"Bang!"
Chaos's feet dug into the ground as he slid sideways, leaving a ten-meter-long trail. He gasped for breath, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
His forehead was slick with sweat, and he looked a little worse for wear.
Across from him, Garp looked grim. He'd realized that his opponent's defense was frighteningly strong—even more formidable than his own.
The areas covered by Chaos's shirt and trousers felt as if they were made of steel. Garp's punches landed without the slightest sense of flesh beneath them. His opponent's only weak spots were his head and his bare fists.
Garp's instincts hadn't failed him. Chaos was wearing Golden Inner Armor.
"Ptui."
Chaos spat out the blood in his mouth, then beckoned challengingly to Garp.
He'd been a little flustered at first, but now he had found his rhythm. He was growing through battle.
Garp snorted through his nose, his fury blazing as his claws gleamed. His nearly ten-centimeter-long talons were like sharp knives, capable of easily tearing through a tree as thick as a man's thigh.
He was getting impatient.
More than ten minutes had passed, and he still hadn't taken his opponent down. It was a tremendous disgrace.
Boom! Boom!
Garp unleashed an unrelenting barrage, slashing again and again with both claws. Chaos kept evading with backflips, occasionally vanishing with Shave, but Garp's reactions were incredibly fast. Perhaps animals had an innate ability to sense danger, which placed some limits on Chaos's Shave.
The main problem was that Chaos hadn't mastered Shave yet.
If this had been Garp, his opponent might have died without ever knowing what had killed him.
"Stinking rat, all you do is run!"
Garp looked savage. After another flurry of claw strikes, he suddenly kicked Chaos in the chest. With a muffled thud, Chaos was sent stumbling backward, but he didn't even look winded. It seemed to have barely affected him.
Rumble—
The ground shuddered, dirt flying everywhere. Chaos vanished from the spot with Shave. The next instant, Garp appeared, his entire right lion's arm buried in the earth as he glared at Chaos like a furious lion.
His opponent was as slippery as an eel.
Chaos wasn't the type to just defend himself. He vanished again and again, then abruptly appeared behind Garp, his kick cutting through the air like a battering ram.
A muffled collision rang out. Garp's tail, which he hadn't used once until now, suddenly whipped around and coiled tightly around Chaos's leg. He swiftly lifted Chaos up and slammed him into the ground.
Chaos's expression changed. He covered his head with both hands as the ground exploded beneath him, leaving a crater more than thirty meters across. But that was only the beginning.
Laughing wildly, Garp repeatedly swung Chaos around, his tail wrapped tightly around him like a whip!
Boom! Boom!
Dust filled the air as the ground around them rapidly cracked and caved in. Clods of dirt shot away like bullets. After being slammed back and forth several times, Chaos was dazed, blood spilling uncontrollably from his nose and mouth.
He'd let his guard down.
Now he had no choice but to use his ability.
But Chaos didn't choose Goldenization. Instead, he opened his right hand, and a Golden Longsword extended from it, quickly taking shape. He swung it at Garp's tail.
"Ah!"
A pained, anguished cry escaped Garp. His thick tail wasn't especially tough; the blade sliced straight through it, and it fell to the ground in a spatter of blood.
Garp leaped back and stared at his severed tail. His eyes grew bloodshot, and the thick mane around his neck bristled.
"Cough, cough..."
Chaos knelt on one knee, leaning on the Golden Longsword. He wiped the blood from his nose on the ground, then stood and stared coldly at Garp.
This guy had forced him to use his Devil Fruit ability, but it didn't matter.
He'd already honed his close-combat skills enough. Now he needed to find a stronger opponent.
Garp wasn't as valuable to him as he'd been at first.
Chaos was even more certain now that he wasn't weak.
What he lacked was battle experience and things like that.
"You're a Devil Fruit user too!"
Garp's voice was hoarse, and Chaos could sense his intense killing intent.
The pirates watching from the perimeter were startled, too. No one had seen how the Golden Longsword appeared in Chaos's hand. One moment, he'd been getting pummeled; the next, a weapon was in his grasp. The sudden reversal had happened too quickly.
They'd seen clearly that Chaos hadn't had anywhere to hide a weapon. The Golden Longsword was at least ten centimeters wide and 1.3 meters long—it was more like a Giant Golden Sword.
If he'd been carrying a sword that enormous, they would have noticed.
"It must be a Paramecia!"
On the rooftop, the four members of the Zebra Killer crew immediately ruled out Zoan and Logia. Only Paramecia abilities came in so many strange varieties.
They'd have to keep watching to figure out exactly what it was.
Chaos said nothing, merely staring coldly at Garp.
"Even if you're a Devil Fruit user, you're still going to die!"
Garp was completely enraged, and his fury seemed to strengthen him.
Dirt sprayed up beneath his feet as he shot forward like an arrow, faster than before.
Chaos stepped back. The Giant Golden Sword floated before his chest. He spread his hands, splitting it into five small Golden Longswords, then thrust them forward. They shot away with a sharp whistle, giving the whole thing a distinct Sword Control Technique feel.
Garp's pupils contracted as he charged. Time seemed to slow around him. His Zoan-enhanced vision reached its limit, and in the blink of an eye, he dodged left and right, avoiding four of the Golden Longswords.
But the fifth wounded him. A bloody gash appeared on his right cheek. On closer inspection, it was slowly healing.
Though it was hard to tell.
A wound like that would take Garp only half an hour to heal completely, without even leaving a scar.
For an ordinary person, it would take at least half a month, if not a full month.
If Garp had developed his Devil Fruit further—or even awakened it—he might have healed completely in just two or three breaths.
Clearly, he hadn't reached that level yet.
"Pfft!"
Garp dodged the five Golden Longswords, but Chaos wasn't going to stand there doing nothing. He immediately used Shave to appear in front of Garp, then drove his right foot into Garp's chest with tremendous force. Garp's face twisted in pain. He rolled across the ground and finally crashed at the far end, unable to stop himself from spitting out a mouthful of blood.
That kick had clearly hurt. He had his Zoan-enhanced toughness to thank for not taking even more damage.
Garp had no time to catch his breath. He quickly rolled aside, and the five Golden Longswords plunged into the ground behind him, leaving only their hilts visible.
Chaos pressed his advantage. He swung his right leg back, kicking up a mass of dirt toward Garp's head. At the last possible moment, Garp raised both hands to shield his head, but the tremendous force sent him flying again.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Chaos lifted a hand and sent the five Golden Longswords flying like bullets. He followed close behind, using Shave again and again to close the distance. He wasn't giving Garp even a moment to breathe.
Clang, clang, clang—
The Golden Longswords repeatedly shot into the ground. Garp could only dodge desperately; even his defense couldn't withstand the blades' sharp edges.
Pfft—
He dodged the Golden Longswords, but not Chaos's foot. With a crunch of breaking bone, Garp spat blood and cried out in pain, rolling across the ground again and leaving a long trail.
By now, even a child could tell Garp was no match for Chaos.
At first, Garp had been beating Chaos down. But the moment Chaos used his ability, the tide had turned.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Gunshots suddenly rang out from outside the fight. Bullets streaked toward Chaos, forcing him to stop his attack.
They were members of the Lion King Pirates...
</final>
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