Bullet vs. Saint Warcury! The ultimate clash of strength
The south side of the Mary Geoise forecourt is no longer as smooth as it once was.
Large sections of the ground collapsed and cracked, the hard stone slabs were crushed into dust by the immense force, and several thick stone pillars snapped in half, lying haphazardly on the ground. The pillars were covered with dense fist marks and impact cracks, varying in depth. Dust swirled in the air, slowly settling down with a strong smell of blood, and fine sand filled the gaps between the rubble. The entire open space was filled with the wreckage of a brutal battle.
Bullet stood in the center of the battlefield, his right arm ripped to shreds, exposing his entire strong forearm. Several new gashes had appeared among the crisscrossing old scars, and blood dripped slowly down his skin, each drop hitting the gravel and spreading into dark bloodstains.
His breathing was much heavier than usual, his chest rising and falling. But his feet remained firmly planted on the ground, left foot in front and right foot behind, steadily supporting his center of gravity. His entire skeleton was taut in a straight line, and even with his injuries, his stance remained perfectly upright.
Fifteen paces away, stood Saint Warcury.
He had pushed the Beast-Beast Fruit's beast form to its limit, his body swelling to nearly four meters tall. His muscles bulged and bulged, and bluish-black beast-like markings covered his entire body, spreading from his neck to his wrists and ankles. The markings flowed slowly beneath his skin, as if countless living creatures were swimming in his veins. Every time he lifted his foot and landed, it created a heavy, oppressive force. His innate Celestial Dragons aura transformed into a mountain-like aura that enveloped the entire area.
The two had completely different breathing rhythms. It took Saint Warcury three breaths to complete a full breath, his chest expanding and contracting dramatically, his ribcage straining against his skin, and his exhaustion was clearly visible.
"Your arm is still bleeding." Saint Warcury's voice became hoarse and deep, as if squeezed from the depths of his chest. "Relying solely on brute force, your stamina and Armament Haki won't last long. How many more unrestrained punches can you throw?"
Bullet remained silent, slowly clenching his right fist. Layers of jet-black Armament Haki gathered, completely covering the entire surface of his fist, extending from his knuckles to his forearm. The hardened layer was smooth and dense, without a single crack.
He took a sudden step forward, and the gravel beneath his feet exploded with a deafening roar.
"Iron Fist - Rock Smash!"
A heavy punch slammed into Saint Warcury's crossed arms as he blocked.
The instant they made contact, the beast-like patterns flowing across the opponent's skin suddenly burst forth with a faint light. The massive body of Saint Warcury slid backward half a step, his feet carving two deep furrows in the stone pavement. He looked down at his arms; the patterns at the point where his punch landed suddenly glowed, the light flowing along his veins to his shoulders before slowly receding. The impact of that powerful punch had been completely absorbed by the patterns.
"Your brute strength is indeed growing stronger, but your Armament Haki is constantly thinning." Saint Warcury slowly lowered his arms, calmly analyzing his opponent's weaknesses. "With each full-force punch, Haki spreads outwards with the impact. It seems to cover a larger area, but in reality, the hardened layer of the fist creates invisible weak points. You've already thrown seven punches, each heavier than the last, and the impact area of your fist is constantly expanding. The wider the impact area, the more the penetrating power will continuously decrease."
"Instead of focusing on the trajectory of my punches, you're fixated on the point of impact." Bullet loosened his fist and then clenched it again, his eyes blazing with intense fighting spirit. "You're the first person to see through my fighting style."
"Because your fighting style only follows one pattern from beginning to end," said Saint Warcury expressionlessly. "Only frontal assaults, no feints, no changes of direction, and no holding back. You just keep throwing punch after punch until your opponent collapses. Once you figure out the rhythm of your punches, you can precisely time your attacks."
"Hahaha! That's easy for you to say. Then try dodging it and see what happens!"
One
Bullet took three steps in quick succession, followed by a second heavy punch.
This time, he didn't hold back at all, pouring all his weight of several hundred pounds into his fists, and once again slammed into Saint Warcury's crossed arms.
The collision of bones produced a dull thud, and Saint Warcury's arms bent backward at nearly ten degrees, the hard stone slab beneath his feet shattering inch by inch, with fragments flying in all directions.
The beast-like patterns flowing across his body dimmed abruptly upon impact, their flow halting for a full two breaths before slowly resuming.
"Your beast-like patterns can absorb external impacts, but each time they absorb a heavy blow, their operation will experience a brief pause." Bullet withdrew his fist, his gaze fixed on his opponent's body. "The stronger the impact, the longer the pause lasts. That punch just now directly halted your abilities for two breaths. If I extend the pause to more than five breaths, your beast-like form will have an irreparable defensive gap."
Without further ado, Saint Warcury unleashed the power of his Devil Fruit.
Its massive body swelled and grew taller once more, its muscles bulged, and the beast-like markings became even denser, spreading along its shoulder blades to its neck and the entire spine. Its height forcefully exceeded four and a half meters, its shoulder width increased by a foot, and its two thick arms doubled in size again. A single forearm was thicker than Bullet's torso.
"Then let's see if you have the ability to do it."
Saint Warcury took a step, his foot landed, and the entire ground instantly sank three inches.
"Tenfold Beast Transformation Pressure!"
