One Piece: Building Amazon Lily, Starting as a Celestial Dragon

He had tried using the ink released by Kraken to imitate the forms of various creatures and attack.

And now, actual combat proved that this approach was entirely feasible. The ink could not only defend and trap enemies, but also take on imitative forms to attack, with unexpectedly good results.

King watched his signature move, "Fire Dragon Emperor," being held firmly at bay by his opponent's "Ink Dragon Emperor," and gritted his teeth in frustration.

Just as he was about to tighten his grip on his katana and charge forward to fight with everything he had-

Boom!

An enormous shadow blotted out the moonlight.

Above the clouds, an azure dragon over a hundred meters long burst through, its massive body whipping up a violent hurricane in the air.

Its head was fearsome, its whiskers danced, and bloodthirsty red light flashed in its eyes. Its mere appearance radiated a suffocating pressure.

"Lord Kaido!" King immediately called out, not expecting him to appear in person.

Saint Dio looked up at the enormous dragon winding through the sky. Rather than fading, the excitement in his eyes burned even more fiercely.

One of the Four Emperors, Kaido of the Beasts.

He could be called one of the Strongest Creatures standing at the pinnacle of the world. Empowered by the mighty Mythical Zoan Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon Form, he was also a consummate master of Haki.

An opponent like this was exactly whom he most wanted to challenge now.

"King, you look rather worse for wear." Kaido's deep, intimidating voice echoed through the night sky as he lowered his dragon head slightly and glanced at King below.

King hurriedly bowed his head. "I have disgraced myself. Please forgive me, Lord Kaido!"

Kaido did not dwell on the matter. His enormous head turned toward the white-haired youth hovering in midair, Saint Dio's figure reflected in his dragon eyes. "And who are you?"

Facing a powerhouse who stood at the pinnacle of the world, Saint Dio instead became completely calm.

He offered no unnecessary explanation and showed no weakness. He simply raised his head calmly, met those enormous dragon eyes, and uttered two words:

"Celestial Dragon."

"A Celestial Dragon?!"

This time, the first to bristle was not Kaido, but King.

His voice was full of disbelief and contempt. "What a joke! How could a Celestial Dragon possibly be this strong?!"

Saint Dio glanced at him and said, "You don't get to decide whether I'm useless."

Kaido was far more composed than King.

He had weathered too many storms and seen too many powerful people hidden beneath ordinary appearances.

Besides, over twenty years ago, he had personally experienced that incident, which had shown him the Celestial Dragons' true capabilities.

The moment Saint Dio identified himself as a Celestial Dragon, Kaido did not immediately deny it as King had. Instead, a savage grin slowly spread across his enormous dragon face.

"A Celestial Dragon, huh?"

Laughter like a dragon's roar exploded through the night sky, carrying a heart-stopping madness.

"Then let me see whether your abilities really measure up to that status!"

By saying this, Kaido had made it clear that he intended to fight Saint Dio.

And Saint Dio, who wielded two Mythical Zoans, also happened to want to see how far he still stood from the world's highest level.

Chapter 79: Conqueror's Coating

Kaido slowly opened his dragon maw. Blazing fire churned and gathered deep in his throat, radiating scorching heat.

In that instant, the surrounding air seemed to catch fire. Heat waves distorted the view, and even the distant clouds were illuminated orange-red.

The next second, a massive blast of fiery Bolo Breath erupted from his mouth, shooting toward Saint Dio like an enormous pillar of molten rock piercing the heavens.

Bolo Breath had a range of several kilometers. Everywhere it passed, the air crackled and burst, while trees and grass on the ground spontaneously ignited before the flames even touched them.

Before taking a direct hit, Saint Dio already felt the scorching wave of air rushing toward him, making his skin sting.

But he did not retreat. Instead, he grinned, gripped Jörmungandr's hilt with his right hand, and hurled it into the sky.

"Grow!"

Jörmungandr rapidly expanded and transformed in midair, its silvery-white blade becoming an emerald serpent of suffocating size beneath the moonlight.

Its body was a full size larger than Kaido's Azure Dragon Form. It plummeted from high above and landed on the barren mountain in front of Saint Dio with a deafening crash that shook the earth.

