With that thought, Ray also reverted from his demonized state, returning to his Human form.
He knew full well that for Zoan Devil Fruit users (or those with similar transformations), the Hybrid form was undoubtedly where their overall strength peaked.
Kaido's current dragon-human form offered both enhanced power and a perfect balance of agility and speed.
Compared to his Human form, it was stronger.
Compared to his full Dragon form, it was faster.
Kaido had now entered his strongest mode.
And only this version of Kaido was worthy of being Ray's sparring partner.
Unconsciously, Ray no longer felt any pressure when facing Yonko or Admiral-level powerhouses.
…
Seeing Ray revert to his Human form as well, Kaido revealed a confident, toothy grin.
"I admit... you are the strongest rookie I've ever encountered."
"Even among us relics of the old era, few could likely surpass you in strength."
As he spoke, Kaido once again gathered massive amounts of Haki around his spiked club, Hassaikai.
"But today... your journey ends here!"
BOOM!
Without further words, Kaido immediately leaped into the sky.
In an instant, purple lightning radiated in all directions as endless thunder gathered around his weapon.
"Threefold Calamity: NARAKU'S RAGNARAKU!"
With Kaido's furious roar, the dragon-man charged toward Ray's position in an instant, carrying terrifying lightning.
This strike was immensely powerful, containing not only Kaido's full strength but also the majestic might of heaven itself.
It was truly terrifying.
Yet he faced Ray—why would a Great Demon's body fear mere lightning?
SHING!
A vortex of demonic energy suddenly appeared around the transformed blade, Tessaiga.
Both Conqueror's Haki and immense Demonic Power were infused into it.
In the blink of an eye, the spiked club and Tessaiga collided.
CLANG!
But Kaido's pupils trembled with shock at Ray's single sword strike.
The lightning's momentum abruptly ceased because at the moment of impact, a terrifying golden light erupted from Tessaiga toward him.
Two seconds later, the thunder dispersed as the sharp golden light broke through Kaido's Conqueror's Haki infusion like paper.
WHOOSH!
Kaido immediately dodged sideways, narrowly avoiding that golden sword light that seemed capable of cutting through everything.
As the light faded, a kilometer-long sword scar remained on the ground, starting from where Kaido had just been standing.
This was Ray's improved version—a "Miniature Wind Scar" specifically designed for close combat.
Abandoning wide-area attacks against groups, its energy consumption was much lower, yet its power wasn't weakened.
Instead, its penetrating force became even stronger.
Specifically targeting those who preferred close combat.
Its attack range only covered the area directly in front, but focused entirely on slashing attacks—equivalent to a fusion of sword energy and demonic power.
Ray wasn't like Inuyasha, who just wildly swung his large sword around.
By using the demonic power carried by the Wind Scar to enhance the sword energy's cutting power, he achieved a 1+1>2 effect.
Combined with Conqueror's Haki infusion...
Thus, a golden "Divine Departure" was born.
Even Kaido, reputed to have the strongest defense in the world, didn't dare to take this hit with his body.
Just this single exchange made Kaido treat Ray with even greater caution.
He clearly understood that this guy before him truly possessed the power to kill him.
Whether in transformed close combat or human-form melee.
He seemed unable to force out his opponent's true power.
Except for their initial probing exchanges, in both subsequent combat forms, Kaido had been at a disadvantage.
...
That earlier "Divine Wind Departure" not only shocked Kaido but also gave King, who was bombarding Yamato with flames in the air, a tremendous scare.
SWISH!
If not for his good luck and quick dodging, he might have been slain just now.
That stray sword strike had sliced down right beside him, nearly taking off his Pteranodon wing.
Because he was in the middle of an attack, the flame behind his head was in its extinguished state (speed mode).
This scene was just witnessed by Yamato, who had entered her wolf form.
She was still puzzled—no matter how she attacked King earlier, she couldn't damage him.
And while Ray's sword light was powerful, her own Conqueror's Haki-infused attacks weren't exactly weak either.
