Doflamingo

Half-Moon Funeral!

As Diamante rose, the flexible sword in his hand hardened into a sharp rapier. He swung it at Carlos, sending a pale, crescent-shaped Sword Qi tearing through the air.

A strange curve lifted at the corner of Carlos's mouth. His body rammed straight into the sharp Sword Qi, then transformed into black crows that scattered in every direction. Yet Carlos himself eerily appeared before Diamante, both hands clamping down on Diamante's shoulders as force surged through them.

Crack!

"Ah..." Carlos directly dislocated both of Diamante's shoulders, making Diamante scream in agony.

In truth, Carlos had held back. Diamante had fallen under the Sharingan's Illusion Technique without realizing it. Carlos's Illusion Technique had deceived Diamante's mind; every Carlos he saw was fake, while he could not see the real Carlos at all. He had targeted the wrong direction from the very start.

Carlos merely wanted to teach Diamante a harsh lesson. Otherwise, just like before, this attack would have struck Diamante's vital points.

The two of them did not have any irreconcilable hatred. It was not worth killing him, because that would make Doflamingo a sworn enemy. It was not worth provoking a mortal foe over some minor grievance.

He was not afraid of becoming Doflamingo's mortal enemy, but if it could clearly be avoided, doing so out of a momentary fit of anger was far too foolish.

Those who accomplished great things needed more than decisiveness in killing. More importantly, they had to control themselves. What great things could someone who could not control their temper and acted recklessly possibly achieve?

Although individual strength in this world was high, it had not reached the point where one person could challenge the entire world alone. There was no need to make enemies for no reason and end up with the whole world as one's enemy...

Having the entire world as an enemy would make life far too difficult. As a great man once said, politics was about uniting the majority and striking at a small minority. In Carlos's view, getting by in society was the same. No matter what one did, no matter which world one was in, the principle remained the same.

"Diamante, do you still want me to compensate you? Do you still want my life?" Carlos grabbed Diamante's dislocated shoulder and asked with a smile.

Diamante's face was twisted in pain, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He could barely speak anymore. Wave after wave of agonizing pain flooded from his shoulders, as though countless steel needles were piercing them. It hurt far more than an ordinary dislocation or fracture.

Naturally. Carlos was gripping Diamante's shoulders, and Internal Energy was continuously pulsing through his palms. Of course it was unbearably painful.

"Oh, it seems your reinforcements have arrived..."

Carlos spoke with a smile, then his figure flashed away. At that moment, a figure dropped from the sky, one leg chopping down through the air. A pointed shoe and colorless, transparent strings smashed into the ground, gouging out a deep trench.

The newcomer stood with his back to Carlos. He had blond hair, a pink coat on his upper body, and gaudy orange-yellow trousers below. Who else could it be but Doflamingo?

He was the fastest, so he had arrived first. Besides, he had not been far away to begin with.

Diamante had originally been bored and volunteered to deal with a group of Pirates foolish enough to set their sights on them. Who would have thought it would turn into such a mess?

Doflamingo wore orange sunglasses. Seeing Diamante's condition, the veins on his forehead bulged as fury rose in his heart. Diamante was one of the first four officers to follow him, one of his closest family members. Yet he had been injured like this. His killing intent was almost beyond control as he turned to look at his enemy...

The moment he saw Carlos, Doflamingo grew even angrier. That bastard was actually leisurely lighting a cigarette and smoking it. His calm, composed demeanor was infuriating!

Carlos felt quite wronged by that. Was he supposed to panic?

"How do you want to die?" Doflamingo raised both hands and sneered.

"Your little tricks are useless." Carlos smiled disdainfully. His eyes changed into triangular pinwheels—the Mangekyo Sharingan of Itachi Uchiha. Crimson energy flashed past, and countless colorless needles as thin as cow hairs were knocked away.

"The power of a Devil Fruit?"

"So you do have some skill. No wonder you injured Diamante so badly..."

Seeing that his Parasite String, which rarely failed, had done nothing, Doflamingo became serious.

