Boom!
Rumble!
Once again, the sky above Marineford cracked open like shattered glass.
It was only natural.
After all, the two figures clashing at the center of the chaos were none other than Kaido of the Beasts and Rocks, the Overlord of the Seas. Each one alone was enough to shake the world—together, they tore it apart.
Jagged streaks of black and red lightning—the mark of a Conqueror's Haki beyond reason—split the heavens. The sheer force of their collision sent shockwaves roaring across the battlefield. Marines and pirates alike were hurled into the air like leaves caught in a hurricane.
Boulders large and small were ripped from the ground, rising skyward before bursting into rubble under the crushing pressure of the two titans' power.
"Heh… what's wrong, Captain Rocks?"
Kaido sneered, his massive form wreathed in dark lightning. "Your strength isn't all that impressive. I haven't even started taking this seriously yet!"
"Hah-hah-hah! What guts!" Rocks grinned, his voice booming like thunder. "If that's the case, what's the matter with your arm, brat? Still feeling that scar?"
"Shut up!" Kaido roared, face twisting with rage.
The memory of his battle half a year ago—his crushing defeat at the hands of Sugisawa Yuuto—flashed through his mind. The thought made his blood boil.
Rocks lunged, his massive hand closing like a vice. Kaido's shoulder met the earth with a thunderous impact, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the ground.
Before Rocks could follow through, Kaido's body surged and twisted, transforming into a massive blue dragon that coiled into the sky. Fierce gales ripped through Marineford as his serpentine body rose.
"A mere bug," Rocks growled, and in the next instant, his figure blurred. He vaulted upward and landed squarely on the dragon's back. His fingers—sharp as blades—tore through the air, raking across Kaido's azure scales. Scales and blood scattered through the storm.
"Awooooo!"
Kaido's roar echoed through the heavens as he plummeted from the clouds, crashing into the battlefield below. The impact sent up a pillar of dust and flame.
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
Boom!!!
The massive mace wrapped in black-red lightning came down with earth-shattering force. Rocks was hurled backward for a moment, sliding through broken stone before planting his feet.
"Very good!" Rocks' grin widened, his eyes gleaming with wild exhilaration. "That's more like it!"
The aura around him twisted and swelled, madness made flesh—an ominous, ghostly presence writhing in the air. The longer the fight continued, the stronger he became. Blood and pain only stoked his fury, feeding the inferno of his strength.
That was the nature of Rocks, the Overlord of the Seas—the man who grew stronger the closer he danced to death.
"Oi, oi… this is insane!"
The Evil King Avalo Pizarro widened his feline eyes, disbelief written all over his face.
"Thief… hahahaha!" Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach bellowed with excitement. "This ain't insane—it's Rocks! If the Overlord of the Seas thirty-six years ago didn't have that kind of power, he never would've ruled that era!"
When the incident at God Valley occurred all those years ago, Teach had been just a child.
But the legend of Rocks—the man who had once ruled the seas—was etched deep into his soul.
To Teach, Rocks was more than a myth.
He was inspiration.
He even named his ship Xebec, in honor of the man he idolized.
"When I said it's exaggerated," Pizarro growled, "I didn't just mean Rocks' strength."
Crescent Hunter Catarina Devon narrowed her eyes, watching the clash. "To be able to go toe-to-toe with Kaido… no, to actually push him back—that's the real deal!"
"Even if someone could imitate his appearance," she continued, her voice rising, "this kind of strength can't be faked!"
"That's right!" shouted Van Augur, his rifle still smoking from earlier shots.
"That's the real Rocks, the Overlord himself!"
"Then that means…"
"That means the Pirate King—he's real too!"
"The dead… have truly come back to life!!!"
The words rippled through the ranks of pirates and Marines alike.
Above them, lightning split the heavens again, and the two titans—Kaido and Rocks—clashed once more, shaking the very world.