Fortunately, Saint Dio's battle with King had already taken them away from the sky above the Flower Capital. Otherwise, there was no telling how many houses that landing would have crushed or how many casualties it would have caused.

Jörmungandr coiled its enormous body around the barren mountain, standing before Saint Dio like an emerald wall of steel. Kaido's Bolo Breath slammed into its scales, flames cascading down like a waterfall and engulfing half the serpent's body in a sea of fire.

Kaido kept breathing fire, even letting out a loud drunken belch before the flames gradually weakened and dispersed.

The smoke cleared, revealing Jörmungandr.

Its emerald scales were slightly blackened by smoke, but the scales themselves remained completely intact, without a single crack.

The serpent slowly opened its mouth and huffed a breath of hot air at Kaido, expressing its ?.

Kaido drunkenly stared at the serpent, a full size larger than himself, for two stunned seconds before letting out earth-shaking laughter. "Wororororo! Is this a Devil Fruit? Interesting! Far too interesting!"

One dragon and one serpent, one in the sky and one on the ground, faced off across several hundred meters.

The dragon roared and the serpent hissed, tension hanging in the air.

Saint Dio leaped up and landed lightly atop Jörmungandr's head. Folding his arms, he looked down from his perch at the azure dragon circling in the sky.

Kaido looked at the tiny figure standing on the serpent's head, a glimmer of appreciation flashing in his eyes. "Kid, that snake is your Devil Fruit, right? Not bad. Not bad at all. I've taken a liking to you. Become my subordinate!"

Saint Dio could not help laughing at that. "A pirate recruiting a Celestial Dragon? Have you had too much to drink?"

"Hahahaha! So what if you're a Celestial Dragon?" Kaido laughed without a care. "With me, you can experience true freedom! Freedom without any restraints, where you can do whatever you want! Far more satisfying than being a caged bird in Mary Geoise!"

"Freedom?" Saint Dio raised an eyebrow and said mockingly, "I think Celestial Dragons have far more freedom than pirates. I go wherever I want and do whatever I want. Even the World Government has to obey me. You, on the other hand, are a pirate who has to hole up somewhere like Wano Country and secretly build your forces. How about becoming my subordinate instead? I could give you an official post."

Kaido's smile slowly faded, and a dangerous gleam flashed in his dragon eyes.

Saint Dio was firmly determined to reject his offer.

Since recruitment had failed, he would take him by force.

As a pirate, whenever he took a liking to something, he simply seized it through strength.

That instinct was carved into his bones, and it was the creed that had brought him this far.

Kaido opened his dragon maw again, but this time, instead of fire, he spat out countless razor-sharp wind blades.

The wind blades flew out in dense waves like the slashes of sickle weasels, tearing through the air with piercing shrieks as they swept toward Saint Dio from every direction.

"Blast Breath!"

There were so many wind blades that they nearly blotted out the moonlight, and every one could easily slice through steel.

Watching the wind blades fill the sky, Saint Dio's gaze sharpened slightly. He tightened his grip on Kraken and leaped one step back, issuing a mental command at the same time.

Jörmungandr abruptly reared its massive body up, forming a huge wall between Saint Dio and the sky full of wind blades.

The wind blades struck Jörmungandr's scales like a torrential downpour, producing a dense barrage of clear metallic clinks.

Although a single wind blade could not inflict any real damage on Jörmungandr's scales, hundreds upon thousands repeatedly sliced the same area. Fine cracks finally began appearing across the emerald scales, and several shattered, exposing the bright red flesh beneath.

"Jörmungandr, burrow underground!"

Saint Dio gave the order.

There was no other choice. Jörmungandr could not fly, and its only ranged attack was spitting poisonous mist.

But against Kaido's ability to control wind, even that sole method could easily be countered.

To avoid becoming a sitting target, it could simply burrow underground.

Receiving the order, Jörmungandr plunged its enormous head into the ground, breaking through the hard earth as easily as tofu.

Its massive body burrowed underground at an astonishing speed. The ground heaved violently in its wake, forming a rolling line of hills as though an earth dragon were traveling through the soil.