"Heh... Injured this badly? If I had wanted his life, he would have died long ago!"

Carlos exhaled a cloud of white smoke, his tone arrogant and contemptuous. That attitude only made Doflamingo's fury burn hotter.

"Cough, cough... Doflamingo, he's right. If he had truly wanted my life, I would already be dead..."

"Doflamingo, don't look into his eyes. They're extremely strange. I suffered serious injuries after just one exchange."

Diamante spoke through coughs. He did not add fuel to the flames. In that brief time, he had already figured it out—the other side had indeed held back.

It was not that he was considering Carlos. He was considering Doflamingo, considering the Donquixote Family. It was far too unwise to make an enemy of unknown strength for the family because of him.

"I understand."

"In that case, I won't take his life. He only needs to repay whatever injuries you've suffered."

Doflamingo's expression eased slightly. Still, one of his closest family members had been seriously injured. No matter what, Carlos had to pay it back...

Haki!

"Hahaha... Then let's have an all-out battle here!"

"I've long wanted to find an opponent worthy of a fight."

Carlos laughed loudly. He truly had no reservations. It did not matter if other Pirates came running, or if they drew away the Marines.

After all, he had Kamui. There might be people in this world capable of preventing him from using even Kamui, but such a person definitely did not exist in present-day Loguetown. The Navy's top powerhouses had already left.

And even for the Navy's top powerhouses, instantly killing him and stopping him from using Kamui would be incredibly difficult. He had two pairs of Kamui Mangekyo Sharingan—his ability to protect himself was absurdly strong!

"Hmph!"

Doflamingo snorted coldly and stopped wasting words. He was a ruthless man himself, and once his temper flared, he could not be bothered with anything else.

Bullet String!

Doflamingo held out only his index fingers, folding all his other fingers together. Fine threads shot out like bullets at incredible speed, carrying more power than ordinary firearms.

Carlos kept the cigarette between his lips, a smile on his face. Standing where he was, he dodged with remarkable flexibility, his reactions and evasion speed astonishingly fast. Every Bullet String was avoided.

With the Mangekyo Sharingan's powerful perception, so long as his overall physical abilities could keep up, dodging was not difficult at all. In fact, it was simple.

He could have taken the attacks head-on with his body, but Carlos believed in this: Hold steady, don't get reckless, We can win. If he could dodge something, he would never tank it. His body was the last line of defense; unless absolutely necessary, he would never take anything head-on.

"My turn."

Soru!

Carlos vanished in an instant and charged straight at Doflamingo.

"Rokushiki?" The well-informed Doflamingo immediately recognized Carlos's technique. Though surprised, his reaction did not slow in the slightest. His five fingers curled into claws as he met Carlos's eagle claw.

Five Color String!

Five thin threads of different colors coiled around his hand and collided with Carlos's eagle claw. Boom! The air exploded, and a fierce gust spread in every direction.

"You sure know your stuff."

Carlos chuckled and raised his head to meet Doflamingo's eyes. Though Doflamingo wore sunglasses, the Eye of the Devil was not something a mere pair of glasses could block. Carlos himself had used the ability while wearing sunglasses before.

The Tri-Blade Mangekyo Sharingan spun as he cast a probing Illusion Technique...

Doflamingo's vision blurred. Before him appeared the scene of his younger self personally shooting his foolish, naive father. His heart tightened, and his awakened Conqueror's Haki erupted. A ripple swept through the illusion, shattering it into fragments as he swiftly broke free.

Fortunately, it was the Mangekyo Sharingan. Otherwise, even the Three-Tomoe Sharingan would likely have been useless against someone like Doflamingo, whose will was so firm and who had awakened Conqueror's Haki. He would have been completely immune to it.

Even an Illusion Technique cast by the Mangekyo Sharingan could not affect him for long, despite this only being a probing attempt.

Though the time was brief, it was enough for Carlos to attack. His claw clamped down on Doflamingo's arm as Doflamingo hurriedly raised it in defense after breaking free from the illusion. Force surged through his grip, tearing off five bloody strips of flesh!