Doflamingo descended from the sky with a twisted grin, stepping through the air as if climbing an invisible staircase.
Vincent Fox stood below with a frigid expression, eyes locked on the flamboyant Warlord above.
How could he forget this man?
This was someone he'd despised deeply in his past life a notorious villain he'd loathed with every fiber of his being.
And after witnessing Doflamingo's atrocities firsthand again… the disgust only intensified.
If possible, Vincent would tear him apart right here and now.
"Stop resisting," Doflamingo said smoothly. "Let me bring you misfits back into line." His smile widened. "And you… will you continue to struggle?"
Vincent scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain.
He knew Doflamingo all too well. Patricide as a child, massacres as an adult the man had countless lives on his hands.
"A pirate like you dares speak of control?" Vincent laughed. "How laughable. You disguise cowardice as strength, and call it justice?"
Doflamingo's face twisted with rage. "Enough nonsense!"
He sprang into the air and shouted, "Birdcage!"
The moment he spoke, Doflamingo flipped upside down in the sky, his palms erupting with countless translucent strings that spread outward like a net, descending rapidly over the battlefield.
The range of the attack was enormous. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped pirates and Marines alike.
"What is this?!"
One pirate had just downed his opponent when he looked up and saw himself caught in a web of glimmering threads.
Each string shimmered like crystal beautiful yet deadly. In the sunlight, they were nearly invisible.
He reached out to touch one.
A deep gash split across his hand.
"Doflamingo's making his move!"
"He's trapped us too?! We're Marines!"
"Disgusting. Once this war's over, we're reporting him straight to the Admirals!"
Though technically allied with the Marines as a Warlord, Doflamingo had clearly crossed the line.
His birdcage didn't differentiate. It imprisoned them all.
On the Marine side, outrage erupted.
On the Whitebeard Pirates' side, however, the reaction was quite the opposite.
"Kill the Marines! Captain Marco won't abandon us!"
"Haha! Look at these clueless fools Doflamingo's turning on them too!"
"Just took down two more! If I survive this, I'm drinking till I drop!"
"I'll drink with you!"
Despite the deadly strings closing in, the Whitebeard Pirates fought with reckless courage and roaring laughter.
High above, Doflamingo cackled with bloodthirsty glee.
"You're all ants… This is a mercy!"
He extended his left hand. Countless nearly-invisible Parasite Threads rained down like snowflakes, filling the birdcage from end to end.
This was his strongest technique yet.
And his target…
Was the figure ablaze in flames at the center of it all Vincent Fox.
He had witnessed Vincent destroy Admiral Kizaru. He knew the man's power firsthand.
"That monster's stamina must have limits… Let's see how far you get after being worn down by your own allies."
As the parasite threads descended, many fighters inside the cage suddenly froze.
"W-what is this?! I can't move…"
A pirate's eyes widened in horror as he tried to will his limbs into motion. But it was no use.
It was like his body no longer belonged to him.
He wasn't alone. Dozens no, hundreds fell under Doflamingo's control, their teeth clenched, their muscles trembling as they fought to regain control.
"Save your strength…" Doflamingo sneered, his voice low and mocking. "Now, go fight."
With a flick of his fingers, chaos erupted.
Controlled like puppets, pirates and Marines alike abandoned their own battles and turned to charge the burning figure at the cage's center Vincent Fox.
But the moment they neared, the flames around Vincent flared up violently, incinerating the threads trying to latch onto him.
"You call this justice?" Vincent looked up with contempt. "Using such dirty tricks?"
"For the greater good," Doflamingo replied smugly, "sometimes sacrifice is necessary."
At that moment, he clenched his right fist.
The birdcage began to shrink.
Vincent spat to the side and locked eyes with the man floating above.
"You're disgusting."
In the next breath, the stone beneath Vincent's feet shattered he had vanished.
"Serious Punch!"
A voice boomed like thunder.
Vincent soared through the air, flames erupting behind him as he launched straight toward Doflamingo.
"What?!"
Eyes widening in shock, Doflamingo retracted all his strings, forming a massive cocoon around himself.
Within it, he laced the threads with Armament Haki, turning the silk jet-black with a metallic sheen.
"Come on, then!"
Vincent's fist, blazing like a meteor, slammed into the cocoon with an earth-shaking explosion.
The shockwave swept across the battlefield, blasting both Marines and pirates off their feet. Many collapsed, blood spurting from their mouths.
That entire sector became a living hell.
Crack!
Hairline fractures split across the black cocoon.
Inside, Doflamingo's face was twisted in disbelief.
"No way…"
The cracks spread fast, webbing across the cocoon like shattered glass.
"Damn it… That punch he shattered my strongest defense…"
Clenching his jaw, Doflamingo frantically spun out new threads to repair the damage.
Vincent narrowed his eyes. In a flash, he swapped his fist for an open palm, flooding the gaps with scorching flame.
The entire cocoon became a blazing oven.
"Damn bastard! Burn in hell!"
With a furious roar, Doflamingo dissolved the cocoon.
If he hadn't, he would've been roasted alive or incinerated from within.
With his back against the wall, he launched a counterattack.
"Overheat!"
With a shriek, Doflamingo's legs, wrapped in Armament Haki and sharpened into wires, shot toward Vincent like blades.
Bam!
Vincent didn't dodge. He took the blow head-on.
"You think that's enough to hurt me?"
Grinning, Vincent drove his fist forward.
"Spider Web Wall!"
Panicked, Doflamingo threw up a hasty net of threads.
But it was too late.
The web only slightly slowed the punch before it blasted through, the massive fist continuing unimpeded.
"Shit!"
Doflamingo crossed his arms, wrapped them in Haki, and braced himself.
Boom!
He was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into the ground with a deafening crash that raised a cloud of dust.
Vincent landed on one of the drifting webs and shot forward again.
From the crater, Doflamingo staggered to his feet, arms trembling and mangled.
"Impressive… forcing me to this point…"
He gently touched a nearby boulder.
"Still… if you think this is all I've got, you're dead wrong."
As he spoke, the rocks turned to silk.
His threads were restoring his body, and converting the battlefield itself into a weapon.
"My threads… are limitless."
He flexed his repaired arms, that signature arrogant grin returning to his face.
"You should feel honored. You've pushed me to awaken my Devil Fruit."
"Everything around you will become thread. You won't even be able to approach me."
Doflamingo stepped forward, each step turning the ground beneath into thread.
"Ever-White Thread Flood!"
A tidal wave of strings surged forward, crashing toward Vincent with crushing force.
This was one of the String-String Fruit's awakened abilities powerful enough to pulverize anything in its path.
"Pity your opponent is me," Vincent said calmly. "Maybe if it were one of the other Warlords, that might've worked."
As he spoke, Doflamingo raised his arms again.
The tips of the threads coiled with Armament Haki, forming the shape of a flamingo's wings.
"Flamingo Blade Feathers! Thousand Arrows Piercing Heart!"
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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