The sea surged violently.
A massive circular void began to fill, little by little.
From afar, Doflamingo and Sengoku locked eyes.
Sengoku's gaze was heavy as he activated Seimei Kikan.
The muscles in his right arm began to contract intentionally, clamping down on ruptured blood vessels. Even the torn skin began to stitch itself back together, bit by bit.
Thanks to the tremendous vitality of his Mythical Zoan form, his injuries were healing at an astonishing rate.
Not fully recovered, of course—but enough not to hinder the battle to come.
"Madman."
Sengoku muttered. If he wasn't mistaken...
That kid just outright tore apart his own arm.
He's a Paramecia-type. That was basically self-mutilation.
The next instant, Sengoku's pupils shrank.
Doflamingo's similarly damaged arm was rapidly regenerating.
"Madman? I like the sound of that. Fuffuffuffu~"
Doflamingo licked the corner of his lips with his tongue, eyes gleaming with aggression as they locked onto Sengoku's neck.
He raised his uninjured left hand—
Which erupted into sixteen tendrils.
The hardened Armament Haki that had just been recondensed in his body coated the tendrils in a reddish-purple glow.
Even the air around them shimmered, distorted by the sheer pressure.
This was another variation of internal-destructive Armament Haki.
"Sengoku-san, let's keep this little joyride going! Come taste my Armament Haki again!"
The tendrils, charged to their limit, shot out with his cry.
Even the air couldn't withstand the force—visible shockwaves cut through space.
"Brat, this time... I'll make sure you're thrown into Impel Down!"
Faced with the incoming power, Sengoku didn't dare hold back.
The earlier fight had already proven this brat was no mere small-time punk.
He was a true opponent—on the same level as Kaido and Big Mom.
Raising a golden palm, Sengoku unleashed a blast of golden shockwaves.
"Great Buddha Palm!"
The golden wave tore through the sky and collided with Doflamingo's Armament-covered tendrils.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The attacks canceled each other out, the massive shockwaves sending tidal surges exploding in all directions.
"Oh? So just Impel Down, huh? What, Sengoku-san, not allowed to kill me? What a shame."
Doflamingo's mocking voice rang out, laced with a mental jab.
Sengoku's eyes widened. His brows furrowed, rage flashing more vividly than before.
Because of Doflamingo's special status, even if he was captured, they couldn't simply execute him like they would Big Mom or others.
They couldn't just offer him up in tribute to Zephyr.
"In that case... then until next time!"
Doflamingo's mouth curled into a wicked, triumphant smirk.
Sengoku's heart skipped a beat.
In the very next instant, all the tendrils in front of him exploded.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Dense, solid Armament Haki and Sengoku's Great Buddha body absorbed the resulting shockwaves completely.
But—
Doflamingo had already used the recoil to launch himself far into the distance.
"Sengoku-san, how long would it take to train another monster Vice Admiral like that one?"
Sengoku, having been closer to the blast's core, had taken heavier damage.
If the fight dragged on, Doflamingo—with his undying regenerative powers—would likely be the one to win in the end.
But killing Sengoku quickly? That was impossible—unless Sengoku lost his mind and went head-to-head against Doflamingo's War Giant form, throwing his life away.
He wasn't Nika, either—couldn't upgrade himself multiple times in a single day or instantly weaponize a newly emerged power.
Even the fleet under Sengoku's command had arrived so quickly... Who knew how soon other top-tier Marine forces would get here?
The longer this dragged on, the more likely it was that Garp or Kong would show up—and if that happened, today could be Doflamingo's funeral.
(T/N: I'm stupid, as mentioned earlier: Garp's adjutant placed a comforting hand on Sakazuki's shoulder. "Sakazuki… it'll all be repaid. Let Jonathan rest." So Garp is not here, it was adjutant)
Better to take this opportunity—
To crush another piece of the Navy's future elite.
"Damn it! Doflamingo—stay right there!!"
Sengoku's eyes bulged with fury as he roared, voice shaking the heavens.
Doflamingo's words had brought the image of Zephyr's shattered body and Aokiji's frozen corpse back into his mind.
Neither of them had to die.
The air around him exploded as the golden Buddha form shot into the sky in pursuit.
A massive golden palm aimed at Doflamingo's body, firing a blazing dark-golden shockwave.
The golden wave, laced with crimson lightning, cut through the air.
Its speed surpassed the limit—instantly crossing the distance and landing behind Doflamingo.
"Fuffuffuffu~"
Faced with this strike, Doflamingo let out a wild laugh.
He could dodge—but why bother?
Let Sengoku-san give him a little extra boost.
A flash of Haki bloomed around him, and his body glinted like forged steel.
This wasn't Armament Haki hardening.
This was something stronger. Something fiercer.
Demon Form.
Wings snapped in tight, curling around him like a cocoon.
A black, oval shell—like a massive egg—wrapped around him completely.
BOOOOOOM!
A thunderous blast echoed through the skies.
The dark-golden shockwave slammed into the black shell.
Most of the wings were obliterated in an instant.
Then, like a cannonball, the cracked black egg hurtled toward the ruins of the G8 base.
"DAMN IT!!!"
Sengoku cursed through clenched teeth and shot off in a blur.
A new chase had begun.
This time, the roles were reversed.
...
Elsewhere—
Within the forge of flames, lasers, and slicing waves...
A black giant, honed and compressed to the extreme, gleamed with a pitch-dark sheen.
Its texture no longer resembled stone.
More like some kind of black gemstone.
Its towering body had shrunk—down to just over a hundred meters tall.
Bzzzt!
Seeing his laser beam blocked, Borsalino raised an eyebrow.
Its hardness... had increased again.
"What a magnificent sensation!"
Bullet let out a wild, exhilarated laugh. This feeling—this total fusion with his creation—
It was too good!!
His body, forged like a diamond anvil, was now his true flesh.
"Die, you Navy bastards!!"
His house-sized fist swung down toward the molten sea below.
This time, it didn't feel heavy.
The combination of speed and compressed weight turned it into the ultimate destructive force.
"I'll melt you down completely!!"
During the brief exchange just now, Sakazuki had already replaced the seawater below with lava.
The surging magma writhed like a slime, crawling up the black giant's body.
At the same time, Sakazuki's right arm turned into magma and blasted forward.
The lava-infused fist struck first, meeting the giant punch head-on.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosion of lava sent violent bursts flying into the sea.
But Bullet—
Still had another hand.
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg