"It hurts."
Bright, transformed into a Divine Dragon, muttered softly.
There was a wound stretching back from the corner of his right mouth.
His scales had been cut open, his flesh torn apart, and blood flowed from the wound.
A Flying Slash had just shot out from the flames and torn a gash across his face.
Although his dragon scales were now enough to easily block bullets and cannonballs, they still fell somewhat short against Flying Slashes imbued with a swordsman's Haki.
But it did not matter. This injury was nothing compared to the destruction he had caused.
Below, on the sea's surface, the massive warship had completely shattered. Only fragments that had survived the explosions and inferno still floated on the water.
Navy soldiers burned into charcoal were scattered everywhere.
Some who had survived by chance were still wailing in agony.
It was a scene straight out of hell.
This was what slaughter looked like, wasn't it?
Bright roared loudly. His thunderous bellow became raging lightning, and bolts crashed down upon the sea like raindrops.
Lightning leaped across the sea's surface, and the Marines who had barely survived were once again assailed by thunder.
Now, things should finally be quiet.
"You damned fish-man!"
Hag was still alive.
Although he had taken Bright's continuous lightning strikes and fiery breath head-on, he was still alive thanks to Haki protecting him.
But Rear Admiral Hag was now in a miserable state. His entire body was charred black—not coated in Haki, but as though he had already been roasted through.
Haki could form sturdy armor, but even armor could not completely ward off lightning and flames. Not to mention that Bright's fiery breath had also detonated the warship's ammunition stores, triggering a massive explosion.
The utterly unrecognizable Rear Admiral Hag knelt on one knee atop a broken chunk of wreckage, looking up at the crimson dragon in the sky.
"I get it! Vegapunk once tried to replicate Kaido's power and ended up creating a failed fruit. He deceived everyone!"
Hag staggered to his feet.
Bright began gathering lightning, dazzling currents continuously coursing across the surface of his crimson body.
The ability from the giant electric eel activated, allowing him to generate and store electricity.
It was still far from mature, but it could still prove useful.
"That fruit succeeded!"
Hag gripped his sword tightly. "He gave that fruit to you! So the two of you have been colluding!"
"What are you plotting?"
Bright had no intention of wasting words on him. He opened his mouth again, flames and lightning gathering within.
"Breath of Lightning and Fire!"
Lightning and fire merged. A beam of silver-white and crimson light blasted mercilessly toward Hag like a falling meteor.
Boom!!
Lightning and flames instantly erupted across the sea's surface. Steam billowed while electric light flashed.
Massive waves spread outward in ring after ring.
"Hm?"
Hovering in the sky, Bright noticed something was wrong.
That attack had met no resistance at all.
Could Hag have truly lost all ability to fight back?
Impossible.
Bright did not think he was strong enough to instantly kill a Marine Rear Admiral.
Was that guy trying to escape?
A cold smile curled across Bright's lips. As if he would give him that chance.
The explosion had stirred up massive waves, making the currents beneath the surface incomparably turbulent as well.
But now, those chaotic currents were helping Hag instead.
His body was being swept by the current, rapidly carrying him away from the battlefield.
Even though the lightning conducted through the seawater made him suffer unbearably, even though the water heated nearly to the point of vaporization by the flames tormented him.
"I have to live!!"
Hag clenched his teeth and endured, his entire body covered in Haki.
Fighting that fish-man was suicide.
That guy's abilities were like a natural disaster. There was no way to get close to him.
He could only run.
He had to tell his superiors about the connection between that filthy fish-man and Vegapunk! Make Vegapunk and that trash fish-man pay the price!!
He desperately held his breath.
Then—
Splash—
With a tremendous sound, something enormous fell into the sea nearby. As bubbles spread and curled around him, Hag instinctively turned to look, and his pupils shrank.
"Trying to escape a fish-man's pursuit in the sea?"
The crimson dragon plunged into the water, its long body swimming through the sea as Hag heard Bright's mocking voice.
How could that be possible!!
Hag instinctively wanted to cry out, but he forgot that he was underwater. Seawater instantly poured into his mouth.
In his panic, he began to drown.
"You chose the worst possible place for a final battle."
Bright seized the current with both claws, then opened his jaws wide. "Fish-Man Jujutsu—Ocean Current Shoulder Throw!"
With a swing of his claws, he hurled a current toward Hag.
At the same time, he opened his mouth and forcefully exhaled.
Flames!
Beneath the sea's surface, Bright breathed out golden flames!
The flames merged with the current, becoming a Flame Dragon beneath the water that swallowed Hag whole in an instant.
Hag, blown away by the current, immediately burst into flames from head to toe.
"..."
He struggled desperately, but the flames had already entered his mouth, nostrils, and ears. They even flowed with the seawater into his stomach, turning him into a blazing torch.
In unbearable agony, he clawed at his throat until he tore it open, as though trying to pull the flames from inside his body.
But it was futile.
The light in his eyes gradually faded, and his strength quickly vanished.
I refuse to accept this!!
Damn fish-man!
Bright slowly approached, wary that Hag might still launch a desperate final attack.
By the time he drew near, the flames on Hag and in the surrounding seawater had gradually begun to fade.
Hag had completely turned into a piece of charcoal.
He was truly dead.
Until his death, he never understood how Bright had found him.
Nor could he understand why Bright, a Devil Fruit user, could dive into the sea and move freely.
He understood even less why flames could burn underwater.
Bright let out a sigh of relief.
Without a doubt, this guy was the strongest opponent Bright had faced aside from Kizaru!
Yet Bright had won with an overwhelming advantage.
Although he had relied on a few tricks, even without Haki, he could no longer be considered weak in these seas, could he?
Those abilities he had gained over a week ago had really been a huge help.
The reason he had been able to locate Hag in the chaotic sea was the sensing ability inherited from the Reaper Squid. It was similar to electromagnetic perception; even when he could not see with his eyes, Bright could sense the presence of living beings within a certain range. In a sense, it was a close relative of Observation Haki.
The range he could detect was still very short, but it was barely enough.
He could dive underwater because a thin membrane now covered his scales. It clung tightly to them and helped isolate Bright's body from the seawater.
As long as only part of his body came into contact with the sea, Bright would not lose his strength.
As for why the flames could burn underwater, that was thanks to the ability provided by the Devil Ray. This creature, which had lived around twenty million years ago, could secrete a certain combustible substance within its body.
Not only could this substance greatly increase the temperature of flames, it even contained its own oxygen. In other words, as long as its oxygen had not run out, the flames could still burn fiercely even in the deep sea.
However, he could only produce a very small amount of this fuel now—barely enough for one breath of fire—and it would not burn for long.
Still, overall, this experiment with his abilities had been a great success.
Bright flew back into the sky. Only after confirming that not a single Marine remained alive did he finally relax.
There was a difference between these Marines disappearing without a trace and someone returning to report what had happened here.
"Time to go back."
Bright turned, plunged into the sea, and headed in a certain direction.
It was time to return to Fish-Man Island.
But there was one problem: he did not know the way.
But it was fine. Fish-men did not get lost in the sea.
Bright searched underwater for a while, then spotted a pod of whales drifting leisurely through the water.
He immediately returned to human form and swam toward them like an arrow released from a bow.
"Friends! Do you know which direction Fish-Man Island is? It's a place on the seafloor where lots of creatures like me live."
The whales stopped swimming. The largest among them let out a long, deep call.
"You're saying you don't know, but you can take me to fish that might? Thank you so much. In return, I'll help scrape the barnacles off you."
Smiling, Bright swam over and sat atop the great whale's head.
It really was wonderful to be back in the sea.
Beneath the dark sea's surface lay the paradise of fish-men and merfolk, a place full of friends.
Fish-men and merfolk were children of the sea, blessed with the ability to communicate with fish.
Of course, Sea Kings were an exception. That was a privilege exclusive to Poseidon.
Thanks to reader '20220424190730807' for the generous 500-point donation. Thank you, thank you!
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