On the other side, Yamato's blood was already boiling with anticipation. Gripping her kanabo wrapped in crackling purple-black electric arcs, she shot forward like a cannonball.
"Thunder Bagua!"
"Perfume Femur!"
Hancock's movements were no slower. Her slender, perfect right leg instantly coated itself in pitch-black Haki, creating a sharp whistling sound as it traced a deadly arc from bottom to top.
"Turn to stone for me!"
The next second, Hancock's toe and Yamato's kanabo collided with explosive force.
BANG!
The thunderous collision sent both figures flying backward. Yet Yamato retreated two steps further than Hancock, the ground cracking beneath their feet from the sheer impact.
"Yamato lost?" Kozuki Hiyori covered her mouth in shock, barely believing her eyes.
"Is this woman really that strong?" Reiju widened her beautiful eyes, unable to hide her amazement.
Although Yamato didn't stand out much under Kai's radiant presence, everyone on the ship knew she was absolutely a genuine monster. On the Rayquaza, she could easily secure third place and compete for second.
"But isn't her bounty only 89 million berries?" Violet looked at Kai in disbelief.
"Using bounties to measure an opponent's strength is the most foolish behavior on these seas!" Kai warned his companions with a serious expression. "There are plenty of unknown masters across the ocean. Maintain this mindset, and you'll suffer greatly sooner or later."
Kai wasn't surprised that Yamato fell slightly behind in their first exchange. Setting aside the bug-level Sweet-Sweet Devil Fruit abilities, Hancock herself was an undoubted monster. She was someone who, after becoming Amazon Lily's Empress at eighteen, was actively invited by the World Government to become a Warlord of the Sea on her first expedition.
Kai speculated that during Hancock's time as a slave in Mary Geoise, she was very likely specially trained by the Celestial Dragons as a combat slave. Otherwise, there was no way to explain how her strength underwent such earth-shattering changes in just two years.
"Amazing."
Rather than feeling ashamed, Yamato's eyes blazed with even more intense, excited light. The battle-loving genes flowing in her bloodline were completely ignited. Like her father, Kaido, what she craved most was to fight heartily against truly strong opponents.
"Warm-up's over! I'm going all out now!"
Yamato roared as freezing air suddenly erupted around her body. White fur pierced through her skin, and sharp fangs appeared at her lips. The white wolf-person made her entrance, her transformation sending ripples of power through the air.
Is it a Mythical Zoan?
Hancock's gaze sharpened like a blade. She lightly touched her lips with one finger, creating a small pink heart-shaped substance that glowed with ominous energy.
"Pistol Kiss!"
Her index finger aimed and fired the heart with lethal accuracy.
Whoosh! The pink projectile sliced through the air like a bullet, its sharp whistle cutting through the battle sounds as it rocketed toward Yamato's face.
"Divine Foot: White Snake Drive!"
Yamato's speed exploded in wolf-person form, her figure disappearing from the spot like teleportation, leaving only a white blur.
BANG!
The heart missed its mark, exploding into a charred crater where she had been standing, smoke rising from the scorched earth.
Almost simultaneously, the white kanabo wrapped in bone-chilling freezing air carried tremendous force as it crashed down toward Hancock's head from a diagonal angle.
The black-haired girl had nowhere to dodge. Her eyes flashed coldly as her right leg shot up like a coiled spring.
BANG!
The sound of tremendous collision rang out again. The freezing air wrapped around Yamato's kanabo erupted violently, enveloping Hancock's entire body in crystalline ice particles.
Whoosh! Hancock used the force to retreat gracefully, her breath visible in the sudden cold.
Without time to alleviate the chill in her body, Hancock extended her finger to lightly touch her red lips again, creating a massive pink heart that pulsed with dangerous energy.
She gripped the huge heart with both hands, as if drawing back an invisible giant bow, and pulled back with all her strength.
"Slave Arrow!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Numerous pink arrowheads shot toward Yamato like a devastating storm, their coverage so vast it almost sealed off all her evasion space.
"Mahoraga!"
Yamato rapidly swung her kanabo. An extremely condensed freezing slash swept out like a glacier, trying to intercept the barrage.
Crack crack crack!
A surprising scene occurred. The cold air, upon contact with the pink arrows, quickly took on a gray-white color and turned into stone blocks that fell powerlessly to the ground.
