"Magellan, you think too highly of yourself. If your poison is useless, then you're nothing but a worthless man!"
"Unfortunately for you, my poison still works. That means you're dead! Poison Corridor!"
In the next instant, venom erupted from Magellan's body and surged forward across the floor like a living tunnel, aiming straight for Renji Kai.
Reacting immediately, Renji activated the [Granny Chiyo] character card.
"Ding! Character Card 'Granny Chiyo' activated successfully. Usage count -1."
As the system notification echoed, Renji quickly launched himself backward over ten meters to dodge the venom assault. Although he avoided direct contact, the poison began to spread in the air, forming an invisible, deadly wall of gas.
"How long do you think you can keep running? Poison Pufferfish!"
Magellan opened his mouth wide, vomiting multiple toxic spheres that flew toward Renji through the dense venomous mist.
Realizing he couldn't dodge forever, Renji knew he had to act. If those spheres exploded near him, the toxic aftermath would be catastrophic.
"White Secret Technique: Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu!"
With a calm grunt, ten fine threads launched from Renji's fingertips. At the end of each thread stood a figure in a white robe, each armed with a different weapon. These were the legendary puppets created by the founder of puppet arts, Monzaemon, known as the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu.
With a flick of his fingers, the ten puppets charged straight into the incoming poison balls. In an instant, each orb was sliced and neutralized by the puppets, although the surrounding air became saturated with venom.
Seeing his attack neutralized once again, Magellan's expression darkened.
"Hmph! I didn't expect you to have such tricks up your sleeve. Let's see you survive this! Poison Dragon Summon!"
Suddenly, three massive, dragon-shaped streams of toxic gas burst from Magellan's body, roaring as they lunged toward Renji like living creatures.
Renji knew he had to counter with everything he had.
"Let's see whose technique is stronger—your poison dragons, or my puppets! Puppet Art: Triple Treasure Pressure Crush!"
Three of Renji's puppets swiftly grouped together. One puppet jumped onto the shoulders of the other two, forming a human pyramid. As the toxic dragons neared, the trio extended their arms, and a powerful vortex erupted around them.
The swirling tornadoes sucked in everything nearby—even the poison dragons. In seconds, the toxic beasts were compressed into a single mass of gas and fired back directly at Magellan.
Though Magellan wasn't afraid of his own poison, seeing his ultimate move reflected back at him left him visibly shaken.
Not wasting a second, Renji knew that stalling any longer would only get him surrounded by the thickening poison. Gritting his teeth, he commanded all ten puppets to charge toward Magellan, weapons drawn.
Meanwhile, in Level 6 of Impel Down—the dreaded Infinite Hell.
Domino stood before a pitch-black prison cell, her heartbeat rapid and her hands slick with sweat as they gripped the keys.
This layer felt completely different from those above. It was eerily silent, with inmates either on death row or serving life sentences. Once locked in here, there was only one fate: death.
Most crimes committed by these prisoners were so heinous that the government had covered them up. Not even the newspapers dared speak of them. It was no surprise that even a high-ranking officer like Domino felt intense pressure standing here.
"Domino, did something serious happen upstairs?"
A familiar voice echoed from the depths of the cell.
"Shiryu of the Rain, we need you," Domino said, her tone heavy after a moment's hesitation.
"Your tone says everything. Must be quite the battle above. What I'm curious about is, what kind of man could threaten our beloved Warden Magellan?"
"Just a regular prisoner from Crimson Hell. Somehow, he's managed to defeat Warden Saldeth, Sphinx, Head Jailer Sadie Jr., and Deputy Warden Hannibal in quick succession. Magellan is now fighting him on Level 4."
"Fascinating. Never thought I'd see someone capable of escaping this place in my lifetime."
Just then, a shrill woman's voice rang out from the neighboring cell.
If Renji had been there, he would have seen a heavily made-up woman with eccentric clothes and a prominent nose.
"Catarina," Domino snapped, "you're never getting out of here alive!"
"Tsk, worry about yourself. Your executioner is on the way," Catarina Devon replied with eerie calm.
"No need to wait. He's already here. Open the door," Shiryu said as he stepped out from the shadows and approached the gate.
His sudden appearance startled Domino, making her heart leap in fear.