Chapter 48 – Fierce Battle (Part 3)
Hearing that ridiculous offer, Tachibana Kyūjō let out a small chuckle. His hands remained tightly gripped around the hilt of the Black Blade, Rairyūken, not even flinching.
Shaking his head, he replied with a smirk.
"Charlotte Linlin, even if I've never seen the faces of your daughters, just looking at you is enough."
"It's better we don't continue this conversation."
"Women only slow down the swing of my blade. Beauty? To me, it's just passing clouds."
Big Mom: "..."
Flat-out rejected.
Big Mom's patience finally snapped.
She scoffed, then slammed Napoleon forward with overwhelming strength.
In her "Small Giant" form, her raw power was monstrous. Kyūjō was flung backward, his body pushed through the air like a broken kite.
"Lightning!!"
Raising her palm high, Big Mom slammed it against the ground with force.
A burst of violet lightning crashed down from the sky, summoned directly by her hand—and struck Kyūjō mid-air!
But to her surprise...
...it did absolutely nothing.
Kyūjō twitched slightly, but instead of being hurt, he looked... rather comfortable?
Frowning, he muttered inwardly,
"…Is the lightning immunity from Lightning Breathing 3.0 really this strong?"
"I thought I'd at least feel a sting—like a bee sting or something... but this? Nothing at all?"
What he didn't realize... was that the moment Big Mom's lightning touched him, a mysterious blue energy hidden deep within his heart instantly absorbed it.
That energy began to stir—becoming denser, more active.
— — —
Big Mom scowled in disbelief. Her lightning attack had zero effect!
Without hesitation, she crouched and launched herself into the sky, landing back on Zeus' fluffy back.
Raising one hand high above her head, she roared:
"God of Lightning: Tenman Daijizaiten!!"
The moment she shouted, Zeus turned stark white. His eyes rolled back, and his thundercloud body began to swell.
A limitless storm of lightning exploded from him, engulfing the sky for tens of kilometers in every direction!
BOOM...!
BOOM...!
BOOM...!
— — —
But Kyūjō only smiled.
Lifting his gaze to the storming heavens above, he smirked.
"Alright, Big Mom."
"Let's find out whose lightning is deadlier—yours... or mine."
"Let's see whose body is tougher—your steel skin... or my cutting edge."
Raising Rairyūken high with both hands, he inhaled deeply. Every pore and lung aligned with the breath patterns of Lightning Breathing 3.0.
From within his body, a roaring storm erupted—crackling bolts of electricity surged through his skin like a living lightning storm!
And he wasn't done.
He summoned Ryūō, the advanced form of Armament Haki, and coated his blade in it.
He didn't dodge the lightning falling from the sky—he welcomed it. Let it crash into his body. Let it fuel him like a divine battery.
Then, with a calm breath, Kyūjō spoke:
"Cut the body. Cut the soul. Cut the will."
"When Heaven's Thunder Strikes the World—If I Am Not Here, Then None Shall Cut."
"Lightning Breathing – Tenth Form – Haki: Thunder Judgment Slash!"
Surprisingly, all that lightning only empowered him further—injecting raw strength into every fiber of his being.
The moment he unleashed the slash... even Kyūjō himself was startled by its power.
Deep within, the mysterious blue energy—possibly from the Goro Goro no Mi—resonated wildly.
— — —
KRAAAK!!
The thunderous slash tore through the sky like a celestial blade—hundreds of meters long, coiled with dancing lightning dragons!
It devoured the lightning from Big Mom's Tenman Daijizaiten, reversed it, and hurled it right back toward her!
As the divine thunderblade bore down, Big Mom's heart skipped a beat.
For the first time... she felt afraid.
"Why… doesn't my lightning work on him…?"
"And why is it... coming back at me!?"
Of course, Kyūjō didn't know the answer either.
He only knew... something inside him was fighting alongside him.
— — —
The massive slash was too close—there was no time to think.
Big Mom raised Napoleon with both hands and swung it downward.
CLAAANG!!
Searing with fire and lightning, Napoleon screamed.
"Gyaaaah!! M-Mama! It hurts!!"
Big Mom growled through clenched teeth.
"Shut up, Napoleon!!"
But her grip faltered. The sheer force knocked the blade from her hands.
The Thunder Judgment Slash—now a fusion of lightning and Haki—crashed directly into her chest!
BOOM!!
It struck like a divine cannonball. Big Mom's eyes rolled back. Her body went limp.
She was launched into the sky—straight into the stratosphere.