'Why would King dodge Ray's attack in panic, yet not even bother evading my Haki-infused Thunder Bagua earlier?'
Logically, if King could withstand her attacks unscathed, he shouldn't have shown such panic toward her brother's sword light.
That guy was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
There was only one possibility—King's incredibly strong defense likely had certain conditions or weaknesses.
Thus, Yamato began probing into King's secret.
"Namuji Hyouga!"
Yamato spewed an extremely cold breath from her mouth, freezing everything in its path.
King probably never expected that because of a single slash from Ray, the balance of victory between him and Yamato would actually begin to shift.
...
Back to the Main Event.
CLANG! CLANG!
Kaido and Ray exchanged several more close-combat blows.
The more they fought, the more astonished Kaido became—this guy was truly hard to handle.
That golden blade aura entwined with Conqueror's Haki was truly terrifying; he had carelessly allowed it to slice open his chest earlier, leaving a nasty gash.
The main issue was still the skill composition ratio during their battle.
Kaido used: Busoshoku + Lightning.
Ray used: Busoshoku + Demonic Power Wind Scar + Slashing Waves.
With their physical strength being nearly equal, even in basic skill-based attacks, Kaido was slightly weaker than Ray because Ray was stacking more types of power.
After all, he had never encountered an enemy who combined three distinct types of power like this.
Even Roger and Shanks' Divine Departure was merely a slash + advanced Haki.
Yet this Ray actually added that strange, eerie Demonic Power on top of it.
In that case, Kaido had no choice but to find a way to break through further.
Otherwise, he wouldn't last long in close combat either.
Constantly having to dodge was far too passive for his style.
Thus, Kaido began mobilizing another power of his—Flames.
Of course, achieving the fusion of powers wasn't that simple mid-battle.
During his attempts, Kaido was grazed multiple times by Ray's slashes, accumulating nearly ten fresh wounds on his body.
But he never stopped trying.
Ray also sensed the change in Kaido, 'This guy truly is a combat genius.'
In just one minute, after over a dozen clashes, he had already integrated another attribute into his attacks.
"FLAME THUNDER BAGUA!"
Both lightning and fire were offensive attributes; once fused, their power increased dramatically.
Kaido's attacks could now evenly match Ray's 'Divine Wind Departure,' no longer feeling suppressed as before.
BOOM!
On the surface, the two appeared evenly matched again, their frequent collisions causing all of Onigashima to tremble violently.
At that moment, Queen, who was using missiles and lasers to attack the berserk Chouchou, shouted loudly at Kaido.
"KAIDO-SAMAAAAAA! You'd better change locations! If you keep fighting like this, Onigashima is going to collapse!!"
It had been too long since Queen last witnessed a Yonko powerhouse battle; he truly never expected the two to fight so fiercely.
The 50-meter-thick rock layer atop Onigashima was nearly ground flat by now.
Moreover, the aftershocks of their battle kept interfering with him.
If one of those stray blade auras even grazed him, he'd either die or be severely wounded.
If that happened, his "charming layers of fat" would inevitably become food for that big dog in front of him.
So, he genuinely hoped Kaido would take Ray somewhere else.
This place was no longer sufficient for them to go all out.
Similarly, King, who was five kilometers away from Kaido, expressed the same sentiment.
"Kaido-san... head down to the Red Clay Plains below!"
King was also afraid of the two's battle aftershocks—the stray parts of Ray's slashes could genuinely inflict fatal wounds on them.
...
Everyone fighting on Onigashima was a top-tier powerhouse.
Coupled with all of them being Zoan ability users, their hearing was exceptionally sharp.
No matter how noisy the surroundings were, they could still hear sounds coming from afar.
After Kaido created distance from Ray with a powerful swing, he placed his spiked club beside him, panting slightly.
"Let's listen to them and change locations."
"Otherwise, when the decisive battle determines the winner, our subordinates will inevitably be caught in the crossfire."