"You still have some strength left, don't you?"
Jack froze, his body trembling. The words felt like a slap across his face, stinging worse than any wound. He had thrown every ounce of his strength into that last push, veins bulging, muscles spasming, and yet the boy before him stood calm and unshaken—mocking him with that question.
"Kid, don't get too arrogant… I… I am Jack!" he growled, his breath ragged. Even speaking now seemed like torture.
Thorne Ashveil tilted his head lazily, amusement flickering in his eyes. With no Den Den Mushi in sight and the sun warming his skin, teasing Jack seemed like the perfect distraction. He grinned, showing teeth too sharp for comfort, then reclined onto the deck as if he were sunbathing instead of facing one of Kaido's All-Stars.
"Jack, do whatever you like. Just don't block the sun," Ashveil said with a relaxed wave of his hand.
"You… what did you just say, brat?!" Jack's face turned purple with rage.
Ashveil cut him off before he could finish. "I already know, Jack—the mighty pirate worth a billion Berries." His grin widened. "Though let's be honest, nine hundred million of that is probably just for your tusks."
The insult landed harder than any blade. Jack had been mocked countless times before, but never like this. The words burned deeper than wounds, twisting his pride until his body shook uncontrollably. His eyes bulged red, and with a furious bellow, he threw his head back to the sky.
"Bastard! I'll crush you where you stand!"
His body expanded in an instant. Bones warped, muscles bulged, and fur sprouted. With a thunderous crack of transformation, Jack's human form vanished, replaced by the towering bulk of a mammoth. The warship beneath them groaned under the sudden weight, sinking lower into the sea.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each stomp of his colossal legs shook the ship like an earthquake, throwing loose planks and panicked minions into the air. His trunk swung high, coated in blackened Armament Haki, gleaming with deadly force.
"Try blocking this, kid!" Jack roared.
The massive trunk crashed downward, splitting the air itself with its speed and pressure. Yet before it could land, it slammed against an invisible wall.
BANG!
A violent shockwave erupted, scattering debris and blowing away every unconscious pirate still littering the deck. Jack's trunk quivered, blood spraying as though it had struck an immovable mountain.
Ashveil didn't so much as flinch. He lay on the deck casually, eyes half-lidded. "I told you, Jack. Don't block my sun. Your trunk cast a shadow over me."
The mammoth roared in agony, collapsing onto the deck with enough force to splinter the wood. His trunk, once a weapon of destruction, now hung limp and bloodied.
Impossible… Jack's thoughts spiraled, his mind cracking under disbelief. He had coated his strongest attack with pure Armament Haki, amplified by his Zoan's monstrous strength. The blow should have shattered steel, torn apart battleships—but this boy had brushed it aside like an insect's bite.
"W-What kind of ability is this?!" Jack bellowed, his voice trembling between rage and fear.
Ashveil finally sat upright, his tone light but cutting. "A simple shield, formed from my Conqueror's Haki."
Jack's heart lurched. Conqueror's Haki?!
Kaido himself had once told him that true monsters could wield Conqueror's Haki offensively, wrapping it around weapons and fists to obliterate their enemies. But this? A defensive shield, precise and unyielding, stronger even than Armament Haki? Not even Kaido had achieved such control.
"No! That's impossible!" Jack shook his head violently, spittle flying. "You're lying! Even Kaido-sama has never—never reached that realm!"
His mammoth body shrank, contorting into a grotesque hybrid form—half man, half beast. Muscles bulged like mountains, mammoth tusks jutted from his face, and his fists glowed with dense Armament Haki.
"This is the pinnacle of Zoan power—the hybrid form! My speed, my strength, all at their peak! Prepare yourself, brat!"
With a roar, Jack lunged forward, fists the size of boulders crashing down. The very sea churned under the pressure, waves slamming violently against the warship's sides.
BOOM!
The ship shuddered, its timbers groaning as if the ocean itself were about to swallow it. Jack's punch tore through Ashveil's shield—five centimeters deep—before halting as though striking the heart of a mountain.
A sudden rebound force surged back, rattling Jack's bones and freezing his arm mid-swing.
"No… no way…" Jack's face drained of color. That strike could have dented Kaido himself, yet this boy… this boy hadn't even been scratched.
Ashveil tilted his head, his voice calm as the sea. "That's enough, Jack. You've done all you could."
His expression hardened, the casual amusement gone. A devastating aura burst outward from his body, shaking the very air.
"Shinra Tensei."
The words echoed like judgment.
___
Read chapters in advance on patreon.
patreon.com/Zphyr