Enraged over his severed beard and Linlin's mockery, Kaido exploded in fury.
A wave of terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted from him like a bloodthirsty beast, threatening to devour everyone nearby.
"Kaido!"
Halfway through her laughter, Linlin was hit by the full force of his Haki, and her expression turned furious. An equally monstrous wave of Conqueror's Haki burst from her body, colliding with Kaido's and forcing his back.
Yet whether by intention or coincidence, as the two Yonko's Haki clashed, the combined pressure bore down directly on Esdeath.
"Hmph!"
Esdeath wasn't about to be outdone and released her own Conqueror's Haki.
However, compared to two veteran Emperors of the Sea, Esdeath—who had only learned the three types of Haki a few months ago—was clearly at a disadvantage in this clash.
Not only was the area her Conqueror's Haki covered the smallest, but the deck beneath her feet also began to crack bit by bit under the pressure of clashing against Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.
But just as the situation reached a critical point, another surge of Conqueror's Haki joined the confrontation, assisting Esdeath in pushing back the combined Haki of Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.
"Katakuri!"
Charlotte Linlin roared with rage. That damned traitor actually dared to help someone else against her!
Overcome by fury, Charlotte Linlin grabbed the hat on her head. It transformed into a saber and swung down toward Katakuri.
"Mama, no!"
The hat—Napoleon—screamed in pain as it transformed.
When Kaido was being beaten up by Boros, he alone took the blows. But when Charlotte Linlin was getting thrashed, her Homies got punched by Boros too.
If not for the fact that these Homies were a part of Charlotte Linlin's power, someone like Napoleon would've been killed by Boros long ago.
Facing the saber descending toward him, Katakuri clenched his teeth and drew his trident from his wrist, thrusting it forward to meet the attack.
Clang!
But just before Katakuri's trident could collide with the saber, a second blade—slimmer and more delicate—intercepted it first, blocking Charlotte Linlin's slash head-on.
The two sabers, one large and one slender, clashed and locked in midair. Black lightning crackled and burst between Charlotte Linlin and Esdeath.
But in the end, Esdeath couldn't withstand Charlotte Linlin's monstrous strength and released her power, allowing Napoleon's blade to tear open a massive, several-dozen-meter-long gash in the airship's hull.
"Tch! What ridiculous strength…"
She grumbled about Charlotte Linlin's brute force, but the cold, beautiful face of Esdeath was alight with excitement.
Fighting opponents who were on par with—or stronger than—her had always been Esdeath's greatest thrill. She had been left unsatisfied when her battle with Tatsumaki was cut short, but now someone else had delivered themselves right to her doorstep.
"Little girl… you're that top-tier combatant Boros brought in, aren't you? Answer me!"
Above Charlotte Linlin's head, the sun Homie Prometheus blazed with fierce flames, while the thundercloud Homie Zeus crackled with streaks of lightning.
Bathed in fire and thunder, Charlotte Linlin's figure radiated terrifying power.
The officers standing behind Katakuri were already instinctively retreating, their faces filled with fear and dread as they looked at her.
Especially when Charlotte Linlin shouted at the end—many of them collapsed on the spot in terror, and the stench of fear filled the air.
"Everyone get out of here! Run as far as you can!"
Katakuri's eye twitched. Even with Captain Boros's protection, who knew if an enraged "Mama" would remember to hold back?
The pirate officers breathed as if pardoned on the spot. The newcomers who'd never seen a Yonko angry were especially shaken — their legs trembling so badly others had to drag them away.
Watching the lot of them scramble out in a panic, and seeing her damned unfilial child trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and the "battlefield," Charlotte Linlin suddenly felt a pang of regret.
Originally she'd planned to put Kaido in front — if it came to blows and drew Boros's ire, it would be Kaido who took the beating first.
But the moment she saw that brat's face she'd lost her temper; and now that things had come this far, even if she beat that new whelp, she'd probably just get flattened by Boros afterward.
Even someone as vicious as Charlotte had begun to learn caution after being "educated" by Boros dozens of times.
"Hey, you old hag — if you want me to help, say the word! It's not like losing would be shameful; the newbie and you are both top-tier. No big deal if we fall short!"
Kaido — the one who knew Big Mom best after so many years — grinned and egged her on, eager as ever to stir chaos.
