Outside the walls of Odin, Kaido looked at the now-smaller Loki with surprise.
"No! I'm not! I am the king of the giants, the invincible ruler who inherits the bloodline of the ancient giants!"
Loki's expression was frantic as his body suddenly swelled again, breaking free from Kaido's grip and returning to his original 15-meter height.
Once restored, Loki's gaze toward Kaido burned with frenzied killing intent.
"You saw it, you saw everything! I'll kill you—once you're dead, no one will know this secret! Roro-ro-ro! I am still the noble descendant of Odin!"
BOOM!
Loki swung his massive fist again, smashing toward Kaido with terrifying, savage force.
Kaido smirked, meeting the blow head-on with his own punch.
"Giant brat, your mentality is crumbling! You're finished!"
"To hell with mentality! I'll just crush you to death!"
Like two primordial beasts, the monstrous pair clashed once more, their battle causing the earth to sink and large sections of the city walls to collapse.
Dust and debris filled the air, blotting out the sky.
"Ugh, so noisy. Can't even let a person sleep?"
High above, Linlin sat up, stretching and yawning as she glanced down at the two fighters below.
Suddenly, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief—the one fighting Kaido was now a six-meter-tall mini-giant, yet with Loki's exact face.
"And who are you? Loki's little brother? Or his dad?"
Down below, Loki faltered at Linlin's sudden remark, allowing Kaido to land a punch square on his nose.
His nasal bridge collapsed, blood gushing out.
"Worororo, giant brat, now there's another witness. Wonder if you can kill her too?"
Kaido cackled wildly, his arms a blur as he pummeled Loki relentlessly, driving him back step by step.
"Bastard, bastard! I am the Giant King Loki! I—ahhh!"
Kaido ignored his ranting, focusing solely on his relentless assault.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Dozens—no, hundreds—of punches rained down, forcing Loki back until he crashed through the thick city wall.
"Descending Threefold! King's Eight Trigrams!"
Kaido roared through gritted teeth, clasping his hands together and swinging them like a piledriver, wreathed in crimson lightning as he smashed into Loki's chest!
Crack! Crack!
Loki's eyes rolled back, blood spewing from his mouth as he was sent flying through the wall, landing hard on the street inside the city.
His chest was caved in, muscles and bones shattered—his injuries severe.
But he was a giant.
Not just any giant—the king of his race, a peerless inheritor of the ancient giant bloodline.
This seemingly fatal injury only temporarily incapacitated Loki.
"Did we beat him? This little Loki is really tough, huh?"
Linlin landed and walked over to Loki, looking down at the shrunken version of the Giant King.
Kaido reverted to his human form, dusting himself off with a light chuckle.
"Yeah, this kid's Haki is decent, though still a bit short of the top tier. But his muscles are incredibly resilient—they could even block and rebound my attacks."
Linlin asked curiously, "Why did he shrink? What's going on?"
Kaido shrugged. "No idea. I clawed him just now, not sure where I hit him, but he suddenly shrank into this state."
As he spoke, Kaido crouched beside Loki and patted his face.
"Hey, little giant, what's up with your body? Are you a dwarf among the giants or something?"
"Cough... I—"
Slap!
Before Loki could finish, Kaido gave him a sharp smack.
"Who's 'I'? Speak properly!"
"You—!" Loki's face flushed red with humiliation.
Slap!
"'You' what? Answer the question!" Kaido backhanded him again.
Slap!
Loki was seething with rage, gritting his teeth and glaring at Kaido with bloodshot eyes, refusing to speak.
"Not talking, huh? Fine! Seems like you're terrified of people finding out about your condition."
Kaido grinned, stroking his chin in thought.
"I get it now. You're like Filina—probably a dwarf among the giants. But you... wait, you must have eaten some Devil Fruit that lets you enlarge your body. That way, you could rightfully become the Giant King. Am I right?"
Loki stayed silent, but the violent trembling of his eyes betrayed his thoughts.
Linlin praised Kaido, "Not bad, Kaido. You're getting sharper. Even manage to figured that out."
But Kaido frowned. "Though I heard from Filina that dwarves among the giants only live a tenth of the normal lifespan. How have you lasted this long?"
Loki clamped his mouth shut, refusing to answer.
Kaido grew impatient and stood up abruptly.
"Linlin, grab this brat. Later, we'll gather all the giants of Elbaf and show them how their revered Giant King is actually a dwarf!"
"No! No! Please don't!"
Before Kaido could finish, Loki on the ground was already pleading in panic.
Kaido chuckled darkly and crouched back down.
"So, are you gonna talk now? If you keep playing tough, I'll strip you naked and parade you around the world. I'll have Doflamingo arrange a bunch of ugly fish-men to put on a live show with you."
"Devil! You're a devil!"
Loki trembled with rage.
After a long silence, he finally calmed down and began recounting his story to Kaido.
It turned out that 63 years ago, when Prince Loki was born, Elbaf celebrated nationwide.
Back then, the giants were still very isolated, with no concept of prenatal checkups.
So no one realized that this noble prince would grow up to be a dwarf among giants.
A teenage giant standing four to five meters tall is quite normal and still considered a child.
However, Prince Loki seemed to have a peculiar condition.
Though far stronger than other giant children, his height had stopped growing, remaining at three to four meters.
Born around the same time as him was Gobi from a village outside the city.
At the same age, Gobi had already reached five meters in height!
This stark contrast began to stir unfavorable rumors about Prince Loki among the giants.
By chance, Loki learned about his condition from a human pirate ship's doctor who had drifted to Elbaf.
Perhaps it was fate.
Despite being diagnosed as a giant dwarf with a lifespan only one-tenth that of a normal giant, Loki somehow obtained a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit!
"The Paramecia Muscle-Muscle Fruit—an incredibly powerful Devil Fruit. As long as you train your muscles relentlessly every day, your body will grow stronger and stronger!
"After decades of training, my physical strength has reached a level where I can dominate all of Elbaf!
"Normally, I just flex my muscles, transforming into my Muscle Giant form, perfectly matching the identity of an ancient giant!"