— — —
Fuuuh... fuh... fuh...
Thin air. Crushing pressure. Bitter cold.
Big Mom slowly regained consciousness.
A sharp pain lanced through her chest—like her bones were shattering from the inside out.
That was the effect of Ryūō—internal destruction.
Though it hadn't pierced her steel skin, it shattered her insides.
And now she was drifting... 20,000 meters above the sea.
The air here was dangerously thin. There were no clouds—only mist and frozen particles drifting in endless blue.
For the first time in her life...
Big Mom feared death.
— — —
Luckily for her... the attack was losing momentum.
As the force pushing her upward faded, she finally managed to regain control of her body.
Face flushed red from lack of oxygen, she gritted her teeth, grabbed the edge of the lightning slash...
...and began to rip it apart with brute strength.
"HAHHH!!"
With a fierce scream, she tore the divine slash apart.
CRACK!!
The massive blade of lightning shattered into sparkling motes of thunder.
WHOOSH!
Without that energy holding her up, her body began to plummet—freefalling back to earth.
— — —
Below, Kyūjō hovered mid-air, looking up at the sky with a calm breath.
In his hands...
...was Zeus.
He wasn't worried about Big Mom crashing down. She wouldn't die that easily.
If he truly wanted to kill her, he'd need to fight her to the very end—until one of them stopped breathing.
And that wasn't something he intended to do.
"If I kill Big Mom now... I'll just become the next target," Kyūjō thought.
The world didn't revolve solely around Pirates and Marines. In the shadows, the World Government watched everything.
And they wouldn't allow a "Hero of the Navy" like Kyūjō to live if he grew too powerful.
"The world doesn't need another Garp…"
Unless, of course, he was willing to kiss the feet of the Celestial Dragons.
Which—obviously—he wasn't.
— — —
Grinning, Kyūjō gave Zeus a light hug and whispered,
"Hey, Zeus, right? What do you say you come with me from now on?"
It wasn't a joke.
He genuinely wanted Zeus as a flying companion. At least then, he wouldn't have to waste stamina on long-distance Geppo.
Zeus trembled, voice weak:
"Z-Zeus is Mama's Homie... Zeus won't betray Mama...!"
"Ooh? That so? What a shame..." Kyūjō sighed.
"By the way—how far can you fly in a day?"
Zeus thought for a moment.
"If I'm carrying Mama… it's hell… like dying every second…"
— — —
While they were chatting, a familiar voice screamed from above.
Big Mom—falling fast—called out for Zeus.
In a flash, he transformed into a bolt of lightning and raced up to catch her.
He reformed beneath her just in time—breaking her fall.
Her face... had changed.
The fear of death just moments ago...
...had transformed into pure rage.
A tidal wave of Haoshoku Haki burst from her body, ravaging the air like a tempest.
"NAPOLEON!!"
With a single shout, the double-edged blade returned to her hand—nobody knew from where.
"Emperor's Blade – Prometheus Fang!!"
The sun above her—Prometheus—merged with the sword, coating Napoleon in blazing fire, transforming it into a jagged flame-saber with sharp fangs.
It no longer resembled a sword—it looked like a fire-bearded cleaver of death!
Big Mom lifted the sword and swung it down toward Kyūjō once more.
Their battle resumed...
— — —
Ten days passed.
The unnamed island... was no more.
Kyūjō had since lured Big Mom—now in her frenzied Hunger Pangs state—to another deserted island.
But even this one, after three days of battle...
...had been split like a birthday cake.
Shattered into fragments—some large, some small—scattered across the ocean.
CLAAANG!!
The fight raged on.
But Big Mom was no longer the same.
Her once-mountainous body had shrunk by half.
Napoleon was cracked. Prometheus flickered like a dying ember.
Even Zeus...
...lay flat on the ground, out of energy. His eyes were blank, his breaths shallow.
And Kyūjō...
...though uninjured, was near his limit. His stamina and Haki reserves were nearly depleted.
Without his ultimate technique—Haoshoku Haki Infused: Keigetsu (Inazuma Variant)—he couldn't shatter Big Mom's armor in one blow.
His only strategy was to rely on Ryūō—chipping away at her insides, little by little.
Meanwhile, Big Mom couldn't break through Rairyūken's guard.
Not even her Soul-Soul Fruit could touch Kyūjō's indomitable will and spiritual force.
At this point, Kyūjō was no longer just a fighter.
He was a six-dimensional warrior—with no weakness.
And honestly?
If he fought Whitebeard today...
He wouldn't lose.
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