"Doppelman!!"
A furious Moria, no longer caring about consequences, attacked recklessly, his only thought was to kill these punks who had barged into his domain.
Anger might make some people stronger, but for Moria, it only made him more reckless.
Even knowing he was outmatched, he still chose to strike back in a fit of rage. Luffy couldn't tell whether it was pride driving him or if Moria truly had a death wish.
But by now, the battles with Robin and Brook had already ended. It was time to bring this farcical fight to a close.
Facing Moria's shadow clone, Luffy didn't even bother reacting.
With a blink, he sidestepped the attacking doppelgänger. His arm was instantly coated in Armament Haki, taking on a metallic sheen. His fist, heavy like a meteor forged from black iron, came crashing down.
A flash of dazzling light shot out as Luffy's darkened fist smashed into Moria's bloated belly, flattening his gut inward with devastating force.
Moria hunched slightly, his expression twisted with pain. His demonic eyes burned with hatred as he glared at Luffy, enduring the searing pain in his abdomen. He raised a massive fist and swung it toward Luffy's head with brutal force.
Thud!
A dull, metallic clang rang out, Luffy's left arm blocked the blow, while his right hand, now like a cannonball, once again punched Moria in the stomach.
Splurt!
This time, Moria couldn't withstand the sheer power behind Luffy's punch. A wave of pain overtook him, and for a brief moment, he lost control of his body.
But Luffy didn't hesitate. Without pause, he raised his fist, ready to deliver a third blow.
"You damn brat!!"
Suddenly, Moria let out a furious roar. His body became shrouded in a dark crimson aura. His eyes turned pitch-black, and the fangs at the corners of his mouth began to lengthen, his demonic blood awakened by rage, transforming him into a true demon.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!!"
Moria snarled like a beast. His massive fists clamped together and crashed down toward Luffy's skull like a warhammer.
The sudden transformation caught Luffy off guard, he froze for just a split second.
In that moment, Moria's enormous fists were already upon him.
Luffy instinctively raised both arms to block, but this kind of attack couldn't be stopped by defense alone.
BOOM!!!
The crushing blow slammed into Luffy. Still off-balance from earlier, he was sent flying across the room, crashing hard into the wall behind him, leaving a human-shaped crater in the stone.
The force of the punch didn't dissipate, it tore into the ground beneath them.
BOOM!
Another thunderous impact. The floor cracked outward from where Moria stood, spiderweb fractures spreading rapidly. The already-unstable structure groaned under the strain, pieces of ceiling silently crumbling.
It was clear, this last surviving structure wouldn't last much longer. Soon, it too would fall and join the rest of the ruins.
Everything had changed in an instant.
Moria's explosive power had caught both Robin and Brook off guard. They didn't react until after Luffy was already smashed into the wall.
Robin looked worried, but neither of them stepped in.
Because above all, they believed in Luffy, and in his strength.
Luffy slowly slid down from the wall. He braced himself with one hand on the ground, knee dropping into a crouch, then gradually stood up.
Brushing the dust from his clothes, his eyes gleamed coldly.
He stared at Moria and said in a quiet, icy voice, "I underestimated you…"
Hsshh, ROAR!!
Moria, now fully bestial, didn't bother with words. He bared his enormous jaws and charged like a wild beast.
"…Looks like I'll have to go all out," Luffy muttered with a sigh.
He hadn't wanted to rely on the power of the Sky Flame this time, not even his [X-Glove]. He'd hoped to fight Moria with only his body's raw strength and the two forms of Haki.
The previous battle had made him realize, [X-Glove] only amplified his power at the moment of attack. It wasn't truly his strength.
Sure, with the gear he could unleash devastating force. But his weak physical base had become a noticeable flaw, one that would only worsen as his enemies grew stronger.
That's why Luffy had planned to test himself with a head-on clash, pure brute force against one of the future Warlords of the Sea.
