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"Don't even think about it!"
An unprecedented sense of danger surged up from deep within his heart, and Kurozumi Orochi let out a thunderous roar as his massive body radiated a jet-black glow.
He was absolutely certain that those "XXXL" White Thunder Spears weren't just for show.
Inside the 'Raigō – Thunder Greeting' domain, simply opening his eyes already required a constant layer of Haki defense. If his guard slipped even for an instant, the consequences would be unimaginable.
So he braced himself!
No matter what tricks Rowen had up his sleeve, he would take them head-on!
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Clang!
Twelve crisp clashes reverberated throughout the Black Prison as the thunder spears struck with ferocity, piercing through Kurozumi Orochi's dense Armament Haki and scale armor, but they only managed to embed themselves shallowly into his flesh.
That was the unreasonable defensive might of a Mythical Zoan-type body.
The assault lasted less than a second, yet the pressure on Kurozumi Orochi was unlike anything he'd ever felt. Explosions crackled densely like strings of firecrackers. Each stabbing jolt of pain made him tense, terrified of losing even a moment's advantage.
Still, he managed to withstand it!
Exhaling slightly, Kurozumi Orochi's eight heads whipped about as he searched for Rowen's position.
He'd heard of this Black Prison before and knew Rowen had used it to defeat the legendary "Marine Hero" Garp. However, the latest intel suggested Rowen had held back during his clash with Kaido, never deploying this technique, leaving Orochi relatively unfamiliar with it.
Lacking solid information, every judgment had to be made on the fly.
But at that moment--
"You're honestly… so stupid that it's laughable."
A calm voice drifted in causing one of Orochi's serpentine heads, its socket empty of an eye, to freeze in terror.
Rowen hovered in midair, gently caressing the back of that head's neck as if he were a lover, his hand resting on the cold, gleaming scales. In an instant, endless thunder roared to life around his arm, lightning snaking wildly.
'Thunder… Ship-Chopping Blade!'
Shhhhk!
Blood sprayed and sparks of crimson filled the air.
That snake head, its expression frozen in shock, was severed from its neck and sent flying upward. Without support, it was instantly ground to dust, inside and out, by the ceaseless thunder raging throughout the space.
If Rowen couldn't even decapitate one head when Orochi was completely off-guard then he might as well quit fighting and save himself the embarrassment. The remaining seven serpent heads stared blankly at the disappearing head, whispering in disbelief:
"H-how… is that possible?!"
Agony followed that statement and Orochi lashed his heads and tail like whips, whipping up a violent storm around him. Rowen evaded the chaotic strikes with ease, retreating slightly, eyes narrowing.
"Strange, isn't it? You have eight heads, yet I still managed to slip into your blind spot."
"Could it be… those thunder spears?!"
Even without Rowen's explanation, Orochi had already realized what had happened.
He wasn't a fool; he knew exactly where he'd left an opening.
"With lightning's speed, you could have struck all at once… but you staggered the blows. To guard against your follow-up, I unconsciously shifted my focus in rhythm with your attacks. And those lightning clones you summoned around me… they were just distractions!"
"Soryu!!!"
Orochi's seven heads glared at Rowen with a mixture of terror and rage, his massive body trembling slightly.
"You bastard!!!"
This cunning, unpredictable, and utterly suffocating fighting style, this level of strategy that factored in both his actions and his thoughts, Even a powerless civilian would have been a deadly threat if they possessed this kind of mind.
And Rowen… was one of the strongest beings on the seas.
Clap… clap… clap…
Rowen applauded calmly, utterly unbothered by Orochi's murderous gaze.
"Congratulations. You got it. After all, in pitch darkness, against someone known for being manipulative and calculating, you'd be on the highest alert possible… and that makes it all the easier for me to toy with you."
A faint smile crossed his face as he continued to speak.
"Have you learned something new? It's called feinting to capture, or creating a diversion to strike elsewhere."
Orochi's eight heads weren't just for show. From their brief exchange, Rowen had realized that while Orochi had a single consciousness, each head could operate independently.
It was like having eight radars, each covering a direction, leaving no blind spots.
Combine that with Orochi's monstrous power and thick hide, and if he chose to play pure defense, Rowen would have no easy way in.
