nearby houses upon impact.
In an instant, crushed stone sent debris flying, and thick, billowing clouds of dust and smoke rapidly spread outward from the center of the square.
At the same time, the crews of both sides clashed on the outskirts of the square.
...
News of the clash between the two pirate crews spread rapidly throughout the entire town amidst the panic of the citizens.
At the exact same time the battle broke out, on the other side of the island in the commercial district, several pirates lined up in a row, walking down the center of the street with arrogant strides.
"Oh? Over at St. Prince Square? It seems someone made a move before us."
"Weehahaha! We need to move faster, Captain! I can't wait to go wild!"
"The Kid Pirates, huh? Does that guy have his eyes on the Warlord position too?"
"Zehahahaha! This Warlord position is crucial to my plan. It'll be a real pain if it falls into someone else's hands!"
Blackbeard Teach, wearing an unbuttoned white shirt that exposed his rough skin and messy chest hair, threw his head back and laughed, revealing his gap-toothed grin.
Jesus Burgess the Champion, Van Augur the Sniper, Laffitte in his black-and-white suit, and Doc Q, who was slumped sickly over his horse—the four of them lined up, following behind Blackbeard with amused expressions.
"We just missed that guy when we went to Jaya Island earlier. To think that only a week later, I'd see the news of him becoming a Warlord in the newspaper."
"I never expected to run into them here again. Zehahahaha, this is a perfect opportunity!"
Blackbeard laughed heartily, lifting his bottle and tilting his head back to take a massive gulp of rum.
Then, he wiped the leftover liquor from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and casually tossed the bottle aside. A cold, vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he grinned maliciously.
"This is the guidance of fate! It means this battle between him and me was destined from the start! Zehahahaha!"
...
Back at St. Prince Square, the battle between the two pirate crews was in full swing. Flames erupted all around, accompanied by deafening explosions, as pungent black smoke filled every corner of the square.
*Bang!! Bang!!*
In the center of the square, two blindingly fast figures clashed fiercely, constantly unleashing shockwaves from their fists. After exchanging dozens of blows...
*Boom!!*
"Shave!!"
Shattering the reassembled mechanical arm with another punch, Allen stomped hard on the ground, his figure instantly vanishing from his spot.
The next second.
Reflected in Kid's shrinking pupils, Allen abruptly appeared right in front of him, raising a fist coated in Armament Haki and ruthlessly smashing it directly into his face!
*Bam!!*
"Uwaaagh—!!"
Kid spat out a mouthful of bloody froth, his nose completely caved into his face. His entire body was sent flying dozens of meters away by the sheer force of the punch.
His body skipped across the ground like a stone on water, crashing heavily before bouncing up. After tumbling several times, he slammed violently into a building at the edge of the square with a loud *crash!*
Rubble flew everywhere as the building collapsed, kicking up billowing clouds of dust that poured into the streets.
Allen bent his knees slightly, preparing to press his advantage, when suddenly, the metal parts scattered near him began to vibrate violently with loud *clacking* sounds.
The next instant, under Allen's astonished gaze, those metal pieces shot up, flying toward him from all directions at breakneck speed!
There were too many projectiles, and since they were coming from multiple angles, completely dodging them would be nearly impossible.
'I have to take it head-on!'
Allen made the split-second decision in his mind. He spread his legs and dropped into a half-squat, pumping his blood and tensing his muscles as Armament Haki rapidly coated his entire body.
"Armament・Iron Body・Steel!!"
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
A dense barrage of metallic clashing rang out. Whether it was swords, spears, halberds, or random metal objects, striking his body was like hitting a solid steel plate. They continuously ricocheted off him or clattered uselessly to the ground.
"Magnetic Prison!!"
At that moment, Kid's furious roar suddenly echoed from the distant dust cloud.
The weapons continuously raining down around Allen suddenly sparked with purple electricity, the arcs connecting with one another.
Drawn by an explosive magnetic force, those metal weapons forcefully clamped together, rapidly constructing a square prison that locked Allen inside.
Kid's figure gradually emerged from the smoke. His bloodied face made him look even more ferocious. His left hand was aimed at Allen, fingers slightly curled, as arcs of electricity danced across his fingertips, manipulating the prison to lock tightly together.
He held his right arm out horizontally. A massive amount of metal flew toward it, deforming and reassembling as it attached to his arm to form a mechanical limb. Only this time, the end of the mechanical arm wasn't a hand, but a giant, sharp, spiraling drill.
"That punch really hurt... you bastard...!"
Kid walked forward with a vicious, savage grin, the drill on his mechanical arm slowly starting to spin.
With every step he took, the drill's rotation accelerated, until it began to shoot out continuous sparks accompanied by an ear-piercing screech.
"Heh, you aren't actually expecting to trap me with something like this, are you?"
The corners of Allen's mouth curled up slightly. Despite the mockery in his voice, a hint of admiration couldn't help but show in his eyes.
To take a full-power Armament Haki punch directly to the face, forcefully remain conscious, intercept his pursuit, and even use his Devil Fruit ability to create this prison as a counterattack...
He had to admit, although Kid was reckless, his combat intuition and sheer ruthlessness were worthy of praise.
It was just a pity that a prison of this level might have delayed him for a moment in the past, but to the current him, it was practically non-existent.
Allen raised his arms and activated his ability. The area from his wrists down to his fingertips rapidly transformed into a pair of translucent, orange-red crab claws.
This was a type of land crab that lived on the Boin Archipelago. Its powerful crushing force could reach over a hundred times its own body weight.
When these pincers were manifested through his Devil Fruit ability, even an ordinary person could unleash nearly ten tons of crushing force, easily pulverizing solid rock.
And with the enhancement of Allen's terrifying physical stats, these claws could effortlessly tear through steel as if it were paper.
*Crack—Crack—Crack!*
Allen pressed the tips of his giant claws against the steel bars of the prison. As he began to exert force, the steel bars twisted under the overwhelming pressure, letting out loud popping sounds.
Under Kid's incredulous gaze, the sturdy prison bars—reinforced by the pull of his magnetism—were effortlessly torn apart by the giant claws as if they were made of paper!
"Warm-up's over. Let's officially begin the combat phase..."
Allen's arms returned to normal. He slowly walked out of the ruined prison, his gaze fixed ruthlessly on Kid as he bared his teeth in a cold sneer.
"If this is all you've got, you can start praying right now. Pray that I don't beat you to death right here."