The moment that voice rang out, the clear North Blue skies blackened as heavy storm clouds rolled in, blotting out the sun.
Whoosh!
A bolt of lightning the size of a mountain peak split the heavens, slamming down like divine judgment. Its blinding light bathed the island in stark blue-white, turning night into day for a heartbeat.
Golden Lion's pupils shrank to pinpricks. A primal warning screamed through his instincts.
"What the hell is that?!" he bellowed, springing backward, blades crossed as he tried to avoid the descending strike.
But the impossible happened—
The lightning bent.
It twisted midair, curving toward him, locking onto him as though it had eyes.
"What—?!"
Boom!!
The strike obliterated the earth. Fire roared across the jungle as ancient trees toppled and ignited, collapsing into the inferno.
Shink!
A gleam of sword light flashed through the flames, scattering the firestorm with a violent gust.
"Damn it…"
Golden Lion staggered from the crater, smoke pouring off him. His entire body was cloaked in Armament Haki, but blood streaked the corner of his mouth.
"Lightning… curving?!" His red eyes burned with disbelief as he glared at Darren.
Darren only pointed calmly at the ship's wheel buried in Shiki's skull, lit a cigar, and exhaled. His smile was cold. "That thing makes one hell of a lightning rod."
Shiki froze.
Crack… crackle…
Blue arcs flickered in the air, coalescing into a figure at Darren's side. A stern face framed by a walrus mustache, eyes hard and unflinching.
Momonga.
"You're late," Darren muttered, smoke curling from his lips.
"I had to make detours," Darren added with a faint grin. "Wear him down. Otherwise, your lightning would never have hit."
Momonga said nothing. His posture was rigid, his body tense, every nerve screaming as he stared at the monster before him. His own Haki was untrained, but even so, the killing intent rolling off Golden Lion felt like a beast's breath on his neck.
This man… he's on another level entirely.
"Rumble-Rumble Fruit, huh…" Shiki sneered. His voice dripped with venom, but his grin was feral. "The strongest Logia, and it ends up as your little trick, brat Darren?" His blades twitched in anticipation. "If this is all you've got, I'll butcher the both of you here and now!"
A golden arc screamed forth as he swung. The slash ripped the island in half, a Great Swordsman's flying blade crashing toward them like a falling mountain.
"Here it comes!" Momonga roared, blasting a torrent of thunder forward.
Lightning and sword light collided, exploding in a burst of fury—but the clash lasted only a breath. The golden blade cut through the thunderstorm and surged onward, still aimed straight at Darren.
Shiki's grin widened. "It's over! You can't block this!"
But then his eyes bulged.
"What?!"
The Marine didn't dodge. Didn't retreat.
Instead, Darren leaned forward, muscles coiling, Armament Haki flooding his hand black as iron. His cigar flared, the smoke searing his lungs as he braced—
—and met the slash head-on.
Boom!
The golden blade smashed into him, grinding him back across the island, uprooting forests and carving a trench through the earth. Thirty meters. Forty. At last the slash dissipated, the dust clearing.
And Darren stood, steam rising from his body. His palm, wrapped in Haki, bore nothing but a faint white line.
Momonga's jaw dropped. "Barehanded… he blocked a Great Swordsman's slash…"
Shiki's lips curled back, veins bulging in his temples. "Impossible… That slash wasn't imbued with Haki, but it should have cut you apart!"
Through the haze of smoke, Darren's calm voice rang out.
"Still don't get it, do you?"
He tore the remnants of his Marine coat away, revealing a body crisscrossed with scars, his flesh glistening as though forged from steel.
"Life Return."
His wounds sealed. His blood flow stopped. His muscles swelled, gleaming with an unnatural hardness, radiating killing intent like a demon dragged from hell.
"This isn't you hunting me, Golden Lion…" Darren's grin was feral, his eyes blazing. "It's me hunting you."
Golden Lion froze. His throat tightened as the truth struck him.
Indestructible Body…!
He knew the legend. The ultimate mastery of the human form, a state beyond the limits of muscle and bone. A body that could not be destroyed.
He had seen fragments of it before. In Wano, during an arms deal with Kaido… the shattered remnants of an ancient training hall.
"That Marine brat came snooping around," Kaido had said with a wicked grin, "but I made sure he paid the price."
At the time, Shiki had thought little of it. But now—now the pieces clicked together.
"Impossible… Did Kaido—"
Rage erupted in his chest, his voice breaking into a primal roar that shook the skies.
"Damn you, Kaido!!!"
To be continued...