"Dammit, this move again," Magellan gritted his teeth.
"Though the move is old-fashioned, it's effective, isn't it?" Meiser, who appeared not far from Magellan, said with a chuckle. Relying on this Undying Body, he could wear this guy down through sheer persistence!
"That may be true, but this time the effect is clearly much better than before!" Magellan retorted. "This time, I'll see if I can kill you for good!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Magellan charged at Meiser once more.
'The defense of the second-stage Susanoo is still too weak,' Meiser thought to himself. 'It seems I need to strengthen the Susanoo further!'
Of course, before that, he needed to fully restore his Pupil Power and Chakra.
With that in mind, Meiser activated the Pupil Technique in his left eye.
Takehaya Susanoo-no-Mikoto!
Activate!
"Clang!"
As the left eye's Pupil Technique activated, Meiser's condition began to recover rapidly.
"Huh?"
"What's going on here?"
Inside the Poisonous Demon Soldier, Magellan stared intently at Meiser and said, "How has your aura grown stronger again?"
During their battle on the fourth level, something similar had happened to this guy, and now it was happening once more. What kind of ability was this?
"I have no interest in answering your questions, Magellan," Meiser replied.
"It doesn't matter. You won't escape your fate of death anyway," Magellan said coldly.
Then, the man manipulated the Poisonous Demon Soldier to charge at Meiser.
This time, he would use the fastest speed to exhaust this man's death counts!
Just at that moment, Magellan noticed the pale golden Skeleton Armor reappearing on Meiser's body.
"Heh, this thing can't block me, you little Ninja," Magellan sneered.
"Is that so?"
"What about now?!"
As he spoke, Meiser raised his right hand, placing two fingers in front of him, while his gaze sharpened.
"Rise for me!"
"Hum~"
As soon as Meiser's words fell, the pale golden Skeleton Armor suddenly began to tremble, as if undergoing some intense transformation.
In the next moment, numerous pale golden threads appeared on the Skeleton Armor, quickly covering the pale golden skeleton at a visible speed, causing it to grow flesh and blood.
Finally, the upper-body Susanoo transformed into the latest stage, complete with flesh and blood.
"Ugh..."
Feeling the intense pain emanating from his cells and eyes, Meiser instinctively covered his eyes.
"That really hurts."
The pain increases with each stage... such a love-hate relationship with this power!
"What the hell is this now?!"
Seeing the drastically changed Susanoo, Magellan instinctively halted his movements, his expression turning wary.
It looked like a half-bodied Giant had grown flesh and blood... what did that signify?
Meiser lowered his hand from his eyes and stared at Magellan. "Of course it's greater power, Magellan."
"You seem to be in pain," Magellan observed, watching Meiser closely. "It appears this power comes with significant burden."
As he spoke, Magellan began pondering internally. Though he didn't understand why the man's armor had transformed, if this opponent chose to unleash greater power... would his Undying Body ability be affected? This thought sparked Magellan's strategic thinking.
"Pain?" Meiser grinned. "Such things mean nothing to me!"
As the words faded, a spear materialized in Meiser's right hand. The pale golden weapon bore intricate patterns and symbols, most prominently a vertical hourglass. Its spearhead was notably larger than conventional spears.
"A weapon?" Magellan frowned, seeing the partial Giant wield arms for the first time. What significance did this weapon hold?
"Indeed, a weapon," Meiser affirmed, gently stroking the pale golden spear. "This is my exclusive armament."
This weapon was one of the divine artifacts automatically unlocked upon reaching the newest stage of Susanoo's development.
Its name... TimePiercingSpearOfToki!
A spear that pierces time with the power of the underworld!
Ability: Upon piercing a target's body, it can activate 'Yomotsu Hirasaka' in coordination with the left eye's Pupil Technique. This ability imposes an invisible seal on the enemy's body lasting one month. The seal maintains the wound in a perpetually damaged state - even if the target heals through supernatural means, the injury will instantly revert to its damaged condition. Essentially, this ability perfectly counters those with powerful regeneration.