But Rowen's carefully orchestrated assault shifted Orochi's attention to the lightning clones. The precisely calculated intervals of the thunder spears subtly forced Orochi to divert focus, moving in sync with the strikes.
Like a mischievous child leading sparrows into a trap with scattered breadcrumbs, the method was as exasperating as it was effective.
Against a brute like Kurozumi Orochi, whose intellect wasn't even on the same playing field… it was devastatingly effective.
"Old man Garp would never fall for a trick like this… The moment I raise my hand, he can already guess what I'm about to do, and he'd counter me in the craziest ways possible, even if… the outcome was doomed from the start."
Suddenly, Rowen let out a long sigh as memories of a departed comrade surfacing in his mind. But in the next instant, his expression turned icy cold. His gaze lowered, and a chill ran down Kurozumi Orochi's spine; even his scale armor stood on end.
"So… Where did you ever get the courage… to stand against my Marines, Kurozumi?"
Bang!
With that solemn, cutting question, lightning flickered in the void. The twelve guardian clones surrounding them vanished, and in a heartbeat, the entire world was swallowed by darkness.
"You… what did you---?!"
Kurozumi Orochi froze mid-sentence, instantly holding his breath and standing still as a crushing pressure descended from all directions, and the pressure was so suffocating that it made his scales crawl.
"The air around me… it's gone?!"
Panicking, he glanced around wildly, but his vision showed nothing but pitch blackness. The terrifying aura of destruction surged again, forcing him to pour even more Armament Haki into defending against the corrosive power of 'Raigō – Thunder Greeting.'
"Can the Goro Goro no Mi… really do this?"
'Impossible! He wasn't Kaido; how could he possibly manipulate the atmosphere itself?!'
Unless…
Fruit Awakening.
As a top-tier powerhouse, Kurozumi Orochi knew exactly what this meant. The ability to reshape heaven and earth on such a massive scale could only signify one thing, Rowen was using lightning to erode the very world around them, driving out the air and creating a space devoid of life.
"You know… do you know how Kaido's subordinate, Conflagration King, died?"
"He dies like this."
The moment those words fell, Orochi lunged forward without hesitation, choosing a random direction to charge. He didn't dare stay still, just because he couldn't find Rowen didn't mean Rowen couldn't find him. This was the enemy's domain; the battlefield itself was his greatest disadvantage.
Boom!
As he ran, he spewed a sphere of toxic green gas, which quickly dissipated under the corrosive force of the lightning.
But even so, Orochi's sharp instincts picked up on something.
"There's air… over there!"
As the poison cloud dispersed, a small section of it shifted ever so slightly against expectation.
That subtle irregularity was enough. Under Orochi's meticulous control, the poisonous smoke should have expanded uniformly in every direction, unless something in the environment disturbed it.
Rowen's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Not bad, beastly instinct. Quite similar to the old man's battle sense…"
"But…"
In mid-charge, Orochi felt a cool draft against his face. A grin spread across his lips as he prepared to seize his chance. He'd guessed correctly. There was air in that direction, maybe even an exit. If he could just break through, he'd gain precious time to escape… or turn the tables on Rowen!
But then, in that moment, a flash of lightning tore through the void, followed by a gleaming blade of light. Caught completely off guard, Orochi's massive frame pitched forward. He tumbled violently across the ground, rolling for hundreds of meters before finally coming to a stop.
The sharp pain that followed made his body tremble. Instinctively, he pulled his remaining heads forward to shield himself.
Splurt!
A fountain of blood erupted from the neck of his severed central head, spraying outward, only to vanish like raindrops evaporating under a blazing sun.
Whoosh…
Sssshhhk!
Rowen stood silently in the void, a lightning spear in his hand, his right arm extended. Dangling from his grip was a massive, grotesque serpent's head.
Lightning ate away at its flesh, drying it out until it crumbled to ash, scattering in the thin air.
"Someone's already tried this before, Kurozumi Orochi. But I truly didn't expect… you'd deliver yourself to me."
The absurdity of it all almost stunned Rowen. Somehow, he'd become the hunter calmly waiting for prey to leap into the trap.
(End of Chapter)