At the entrance to the town.
Most of the Marines stared blankly at Blackbeard, who had suddenly lost all ability to resist and was kneeling before Maud.
The battle had ended far too quickly—so quickly that they had no idea what had happened inside.
Only Fujitora and Chaton, observing from the sidelines, had managed to discern a few clues. They could not help but look astonished.
The battle that had ended within seconds appeared to have been uneventful, but in truth, it had been terrifyingly perilous.
Even Chaton and Fujitora, as bystanders, could see the danger involved. For Maud and Blackbeard, the two participants, there was naturally no need to say more.
A fierce battle, a desperate struggle!
That common phenomenon of evenly matched opponents exchanging blows simply could not describe the battle between Maud and Blackbeard.
This was a battle—
There had been no flashy clashes of techniques, no world-shattering power, and no surging aura on display... It was simply a battle in which whoever made one wrong move would immediately be defeated.
"The Dark-Dark Fruit, the bane of Devil Fruit users...? No wonder it's known as the most vicious ability in history. The reputation is well deserved."
Fujitora slowly released his right hand from the wooden staff and muttered solemnly to himself.
In a one-on-one fight, if he were to face Blackbeard, it would probably be extremely dangerous for him as well.
After all, without knowing the details of the ability...
No, even if he prepared in advance, an ability that could accurately strip away Devil's Power and forcibly drag a Devil Fruit user onto an arena where only fists and flesh mattered would often brutally interrupt the user's own combat rhythm.
The more a user had completely integrated their Devil Fruit ability into their combat techniques and