Who am I?
Where am I?
The guy in front of me… is Orin?
Slowly, perhaps because too much time had passed, or maybe because the residual shock before him had jolted him awake, Kaido rubbed his head, gradually regaining his senses.
The dragon features of his drunken form began to fade, returning to his normal state—his sharp fangs and bestial snout flattening, leaving only his tiger-like teeth jutting out.
But on the other side...
Orin no longer cared about alcohol's effects on his body. A surge of euphoria and delirium took hold of him, stripping away the calm rationality he usually possessed.
His eyes gleamed hazily as he stared at Kaido, a wild grin spreading across his face.
But the words that came out of his mouth made Kaido clench his teeth even tighter.
"Today, I'm gonna beat you half to death~ hic… Kaidooo!!!"
Whoosh—
In the blink of an eye, he vanished. Kaido's pupils shrank as a primal sense of danger shot through his mind.
"Dammit!!!"
A massive black rod wrapped in a storm of black-and-red lightning imbued with Conqueror's Haki Infusion appeared before him almost instantly, the air trembling violently.
Orin's face twisted into a feral grin, as if he were gazing at prey, swinging the weapon down with monstrous force.
"Don't underestimate me!!!"
Faced with the sudden strike, Kaido's battle instincts flared to the limit.
He bared his fangs, every muscle bulging as his dragon claws stomped the ground, splitting it with cracks.
The iron club, charged with Conqueror's Haki and lightning, swung out toward Orin's black-red gunstock, the courage in Kaido's eyes no less fierce.
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
The massive iron club and the seemingly slender gunstock collided in the very center of the battlefield—
Crack-crack-crack-crack—
Conqueror's Haki overflowed wildly as a vacuum formed between them, their energies grinding against each other and releasing arcs of black-red lightning across the sky.
The impact was so great that even the two birds locked in aerial combat were blown far away by the shockwave.
As for the little dragon, it had long been buried under the completely reshaped terrain.
In the end, however, the frenzied Orin began to take the upper hand. He stared at Kaido, who was still gritting his teeth and holding on, his grin stretching wide, eyes bloodshot and gleaming with savage delight.
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
"Not bad at all. In that case…"
As he spoke, Orin's aura surged again, a terrifying light and violent shockwave enveloping his entire body—he looked like a demon lord straight from the depths of hell.
"King: Thunder Bagua!!!"
His terrifying power spiked yet again. Kaido, who had barely been managing to hold his ground, suddenly felt as if several mountains had crashed down upon him. His arms trembled uncontrollably.
He couldn't block it.
The gunstock broke through the defense of his spiked club and smashed straight into his head, nearly knocking his eyes white.
BOOM!!!
The sheer force of the strike drove Kaido's head deep into the ground, creating a crater hundreds of meters wide.
But it didn't end there.
Orin grinned cruelly. Seeing Kaido briefly dazed, he tossed the gun aside, clenching both fists as Haki wrapped around them in an instant.
BAM BAM BAM BAM—!!!
Under the dumbfounded stares of the two birds and the baby dragon, and the blank, shocked expression of Kaido himself, the savage, exhilarated man's fists became blurs of destruction, stabbing downward like steel spikes at Kaido's unguarded body.
Squelch—
Squelch—
Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam—!!!
The sound of flesh rupturing and bones cracking filled the air. Even King, who was known for his tolerance for torture, couldn't bear to watch.
It was too brutal!!!
Blood sprayed wildly, splattering across Orin's face and clothes—but he didn't seem to notice at all. His excitement only grew as his fists blurred faster and faster, striking hundreds of times per second.
Each blow carried space-distorting power, a torment beyond comprehension for Kaido, whose Haki defenses had been shattered.
Dust and debris exploded around them.
King's eyes went red with urgency. He wanted to rush in to help, but a raging hurricane pinned his movements.
Gritting his teeth, he turned toward Queen.
"Hey!!! Queen! Get over there and help distract Black Gun!!!"
"M-Me!?"
Queen's eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets, his tongue rolling forward like a wave. Cold sweat drenched his entire round body.
"Wait, wait… look at him!!!"
He turned to stare at Orin—the black-and-red lightning of Conqueror's Haki crackled around him, spatial energy twisting and shattering the air.
There was no way.
If he went, he'd be killed instantly!!!
"No, no, no, no way…"
"In that state, Black Gun's strength is several times worse than usual!!!"
Frozen in place, Queen watched Kaido being pummeled, trying several times to move—but he just couldn't.
Smoke swirled. Then came a dragon's agonized roar.
A colossal azure dragon burst from beneath the ground. Kaido had transformed fully into his beast form, barely managing to escape the relentless barrage.
King was stunned seeing Kaido forced to this point, but before he could react, a violent gust sent him tumbling backward and crashing into the ground.
Even so, his gaze remained fixed on that crater.
Through the smoke and haze, two crimson lights appeared first—then, a figure emerged, lips curled in a wicked grin, body wrapped in black-red lightning of Conqueror's Haki, the space around him cracking with every step.
Just looking at him made it clear—this was a creature that couldn't be defeated by any normal means!
Even King, a Lunarian praised as a "God" for surviving any environment, trembled uncontrollably before such an existence. His scalp went numb.
Unstoppable…
Absolutely!!!
This monster—Kaido-sama himself could only retreat in the face of such power. It didn't even seem like something that should exist in this world.
Queen was even worse. Frozen in terror, drenched in sweat, he didn't dare move, afraid Orin would turn on him next like before.
"That guy… is he even human?!"
With that monstrous strength and those fists covered in Conqueror's Haki and space-warping energy—just one punch would kill him instantly!!!
"After getting drunk… he becomes this savage? Orin, you bastard…"
Kaido hovered in the sky, his long dragon body covered in horrific wounds. If not for his monstrous endurance, he would have been dead already.
"This overwhelming power… really reminds me of that man…"
Kaido's draconic eyes trembled as he glared at the terrifying aura surrounding Orin.
"Rocks D. Xebec!!!"