The entire expanse of land shook violently, trees toppling and rocks tumbling.

Standing on the ground, King staggered from the tremors and hurriedly transformed into a Pteranodon, taking to the sky.

He looked down at the ground constantly heaving and cracking below, and his expression changed sharply.

How could this be?

King stared at the enormous hills continually rising, alarmed.

If that serpent kept burrowing around so recklessly, it could destroy the foundations of all of Wano Country, and might even split the entire island down the middle.

No!

He quickly flew to Kaido's side and said gravely, "Lord Kaido, we can't let that snake keep going! At this rate, it could tear Wano Country apart from underground!"

At those words, much of Kaido's drunkenness immediately cleared.

He looked down at the mound of earth continually swelling and spreading across the ground, and realized the gravity of the matter as well.

Wano Country was his chosen base, the cornerstone of the Beasts Pirates' future development. He absolutely could not let a snake destroy it.

He looked toward the white-haired youth on the ground. His enormous dragon body began to shrink and transform, becoming half-human and half-dragon amid the sounds of shifting bones as he entered his hybrid form.

He was still tall and powerfully built, covered in azure dragon scales, with a pair of thick dragon horns atop his head and a long, thick tail trailing behind him. His hands had become scale-covered claws, and he held an enormous spiked club.

He plunged from the sky like a meteor and crashed down in front of Saint Dio, smashing a huge crater into the ground beneath his feet and sending rubble flying.

"Make your snake stop."

Kaido stood before Saint Dio and ordered him.

His enormous size was truly imposing. Saint Dio tightened his grip on Kraken, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Sure. But you have to fight me, and you have to use Conqueror's Coating."

Kaido paused at that, then spread his fang-filled mouth into a grin and gave a deep laugh. "Wororororo... You want to see Conqueror's Coating? Fine, I'll grant your wish!"

Then he bent his legs slightly and abruptly leaped up, spinning through the air and swinging his enormous spiked club in a complete arc.

Pitch-black Conqueror's Haki coiled around the iron club like lightning, emitting crackling black arcs. Even the surrounding air shook violently beneath that domineering presence.

Boom!

An enormous aura swept out from Kaido, whipping up the surrounding rubble.

So this is Conqueror's Coating...

Saint Dio straightened up. Watching Kaido release his Conqueror's Haki, he also recognized just how powerful his opponent was.

Now this is what I wanted!

Instead, Saint Dio grew excited.

Having unleashed Conqueror's Coating, Kaido looked down at Saint Dio, gripped his spiked club with both hands, and roared, "Conquest of the Sea: Three Realms Ragnaraku!"

Saint Dio looked up at the spiked club crashing down with overwhelming force, its ever-growing shadow reflected in his pupils.

The pressure grew stronger and heavier, as though an invisible mountain were descending from the heavens to crush his bones and soul together.

Come on!

He drew Kraken to his waist. Pitch-black Armament Haki surged and gathered along its blade like flowing water, building layer upon layer.

This was the result of his tireless practice day and night over the past month: the utmost application of Ryuo.

Whoosh!

Kaido and his descending spiked club reached him in the blink of an eye, and Saint Dio swung his blade.

The instant blade and club collided, a dazzling bolt of black lightning exploded at their point of contact, spreading in every direction like a spiderweb.

Unable to withstand the impact, the ground beneath their feet cracked and collapsed with a crash, forming an enormous crater dozens of meters across. Rubble and dust shot skyward like a fountain.

In that instant, Saint Dio felt a force unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was not Ryuo's penetrating power, which struck through barriers, but something purer and more domineering, as though it meant to crush his will along with his body.

That force traveled along Kraken's blade into his arms, his shoulders, and his entire body, shaking his bones until they groaned beneath the burden.

So this is... coating with Conqueror's Haki?

He gritted his teeth and tried with all his strength to steady himself, but that force was simply too powerful.

The deadlock did not last long before his feet left the ground and he was sent flying backward. He tumbled dozens of times through the air, then slammed hard into a distant cliff face.

Chapter 80: The Outcome Was Decided