A powerful punch, brimming with strength, was thrown out with a thunderous roar. The beast-like markings on his entire arm swirled rapidly, concentrating the weight of his entire body into this single strike.
Bullet immediately crossed his arms to block.
The dull thud landed heavily on his forearm, the violent impact propelling him back five steps, his feet carving two deep furrows in the stone ground before he finally managed to regain his footing after crashing into a pile of rubble. The old wound on the outside of his forearm reopened, new cuts constantly oozing blood, which flowed down his wrist to his fist, leaving a long trail of bloody marks on the ground.
"Hahaha! Not bad, not bad, your strength has doubled again!" Bullet shook his bleeding arm, his fighting spirit undiminished.
"How many more punches can you take?" Saint Warcury steadied himself, preparing to launch another fierce attack.
"I'll beat you until you're exhausted and can't withstand your beast form anymore!"
Bullet stood firmly, neither dodging sideways nor creating distance, facing his opponent head-on. Even when the distance between them increased by two steps, he did not back down in the slightest.
He slowly clenched his right fist, and dark red Conqueror's Haki lightning exploded out, the electric light winding along his right arm, spreading from his fist to his shoulder, forming a flowing layer of Haki armor.
The moment his entire arm was completely enveloped in Conqueror's Haki, he abruptly gathered his power. The lightning rapidly compressed inward, shedding its wide coverage, and all his power condensed and gathered, ultimately focusing on his small fist.
The extremely concentrated Conqueror's Haki reinforced the Armament Haki on the fist to its peak.
"This punch, Overlord Armor Shattering!"
Two
Bullet suddenly lunged forward, his compressed punch slamming into the center of Saint Warcury's crossed arms.
The beast-like patterns froze at the point of contact, remaining motionless for a full four breaths, two breaths longer than the previous round. The area of the freeze rapidly spread along the arms, all the way to the shoulders, chest, and even the back.
Saint Warcury froze on the spot, unable to move while maintaining his blocking posture. The stone slab beneath his feet continued to crack and break, the cracks extending all the way to the wall behind him before finally stopping.
Bullet did not immediately retract his fist.
Taking advantage of the moment when his opponent's power faltered and the impact had not yet rebounded, he rotated his shoulder and slammed his fist forward an inch from the same point of impact.
The accumulated Conqueror's Haki lightning erupted a second time, the scattered bolts of electricity regrouping and compressing, striking the same spot once more.
The moment the second impact landed, the beast patterns on the surface of the Saint Warcury became completely lifeless, remaining stagnant for a full five breaths. The once ever-flowing patterns turned gray and dry, like a riverbed that had stopped flowing, without the slightest ripple.
When his abilities barely resumed functioning, he involuntarily took two steps back, and the speed at which the beast patterns flowed slowed down by half.
This intense beast-like devouring was frantically draining his own life force. Each time the patterns stopped, restarting them would require several times more energy. His breathing became increasingly rapid, his chest heaved violently, and his face gradually turned pale.
Bullet stood rooted to the spot, his fists still crackling with a few sparks of Conqueror's Haki, like embers yet to be extinguished. Blood continued to seep from the wound on his forearm, and each breath sent sharp pains through his shoulder muscles, yet he remained firmly planted on the ground, locked in a tight lock on Saint Warcury.
"How long can you maintain this beast form?" Bullet asked in a deep voice. "Your patterns are recovering at half the speed. In less than three punches, your beast form will completely collapse under continuous impact."
Saint Warcury remained silent for a long time before slowly lowering his arms.
The layers of beast patterns on his body gradually lost their luster, and his massive body began to slowly shrink. He took two steps back, his back slamming heavily against the broken stone pillar, no longer able to muster the strength to activate the fruit's power.
The Celestial Dragons' prized beast-transformation armor ultimately couldn't withstand the continuous heavy punches enhanced by Conqueror's Haki.
"I lost."
Three
Bullet slowly relaxed his knuckles, and the Conqueror's Haki lightning on his fist dissipated completely. The bleeding from his forearm gradually slowed down, leaving only tiny beads of blood slowly seeping from his flesh. After a period of heavy breathing, his breathing gradually calmed down.
"Haha! You're a tough nut to crack, but unfortunately, you're not tough enough."
He turned around and walked towards the hall of Room of Authority without looking back.
Saint Warcury slumped against the stone pillar, his beastly form completely fading away, returning to his original shape. His internal organs were injured by the heavy punch, and blood trickled from under his skin, winding down the corner of his mouth, but failed to condense into drops of blood, only leaving fine red lines on his chin.
Bullet walked all the way to the main entrance of the hall and happened to see Kaido leaning against the door frame, slowly wiping the congealed bloodstains from his Iron Club.
"Finished fighting?" Kaido glanced at his bleeding right arm.
"It's over," Bullet replied casually.
The wound is still bleeding.
It's just a superficial wound, nothing serious.
Deep within the hall, behind the thick stone walls, came a deafening laugh from Whitebeard.
"Gurara! Is the battle in the front courtyard over? How many enemies are left?"
Bullet stepped over the threshold and strode inside.
"Only two opponents remain."
The wind outside stirred up dust, and the dust settled after the peak duel of strength and endurance. On the hard ground, crisscrossing fist marks of varying depths bore witness to the two powerful individuals' head-on, unadorned battle.
(End of Chapter 114)