Hearing that line, Dragon—locked in combat with three CP0 agents inside a distant elemental maelstrom—stumbled for half a beat. The corner of his mouth twitched violently, dark lines almost popping onto his forehead.
I never realized Darren was such a trash-talker. He's right up there with Sakazuki...
Aside from both earning the title of "monster" at Marine Headquarters, Dragon and Sakazuki had also been classmates at the Marine Academy.
Back then, they'd been arrogant prodigies, brimming with youthful fire and disdain for authority. During their academy days, they treated each other as rivals, constantly butting heads both in the open and in the shadows.
Whether it was military drills, classroom exams, or live-combat missions, they clashed again and again—much to the delight of the ever-spectating Borsalino.
In the end, Dragon and Sakazuki graduated as joint valedictorians, sharing the title of "Academy's Top Student."
Even after they entered the field, their rivalry didn't die down. If anything, it grew sharper as their visions of "Justice" diverged more and more, driving them farther and farther apart.
Yet precisely because of that constant competition, Dragon understood Sakazuki better than anyone.
Setting aside Sakazuki's monstrous training methods, that bastard's trash-talking was also at a "monster" level.
Dragon couldn't even remember how many times that foul mouth of Sakazuki's had goaded him into a fight—and how many more times he'd laughed himself breathless hearing Sakazuki verbally flay pirates, feeling a deep, vicious satisfaction.
Now, this bastard Darren's mouth was on par with Sakazuki's.
Given their shared history in the North Blue...
Dragon couldn't help wondering: who taught who?
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but a hard shadow flickered in his eyes.
As Saint Michael completed his eerie werewolf transformation, Dragon could clearly feel his aura shifting.
His power was still climbing.
The moment that realization hit, Dragon unconsciously sped up his own movements.
He couldn't drag this out any longer. Even if it meant taking serious injuries, he had to kill these three CP0 operatives as quickly as possible and get to Darren's side.
Because no matter how strong Darren was, once you reached their level, the gap in raw combat strength wasn't overwhelming. In a straight one-on-one, neither of them could dominate the other in a short time.
And this wasn't just any Celestial Dragon—they were dealing with the Commander of the Knights of God, nominally the "strongest Celestial Dragon" alive.
If they wanted to follow Darren's plan and completely cage Saint Michael, then Dragon had to join the fight immediately.
---
Crimson-black currents crackled like thunder, weaving a jagged net through the air.
Hearing Darren's taunts, the Silver Wolfman's vertical crimson pupils burned with frigid killing intent.
"I hope you can still laugh later."
His clawed hand tightened around the silver rapier.
The Frostshadow Silver Wolf vanished like a ghost.
Roar!!
He tore across the sky with blinding speed. Only after his body passed did a towering pillar of air burst up from the ground in his wake.
That speed... it's unnatural.
Darren's pupils narrowed, a sinister red glint flickering deep in his gaze. The blue arcs of lightning wrapped around his body flared brighter.
He drove his Observation Haki to the absolute limit. Combined with Thunder Armor's stimulation of his body, his perception climbed to an unprecedented peak.
At the same time, a rapier wrapped in crimson-black lightning appeared from the void, stabbing down with lethal precision.
The air warped in ripples along the blade's path, but there was no shockwave—
Saint Michael's strike was pure, distilled speed.
Darren's right hand shot up.
Encased in jet-black Haki, his three-fingered dragon claw exuded a chilling aura as it met the descending blade in an instant, cutting a dark scar through the air.
Clang!
Sparks exploded where steel met Haki-hardened flesh. At that moment, the ground beneath Darren's feet groaned and burst apart, splitting cleanly downward before the fractures spiderwebbed outward, only stopping nearly a kilometer away.
The earth caved in, leaving behind a massive crater. Shattered rock shot skyward, shredded to gravel by the shockwave.
At the crater's heart, Darren stood unmoving.
His entire body was now coated in a jet-black sheen of Haki, the aura around him turning demonic and savage.
Demon Form.
His domineering dragon claw clamped tight on the Western sword—undeniably a famed blade—its tip halted only centimeters from his forehead.
"Oh? Your reactions are quite impressive," Saint Michael remarked. He tilted his head slightly, genuinely surprised that Darren had been able to track him.
"Like a demon... your whole body coated in Armament Haki, expending massive amounts of Haki to push your explosive power to the limit."
"If I remember correctly, that technique was developed by Douglas Bullet of the Roger Pirates... So you've mastered that as well."
His eyes narrowed with growing interest as he studied the black-haired youth before him.
"Dragon's Dragon Claw Fist, Douglas Bullet's Demon Form, Kaido's lightning activation and nigh-indestructible body, and this close-quarters fighting style... they all faintly echo Garp and Zephyr's techniques."
"It's truly unbelievable that one person could fully absorb such a chaotic mix of abilities and forms. It completely defies common sense. Just what kind of secrets are buried in that body of yours?"
"Looking at it this way, perhaps you, Rogers Darren, are the World Government's most valuable experimental subject—the one who most deserves to be studied."
Darren grinned, baring his teeth.
"Sorry, I've already done my time as a lab rat."
"I'm not interested—"
Before he could finish, his expression shifted. He jerked his head aside.
The Frostshadow Silver Wolf's jaws yawned open, and a beam of freezing light erupted from its throat.
Szzzz!
The ice beam, cold enough to freeze anything in its path, grazed Darren's neck and slammed into the distant ground.
Whoosh!
The beam bored into the earth without a sound, silent and deadly.
Then a terrifying scene unfolded before his eyes:
A vast swath of land was instantly encased in pure white ice. Endless frost surged outward across the ground and raced toward the sea.
The roaring waves froze solid. The ice field spread at least a kilometer out, its far edge lost to sight.
Clang!
The two figures broke apart in the aftermath of the clash.
Darren raised his hand to his neck. A thin layer of ice crystals had already formed there.
Haki flared, and crimson-black lightning erupted, shattering the frost to dust.
"How devious, Commander Excellency," Darren muttered.
To be continued...