A gruesome, bone-deep gash was visible on Kaido's back, blood spraying from it like a fountain, staining a large area red.
Bege's last attack, his most powerful Beast God slash, had nearly severed Kaido's spine, leaving a clear cut on the bone itself.
The intense pain only served to make Kaido more excited and ferocious. After activating his Devil Fruit ability, his regenerative powers became even more astonishing. The bone-deep wound was healing at a visible rate, white steam rising from it as the flesh knitted itself back together. In the blink of an eye, the terrifying injury was more than halfway healed, and new dragon scales grew over the gash, as if it had never been there at all.
His recovery ability was terrifyingly monstrous.
"As expected of Kaido of the Beasts."
A hint of madness and excitement also appeared on Bege's grim face. He gripped his swords tightly, his ferocious sword intent erupting outwards.
Kaido's overwhelming strength was indeed putting immense pressure on Bege, but alongside the pressure, a strong fighting spirit was also welling up inside him.
What better whetstone was there than such a powerful opponent?
Ever since he had mastered the Ten Beasts Ascending Dragon and the Beast God sword techniques, his swordsmanship had been at a bottleneck. His battles with Emperor-level powerhouses like the Demon Lord of Fear and Garp had loosened that bottleneck, but he had yet to gain a clear understanding of the next level of his Ferocious Beast Swordsmanship.
To advance further, he needed a whetstone as formidable as this.
Defeating Kaido would be incredibly difficult; even Bege had no confidence in it. But perhaps, in this battle, he could use Kaido to hone his own swordsmanship, to find the next direction for his training and become even stronger. It was not impossible.
A wild smile touched the corners of his lips. His own ferocious Conqueror's Haki erupted, clashing with Kaido's tyrannical aura, refusing to be outdone.
"Kaido of the Beasts, come on! Let's continue!" With his injuries rapidly healing thanks to Mansherry and his mental energy somewhat restored, Bege let out a wild laugh, actively provoking Kaido.
Kaido's eyes widened, and his abyss-like, ferocious killing intent surged forward, pushing back Bege's Conqueror's Haki.
A sky full of dark red lightning raged, covering an area of several hundred meters—a truly shocking sight.
The ground beneath Kaido's feet cracked. He broke into a run, his abyss-like aura making him look like a demon god charging forward. In a single step, he was in front of Bege, the terrifying pressure crashing down on him like a massive mountain.
Bege let out a low roar. The space around him trembled under his will, and the space around Kaido instantly compressed, as if five great mountains were pressing in on him from all sides and from above, holding him fast.
Kaido's eyes widened, and the muscles all over his body bulged. The space around him began to crack as a terrifying power surged from his body, shattering the spatial restraints.
Bege's face paled, his mind taking a hit from the feedback. Kaido immediately swung his dragon-scaled fist.
The thick, scaled arm, like a mountain range, shattered the atmosphere. Before the punch even landed, the terrifying pressure crushed the ground below. Bege's blood-red eyes widened in shock. He slashed at the incoming fist with both swords. The blades and the fist collided, and a terrifying, overwhelming force shot toward Bege's body.
In an instant, the earth collapsed. The resulting fissures tore through the surrounding area, and the ground where they stood shattered and flew into the air, creating a massive crater.
The shockwave kicked up the broken earth, forming a sandstorm that swept out for several thousand meters, obscuring half the island.
Bege's face paled further, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. After blocking the ferocious blow, he was sent flying, crashing heavily into the edge of the crater. The impact shattered the crater wall, leaving a human-shaped hole that went straight through the ground. He shot out the other side, crashing into a small, crumbling mountain, which exploded into a shower of rock and debris.
Kaido, meanwhile, was only pushed back two steps. The ferocity in his face deepened, and he flew into a rage, striding toward Bege.
Swoosh...
A streak of light shot out from the dense dust cloud. Bege landed on the ground and shot forward, meeting the charging Kaido once again.
He slashed out, and a sonic boom echoed as the blood-red sword energy cut through the dust. At the same time, Kaido also threw a punch, blowing the slash apart. He continued his charge, breaking through the shockwave of the explosion, and brought his fist down on Bege without hesitation.
Bege's figure flickered and vanished in an instant.
The ferocious, dragon-scaled fist slammed into the ground. A world-shattering force instantly pulverized a thousand meters of earth. Countless cracks shot outwards, reaching the edge of the island and even tearing through the surface of the sea.
It wasn't just the surface; the fissures also spread underground, shaking the very foundations of the island.
Bege had dodged the punch, but the shockwave from the impact made it impossible for him to maintain his balance. After stumbling a few steps, he steadied himself and quickly charged at Kaido. He swung his swords in a furious flurry, and slashes of blood-red energy and blood-red fire struck Kaido's thigh, shattering his dragon scales and leaving gashes in his flesh.
But unfortunately, the wounds were insignificant to Kaido. They healed completely in a few breaths, and even the dragon scales grew back rapidly.
Kaido kicked out, aiming straight for Bege.
Using his speed, Bege leaped onto Kaido's massive, scaled thigh. A terrifying light shone in his cold, blood-red eyes. He stabbed his swords into Kaido's leg. The dragon scales shattered instantly, and the blades pierced his thigh, striking bone. The flesh around the wounds twisted violently, torn apart by the warped space. The wound instantly grew to the size of a bowl, and blood sprayed out.
Kaido's face twisted in pain, and his tyrannical eyes showed signs of losing control.
He reached for Bege with his massive hand. Bege quickly pulled out his swords and rolled down his thigh, landing on the ground below. He then kicked off Kaido's leg, using the momentum to leap away.
He then burst forward with another surge of speed, appearing behind Kaido.
He swung his swords again, aiming for Kaido's other leg.
The moment his blades struck, Bege's expression changed. A violent fist pressure came from above, pressing down on his body. A dragon-scaled fist was hurtling toward him.
With his speed, there was no way for him to escape the punch. He immediately used his spatial transfer, his body teleporting away and tearing through Kaido's fist pressure as he vanished.
Appearing behind Kaido again, Bege slashed out once more, and a wild, ferocious sword aura shot into the sky.
"Beast God!"
He used his most powerful sword technique again. This time, his cursed sword was aimed at Kaido's neck. He was going to cut off his head with a single blow.
But somehow, Kaido sensed it in advance. He swung his scaled arm back, and the terrifying, blood-red slash struck his arm instead.
The Armament Haki shattered, the dragon scales shattered, and the tough skin shattered. The blood-red slash tore through all of Kaido's defenses, shearing off a large chunk of flesh from his arm and even cutting through the tough bone, nearly severing the limb completely.
Ignoring the injury to his arm, Kaido had already begun to turn as he swung, and his other dragon-scaled fist shot through the air toward Bege.
The speed of the punch was astonishing. It appeared in front of him in an instant. He had just used Beast God, and his body was in a brief state of vulnerability, unable to use his spatial transfer in time. He immediately raised his swords to block.