"You bastard!!"
Rowen's arrogance only fueled Ryokugyu's fury. Pushing past the fear in his heart, he drove his fingers deep into the rock wall, carving jagged cracks with sheer strength.
But he quickly calmed down. At this point, there was only one path left, a bloody one. When a person has no way out, the courage and wisdom born from despair often shine the brightest.
"Earth Pulse Wheel: Tree Realm!"
Suddenly, an immense force surged from Ryokugyu's body. Invisible energy seeped into the ground, assimilating everything around it.
"As expected, a Devil Fruit user… and an awakened one at that!"
Rowen raised an eyebrow, eyes locked on his opponent.
Lightning typically corroded everything, whether land or sky. It didn't discriminate.
However, as Ryokugyu exerted his power, Rowen was surprised to find that the effects of the Goro Goro no Mi (Rumble-Rumble Fruit) were being repelled, bounced back, by some other force coming from the earth itself.
It was a strange sensation, one only awakened Devil Fruit users could truly understand.
It was as if something had changed... as if the earth itself was no longer just earth.
At that moment, Rowen's ears twitched. He shifted sideways, narrowly dodging a massive object that had attempted to ambush him.
Looking back, he saw it: A colossal tree root, as thick as a battleship, burst through the stone wall, spanning across the magma pool and piercing through the volcano's throat.
"This is… a Plant-type Fruit?"
"No," Ryokugyu said coldly. "It's the Wood-Wood Fruit (Ki-Ki no Mi)."
As he spoke, his body began to change, drying out, turning into bark.
Crack! Crack!
In a series of crisp breaking sounds, Ryokugyu shed the outer layer of bark, stepping out completely intact. Aside from a few remaining burn scars, his body was otherwise unharmed.
"I see… No wonder the wounds on your face healed so quickly. So this is the reason."
Rowen finally understood.
The Wood-Wood Fruit, a Devil Fruit that had only ever been recorded in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Like many powerful fruits, it had vanished from the world for centuries.
Binz's Devil Fruit could only manipulate plant growth, classified as a Paramecia-based "superpower" type that allowed external control. The plant-type fruit Rowen had imagined would grant one a plant-like physique, similar to how the Gum-Gum Fruit gave Luffy a rubber body.
But the Wood-Wood Fruit was superior; it combined both powers.
Not only could Ryokugyu manipulate plant life, but he also had a plant body, a hybrid capability far beyond either category alone.
"You thought your regenerative ability made this your domain? You're dead wrong!" Ryokugyu sneered. "Don't forget, this entire volcano is part of the inner earth. It belongs to the plants!"
With that, he unleashed the full might of his fruit. And just as he claimed, this was his home field!
Above, below, all around, soil and stone. For a Wood-Wood Fruit user, it was as if he had gained countless limbs and hands, all under his command. Having pushed his powers to the limit over time, Ryokugyu was now confident he could face anyone in the world.
"Take this, Tree Realm: Thorned Wheel Rotation!!"
With a furious roar, and under Rowen's shocked gaze, countless tri-pronged spikes sprouted from the battleship-sized root. From those, even more protrusions emerged, like the gaping mouths of monstrous snails, magnified ten thousand times and filled with razor-sharp teeth. The sight was horrifying.
Buzz!!
With a tremor in the air, a wave of pitch-black light spread from the root, like ink dropped in clear water, dying the entire structure.
"Busoshoku Haki!!"
Rowen's eyes narrowed. Then a realization struck him: "If it's called a 'wheel'... there must be more than one!"
Sure enough, just as the thought crossed his mind, a rumble shook the volcano.
The outer walls cracked, and more massive roots burst through the soil and rock, clawing and spiraling toward him from every direction.
Had someone been watching from the ocean beyond the island, they would've seen a terrifying sight, As Ryokugyu activated his powers, the entire island seemed to come alive.
Cliffs already half-submerged in the tide were shattered by monstrous roots. The growth was insane, frenzied and relentless. Tons of solid rock crumbled under the force. In just seconds, the massive island, rivaling Marineford in scale, was torn apart and reduced to chaos.
These monstrous, thorn-covered vines encased the island, soaring skyward like towers, exuding a corrupted and ancient aura.
It was like something out of the Cthulhu Mythos, a place where long-lost ancient gods born of the void would awaken.
Anywhere there was soil, Ryokugyu ruled.
This was the reason why, in the canon world, he and Fujitora were promoted directly to Admiral rank, bypassing all normal channels.
"Now die!"
Coating such colossal roots in Armament Haki was a tremendous burden, pushing Ryokugyu to his limit. But he didn't hesitate. He unleashed everything he had, determined to wipe Rowen out.
Rowen's vision darkened in an instant.
Above, below, and all around, there was nothing but a forest of thorns.
"So that's it... Being this far underground... I've actually walked into a trap."