To many, Kaido, the "strongest creature on land, sea, and air," was just a destructive beast who never bothered with subtlety because he didn't need to. But when it came to scheming and manipulation, Kaido was far craftier than Linlin; he'd once conspired with Blackcharcoal to play Kōzuki Oden to his death.
When Big Mom lost her head during her rampage, the usually hot-blooded Kaido had actually calmed down. He'd not only noticed his old ally's plan to use him as cannon fodder but had quietly dug a pit of his own, ready to shove Linlin into it.
"Shut up! Be quiet!" Linlin snapped. Her roar silenced Kaido, not because he was frightened, but because her corrosive spittle splattered his face.
"Well? Are we fighting or not?"
Esdeath was losing patience. An icy aura radiated from her in concentric waves; white frost was forming on both Kaido's and Linlin's hair.
"Old hag! I'm asking you!" Kaido wiped the spit from his face with a sneer and, being no fool, deliberately put distance between himself and Linlin so she couldn't drag him into the fray.
"You brat! You're asking for it! Emperor Sword — Pōpō Blade!"
Charlotte Linlin, caught in a dilemma, suddenly snapped into a frenzy. With a roar, she raised her massive saber high above her head. The floating sun, Prometheus, immediately spewed flames that wrapped around the blade, coating it in searing fire.
The blazing saber came cleaving down toward Esdeath, its fiery aura crackling with destructive might. The burning slash tore through the air like a bolt of divine thunder.
"Armament: Frozen Wall!"
Esdeath thrust out her hand, summoning a thick wall of ice that sealed the corridor completely, forming an impregnable barrier between her and Charlotte Linlin.
A layer of jet-black Armament Haki quickly spread across the surface of the ice, fortifying it to the point that it was nearly unbreakable.
Even Linlin's Emperor Sword: Cognac could barely slice through the Armament coating that covered the surface.
But within seconds, the transparent wall was dyed crimson from the sheer heat. Steam hissed violently before vanishing under the scorching temperature. Then, in less than a single breath, the fiery saber—Napoleon—burst through the wall like a miniature sun.
BOOM!
The flaming blade came crashing down with explosive force, transforming Esdeath's position into a blazing inferno.
The reinforced floor of the Dominion's deck cracked apart under the strike, and even the mysterious alloys of the ship's hull began to melt under the intense heat.
Yet despite the overwhelming force of the blow, Esdeath was nowhere to be found. Long before the saber descended, the imperial general had already leapt back, widening the distance between herself and Linlin with blinding speed.
"Cry of the Ice Dragon!"
Though the Dominion was an enormous ship with vast internal corridors, the confined space still limited Esdeath's movement advantage. However, in this case, the narrowness worked in her favor—her long-range attacks left Linlin with almost nowhere to dodge.
A massive, lifelike dragon of ice erupted forward, roaring as it charged down the hallway like a runaway locomotive.
The enormous beast filled nearly the entire corridor; even a top-tier combatant would find it almost impossible to avoid a direct hit.
"Heavenly Fire!"
Now that she had fully committed to battle, Charlotte Linlin held nothing back. With a wild grin, she grabbed Prometheus by the arm and hurled him straight toward the incoming ice dragon.
The flaming homie collided head-on with the beast, detonating in a fiery explosion that rocked the corridor. Yet as the ice dragon shattered, torrents of freezing energy burst outward from within, surging like a tidal wave.
For a brief moment, flames and frost clashed violently inside the ship's passageways—then came an even larger explosion. The Dominion shuddered under the shockwave, and the clouds surrounding the massive vessel were blasted apart in every direction.
The Overlord—a colossal flagship tens of kilometers in length—was the pride of the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates. Normally, such a tremendous impact would have caused immediate alarm among the thousands of pirate ships stationed nearby.
Yet the crews on those ships, though glancing up toward the disturbance, showed no signs of panic.
"Looks like they're fighting again. Wonder if it's Kaido or Big Mom getting beaten this time…"
"Didn't they get thrashed just this morning? Guess round two came early."
"Hah! I used to think the Yonko were unstoppable monsters. Didn't expect they'd end up getting smacked around like this by Captain Boros."
"Idiot! That's because Captain Boros is an even bigger monster than they are! Once you've seen Kaido and Big Mom's true power for yourself, you'll understand why they're called Emperors of the Sea!"
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