Die!

The great gorilla raised its fist.

A crater five meters across had appeared in the ground.

There was another hole in the center of the crater.

Countless tiny cracks spread out around it.

But Randall was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing this, Kuma beside it roared angrily at the gorilla.

"You big idiot! Who told you to hit him that hard?! I haven't vented my anger yet!"

The gorilla immediately roared back.

"Go to hell! I'm not just going to pound him to death, I'm going to pound you to death too!"

Just as the two Ferocious Beasts were about to go at it again, a sound suddenly came from the bottom of the crater.

A figure suddenly climbed out of the hole.

It was Randall.

He spat several times, clearing the dirt out of his mouth.

Then he flashed the gorilla a provocative grin.

"Little monkey, is that all you've got? That wasn't even strong enough to give me a massage!"

That was right. Not a scratch!

Randall had taken the gorilla's furious punch head-on without suffering a scratch!

Of course, enduring that punch had been anything but easy.

When it first struck him, Randall had almost thought he was Sun Wukong, about to be crushed beneath Five Finger Mountain.

That tremendous force had come close—so very close—to shattering his Armament Haki!

But at the most critical moment, the Qi inside him had suddenly erupted.

And then...

His Armament Haki had grown a little stronger.

And so his Armament Haki, which had been on the verge of breaking apart, had solidified again.

Randall had held out to the end!

The gorilla was dumbfounded as it stared at the arrogant little runt before it.

It hadn't held back at all!

How had this little runt escaped without a scratch?!

Kuma eyed the gorilla suspiciously and roared, "Roar!"

"Are you throwing the fight or what?! How is he still fine?"

The gorilla roared, "Roar!"

"You're the one throwing the fight! Your whole family throws fights! If you don't believe me, try it yourself!"

"Fine, I will!"

Yet Kuma stayed where it was instead of lunging at him.

Randall was still wondering why when he saw wisps of white smoke seep from the corners of Kuma's mouth.

Then Kuma opened its mouth and spat a spiraling pillar of fire at Randall.

Randall was startled.

Flamethrower?

Are you a Pokémon or something?

And do you have any sense of public responsibility?

You're seriously using a fire-type move in a forest?

While Randall was distracted, the flames had already closed to within a meter of him.

Even before they touched him, Randall could feel their scorching heat.

Faced with a magical attack, he still had no intention of dodging.

He drew back his right fist, the muscles in his right arm instantly bulging.

"Armament: Iron Fist: Impact Steel!"

The wild shock wave actually stopped the flames in their tracks.

The two forces remained locked together for a second, but the shock wave ultimately won out.

Carrying the flames along with it, it slammed squarely into Kuma's face as the beast stared in bewilderment and a hint of terror.

"Awooo!"

Kuma cried out in pain and toppled over, smoke rising from its face.

"Don't play with fire in the forest, you bastard!"

Randall looked around.

Fortunately, the two Ferocious Beasts' earlier battle had already destroyed most of the surrounding trees.

The area was now an open clearing.

The gorilla was delighted to see Kuma collapse in bewilderment.

It bared its teeth and roared.

"You're no good either! Pathetic!"

Randall looked at the gorilla, then at Kuma.

An excited smile spread across his face.

"All right, big guys. Time for round two!"

Ten hours later.

The ground was a complete mess. The branches that had once littered it had been pulverized and mixed into the dirt.

Pits of every size and depth dotted the area.

Some were large, just the right size for the gorilla and Kuma.

Others were smaller, a perfect fit for Randall.

By now, both sides were in terrible shape.

Kuma panted heavily, its black fur stained brown with dried blood.

Its sharp claws had lost their luster.

Its right claw, in particular, had only half its length left.

Randall had seized an opening and snapped it off by brute force.

The gorilla was panting too.

Its thick chest heaved violently, and its once glossy fur was now filthy and tangled like weeds.

Most striking of all was the dent in the right side of its chest.

Had it not dodged quickly enough, that dent would have been on the left side instead.

Randall was in equally terrible shape.

The stamina required to fight two Ferocious Beasts was easy to imagine.

Over the past several hours, he had lost count of how many punches and swats he had taken.

Even with his Armament Haki protecting him, his muscles still ached.

In return, however, his mastery of Armament Haki had risen by leaps and bounds.

At the same time, the two enormous beasts' heavy attacks had acted like hammers pounding an iron billet, tempering Randall's Armament Haki into something even stronger!

The two enormous beasts stared at Randall, panting heavily.

They simply couldn't understand.

Why?

Why on earth?

Why did this little runt seem to have an endless supply of Armament Haki?

Both Ferocious Beasts were utterly exhausted, and their Armament Haki had long since run dry!

So why did this little runt still look so full of life?

Were they the Ferocious Beasts, or were you?!

And perhaps they were imagining things.

But they kept feeling that this little runt was even stronger than he had been at the start...

By now, Randall had caught his breath too.

He stared at the two Ferocious Beasts with blazing eyes.

"That was one hell of a fight today!

Since you helped me learn Armament Haki and sparred with me for so long, I'll spare your lives!

But I'm still taking your rings!

So with that settled, go to sleep!"

In an instant, Randall's entire body was coated in black.

He knocked his two iron fists together and bared his gleaming white teeth.

At the sight, the gorilla and Kuma actually felt a little terrified.

You monster! Again?!

They couldn't take any more!

After another burst of wails, howls, and clattering impacts, the two Ferocious Beasts' eyes turned into spirals. They lost consciousness and toppled over like two mountains.

Randall dropped onto his backside too.

As his taut nerves relaxed, exhaustion swept over him like a tide, engulfing his entire body.

At the same time, sweat began pouring out of him.

Before long, his clothes were soaked through.

He was sweating buckets!

Though he seemed to have suffered few injuries, fighting two Ferocious Beasts had been anything but easy.

"Whew... finally over! That felt great, but man, was it exhausting!"

But just as Randall relaxed completely, something suddenly happened.

A dark figure shot out of the distant shadows.

In an instant, it crossed over a hundred meters and reached the defenseless Randall.

With a savage expression, the attacker raised an index finger and thrust it viciously toward Randall's temple.

The Finger Pistol was about to strike, yet Randall seemed not to have reacted at all. He didn't move a muscle.

A flicker of excitement and inner conflict flashed through the attacker's eyes.

"Die!"