His voice was calm. Then came the blow. Massive roots whipped through the air like a giant hand slapping down to crush a bug. They clamped shut with terrifying force.
From the outside, those ancient branches wrapped around the volcano suddenly slammed together, creating a booming collision.
BOOM!!
The resulting shockwave raced outward across the sea. The ocean itself began to churn and roar, sending massive tidal waves into the sky.
BOOM, RUMBLE!
The violent quake shattered the underground magma chamber. Without the pressure of surrounding soil to suppress it, magma erupted outward in a blazing torrent.
Molten lava surged through the cracks forced open by the giant roots, flooding the surface and turning the landscape into a sea of fire. While it didn't trigger a full-scale eruption, thick black smoke filled the skies.
"Hah... hah... Turned into minced meat by now, huh? Monster."
No one knew how much time passed before Ryokugyu's charred form began to emerge, slowly, from a large tree root sprawled across the ruined island. Thanks to his plant-based physiology, he could merge with plant life, allowing him to escape from underground by riding through the massive roots.
Frowning at the surrounding inferno, Ryokugyu muttered to himself.
The Wood-Wood Fruit's only real weakness was extreme heat. Even with Armament Haki, plants had a low ignition point; they caught fire too easily.
"But maybe that's a good thing…" Suddenly, Ryokugyu grinned. "Crushed into pulp, then burned to ashes. Let's see you survive that, Rowen."
No matter how terrifying Rowen's regeneration was, it had to have a limit. Ryokugyu refused to believe that Rowen had actually survived. That earlier escape, no matter how flashy, meant nothing to him.
But the image of that shriveled corpse standing upright in the lava… It sent a chill down his spine. It was a nightmare he wouldn't soon forget. He looked up to confirm his location, estimated the submarine's docking point, and staggered forward.
"I need to get back quickly. If the Soryu (Azure Dragon) dies here, the Marines are guaranteed to launch a major retaliation."
But just then,
Zzzzt!
CRACK!!
A thunderbolt descended from the heavens. In Ryokugyu's stunned eyes, it pierced through his chest, slamming down into the chaotic mix of stone, earth, magma, and roots beneath the island.
BOOM, RUMBLE!!
The ground split apart, spiderweb-like cracks spreading instantly. Chunks of earth and roots were flung into the air, the island's surface collapsing all around.
Tap...
A scorching-hot body suddenly leaned against Ryokugyu's back. Amidst the raining rubble, Rowen appeared, holding the lightning lance that had pierced Ryokugyu's heart, and whispered beside his ear:
"The fight's not over yet. Where do you think you're going?"
Ryokugyu's eyes widened in horror.
"Impossible! You were, "
"Underground, right?" Rowen interrupted, voice calm. "Wrapped in the roots you summoned. Crushed. Dead. You'd know for sure if I moved, since you controlled every root on the island."
Then Rowen chuckled.
"But… who told you that was really me?"
"What?!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With the crash of thunder, multiple Rowens appeared all around Ryokugyu, each one looking exactly like the real thing.
God's Cry Hall: Thunder God Legion – Twelve Guardian Palaces!
Well… eleven now, anyway.
Ryokugyu suddenly remembered, the thunder spear from earlier!
When Rowen had made his grand declaration, he summoned lightning to blast open the rock ceiling above the magma pool and grabbed the lightning into his hand.
But now it was clear, he hadn't struck downward.
He had used that thunderclap to flash-blind his opponent and Blink upward, leaving a clone behind. One made of electricity, indistinguishable from the real him, even to Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) unless you were paying very close attention.
And considering Ryokugyu had just slammed his own head into the wall from pain moments earlier, there was no way he could've examined things clearly. After all, given the situation, who would've guessed Rowen's goal was escape, not attack?
"Now that's strategy, deception, misdirection, manipulation... Learn it well, little guy."
Rowen's voice turned icy cold. The thunder spear embedded in Ryokugyu's chest erupted with current, causing massive paralysis that locked his body in place.
"Even now… I'm still just buying time for my next move."
"You bastard!!!!" Ryokugyu's eyes bulged as he screamed in fury. His whole body convulsed violently, struggling to break free from the electric grip.
But Rowen wasn't about to give him that chance.
The eleven lightning clones each raised their thunder spears, stepping forward in unison.
Under Ryokugyu's terrified gaze, they drove them through his body, piercing every vital point.
Rowen didn't move as the spears stabbed through both Ryokugyu and himself, uncaring of the wounds.
Only when he confirmed that Ryokugyu had completely stopped breathing… Did he let go.
With a casual flick, Rowen swung his spear sideways.
Shhhh…!
A clean slice, and Ryokugyu's head flew into the air. With a forceful thrust, Rowen skewered the severed head on the tip of his thunder spear.
His lips curled slightly into a cold smile.
Orrick's Admiral, Ryokugyu, is dead.
(End of Chapter)
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