Within the Rocks Pirates, even figures as formidable as Whitebeard and Golden Lion would never dare to "pluck the tiger's whiskers."
It had been many years since something like this last happened.
For a moment
Captain John was pulled back into distant memories.
He still clearly remembered the day Rocks first established the Rocks Pirates on Beehive Island, gathering countless powerful pirates from across the seas among them a young Newgate and Shiki.
Naturally, Captain John himself was also there.
Pirates were a pack of arrogant, lawless desperadoes, and back then, the struggle for the position of captain had ignited a massive conflict.
On the seas, everything was decided by strength alone.
Whose fist was harder whoever it was, became the boss.
Even now, recalling that battle from years past made John's scalp tingle. Back then, Rocks had defeated all of them singlehandedly. The dead were too numerous to count.
In the end, he became the undisputed
King of the Rocks Pirates!
His overwhelming strength crushed all opposition, forcing absolute submission. From that day on, no one dared challenge Rocks again.
"Ares never experienced that battle," Captain John sighed helplessly. "That's why he doesn't truly fear Rocks. If he had seen that fight with his own eyes… none of this would be happening now."
John understood it clearly now.
Rocks intended to use Ares to reestablish his authority.
That was precisely why
He would not allow anyone to interfere in this battle.
High above the island
Ares finished destroying another massive weapon, his fighting spirit burning ever hotter.
Under the moonlight, the muscles across his back were coated in silver, making him look like a divine being clad in radiant armor.
Before the gathered pirates, Rocks once again unleashed an overwhelming aura. Supreme King Haki coiled around his body, lightning crackling densely enough to make even seasoned pirates feel dread.
"Darkness Storm!!!"
As Rocks launched his next offensive, the black ocean below suddenly twisted into countless whirlpools, each one forming a terrifying abyss.
Ares tensed. His muscles writhed like massive serpents, bones cracking loudly.
The next instant
Black smoke erupted skyward from the vortexes, spinning violently like titanic tornadoes, amplifying the Dark-Dark Fruit's crushing power.
Black smoke infused with pure darkness devoured anything it touched, endlessly compressing and pulverizing it!
"Ares," Rocks sneered arrogantly, "experience the might of the most vicious Devil Fruit in the world!"
Ares could clearly feel the terrifying pull radiating from the dark tornadoes.
Some of them even reached the clouds, swallowing the sky itself as the heavens darkened. The storms crept ever closer.
And with each step
The pull grew stronger.
"A terrifying Devil Fruit ability…"
Ares raised his arm, shaping his hand like a blade.
"Formless Blade Style Underworld King's Sword!"
Slash !
Using his palm as a blade, he cleaved toward a dark tornado advancing from the front-left.
The air split like silk beneath a razor. A brilliant sword wave over ten meters long ripped through the sky, striking the black storm in an instant.
But upon contact
The sword energy rapidly shrank.
From a massive slash to mere sparks of light, before being completely swallowed by the darkness.
"My sword energy… was crushed."
Ares' frown deepened.
The Dark Storm was far more terrifying than he had anticipated. His slash hadn't even caused a ripple.
"So many years later… Captain Rocks is still just as terrifying," Captain John murmured, fear etched deeply in his eyes.
The slash Ares had unleashed was already monstrous John himself wasn't confident he could block it cleanly. Yet before Rocks, it was nothing more than fireflies against the sun.
After testing the waters
Ares swung both arms again.
If his arms were swords, then his speed rivaled the fastest swordsmen on the seas.
Within a single breath
He unleashed dozens, then hundreds of flying slashes, each no weaker than the "Underworld King's Sword."
Radiant sword lights illuminated half the sky.
They crashed into the dark tornadoes one after another, as if battering against an impenetrable black fortress.
Boom !Boom !
Explosions thundered nonstop, splitting the sky into two worlds
One of light.One of endless darkness.
"The real show hasn't even begun," Rocks said confidently, as though victory was already assured.
The blocked tornado slowed, but others converged from all directions.
Not just one angle.
The pulling forces overlapped, chaos erupting like countless magnetic fields crushing inward.
"This technique only grows stronger over time," Rocks said coldly. "The Dark Storms will devour your space to survive, dragging you down like sinking into a swamp."
"The deeper you sink, the faster you die."
His gaze was icy, as though he could already see Ares' fate.
In the sky
Ares sensed the worsening situation and made his decision instantly.
His mouth thrust forward, whiskers sprouting as his body elongated
In the blink of an eye
A majestic azure divine dragon wreathed in clouds and lightning coiled across the sky, gazing down upon Beehive Island like its sovereign.
Blue diamond-shaped scales shimmered under lightning, reflecting blinding brilliance.
As the Azure Dragon opened its jaws, a blazing sphere of light formed within, eclipsing even the moon.
"Dragon Breath!"
A colossal pillar of flame erupted, burning with apocalyptic heat, colliding head-on with a dark tornado.
Fire exploded outward, forming a sea of flames that battled the darkness itself.
At the same time
The dragon's tail turned blood-red.
"Formless Blade Style Crimson Severance!"
The tail swept through the sky, unleashing a peerless slash comparable to Mihawk's strike at Marineford.
Ares knew
To break this deadlock, he had to overwhelm the darkness with sheer destructive force.
And then
He followed with a third attack.
His dragon claws tore through the air.
"Azure Dragon Claw Severing Wave!!!"
With his body as a weapon, Ares unleashed everything
Fully unleashed in Azure Dragon form!
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