Victor wasted no more words. He needed to end this quickly and return to the Marine ship.
After observing the battle, he'd confirmed one thing: Queen wasn't overwhelmingly stronger than Gion. His Haki was on par with theirs—no Advanced Armament (Ryuo), no next-level techniques.
In Victor's eyes, Queen's Haki was only slightly denser than his own, with the added durability of an Ancient Zoan. Throw in some cyborg enhancements, and most fighters would struggle.
But for someone like Victor?
'Too. Damn. Slow.'
Without warning, Victor struck.
Twin blades flashed.
A blur of motion—and suddenly, Victor stood behind Queen, two fresh wounds splitting the dinosaur's flesh. Blood sprayed.
Yet within seconds, the gashes sealed.
"Ancient Zoan regeneration," Victor noted. Anyone else would've been bisected.
Neither had used Haki yet—Victor was testing, and Queen simply 'couldn't' react in time.
Victor's speed outpaced Queen's Observation Haki 'and' his reflexes.
"Not bad, brat. You actually cut me." Queen licked his lips, feigning nonchalance.
But his guard was up now. Armament Haki coated his body—if he couldn't dodge, he'd tank the hits.
"Oh, it's not just my swordsmanship. I'm 'decent' at everything." Victor grinned.
His blades darkened, followed by his arms, torso—full-body Armament.
Queen's eye twitched.
"This bastard… With that speed, does he 'really' need full-body hardening?!"
"Soru."
Victor vanished.
CLANG!
Steel met scaled belly—sparks flying, but no damage.
"Tch. Tough." Victor's grin didn't waver, but his mind raced. "His Haki's thicker than mine. An endurance battle's the last thing I want."
Ancient Zoan stamina was monstrous. If this dragged on, Victor would lose by attrition.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Blades danced. Victor struck from every angle—neck, back, limbs—but Queen's defenses held.
"Damn it. I need a breakthrough."
Then—
SCHLICK!
A new sound.
Blood.
Queen's armored stomach split open, twin gashes weeping crimson.
"WHAT?!" Queen's mechanical eye bulged.
"How?!" Gion gasped.
Same Haki. Same blades. Yet this time—
"Hmm, attacks imbued with Shinki(心気) indeed strike with incomparable power. The mind truly is a mysterious force!" Victor thought to himself.
(Explanation: The author named this new power as "Mental Energy" or "Heart", which will be explained more later, but I think they were too vague, bland, Chinese, and easily passible as translation errors, so I change it to something that sounded Japanese.
1. 心 (Shin / Kokoro)
Literal Meaning: Heart, Mind or Spirit.
2. 気 (Ki / Ke)
Literal Meaning: Energy, Aura, Respiration or Life Force".
Combination: 心 + 気 = Shinki / Kokki. I decided to go with Shinki.
Direct Translation: Mental Energy or Heart Energy.)
A force beyond brute strength. A will that 'separated' flesh from flesh, cell from cell. No mere Haki could block it.
Queen staggered. His wounds 'refused' to heal. Muscle fibers strained, but the edges repelled each other like magnets.
"What the hell 'is' that?!" Queen rasped.
"The power of the heart," Victor said, flicking blood off his blades.
"A new power?"
Another flurry.
More cuts.
Queen's body became a canvas of unhealing gashes. His regeneration—nullified.
Panic set in.
"If this keeps up… I'm dead."
Queen had long abandoned relying on Observation Haki to dodge. The signals reached his brain—his body just couldn't keep up.
Now, he cloaked his entire frame in Armament Haki, the sheer volume of it draining him rapidly. At ten meters tall in hybrid form, maintaining this defense was unsustainable.
'This is a losing battle.'
The fight raged on. Wounds multiplied across Queen's body.
Then—rage.
Seizing an opening, Queen ignored two fresh slashes across his ribs. One mechanical claw snagged Victor's coat; the other smashed into his gut with the force of a meteor.
BOOM!
Victor skidded back—unharmed, thanks to full-body hardening—but Queen 'laughed', blood dripping from his teeth.
As if he'd found some twisted epiphany.
Victor never gave him another chance.
Blades became a storm. Cuts deepened. Queen's iconic black-and-white suspenders turned crimson.
Life bled out of him with every heartbeat.
---
Meanwhile, Onigashima, Wano
Kaido gulped sake from a barrel when a trembling True Disaster burst into the hall.
"L-Lord Kaido! Emergency! Queen—Queen's in trouble!"
"You interrupt my drinking for 'this'?!" Kaido's glare could melt steel. "If this isn't worth my time, I'll turn your skull into a cup!"
The underling thrust forward a small, burning slip of paper—Queen's Vivre Card, its edges disintegrating.
"H-His life force is fading! He's dying! I came as soon as—"
Kaido's drunken haze shattered.
He yanked out his own collection of Vivre Cards. Queen's was shrinking.
"MY CREW IS MY TREASURE!"
The ceiling exploded as Kaido transformed into a colossal azure dragon, wreathed in flame-clouds. His voice boomed across the island:
"You've done well. Rewards await!"
Then—he was gone.
---
Back to the Battle
Victor halted mid-strike.
Queen's remaining mechanical claw now clutched a football-sized metal orb.
'Another poison bomb?' Victor's instincts screamed danger.
"My 'magnum opus'—Mummy Bomb." Queen grinned through bloody teeth. "One squeeze, and everything within a kilometer becomes 'mummified'. Slow, agonizing death. Want to test it?"
Victor didn't react.
Even with two passengers, his Moon Walk could outpace any gas dispersion.
But then—
Rebecca screamed.
His head snapped toward her.
Osten had her pinned, velociraptor jaws inches from her throat.
'Priority shifted.'