The dust settled, revealing the scene within the pit.
Moriah knelt somewhat miserably inside the pit, one hand propped on his sword, gasping for breath, blood gushing from his forehead.
This only added to his already fierce and menacing face.
Moriah stared at Kaido, who had undergone a drastic change, not with fear, but with eyes filled with anger and hatred.
If looks could kill, Kaido would have died eight hundred times over.
"Wurorororo..."
"Moriah, surrender to me! Or die!"
Kaido was losing his patience; Moriah was too ungrateful.
If this guy still refused to surrender, he wouldn't mind killing him directly; there was no loss anyway.
"Who do you think I am! I am Gekko Moriah!"
Moriah roared, quickly stood up, and with a hum, the long sword in his hand was covered in a layer of ink-black Armament Haki.
The shadow beneath Moriah's feet also detached from his body, forming a figure identical to him.
Following Moriah's roar, the two figures charged towards Kaido without hesitation, giving the illusion of a mutual destruction.
"Hmph!"
Kaido snorted, in his opinion, this was merely Moriah's dying struggle, nothing to be afraid of!
"Roaring Thunder hassaikai!"
Kaido's hassaikai and Moriah's sword clashed, and only with the combined efforts of Moriah and Shadow Moriah could they barely withstand this blow.
The three weapons intertwined in the air, colliding and sparking dazzling black-red lightning and flying embers.
At the moment of impact, the ground beneath Kaido and Moriah instantly sank, and circles of spiderweb-like cracks spread from between them.
The three's offensive was locked in a stalemate in the air, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell that Moriah was gritting his teeth and holding on.
"Kaido, where are my companions?!"
Moriah wanted to leave, but his biggest concern was his companions; after so long, he hadn't heard any sounds of his companions fighting Kaido's subordinates, which filled him with intense unease.
"Moriah, you can barely protect yourself, yet you still have the mind to worry about your companions?"
Faced with Kaido's mockery, Moriah was furious but helpless; he was indeed in an extremely dangerous situation now.
The safety of his companions was paramount to him, and he disregarded his own condition, roaring at Kaido.
"Damn Kaido, tell me! What happened to my companions?!"
"Wurorororo..."
"It doesn't matter if I tell you, your subordinates are probably all dead by now."
"Wurorororo..."
Kaido continued to provoke Moriah verbally; he didn't know the situation of Moriah's companions, but that didn't stop him from making things up.
"Ah!!!"
"Kaido, I want you dead!!!"
Upon hearing this, Moriah instantly exploded in rage, his sharp cry piercing the sky.
The enraged Moriah, from who knows where, found the strength to seemingly neutralize Kaido's attack.
But he was not the protagonist, nor did he possess the luck to suddenly power up.
"Hmph!"
As Kaido exerted force, Moriah, who was already struggling to hold on, was instantly sent flying backward, and Shadow Moriah was dispersed in an instant.
Moriah, flying backward, spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air, his eyes almost turning white, and his weapon slipped from his grasp as he was sent flying.
"Damn it!"
Moriah gritted his teeth, refusing to fall unconscious, and continued to fly backward for hundreds of meters due to inertia before his speed began to decrease.
This blow completely sobered Moriah; his anger-clouded mind instantly cleared.
Just then, his shadow also returned, and after a moment of hesitation, he activated his Devil Fruit ability, causing his shadow to detach from him again and sprint wildly towards the coast.
Once at a certain distance, Moriah would swap positions with his shadow, and after the shadow returned, Moriah would detach it again, repeating this process.
He would use Kaido's attack to escape this place and wait until he had accumulated enough strength to return and seek revenge!
It must be said that Moriah's current strength was indeed impressive; he could take two of Kaido's skills head-on and still escape.
Of course, this also had to do with Kaido not yet being at the peak of his strength.
Kaido sneered as he watched Moriah gradually move away.
"Hmph! It's not that easy to leave!"
With that, Kaido stomped fiercely, and the powerful impact instantly cracked the ground.
Kaido, who had leaped into the air, began to transform, and in a moment, a blue dragon, a hundred meters long, coiled in the sky.
Kaido, transformed into a blue dragon, immediately chased in the direction Moriah had fled.
Moriah, still desperately fleeing, felt a scorching aura approaching from behind and instinctively dodged.
Boom!
Just where he had been, a ball of flame exploded, leaving a smoking pit on the ground.
Moriah looked in the direction of the attack and instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
He saw Kaido, transformed into a blue dragon, flying rapidly towards him in the sky not far away.
Flames condensed in the blue dragon's mouth, and dozens more powerful fireballs came hurtling towards him.
"Damn Kaido!!"
Moriah glared hatefully at the blue dragon in the sky.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
There were dozens more explosions of fireballs.
Moriah dodged continuously, narrowly escaping, but the high temperature generated by the explosions still left him in a sorry state.
His clothes were tattered, with several burning holes in them.
Although Kaido's attacks did not cause substantial damage to Moriah, they significantly slowed down his escape speed.
Moriah turned his head and saw that the distance between Kaido and him was getting closer and closer.
"Kaido is still chasing me, damn it!"
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Kaido caught up.
There was still a considerable distance to the coast, and even if he truly escaped Wano Country, Kaido would surely catch up with his speed.
No matter how he thought about it, it was a dead end, and Moriah was almost in despair.
As he pondered, Moriah's eyes became resolute, and a hint of madness flashed within them.
At worst... I'll fight to the death!
Even if I die, I'll tear a piece of flesh from Kaido!
Once the thought emerged, Moriah's escape speed also slowed down slightly.
Remembering something, a trace of reluctance flashed in Moriah's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.
"I'm sorry, my companions."
"I'm sorry... Perona."
After muttering, Moriah's escape speed gradually slowed down.
Seeing this, Kaido raised an eyebrow and stopped attacking; he wanted to see what other tricks Moriah had up his sleeve.
"Wurorororo..."
"Moriah, not running anymore? Or have you come to your senses and decided to surrender?!"
Kaido maintained his blue dragon form, looking down at Moriah, who now appeared like an ant in his eyes.
"Kaido! You killed my companions and still expect me to surrender, dream on!"
Even though Moriah was severely wounded, he showed no fear of Kaido!
This was enough to show how much Moriah valued his companions.
"So, there's nothing to discuss then?"
"Good! I'll grant you your wish!"
With that, Kaido swooped down and transformed back into his human-beast form.
A cold sweat involuntarily broke out on Moriah's forehead, but he had already made up his mind to fight to the death!
Kaido also bothered no further with words, grabbing his hassaikai and swinging it at Moriah.
Moriah's eyes narrowed, his fists covered in Armament Haki; without a weapon, he would use his own fists!
Just as Kaido's spiked club was about to descend, an unexpected change occurred.
"Kaido, stop your hand!"
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