"Wow, turned to stone! What an amazing ability!" Yamato widened her eyes, exclaiming in wonder while swinging her kanabo to block and shatter the incoming projectiles.
"Still have the leisure to make a fuss while fighting me?" Veins bulged on Hancock's forehead, her beautiful face twisting with irritation.
She crossed her hands in front of her chest, quickly forming a heart gesture with her fingers.
"Mero mero mero."
"Sweet Sweet Wind!"
"Become intoxicated by my peerless beauty and turn into eternal stone statues!"
As soon as she finished speaking, an extremely wide-ranging pink heart-shaped beam shot from Hancock's gesture. It not only instantly swept over Yamato, who was fighting, but also completely enveloped Kai's group watching from behind.
"It's Empress-sama's finishing move!" The Kuja warriors erupted in thunderous cheers.
"The invaders are finished! No one can resist Empress-sama's beauty!"
"They're all going to turn into stone statues!"
They had never seen anyone who could completely resist this devastating technique.
But the next second, the cheers stopped abruptly like a strangled bird.
All the Kuja warriors stared dumbfounded, their jaws nearly dropping to the ground.
While there were indeed several more stone statues among the intruders, incredibly, four people were still standing perfectly fine, completely unaffected.
"Hm? What happened?" Yamato looked down at herself with confusion. She didn't feel uncomfortable anywhere.
But looking back, she gasped. "Eh, why did Hiyori and the others turn to stone?"
"They were hit by the Sweet-Sweet Fruit's ability," Kai explained, relief flooding through him. Fortunately, he had covered his body surface with Haki in advance, avoiding being petrified.
Even so, he felt his body somewhat stiff. No wonder even future Yonko Blackbeard didn't dare be careless after capturing Hancock, constantly using the Dark-Dark Fruit to suppress her abilities, afraid of being affected.
Even just a moment of stiffness could be fatal in battles between masters.
Kai looked around. His side had basically been wiped out, with only two people remaining besides himself and Yamato.
This was about what he expected.
One was Kuma, whose heart could no longer accommodate any other woman besides his daughter Bonney. The other was Zoro, whose heart contained only swordsmanship besides the memory of Kuina.
On the other side, Hancock fell into deep self-doubt, her confidence shaken for the first time in years.
How could so many people suddenly appear who weren't attracted to her beauty? It was incomprehensible.
"Great opportunity!" Yamato didn't care about any of that philosophical crisis and immediately launched forward.
"Ice Slash!"
The kanabo raised high above her head came crashing down with thunderous force, trailing crystalline ice in its wake.
Hancock instantly snapped back to attention. Armament Haki covered her right leg as her waist twisted, her leg tracing a perfect semicircular trajectory from bottom to top, viciously kicking toward the descending weapon.
"Great Perfume Femur!"
BOOM!
The ground thunderously collapsed into a large crater, spider-web cracks spreading outward. Haki lightning rampaged and leaped wildly at the collision center, creating a spectacular light show.
Hancock was shaken back repeatedly by the tremendous force. For the first time, her devastatingly beautiful face showed an extremely grave expression.
Such incredible strength! Completely different from before! The transformation had elevated her opponent to an entirely new level.
Yamato flipped in the air and landed back on the ground. Without any pause, she roared and charged up again, her battle cry echoing across the beach.
"Dragon Army!"
The kanabo in her hands became a dazzling white storm, pouring madly toward Hancock in a relentless barrage.
Hancock gritted her teeth, repeatedly using precise kicks to resist the onslaught. The dense exchanges made the earth tremble, and the generated winds made it impossible for the Kuja warriors to keep their eyes open.
"Granny, Sister seems to be..." Sandersonia looked anxiously at the old woman beside her, worry creasing her features.
"This is bad." Gloriosa's expression was grave, her weathered face lined with concern.
Although she was now old and frail, her combat experience from her youth hadn't disappeared. She could naturally see Hancock's current predicament with crystal clarity.
The Sweet-Sweet Fruit's petrification ability didn't work on the enemy, and pure strength comparison wasn't a match for the opponent either. It could be said that defeat was just a matter of time.
Hancock was struggling only because the strength gap between the two wasn't huge, but as time passed, her defeat was becoming increasingly inevitable.
Worst of all, the leader Natural Disaster Kai hadn't even made a move yet.
What worried Gloriosa even more was that calling Shakky and Rayleigh for help was already too late. The battle would be decided long before any reinforcements could arrive.