"Let's stop here. Continuing this fight is pointless. With our abilities, neither of us can truly win."
Locke Dahl's voice was steady, his expression deceptively calm.
In truth, he believed he had already shown enough of his strength. The other side must have realized by now that he was not someone to trifle with. Offering to call it a draw was, in his mind, the best conclusion. End the clash, walk away, and acknowledge each other's power.
But…
Contrary to Locke Dahl's expectations, Sugisawa Yuuto showed no intention of stepping down.
"Scared already? Planning to run off? Don't make me laugh—I haven't even finished warming up yet."
Yuuto's mocking words struck like a blade, cutting through Locke Dahl's calm façade.
"What did you say?!"
Fury twisted Locke Dahl's face. His disguise of indifference crumbled instantly.
"Don't forget where we are! This is the desert—my domain. As the wielder of the Sand-Sand Fruit, I am invincible here. In the desert, I am king!" His voice grew sharp, brimming with menace.
"Confident, are you?" Yuuto smiled thinly. "Then enough chatter. Show me the true worth of this so-called 'King of the Desert.'"
"Very well. Since you insist, don't regret what comes next…"
But Locke Dahl never finished his threat.
In the next instant, his pupils shrank in shock.
Yuuto's figure, once fixed in his sight, had vanished without a trace. What replaced it was a suffocating presence—like a colossal dragon staring down upon him, ready to strike.
"How irritating. You talk too much."
Yuuto's voice rolled through the battlefield like thunder itself.
Locke Dahl's gaze shot upward in alarm—only to see a fist blazing brighter than the sun filling his vision.
"Thunder Dragon's Collapsing Fist!"
A dragon's roar split the heavens, echoing across the land.
BOOM—!
The sky itself seemed to shatter.
Earlier, Yuuto had said he was still in his warm-up stage—and it hadn't been a bluff.
Locke Dahl had believed he'd grasped the limits of Yuuto's lightning power. But the truth was far beyond his imagination.
Until now, Yuuto had only been wielding basic lightning magic.
This strike, however, was the true Dragon Slayer Magic of thunder—a force several times more destructive, crushing everything before it.
"My gods… is this the president's true power?" Nami's jaw dropped as she stared at the flattened stretch of stone where Yuuto's fist had landed.
"President Yuuto… you're incredible!" Vivi's face flushed, her eyes alight with awe.
"With just one blow, he must've smashed that arrogant bastard into the ground!" Juvia laughed with glee.
"No… not yet."
Erza's eyes remained sharp, her gaze fixed on the battlefield. From the drifting sand, something stirred.
"Cough—cough!"
A ragged cough broke through the storm as sand whirled together, reforming into Locke Dahl's battered body.
He dropped to one knee, spitting blood laced with crackling arcs of electricity.
Moments ago, he had thought he understood Yuuto's limits. That while Yuuto's lightning ability might surpass his in raw strength, his own advantage in the desert meant he could not lose.
But that belief had been utterly shattered.
After withstanding Yuuto's Dragon Slayer strike, Locke Dahl realized he hadn't even glimpsed the bottom of this man's strength.
"What's wrong, Crocodile? Can't keep up already?" Yuuto's tone was light, almost bored, but the mockery within it was sharp.
"Don't tell me that a little warm-up was enough to reach your limit. So this is all the Shichibukai amount to?"
"—Tch!"
Locke Dahl's teeth ground together, a furious growl escaping his throat.
Yuuto's taunts pierced deeper than any blade. It had been years—decades—since anyone had dared to look down on him this way.
And worse, it was coming from a newcomer—a rookie brat who had only just entered the Grand Line.
It was humiliation of the highest order.
"If your aim was to enrage me, then congratulations… you've succeeded." Locke Dahl's voice was low and venomous. "Now, I'll show you a taste of true hell."
"Oh? Then I'd like to see it for myself—the hell you claim to command."
Yuuto clasped his hands behind his back, standing calmly atop the rocky plateau, waiting as if granting Locke Dahl time to prepare his ultimate technique.
"You won't be laughing for long!" Locke Dahl snarled.
Slamming his palm into the ground, he roared:
"Erosion… Reincarnation!"
The full power of the Sand-Sand Fruit exploded forth.
Under his control, the very stone of the desert floor cracked and crumbled, decomposing into sand at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In mere breaths, solid rock was reduced to dust.
Locke Dahl's body dissolved into sand, merging seamlessly with the endless desert around him.
BOOM—!
The earth trembled violently, as though the desert itself had awakened.
Under his command, the vast expanse of yellow sand surged like an ocean.
Yes—the desert was his sea. And he, its master.
Waves rose, one after another—first a meter high, then ten, fifty, a hundred… until at last, an overwhelming sand tsunami towered over the battlefield, cresting at a hundred meters.
The sight was apocalyptic—enough to swallow a city whole, enough to erase an army in an instant.
"At this point, it's far too late for regret. Prepare yourself for the funeral rites of the Desert King! Sandstorm Burial!"
Locke Dahl's voice was colder than the grave.
Yuuto's lips curved into a dangerous smile.
"Oh? Impressive. I've never seen that move before. But if you've already revealed your trump card… then it's only fair I get a little more serious myself."
Lightning crackled across his body, golden arcs surging like a boundless sea.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art—Mingyū Thunder!"
...
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