"Tch, you can't underestimate the old guy!"
Aeridar flipped in mid-air and landed steadily on the ground, wiping his chest with his hand. Aside from the blood, he felt a stinging pain and a sense of shortness of breath.
As the pitch-black Armament Haki receded, a thin, bloody scratch, over twenty centimeters long, was visible on Aeridar's chest.
Fortunately, while the wound was long, it was shallow and not serious.
"Life Return: Regeneration!"
Aeridar murmured the command, and the muscles on his chest surged. In an instant, the fine blood-line had completely healed.
"That is..."
Seeing this, Redfield's pupils suddenly constricted.
Top-tier powerhouses in the world, be they martial artists, swordsmen, or Devil Fruit users, all possess extremely strong control over their bodies. The most direct method is to control muscle contraction to close and stop bleeding from wounds.
Especially those with formidable physical prowess, even when suffering severe or near-fatal injuries, they can recover quickly in a short period.
However, aside from Zoan Awakening users and some specific Paramecia users (like Vigor-Vigor Fruit users), he had never seen anyone heal a wound in a few breaths after being injured.
The opponent was clearly an Impact-Impact Fruit Paramecia user, yet he felt like... Kaido.
Looking at his chest, which, apart from the bloodstains, was completely uninjured, Aeridar inwardly praised, 'Truly a divine technique. It looks like the power of Life Return has even greater potential than I imagined!'
"Hahahaha~ The old man still has plenty of fight in him!"
Suddenly, with a loud laugh, the ground turned gold in a few breaths, undulating like a golden tide that swept toward Redfield.
"Gold!"
Redfield watched the tidal wave of gold rushing towards him. His face darkened, and he gnashed his teeth, saying, "Gild Tesoro!"
During that battle years ago, it was the opponent's gold dust that had severely drained his vitality, and it took him nearly a year to barely recover.
Leaping continuously to avoid the engulfing golden tide, Redfield stood on a half-collapsed bell tower, watching a towering golden giant, dozens of meters high, crawl out of the golden tide and stand, dominating the landscape.
"I told you guys we should have attacked together! Did you really need to take a sword slash to get excited, Aeridar?"
Tesoro's voice was deep and vast, and paired with the body of the golden giant, he seemed almost like a god.
"Fufufufufu~"
Doflamingo, wearing his pink feather coat, let out a strange laugh as he slowly descended from the sky, swaying slightly. His pointed leather shoes stepped on fine, nearly invisible strings attached to the clouds. "You know how he is. When he goes mad, no one can stop him."
"Shut up!"
Aeridar shouted with a dark expression.
"Yahahahaha~ Now that's a sight! What a majestic figure!" Seeing Tesoro's true power for the first time, Enel's eyes lit up, and the lightning crackled around him, as if he couldn't resist joining the fray.
"Tch, a flashy show-off!"
Oliver and Abel both curled their lips, looking disdainful.
This was all part of a plan orchestrated by Aeridar and Gilbert Arlan. First, Redfield, who had just escaped from Impel Down, did not know that his Crimson Family had betrayed him. Coincidentally, Oliver had received a thank-you gift from the Riquille Kingdom royalty—the 'Animal-Animal Fruit, Mythical Zoan: Bat-Bat Fruit, Vampire Model'.
As a result, all of Redfield's movements were under Aeridar's control. This premise allowed him to calmly set up this fatal trap.
As for Doflamingo and Tesoro, they wanted revenge for their grudges from back then, so they got involved.
Of course, Redfield probably still didn't know about the Crimson Family's betrayal. As for his movements when he arrived, he didn't try to hide them at all, so he likely just assumed the opponent's intelligence network was incredibly powerful.
"Damn you, Tesoro! I haven't lost yet!" Aeridar flew into the air, shouting his displeasure at Tesoro.
"Fufufufufu~ Of course we know you haven't lost, but..." Doflamingo glanced at Aeridar. "How many days do you plan to fight for?"
"Uh~"
Aeridar was speechless.
Although this old man's strength had long since declined due to old age and chronic injuries accumulated from various battles over the years, he was still much better off than Shiki the Golden Lion.
Even if Aeridar fought with all his might, it would probably take a day and a night for a winner to be decided. Was he really going to make Doflamingo and Tesoro wait around and watch for an entire day?
"Gon Fuoco di Dio!"
Before Aeridar could say anything more, Tesoro attacked first. The Golden Giant's right eye suddenly opened wide, and a dazzling laser shot out like a meteor aimed at the ground.
RUMBLE!
A huge explosion rang out. The ground shook, and intense firelight engulfed over a hundred square meters of land, destroying everything in its radius.
Under the intense firelight, Redfield had already transformed into a streak of blood-light and fled outside the affected area.
At this moment, he also sensed a lethal danger. His strength was declining, yet the opponent's was rising.
He didn't know about the others, but the brat called Aeridar possessed two Devil Fruit abilities, and his strength was in no way inferior to his own; he had even held a slight advantage in the previous skirmish.
"You want my life? Be careful not to lose your own to me!"
Redfield looked at the Golden Giant over two hundred meters away and at Aeridar and Doflamingo in the air. His eyes were cold and sinister, occasionally flashing with a blood-red light filled with killing intent.
"Crimson Solitude!!!"
With an explosive shout, Redfield transformed his umbrella into a sword and unleashed an incredibly sharp, blood-red sword energy that shot into the sky.
Dong!
The Golden Giant stomped forward. The ground instantly shook as if an earthquake had hit. At the same time, it raised its right arm, and the fist suddenly grew larger, turning into an armored golden fist.
Gon Inferno!
The Golden Giant swung the armored fist downwards fiercely. The rushing wind howled, rubbing against the air.
Clang!
BOOM!
The blood-red sword energy instantly collided with the Golden Giant's fist, which Tesoro was controlling. The clash of metal was clearly audible. Sparks flew, and an immediate explosion occurred. Intense, scorching flames soared into the air, and the turbulent airflow turned into a hurricane, spreading outwards and sweeping up countless dust and rubble.
Simultaneously, Doflamingo pointed his hand. A sharp whip, braided from countless strands of string, shot out from his palm, piercing forward with extreme speed and urgency.
Overwhip!
Redfield reacted quickly. After delivering the slash, he immediately withdrew his blade, covering it with pitch-black Armament Haki and holding it in front of him.