They've been discovered?!
Damn it! How is this possible?!
The moment that voice rang out, both Celestial Dragons' faces twisted in alarm. They spun toward the cave mouth, instantly locking onto the two silhouettes outside—and moved without a shred of hesitation.
As befitted elites of the Knights of God, their combat instincts were razor-honed. Flames roared from the Mechanical Wings on their backs the instant they launched.
Whoosh!
Propelled by the jets at full power, their speed shot to its absolute limit. They became crimson meteors streaking across the cave, trails of fire marking their paths as they slammed toward Darren and Dragon.
One drew his blade. The other threw a punch.
Deep in Darren and Dragon's eyes, a crimson gleam flashed at the same moment. Their right hands shot out from beneath their cloaks, knuckles bare and hardened.
Fingers curled, index and middle pressed together, ring and pinky joined. Violent Armament Haki surged over their hands, sculpting them into unbreakable Three-Fingered Dragon Claws.
"Dragon's Claw!"
The dragon claws that shattered tyranny met the Celestial Dragons' charge head-on.
Clang! Clang!
Twin crashes of metal rang out as sparks burst from the impact and a colossal shockwave blasted through the cave.
Riding the thrust from their Flight Wings, the combined force of the two Knights of God drove Darren and Dragon back.
"These guys hit hard," Dragon grunted. His body unraveled into a churning gale as he dug in, the ground behind him gouged into a trench twenty or thirty meters long.
But the instant they collided, he realized something else.
They're close to Admiral level...
Even at full power, they only pushed me back twenty meters...
As he locked eyes with the green-haired Celestial Dragon's grim expression, pride surged through Dragon.
Ever since Felsek Island—since seeing the Gorosei's eerie, overwhelming power with his own eyes—he had thrown himself into Hellish training, squeezing it in between running the Freedom Fighters.
In just one month, his strength had skyrocketed.
If he fought one of the Gorosei now, he was confident he could crush them outright. Even against two, he could stand his ground.
Thinking that, Dragon couldn't help casting a proud side glance at Darren.
Then his smile froze.
One meter.
No—less than that.
Against the full-force strike of those two Knights of God, Darren had simply taken one step back and stabilized, as if he'd merely shifted his footing.
That freak...
Dragon's lip twitched as the gale around him exploded outward. He roared,
"Darren, I've got a really bad feeling about Kuma's situation! Are you sure we should be wasting time on these two?"
As he shouted, he hurled a colossal vortex of wind.
The whirlwind visibly swelled, tearing up everything in its path as it roared toward the green-haired Celestial Dragon.
"I'll wrap this up quickly," Darren said without looking back.
What a show-off.
This bastard is really full of himself, Dragon thought, but he nodded, forcing his voice to stay level. "Fine. I'll create an opening for you!"
"That won't be necessary," Darren replied, tone calm.
As the blond Celestial Dragon thrust toward him again, Darren's lips curved into a faint smile. He lightly clenched his fist.
In the next instant, Dragon saw something that made his breath catch—
Blue lightning twisted madly across Darren's body, flaring up like ghostly azure fire that swallowed him whole.
With his sharpened Observation and keen eyes, Dragon could sense it: the moment this technique activated, Darren's muscles and cells were operating at a speed and frequency that defied reason.
An oppressive, inexplicable pressure crashed down over the cave.
The two Knights of God felt their pupils contract to pinpoints, their faces freezing in horror.
The black-haired youth hadn't moved.
But they could feel death creeping toward them.
This feeling... it's like facing Commander Excellency himself!
"Engage him head-on!"
The two Knights traded a look and shouted in unison.
Behind the bravado, they silently triggered the emergency beacon on their Den Den Mushi.
They didn't have to defeat Darren—just stall him for two minutes.
Once Commander Excellency arrived, everything would be over.
Boom!
Boom!
The two Knights of God shot forward with everything they had, Flight Wings blazing fire at maximum thrust.
At that moment, Darren calmly flicked his finger.
Blue sparks crackled at his fingertip, and an invisible magnetic field pulsed outward.
Sizzle!
As if all their circuitry had been fried, the Mechanical Wings on both Knights of God burst into showers of sparks and thick black smoke.
Their high-speed glide cut off midair.
Hah...
With a quiet exhale, Darren sank his weight, knees bending, body lowering slightly.
Zzzt-zzzt-zzzt-zzzt...
Arcs of electricity raged around him, more intense than ever.
His Thunder Armor had reached maximum output.
"Let me show you," he snarled, head tilting back, a feral grin splitting his face.
"The results of my special training."
Zap!
A blue phantom ripped across the air—the silhouette of a furious dragon roaring through the void, vanishing in less than a thousandth of a second.
Dragon stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide.
"What was that...?"
The Knights of God's pupils shrank even further. Their minds went blank.
He's gone...
Bloodshot veins crawled across their eyes. Their bodies shook uncontrollably.
They didn't move.
In the next heartbeat,
the black-haired youth reappeared behind them like a ghost, bolts of lightning slowly dying away around him.
His hands, shaped into dragon claws, gleamed wetly with fresh blood.
In each hand, he held a still-beating heart.
"Thunder: Dragon's Dive."
Crunch.
Darren's Three-Fingered Dragon Claws closed, crushing both hearts at once.
At the same moment—
Sizzle!
Sizzle!
Two crimson jets of blood spewed from the gaping holes in the Knights of God's chests.
"So fast..."
"Didn't even see him move..."
The light drained rapidly from their eyes. They dropped to their knees with twin thuds and then toppled, lifeless.
Even in death, their bleached faces were frozen in disbelief and utter horror.
It was as if they couldn't understand how two warriors of their caliber could be erased so completely, even by someone stronger.
One strike. Instant annihilation.
The world fell silent.
Not a single sound.
Several seconds passed before Darren flicked the blood from his hands, let out a rough breath, and turned. He smiled faintly at the still-stunned Dragon.
"Let's go. Weren't we in a hurry to save someone?"
Dragon jolted, as if waking from a dream.
"That move just now..."
He swallowed hard.
"...How many Kaidos did you eat?"
To be continued...