"With this weapon, even awakened Zoan Devil Fruit Ability Users will be forced to submit!" Meiser grinned at the thought.
"I wonder if this weapon possesses even greater abilities..."
Observing Meiser's smile, Magellan felt instinctive discomfort. Enough hesitation - time to capture this opponent first.
"Judgment of Hell!" Magellan roared as the colossal Poisonous Demon Soldier surged forward, its massive toxic claw slamming down upon Meiser's Susanoo.
BAM!
The tremendously heavy toxic claw struck the Susanoo with enough force to make it shudder. But to Magellan's astonishment, his venom could no longer rapidly corrode the armor.
A leap in defensive capability? Previously his ability easily cracked the armor, yet now it remained unaffected. Was this the source of the man's confidence?
Seeing Meiser's faint smile, Magellan coldly declared: "Don't think enhanced defense makes you invulnerable, boy. Your lower body remains unprotected!"
As his words fell, Magellan activated his Devil Fruit Ability, manipulating his venom to corrode a hole in the ground below, then channeled the venom through it.
But Meiser paid no attention to the venom flowing beneath his feet, still smiling as he watched Magellan.
Seeing this, Magellan's heart sank.
"Damn it, it seems his Undying Body hasn't been significantly affected."
Otherwise, the other party wouldn't have just stood by as the venom touched his feet.
The proof was clear: even after unlocking the latest stage of Susanoo, Meiser's TimePiercingSpearOfToki remained active.
"Sizzle, sizzle~"
The sizzling sound indicated that Meiser's feet were now coated with a large amount of lethal toxin.
Perhaps it wouldn't be long before Meiser was killed again by his opponent.
But this time, Meiser wasn't in a hurry to escape. Instead, he raised the TimePiercingSpearOfToki and launched an attack.
"Clang!!"
The sharp spear blade sliced through the arm of the Poisonous Demon Soldier, cleanly severing the enormous toxic hand.
During the attack, Meiser also activated the Pupil Technique of his left eye, coordinating with the TimePiercingSpearOfToki.
"Yomotsu Hirasaka!"
"Hum~"
An invisible force acted upon the Poisonous Demon Soldier, binding it in time!
But Magellan remained completely unaware, merely sneering as he watched Meiser's body twist and vanish from the spot.
Soon, Magellan's Observation Haki detected Meiser's location, and he immediately turned to look at the roof of the side cell.
"You little ninja, do you think you can destroy my Poisonous Demon Soldier like this?" Magellan sneered. "You underestimate me!"
"As long as I wish, the Poisonous Demon Soldier can recover at any time!"
To this, Meiser simply smiled slightly and said, "That may not be certain."
This time, Magellan said nothing more, only snorting coldly.
Then, he activated his Devil Fruit Ability again, generating a large amount of crimson venom.
The next moment, this crimson venom began to spread toward the severed arm of the Poisonous Demon Soldier, intending to reform a toxic arm.
As the arm took shape, a smile gradually appeared on Magellan's face.
But the next instant, his smile froze.
"Splash~"
"Sizzle, sizzle~"
"Wh...what?!"
Watching the crimson venom spill onto the ground, Magellan's pupils contracted sharply.
Why did the newly formed toxic arm disintegrate immediately?
Refusing to believe it, Magellan used his ability again to send venom over, but the result was the same.
After the venom reformed into an arm, it was as if influenced by some invisible force, dispersing once more and falling to the ground as a pool of venom.
'Damn it, what's going on?' Magellan thought in shock. 'It feels like something is striking the Poisonous Demon Soldier's arm?'
But his Observation Haki hadn't detected anything unusual at all!
Could it be... some force even Observation Haki couldn't perceive was affecting him?
At that moment, Magellan thought of Meiser's weapon.
It was that weapon that had severed the Poisonous Demon Soldier's arm earlier...
"Damn it, what kind of ability is this now?"
Thinking this, Magellan said, "You little Ninja, what did you do this time?!"
"Why should I tell you?" Meiser, crouching on the prison cell roof, looked at Magellan with a grin and said, "Wouldn't it be more fun if you figured it out yourself~"
"Damn it?"
