"So this is Luffy's true power…?"
Robin's eyes flickered with a complex, indescribable emotion as she gazed at the blazing giant in the distance. Towering like a god, he stood face-to-face with another colossal figure, Moria, cloaked in shadows and demonic power.
Brook's hollow eyes widened, his jaw trembling as he pointed at the battlefield, barely able to speak. "Wh-What… what are those things?!"
While Robin was getting a deeper glimpse into Luffy's strength, Brook was completely overwhelmed. The sheer magnitude of power displayed by both combatants left him shaken to the core.
He had only just entered the Grand Line when he was defeated, and for the next forty years, he drifted powerlessly through the eerie mists. Never, in all that time, had he seen anything like this.
In the heart of the battlefield, winds howled wildly. Gale-force gusts whipped through the air, tugging at Luffy's tousled hair.
Standing tall within the flames, Luffy's aura surged around him. His mismatched eyes were focused, calm yet filled with an unshakable confidence.
Suddenly, he vanished in a blur of light, a streak of crimson fire shooting toward Moria like a bolt of red lightning.
The flaming giant behind him mirrored his motion, forming a massive, blazing fist. Serpents of fire lashed outward, twisting and writhing as if they might burn the very sky.
Moria let out a cold snort. Shadows surged beneath his feet, spiraling up his body like a dark vortex, coiling around his right arm until they formed a sharp, spear-like spike aimed straight at Luffy's incoming fist.
BOOM!!
Scarlet and black collided like two planets crashing into each other. In an instant, the clash erupted with thunderous force, shockwaves exploding outward like a flood breaking its dam.
In front of Moria's ruined castle, violent energy lashed out in every direction. Shattered stone rained from the sky. And yet, at the center of the maelstrom, Luffy and Moria stood firm, unmoving. The power radiating from them felt almost divine, untouchable.
The blast of force surged toward Robin and the others like a collapsing mountain.
Robin reacted immediately. Her hands moved in a flurry, activating the power of the Hana Hana no Mi.
Two enormous arms burst from the ground behind her, shielding both herself and Brook from the incoming shockwave.
But Perona and Hogback, still in their weakened states, had no such protection.
As debris flew toward them like shrapnel, the two could do nothing but curl up tightly, trying to reduce the area exposed to the attack.
Hogback, with his tiny round glasses glinting in panic, bit his lip and rolled over Perona, shielding her with his bulky frame.
The wind roared past them, pressure so intense it made Hogback's eardrums throb in pain.
Still, he didn't flinch. Ignoring the storm, he forced himself to raise his head and glance behind.
To his astonishment, Absalom, who had been unconscious until moments ago, now stood behind them, arms spread wide. His beast-like body took the brunt of the flying debris, shielding them completely.
Thud.
Once the danger had passed and the wind calmed, Absalom collapsed to the ground with a heavy thump, unconscious once again.
He hadn't even opened his eyes during the entire ordeal.
"Absalom!!"
Hogback rushed to his side.
Perona, blinking as light returned to her world, gasped at the sight of Absalom's back, riddled with embedded stones, his blood dripping steadily onto the earth.
"Help me get him to the operating room!" Hogback shouted to the stunned Perona. "He needs immediate treatment!"
"A-ah, right!" Perona snapped out of it and rushed to help, lifting Absalom's legs.
Absalom's body, fully modified with beast parts by Hogback, was far heavier than a normal human's. The two of them struggled to carry him as they navigated the rubble, searching desperately for a way into the castle's surgical chamber.
Meanwhile, the storm of energy gradually subsided. The winds stilled. At the feet of Luffy and Moria, a massive crater had formed, over ten feet deep, while the castle lay in ruin.
Moria gritted his sharp teeth. Eyes bulging, he stared at the point where their fists had collided.
His shadow spike had shattered under Luffy's crushing blow. Flames were now licking at his arm, scorching his flesh.
With a sharp hiss of pain, Moria withdrew his hand. His deformed frame leapt back, legs coiling like springs, creating distance between him and Luffy.
Behind him, the flame giant flickered, and then vanished, shrinking down and merging back into Luffy's body.
But Luffy's aura didn't fade. If anything, it grew stronger. His eyes glowed, calm but burning hot.
He now understood: the "Lightning Flame" was too weak for battles of this caliber. It might allow for large-area attacks, but no matter how much energy he poured into it, its destructive power didn't scale.
"So I need a stronger flame to fight real opponents," Luffy murmured to himself.
Two sparks ignited in his palms. Unlike the golden flames of softness, these burned a fierce, high-temperature orange, the "Flame of Hardness."
The flames flared erratically. Luffy was testing, carefully balancing the flow of Mental Power energy, trying to find the right rhythm to stabilize them.
The flames lasted longer and longer. Each burst grew louder, like a beast roaring to life, eager to be unleashed.
Moria sensed Luffy was preparing something new, but he remained confident, unshaken.
He spread his arms wide and let out a demonic roar that echoed across the entire island.
"More shadows, come to me!"
With that cry, corpses across the island, within the graveyard, castle, forest, and coastline, began to collapse. Black shadows poured from their bodies like smoke, drawn to Moria as if pulled by a magnetic force.
"Three hundred!"
"Four hundred!"
"Five hundred!!"
"Geh heh heh heh! Flame brat, behold my ultimate form! I am the Shadow Master, Gecko Moria!"
With five hundred shadows absorbed, Moria's body swelled to over thirty meters tall. But the immense concentration of power in his upper body left him unable to stand upright. He crouched on all fours, eyes bloodshot, mouth split wide in a savage grin, his jagged fangs gleaming.
He was no longer man or demon, just a monstrous beast drunk on power.
But this form couldn't last long. He needed to end it quickly.
Seeing Luffy still focused on refining his flames, Moria didn't hesitate.
With a roar, he swung a mountain-sized fist, tearing through the air with brutal force.
Luffy, not yet ready to counter, had only just managed to gather a stable flicker of the "Lightning Flame." He crossed his arms in front of him, trying to shield himself.
The pressure bore down like a collapsing sky. He couldn't even raise his head.
Then, BOOM!
Moria's punch sent Luffy flying like a comet. He streaked across the graveyard, crashing through the forest, toppling trees in a straight line as he disappeared into the distance.
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