"Aunt Lina!" Kakarot cried, frantic at the sight.
He roared, and the Haki around him erupted once more, enveloping his entire body like a surging black tide.
Dense Haki gathered in his palms as he chanted, "Since ordinary attacks don't work, try this! Super Tailed Beast Ball!"
With Kakarot's movements, an enormous black-and-red energy sphere rapidly formed in his hands,
like a small, spherical storm, spinning wildly and giving off a heart-stopping hum.
This Super Tailed Beast Ball was several times larger than an ordinary Tailed Beast Ball, containing eighty percent of Kakarot's almost oceanic reserves of Armament Haki,
and the energy within it was utterly terrifying, twisting and warping the surrounding space with its sheer power.
Holding the Super Tailed Beast Ball in both hands, Kakarot charged toward the CP0 Deputy Chief like a blazing meteor.
Sensing this unprecedentedly powerful energy, the CP0 Deputy Chief finally showed a flicker of wariness in his eyes.
But as the CP0 Deputy Chief, his deep-rooted pride would not let him back down.
He raised his claw again, unleashing his Armament Haki at full power.
"Come on, then! Let me see what else you've got, brat!" the CP0 Deputy Chief roared, charging straight at Kakarot.
The Armament Haki covering the CP0 Deputy Chief's entire body had now reached its limit,
wrapping him tightly like a suit of indestructible black armor and radiating a chilling aura.
Facing the surging Super Tailed Beast Ball, he let out an earthshaking roar and gathered all his strength into his raised claw. "Break!"
The instant the Super Tailed Beast Ball collided with the CP0 Deputy Chief's claw, even time seemed to stand still.
Then an unparalleled energy storm erupted from the point of impact, spreading wildly in a ring in every direction.
Dazzling light instantly illuminated the entire battlefield, so piercing that it made their eyes ache,
and the powerful shock wave leveled everything around them, shearing mountains in half and tearing bottomless ravines through the earth.
Not far away, Lina struggled to prop herself up, shielding her eyes from the blinding light with her arm, both worried for Kakarot and shaken by his breathtaking attack.
As the light dimmed a little and the smoke gradually dispersed, the scene at the center of the battlefield slowly became clear.
The CP0 Deputy Chief knelt on one knee, his claw drenched in blood. Numerous cracks had appeared in his scales, and thin streams of blood seeped through the gaps.
His eyes were filled with shock; clearly, he had not expected Kakarot's attack to be so powerful.
Kakarot was in no better shape. His face was as pale as paper, blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth, and his body swayed on the verge of collapse.
That attack had exhausted almost all his strength, and his legs sank deep into the ground to support his body as it threatened to fall.
"You... brat... you surprised me a little..." the CP0 Deputy Chief said through gritted teeth, a trace of weakness in his voice.
Kakarot struggled to lift his head and forced a stubborn smile. "But... it still wasn't enough? Then I'll do it again..." Before he could finish, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Kakarot, go. I'll hold him off," Lina said as she rushed in front of the CP0 Deputy Chief, who was about to attack.
Resolve shone in her eyes. Though her body was covered in wounds and every movement brought piercing pain, she still stood firmly in front of Kakarot.
The CP0 Deputy Chief snorted, his eyes full of contempt. "You? A useless wretch barely clinging to life thinks she can stop me?"
With that, he swung his claw fiercely at Lina.
Gritting her teeth, Lina swiftly raised her arms, coating her sharp claws in Armament Haki and crossing them in front of her.
The vicious claw strike slammed into her claws with a howling rush of wind.
In an instant, an ear-splitting screech like metal grinding against metal rang out.
The tremendous impact surged over Lina like a raging tide, sending her sliding several meters backward against her will.
Her feet plowed two deep furrows through the hard ground, scattering dirt and stones along the way.
Frantic, Kakarot wanted to rush forward and help, only to find that his legs felt as heavy as lead. He could barely move them at all.
That all-out attack had indeed left both his stamina and his strength on the verge of exhaustion. "Aunt Lina..." he called weakly, his voice thick with worry.
"Kakarot, don't worry about me! Hurry and recover your stamina!" Lina shouted without looking back, keeping her gaze fixed on the CP0 Deputy Chief, not daring to relax for even a moment.
The CP0 Deputy Chief said nothing more. Like a prehistoric beast gone berserk, his massive body charged at Lina with crushing momentum, like a heavy tank out of control,
each step making the ground rumble dully as though it could not bear his weight, while cracks rapidly spread like spiderwebs.
Lina drew a deep breath, forcibly enduring the waves of intense pain washing over her entire body,
and, gritting her teeth with determination in her eyes, charged resolutely toward the CP0 Deputy Chief.
Just before she collided head-on with the CP0 Deputy Chief, she abruptly twisted in the middle of her charge, as nimble as a phantom in the night,
closing in on his flank in an instant from an almost unbelievable angle.
After several exchanges, however, Lina's already battered body grew increasingly unable to withstand such intense combat.
Her stamina drained rapidly like floodwaters through an opened floodgate, and her movements gradually slowed, each dodge and block becoming more strenuous.
The CP0 Deputy Chief's large, round eyes keenly caught that slight change at once, and a cruel, smug sneer crept across his lips.
Seizing this perfect opportunity, he suddenly let out an earthshaking roar that made the entire battlefield tremble.
Then, with lightning speed, he lashed out with his claw.
Like a massive, heavy blade wielded by an ancient giant, the claw swept viciously toward Lina's chest with the power to destroy everything.
Lina watched the deadly claw hurtle toward her. This is bad, she thought.
Summoning her last scrap of strength, she tried to twist aside while raising both arms and coating them with all the Armament Haki she had left.
But the power of the CP0 Deputy Chief's all-out strike was simply too terrifying. Though she reacted, his claw still grazed her chest with tremendous force.
In that instant, Lina felt as though a towering, collapsing mountain had struck her chest, and an overwhelming force surged through her entire body like a raging torrent.
Her body flew backward uncontrollably like a cannonball fired at high speed.
She traced a long arc through the air like a meteor before crashing heavily to the ground,
with a tremendous boom, like a meteorite striking the earth, throwing up a vast cloud of dust and smashing a sizable crater into the ground.
She lay helplessly in the crater, her body trembling violently and uncontrollably.
She wanted to struggle to her feet, but it felt as though every bone in her body had been pulverized in that instant, and every inch of muscle screamed in despair as though seared by fire.
A strong, metallic sweetness surged up her throat, and a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of her internal organs spilled uncontrollably from her mouth.
She immediately reverted from her Sulong form, her body no longer able to move even an inch, leaving her only able to lie there quietly.
Before you continue