Seeing Meiser's grinning face, Magellan was absolutely furious.
But since he hadn't figured out what Meiser's ability actually was, Magellan didn't launch another attack.
"What's wrong, not going to keep attacking?" Meiser grinned and said, "Then I'll make my move~"
As soon as he finished speaking, Meiser jumped down from the roof and charged toward Magellan.
Seeing this, Magellan temporarily abandoned his thoughts and instead used Armament Haki to protect his uninjured arm.
"Since injuries don't heal... then I'll fight using Haki!"
Then he too lunged toward Meiser.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Vice Admiral, is it really okay for us to leave like this?" A marine looked at the Vice Admiral and said, "Impel Down is currently under invasion by Blackbeard and his crew, plus there are so many escaped prisoners... We've already received reports of prison breaks at Impel Down. If we don't provide support now, what if this place falls?"
"We have no choice." The marine Vice Admiral sighed.
He was the only Vice Admiral left in the entire fleet now.
Providing support at this point would not only be useless but would also mean delivering warships to the enemy, so they had no other option.
Just then, a man on the lookout platform shouted, "Vice Admiral, a Sea King has been spotted!"
"A Sea King?"
The marine Vice Admiral was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, "Is it coming for us?"
"It appears so."
"Could we have been discovered?" the marine muttered.
Although their warships were all equipped with Sea Stone, if a Sea King broke through the ocean surface, it could still detect them.
"Vice Admiral, what should we do?!"
"Turn the cannons and prepare to attack." The marine Vice Admiral said.
As he spoke, the man drew his sword and walked to the ship's edge, staring intently in the direction behind them.
He could already vaguely make out that massive figure.
'Although I'm not as strong as those Admirals, now is not the time to retreat.' The marine Vice Admiral thought to himself.
Let him give it a try - see if he could slay this Sea King!
With this thought, the marine Vice Admiral's eyes turned cold.
Just then, the man who had shouted earlier called out again.
"Something's wrong, Vice Admiral!" The lookout shouted, "There's someone on that Sea King!"
"Someone?"
The marine Vice Admiral was stunned, then said incredulously, "How could there be someone on a Sea King's head?"
As a marine who had been to the New World, he knew very well how ferocious Sea Kings were - these creatures had no concept of peaceful coexistence with humans in their minds!
Once encountered, conflict was inevitable until one side either fled or died.
But now... someone could actually stand on a Sea King's head?
How was that possible?
"I don't know why, but there are indeed some figures standing on the Sea King's head," the lookout said.
The Navy Rear Admiral fell silent for a moment before asking, "Can you see who they are?"
"Wait, let me check," the lookout replied. "The fog is quite thick, so it's not very clear."
The lookout carefully observed the distant figures through his binoculars for a long while before finally recognizing them.
"It's... it's the escaped prisoners from Impel Down!" the lookout said with a terrified expression. "These are all people who escaped from the underwater prison!"
"What did you say?!"
The Navy Rear Admiral's face immediately changed color - he understood all too well what this meant.
Breaking out in cold sweat, he asked, "Are there any powerful individuals among them?"
"Yes."
"I see Crocodile, Fisher Tiger, Ivankov, Straw Hat Boy, and a series of other powerful figures!!"
"Jimbei, huh..."
The Navy Rear Admiral's expression turned grim. "No wonder they can command a Sea King."
If this powerful Royal Seven Warlord of the Sea took action, it might indeed be possible to tame a Sea King.
"Rear Admiral, what should we do?" the lookout shouted. "They're approaching us quickly!"
"What should we do?"
"What else can we do!" the Navy Rear Admiral roared. "Notify the entire fleet! Aim all artillery at them and sink that Sea King with full force!"
"As long as the Sea King is eliminated, these ability users won't be a threat."
Once those Devil Fruit Ability Users fall into the sea, they'll drown in the ocean.
At that point, they would only need to face Fisher Tiger alone.
As for whether they could defeat Fisher Tiger?
They'd worry about that when the time came!