"Dark Bullet!!"
A gruff shout echoed through the labyrinthine residential district. A massive cloud of black mist swallowed the streets and alleys, causing buildings to sink wherever it passed.
Teach stared ahead with a ruthless glare. Raising his arm, which had completely turned pitch-black, he continuously fired egg-sized bullets of darkness from his palm, each packing a powerful gravitational pull.
The two pairs of wings on Allen's back vibrated at high frequency. He flew low, skimming the mist-covered ground, his agile form dodging the incoming attacks.
When the dark bullets struck the walls of the houses, they erupted with an incredibly powerful, distorting gravity, crushing and pulverizing holes right through the structures.
"Tch! How is this bastard so agile?!"
Teach cursed through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with fury. He immediately raised his other hand, unleashing black mist from his palm to generate a massive gravitational pull.
Caught in the pull, Allen's flight instantly became difficult to control, and he was dragged toward Teach at an even greater speed.
Although Blackwater was impossible to break free from once it locked onto an ability user, the body could still move while being pulled in.
Seeing the barrage of dark bullets about to hit him head-on, Allen quickly relaxed his body, employing his Shaori technique.
"Shaori・Paper Art!!"
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
The dark bullets whistled past him. Allen's body twisted and swayed rapidly in mid-air, bending into bizarre shapes like a slip of paper to evade the onslaught.
Arriving right in front of Teach, Allen launched an upward kick to deflect the hand firing the dark bullets. However, Teach's other hand grabbed his ankle, instantly sealing his abilities.
Allen didn't panic in the slightest. Tapping the ground lightly with his free foot, he launched himself into the air and whipped a brutal kick right into Teach's face!
*Bang!!*
"Pfft-gah!"
A spray of blood flew from Teach's mouth. His entire face was warped by the impact of the kick, and he stumbled, nearly collapsing.
*Thud!*
A second later, Teach stomped heavily to forcefully steady himself. Glaring viciously at the airborne Allen, he pulled back a fist coated in Armament Haki and threw a ferocious punch!
However, despite his immense strength, his speed was far too slow in Allen's eyes.
Relying on his incredible core strength, Allen bent backward at the waist. After dodging the punch, he planted his hands on the ground, engaged his abdominal muscles, and pulled his trapped leg back to drag Teach forward before violently thrusting both feet out!
*Bang!!*
The heavy, powerful double kick slammed brutally into Teach's chest. Teach gritted his teeth as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His entire body skidded backward, yet his hand maintained a death grip on Allen's foot.
"Die, you bastard!"
Teach roared in fury. Twisting his body, he used his grip on Allen's foot to ruthlessly slam him into the ground!
*Crash!!*
Allen's upper body smashed violently against the earth and bounced up. Teach seized the opportunity, swiftly reaching out to grab Allen by the throat.
"Zehahaha! Did you think I could only fight you with martial arts? You're too naive, you bastard."
Teach sneered, lifting Allen by the neck. A massive amount of black mist surged from his body, rapidly spreading toward his injuries.
"The Dark-Dark Fruit isn't like other Logia types. It absorbs all damage—swords, bullets, fire, lightning, everything."
"But in exchange for taking that damage, it grants me another ability—the power to absorb the injuries themselves!"
A cold, ruthless glint flashed in Teach's eyes. He raised his right fist as the black mist on his body slowly receded, revealing a completely healed physique.
"No matter how strong your martial arts are, your injuries will keep piling up. But I will never be taken down! That is the greatest difference between us!"
Teach let out a thunderous roar, his massive right fist smashing fiercely toward Allen's abdomen.
However, Allen backhanded Teach's left arm, grabbing it tightly. He hoisted his body up, straightening out to suspend himself in mid-air, completely evading Teach's punch.
Wrapping both legs around that left arm, Allen twisted his waist, violently spinning his body to wrench Teach's arm!
*Crack!*
"Waaargh!!!"
Accompanied by the crisp sound of dislocating joints, Teach threw his head back and erupted into an agonized howl. The excruciating pain of his dislocated arm hit him with double the intensity.
"You seem to really like grabbing me. Make sure you don't let go now."
Allen mocked. His feet landed back on the ground, and he grabbed Teach's limp, loosened hand.
"Ever heard the saying that the fingers are connected to the heart? Do you know which two fingers hurt the most when snapped? That's right, these two..."
