Lilith and the others held off the Hellfire Demon Ants. Seeing that the situation was stable, Kakarot continued toward the volcano.
The closer he drew to the volcano, the stronger Kakarot's aura became. His long golden hair stirred without wind, and his Conqueror's Haki enveloped heaven and earth.
A terrifying aura also erupted from a raised platform several hundred meters away from him. Like Conqueror's Haki, it changed the very colors of heaven and earth.
Kakarot looked at the Ant King standing above the lava. Its crimson shell resembled armor. It stood on two legs, while its other four limbs seemed to hold terrifying power.
Its scarlet eyes radiated bloodthirsty killing intent-not a love of slaughter, but the killing necessary to survive on this island.
Kakarot saw the delight of finding prey in its eyes.
Kakarot and the Ant King had already exchanged a wordless conversation. Neither spoke, their bodies radiating intense fighting spirit and immense auras.
A few seconds later, Kakarot and the Ant King struck almost simultaneously. Kakarot felt pressure from it similar to that of the CP0 Deputy Chief.
Kakarot attacked at full strength from the outset, his fist coated in Armament Haki,
wrapped in the Conqueror's Haki Infusion he had learned through his powerful control over Haki, with potent mountain-crushing intent gathering on his fist.
The Ant King closed in just as swiftly, its four limbs meeting Kakarot's fist like spears and staves.
A born monster, the Ant King possessed boundless strength. Kakarot's strength was clearly inferior, but his combat techniques were better, allowing him to unleash greater force.
Relying on sheer physical strength, the Ant King unleashed equally astonishing force. It displayed its terrifying might and pushed Kakarot back.
In that brief exchange, their strength proved evenly matched.
Though pushed back, Kakarot showed no fear. He skillfully used his retreat to dissipate the force and instantly engaged the Ant King again.
Kakarot moved like lightning, flipping in midair as his legs scissored toward the Ant King's waist.
Its slender waist was both a joint and a weak point.
He poured his exquisite command of Haki into both legs, layering Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki Infusion once more. The power in his legs seemed capable of tearing space apart.
Naturally, the Ant King would not sit back and wait for death. It swiftly crossed its two forelimbs to block. A thunderous bang rang out like a great bell.
The tremendous impact sent rings of visible ripples through the surrounding air.
The Ant King blocked Kakarot's legs, but he used the rebound to leap backward.
In an instant, a Tailed Beast Ball radiating dazzling black light formed in his hand.
Within this Tailed Beast Ball lay a perfect fusion of Haki and rotational force. It hummed as though it would swallow everything around it.
The Ant King sensed the enormous threat posed by this energy sphere. Its antennae stood erect, its eyes fixed on Kakarot.
Suddenly, the red carapace covering the Ant King's body turned glossy black. Dense Armament Haki spread from its body like tangible black mist.
A born monster like it had awakened Haki long ago and knew some rudimentary ways to use it.
Then the Ant King kicked off hard. The ground instantly cracked, countless fragments of stone scattering as it shot toward Kakarot like a black cannonball.
Its four limbs swung with piercing whistles, as though intent on smashing both Kakarot and the energy sphere in his hand.
Seeing the Ant King's ferocious charge, Kakarot shouted and hurled the Tailed Beast Ball with all his strength, sending it into a head-on collision with the Ant King.
A world-shaking boom erupted. Light and shock waves raged outward, and the entire space seemed to warp beneath that power.
For a moment, dust flew and smoke filled the air, obscuring what was happening within.
But the Ant King's hard armor and Armament Haki were not merely for show. The Tailed Beast Ball had done little damage.
Suddenly, a red figure shot out from deep within the smoke like a phantom, moving so fast that it raised a piercing whistle. It was the Ant King.
Though the Ant King's four limbs appeared slender, they were in fact like forged steel, emanating a chilling presence.
Now, it was attacking Kakarot furiously.
Every strike from the Ant King carried dense black currents that wound around its four limbs as though solid,
the Armament Haki coating them like a layer of indestructible black armor.
Each thrust came with the piercing sound of air being forcibly torn apart,
Riiip-
The sound resembled a blade scraping metal. Even space seemed to tremble faintly beneath that overwhelming power, sending out rings of visible ripples.
The four limbs on its upper body raised the frequency of its attacks to an astonishing level.
At that moment, the Ant King resembled a flawless killing machine running at high speed. Blurs of fists crisscrossed, pressing toward Kakarot from every direction without a gap.
Kakarot's expression instantly grew grave, but his eyes remained as sharp as an eagle's.
Faced with the Ant King's all-encompassing storm of attacks, he showed neither fear nor retreat. Instead, he reacted swiftly, meeting them with equally fierce punches and kicks.
Kakarot moved with agility. Every punch and kick seemed to make the surrounding air tremble, carrying immense force.
His movements displayed exquisite combat skill. His footwork was nimble and varied, like that of a graceful dancer, as he deftly weaved and dodged through the Ant King's tidal wave of attacks.
His gaze tracked the Ant King's every move. Even as he dodged, he constantly searched for openings to counterattack, striking back with unerring precision whenever he spotted a chance.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Their fists collided with deep, resounding crashes, like heavy hammers striking an ancient bell, echoing endlessly across the smoke-filled battlefield.
Every collision unleashed a powerful blast of air that instantly scattered the surrounding smoke. They were locked in a life-or-death clash of strength and technique at their peak.
Amid this fierce battle, the Ant King keenly realized that the Armament Haki Kakarot wielded was of the same nature as its own.
At this discovery, a flash of excitement suddenly lit its already ferocious eyes, like a hungry wolf discovering prey.
It began observing Kakarot's use of Haki with even greater concentration, as though seeking to dissect every minute movement with perfect clarity.
Between repeated attacks and defenses, the Ant King's brain worked at high speed, constantly analyzing and breaking down Kakarot's exquisite control of Haki,
and attempting to incorporate those techniques into its already fierce fighting style.
At the same time, the Ant King's gaze was like a sharp scalpel, fixed on Kakarot's every movement in battle.
In the Ant King's eyes, Kakarot's wealth of combat techniques and his unique Six Powers methods of generating force shone with an alluring light like rare treasures.
With its extraordinary ability to learn, the Ant King, even in the brief gaps within this fierce battle,
continued to imitate Kakarot's techniques, trying to make them entirely its own.
Kakarot, meanwhile, was also gaining a great deal from this intense battle.
The Ant King's killing techniques, born of repeated brutal hunts and life-or-death battles, were like an infusion of fresh blood that made Kakarot's eyes light up.
These techniques brimmed with primal bloodshed and violence, yet also held a unique wisdom honed countless times on the edge of life and death.
Even as Kakarot focused completely on dealing with the Ant King's attacks, his brain was also working at high speed,
silently considering how to incorporate these techniques, so full of wildness and power, into his already exquisite combat system.
He knew full well that this was an exceptional opportunity to elevate his fighting ability.
Moreover, the Ant King's Armament Haki, refined to an extremely high level through countless battles,
was like an invaluable whetstone to Kakarot, constantly honing his Haki.
With every fierce collision against the Ant King's Haki, Kakarot could clearly feel wondrous changes occurring in the finer aspects of his own Armament Haki.
Though subtle, these changes quietly improved the quality of his Haki, like spring rain nourishing all things.
It was as though, within this intense battle, his Haki was undergoing a transformative baptism, gradually becoming tougher and more substantial.
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