"Kaido, you lunatic!"
Seeing Kaido throw his weapon, Dragon's eyes went blood-red.
The ones down there were his wife and child.
'Why did this madman have to target ordinary people?'
Dragon didn't have time to think anymore. Right now, he had no choice.
If he went to chase the weapon, Kaido would surely launch another area attack.
But if he went straight for Kaido, the thunder gathering in that weapon could destroy everything within hundreds of meters.
No matter what he chose, it was impossible to protect everything by himself.
Killing someone is always easier than saving someone.
Right now, all he could do was gamble, gamble that the doctor below might have a way to withstand that strike.
Gritting his teeth, Dragon charged straight at Kaido.
BOOM!
Before the weapon even hit the ground, Dragon's body slammed into Kaido's massive frame. The fierce wind roared, pushing both of them toward the sea.
Kaido didn't care about Dragon's attack at all.
Without Conqueror's Haki coating, it was no more than an itch to him.
His Observation Haki and attention remained fully locked on the direction of the Hassikai.
But in the end, the Hassikai betrayed his expectations.
A burly, middle-aged man with hair like saffron stepped into its path.
Though it was difficult, he managed to use Armament Haki to counter the weapon's thunderous blow.
"Crocus! Why are you here?"
Kaido completely ignored Dragon's attack, roaring across the thousand-meter distance at the newly appeared man.
Crocus, the ship's doctor of the Roger Pirates, and one of the last two remaining members of the Roger crew still alive.
He had once fought against the Roger Pirates in the past, and in his youth had even sparred with Crocus, so he knew exactly who he was.
"Kaido, that question should be ours. Why are you here?", Dragon stood between Kaido and the town, expression grave.
To him, Kaido's presence in Windmill Village was far more serious than the annihilation of the Revolutionary Army itself.
Everyone now knew that after the battle in Wano, Kaido had submitted to Rosse.
And given Kaido's nature, there was no way he'd take interest in some remote East Blue village.
His being here could only mean he'd heard something, or received orders.
If Windmill Village were a place Dragon had visited many times, that could barely serve as an explanation.
But clearly, that wasn't the case. He'd never appeared here in his true identity; every time he'd been in the Goa Kingdom, he'd disguised himself.
And his return this time had been purely sudden.
In the eyes of both the world and the World Government, he should still be fleeing toward the New World. Or even if Kuma's situation had been a trap, it should've lured him back to the Grand Line. No matter how you looked at it, Kaido couldn't possibly be targeting him.
Then who was he here for? Crocus?
Dragon glanced at him instinctively, but immediately dismissed that thought.
Crocus was hiding in the East Blue under his arrangement. When Vanessa's forces had hunted the remnants of the Roger Pirates, he'd even helped Crocus and Laboon escape.
No one except him knew Crocus's whereabouts, and no one had followed them on the way here.
Besides, Kaido's reaction just now didn't seem like someone who already knew Crocus was here.
'So, what is Kaido really after?'
"Heh! You're a Revolutionary, and I work for the World Government now. Isn't it natural for me to come for you?", Kaido's tiger-like eyes narrowed slightly, a strange light flashing deep within them.
Coincidence? Or destiny?
He'd rushed here immediately after receiving Rosse's message.
To avoid notice, he had flown the entire way at ten thousand meters high, avoiding all sky islands.
Though that had added some distance and forced a few rest stops, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to have tracked him.
And yet, after all that, his attack had been intercepted.
'So… is this fate?'
'Then what about me, a man abandoned by heaven?'
'What are my efforts, my schemes, my dreams, what do they mean?'
Kaido ignored Dragon entirely, his Observation Haki sweeping furiously across Windmill Village.
Before leaving the World Government base, Rosse had given him a target.
Now, all he had to do was find that woman, and kill her by sheer collateral force.
"Found her...", Within seconds, Kaido suddenly lifted his head.
It wasn't hard to locate her.
That woman was in the very house Crocus had emerged from earlier.
Once his target was confirmed, Kaido immediately acted.
"ROAR!!"
A thunderous dragon's cry erupted from his mouth as his body transformed into a hundred-meter-long Azure Dragon in an instant.
Seeing Kaido suddenly shift into full beast form, Dragon's face darkened.
Normally, top-tier Zoan users didn't fight other equals in full beast form.
"Damn it, what's in Windmill Village? Kaido, are you insane?"
Dragon turned into a raging gale, appearing before Kaido's dragon head in the blink of an eye.
At that same instant, Kaido unleashed a breath attack from his jaw, straight toward Windmill Village.
BOOM!
Dragon didn't dodge. He stood firm in front of the blast, his entire body coated in Armament Haki.
The three-meter-wide breath attack was split in half by Dragon's raw force.
Kaido hadn't expected it to work anyway. Only those of his level knew how troublesome equals could be.
With a whip of his tail, Kaido soared higher into the sky.
In that instant, heaven and earth changed color.
The once-clear sky darkened, filled with thick storm clouds. Lightning churned across the heavens.
Kaido refused to believe it.
Dragon could block one attack, but could he stop a thousand bolts of lightning?
"Damn it!"
Dragon's expression twisted, it could no longer be described as ugly.
Too cruel.
Attacking was always easier than defending.
With his power, he could hold his own against Kaido, even fight for days if needed.
But he couldn't protect Windmill Village. No one could protect a whole town in a battle between equals.
"Crocus! Help me!"
Dragon didn't chase Kaido into the sky; instead, he rushed back toward Windmill Village.
He couldn't save the town, but he had to save his wife.
"Ah, don't worry. These old bones can still move a bit."
Crocus looked solemnly up at the sky, then decisively turned back toward the house.
His strength wasn't on par with the top-tier fighters, at best, A-.
Trying to save Windmill Village from Kaido, even alongside Dragon, was unrealistic.
But if the two of them worked together to protect one person, that, at least, they could do.
And just then, Kaido let out another dragon's roar from within the clouds.
In that instant, the storm-dark sky lit up like day.
It was the light of a thousand thunders, descending upon Windmill Village.
Under that storm of lightning, none would survive.
But just as the lightning began to fall, from the sea nearest to Windmill Village came a deep, echoing call.
"WOOOOO!"