A sinister grin spread across Allen's face. He pried Teach's palm open and grabbed his pinky and ring finger with both hands.
"W-Wait a minute! I'm done fighting! I surrender! I yield!"
Seeing this, Teach's pupils dilated. He hastily screamed his surrender, the sheer terror on his face looking completely genuine.
However.
Allen didn't believe a word of it. Gripping Teach's two fingers, he violently snapped them backward!
*Snap! Snap!*
"Aaargh!!"
A tragic howl tore through the sky above the residential district. Teach's bloodshot eyes bulged as if they were about to tear open, and bead-sized drops of cold sweat broke out on his forehead from the immense agony.
"Don't be in such a rush. This is just the beginning."
Allen wickedly raised his right leg and brought his heel down with tremendous force, viciously stomping right onto Teach's toes—specifically, the pinky toe!
*Crunch!!*
The stomp shattered the floorboards instantly. Teach's entire foot caved into the ground, the bones in his toes completely pulverized!
"Uwaaagh!!"
"It hurts! Stop it, I surrender!"
*Crunch!!*
Allen ruthlessly stomped down again!
"Gyaaargh!!"
"It hurts so much! I'm done fighting, just stop!!"
Teach knelt on the ground, howling in agony. He gnashed his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, repeatedly banging his head against the ground in a desperate attempt to distract himself from the pain.
The pain of shattered bones in the fingers and toes, multiplied by two, was absolutely enough to make anyone wish for death.
"I thought you could absorb injuries? Do me a favor and hold out a little longer. Let's see if I can literally torture you to death with pain."
Allen said with a savage grin. He let his arms hang loose, swaying them side to side. His arms fluttered as if they had completely softened.
"I have a force-generation technique that allows my arms to whip enemies like actual whips. While its destructive power isn't the greatest among my moves, the slaps it produces..."
"...hurt several times worse than a real whipping!"
Wearing a brutal smile, Allen raised his arms and slowly stepped forward.
At this moment, in Teach's eyes, he was more terrifying than a demon from hell.
*Smack!!*
Allen's eyes gleamed with malice! His flexible arm lashed out viciously, landing a resounding slap right across Teach's chest!
"Hssss—!!"
Teach inhaled sharply in agony, nearly crushing his molars. His eyes bulged to the point of tearing, and thick veins popped out all over his face.
*Smack!!*
"Aaaargh!!!"
*Smack!!*
"Stop! Stop it, it hurts so much!!"
In an instant, wail after wail echoed above the streets. The screams were louder and more gruesome than a pig being slaughtered.
Allen's savage grin never faded. His hands turned into long whips, slapping Teach's body over and over again.
Even an ordinary person enduring such a whipping would likely pass out from the pain. For Teach, whose pain receptors were twice as sensitive as a normal person's, it was a horrifying torture.
While begging Allen for mercy with snot and tears streaming down his face, and despite being in so much pain he could only roll on the ground, Teach continuously relied on his power of darkness to heal his injuries.
It wasn't that he enjoyed being tortured; he knew that if he didn't heal himself, he would genuinely pass out from the severe trauma.
And once he passed out, his life would undoubtedly end right then and there.
Relying on this intense will to survive, Teach swallowed his agony through shattered teeth. Eventually, he couldn't even distinguish which part of his body the pain was coming from.
"Darkness...! Liberation...!!"
A massive amount of building debris surged from the black mist spreading across the ground, indiscriminately crushing toward both Allen and Teach from all directions.
"Adapted to the pain, have you? Tch, you sure can endure."
*Bang!!*
Allen scoffed in dissatisfaction. With one final, brutal kick, he sent Teach flying away before immediately leaping backward, escaping the collapsing ruins pressing in from all sides.
He had to admit, Teach was incredibly thick-skinned, and his willpower to endure pain was formidable.
While whipping Teach, Allen had also tried transforming his arms into the serrated forelimbs of a mantis to directly harvest his opponent's head.
Unfortunately, it was parried. Even though his body was in so much pain that he couldn't counterattack, Teach still fought with everything he had to desperately protect his vitals.
Coupled with the power of darkness absorbing the damage, no matter how much Allen beat him, Teach's injuries simply wouldn't accumulate.
Landing on the roof of a house, Allen couldn't help but feel a bit of regret.
He hadn't expected this dark-skinned bastard to be so hard to kill.
But it didn't matter. As long as he had obtained the most important thing, that was enough.