But the result was clear: relying on just his body, Luffy was still slightly inferior to Moria. And if he misstepped, he could easily be crushed.
And that was with Moria lacking his usual ability to absorb shadows. If he had access to that power, he'd be many times stronger than now.
Luffy shook his head and whispered, "Guess I overestimated myself too…"
Acknowledging his own limits, Luffy no longer hesitated.
After all, the power of his equipment was also his power, he had no intention of fighting with one hand tied behind his back.
He gathered his focus, sending a ripple of psychic energy through his body.
It surged toward the gemstone embedded in the [X-Glove].
Whoosh!
Fueled by his mental strength, a roaring flame erupted from the gauntlet, intense and blazing.
Flames poured from the glove in waves, searing the air and occasionally bursting into fiery explosions.
As demon-Moria barreled toward him, Luffy drew his hands behind his back. The explosive force of the Sky Flame surged to life, sending out a massive wave of propulsion. The orange flames traced a long arc in the air behind him.
And with that, Luffy launched forward, faster than Moria.
In an instant, he overtook the charging monster.
Two figures closed in at breakneck speed. Luffy abruptly retracted his hands from behind.
"Mini Sky Flame!!"
His right hand curled into a tight fist and rose high.
At the same time, his left hand moved in the opposite direction, twin surges of mental energy igniting.
Twin beams of light shot from the gauntlets, and Luffy, already faster than Moria, began spinning in the air.
This was a move he'd devised when the Sky Flame once went out of control and scattered in all directions.
By using the Flame's powerful propulsion and angling his arms just right, he let the left hand's fire increase spin, while the right adjusted direction and angle.
At first, the power was minimal, just enough to close the distance.
And then, when his fist finally met his opponent's body…
That was when the true force of the technique was unleashed.
The elevated right fist collided with Moria's charging body. A torrent of Mental Power energy surged into the gauntlet, erupting into a massive fireblast.
The sky itself seemed to split.
A dazzling light ripped through the air, tearing toward the ground. The fiery shockwave lit the earth below.
The Blaze Fist smashed into Moria with such force that his body spun uncontrollably from the blow.
BOOM!!!
At last, with one final burst of power, Luffy's flaming fist brought the unconscious Moria crashing to the ground.
The earth shattered. The ceiling collapsed.
The sheer force traveled through Moria's body and into the foundations of the fortress.
RUMBLE…
The underground castle could no longer hold.
It began to crumble, stone by stone.
BOOM!!!
Finally, with one colossal crash, the entire underground complex collapsed.
The last standing structure on the island was no more.
After a while, the dust settled.
From beneath the rubble, a flare of fire suddenly erupted, melting stone as it surged.
From below rose Luffy and his group: carrying the unconscious Moria, Perona, and Absalom, and accompanied by the still-conscious Dr. Hogback.
Robin had used her ability to form a staircase of arms, lifting them safely into the open sky.
Luffy grabbed Moria, his face bloodied, unconscious, oozing blood from every orifice, and coldly asked again:
"Surrender? Or do I have to beat you until you do?"
==========
You can find much more on my Patreon: Patreon.com/Veltoria
There are currently 5 active fanfictions on Patreon, with over 654+ advanced chapters available across them!
From Naruto Onwards, I Control Time — Up to Chapter 337
Haikyuu!!: Rise of Sengoku — Up to Chapter 279
Danmachi: Is It Wrong To Aspire to Be An Adventurer? — Up to Chapter 97
Legend of Hogwarts (Harry Potter x League of Legends) — Up to Chapter 218
I Am Luffy: Partner System Online (One Piece) — Up to Chapter 200
Playing Genshin Impact in Danmachi (Danmachi x Genshin Impact) — Up to Chapter 130
Kuroko no Basket: The Phantom Ace — Up to Chapter 59
Yukigaoka: Project Ace — Up to Chapter 53
Naruto: Starting from the Duel — Up to Chapter 43