Peerless

But facing Kaido charging straight at him, with that almost crazed delight on his face...

Lofan gritted his teeth and did not activate his hypnotic ability.

Instead, he applied Conqueror's Haki coating directly to his blade, his arms covered in ink-black Armament Haki.

He met Kaido head-on without fear.

The strike was silent.

Yet the force of their clash tore the heavens apart. The sky changed color, dark clouds churned, and lightning flashed amid peals of thunder.

"Wororo!!! That's the stuff! Take another swing from me!"

The wind surged like blades. Kaido looked like a true demon descended upon the world as he swung again and again.

Lofan refused to fall behind.

For the first time, his calmly smiling face twisted into a wide-eyed, furious glare.

Lofan used not only Haki but also his Reiatsu, and only then could he fight Kaido to a standstill.

"Kaido!"

Clashing like this also stirred Lofan's anger, and he stopped worrying about his original plan.

Instead, he attacked like a reckless brute, slash after slash.

What was freedom? What was mighty power? This was!

Even if he changed his mind on the spur of the moment, he could still achieve his goal.

This was the freedom Lofan pursued, the power he wanted to wield.

Both men fought themselves into a fury, yet both also felt utterly exhilarated.

For the first time in his life, Lofan felt the thrill of fighting with his life on the line.

With every slash, his heart pounded violently.

One careless move could put his life in peril, yet it was so intoxicating!

And Kaido had not felt such exhilaration since fighting Oden over a decade ago.

Whitebeard had not only grown old, his body riddled with lingering injuries, but his heart no longer sought strength either.

Red-Haired Shanks simply was not cut from the same cloth.

As for Big Mom, their past friendship made it difficult for Kaido to fight her to the death without a reason.

Meeting a worthy opponent was one of life's greatest pleasures.

Kaido likewise felt threatened by every slash Lofan delivered.

Yet, proud of his physical abilities, he disdained trading injuries and competing over their powers of recovery.

Instead, he focused entirely on meeting every slash from the young man before him.

By now, the island looked as though it had endured dozens of earthquakes.

Their clash had already caused the entire island to shake and tilt.

Lofan knew that if they kept trading blows like this, he would never outlast Kaido.

A moment of hotheadedness did not mean he no longer wanted to win.

Though his enormous Reiatsu gave him considerable powers of recovery...

Ultimately, he had yet to reach his peak.

If this dragged on any longer, he would inevitably begin to weaken, and the advantage would shift entirely to Kaido.

But without using Illusion, Lofan could see no chance of securing a decisive victory.

Lofan took advantage of a moment when Kaido was far away and made his decision. He knew Kaido would answer him.

Seeing his opponent pull away, Kaido had initially been determined to pursue.

But he suddenly felt the change in his opponent's aura, immediately understood his intent, and shifted his stance.

"Wororo! Lofan, show me your strongest strike!"

"Don't die."

Kaido was not angered by that. Instead, after settling into his stance, he focused and began gathering his strength.

Lofan drew in all his Haki and Reiatsu, relaxed his body, and gripped his Zanpakuto in both hands again.

With Aizen's talent and ability to learn, along with his own deliberations...

Lofan had indeed found an ultimate method of attack, but its cost was immense.

The side effect would leave his body drained of strength for fifteen minutes.

"Kaido, you're the first person to face this move. Don't die."

Kaido wanted to retort, but Lofan had already begun to move.

Left without a comeback, Kaido snorted.

Instinctively sensing danger, he ignited his entire body with the Bolo Breath of his Azure Dragon form.

The heat distorted the surrounding air, and the ground beneath his feet instantly dried out.

The Hassaikai in his hands remained intact thanks to its Conqueror's Haki coating, while the clothes on Kaido's body had long since burned away.

The rainforest also began to catch fire, and the collision of their auras sent currents of air rising.

Sparks danced above the island, staining the sky blood-red in an apocalyptic scene.

"Torch: Flaming Bagua!"

His burly body began to move, the surrounding flames resembling a giant dragon, as Lofan slashed upward from below.

"Peerless."

The island overturned, and the surrounding waves surged back, exposing the rock formations hidden beneath the sea.

After Lofan told Perospero where the battlefield would be, he had used his Devil Fruit ability ahead of time to turn into a candy man several kilometers from the island.

He concealed his presence as a living being, thinking that distance would be safe enough.

Yet the enormous waves rushing back still caught him, nearly sweeping him down to the seabed.

This battle fully demonstrated the destructive power of the world's strongest fighters.

Though his body kept warning him to flee, Perospero had to inform Mama of the situation at the earliest opportunity.

With tremendous willpower, he forced himself to keep watching.

Even though there was no further movement on the severely tilted island before his eyes.

Perospero did not dare relax his vigilance in the slightest. One careless moment, and being caught in the aftermath would mean death.

So he carefully changed his viewing angle, trying to find the two men.

At the center of the battle, both men spat out blood and collapsed, unable to rise.

Kaido had been cleaved from his waist up to his left chest, with only his left shoulder still holding him together.

Lofan's upper right torso looked as though it had been burned to charcoal and was horribly twisted.

His vision blurred, and he was breathing out far more than he breathed in.

No matter how strong Kaido's regeneration was, he probably could not recover from injuries like these without a year or two.

Lofan had paid an equally enormous price.

Fortunately, it was his right side. Had it been his left, even he thought he probably would have died on the spot.

"Bakudō #83: Reverse."

Lofan felt fortunate that he was still conscious. Otherwise, he truly would have been beyond saving.

It was also because the healing arts he had inherited included a few high-level spells. Without them, he really might have had no choice but to wait for death.

His almost fatally wounded body began to peel away and recover, layer by layer.

But it only healed the injuries on the surface.

For Lofan had squandered almost all his Reiatsu and was already utterly drained.

Still, it at least allowed him to stand and tighten his grip on his Zanpakuto.

Limping with every step, he approached a hollow that resembled a pool of blood. Kaido lay within it.

"Cough... come on, kill me! An Emperor's head is yours!"

Unexpectedly, Kaido still had the strength to speak in such a state, though his weakness was obvious.

Lofan smiled and spoke:

"Illusion."

Perospero finally saw the scene clearly. The two men who had seemed like gods and demons were now in a wretched state.

But he saw the result, an unbelievable result, yet he did not dare take a single step forward.

This battle that had torn the heavens apart had planted an inner demon deep in his heart.

Perospero did not even dare deactivate his Devil Fruit ability, instead letting his body drift gradually away from the battlefield alongside a log.

After quickly returning to his ship, Perospero immediately picked up a Den Den Mushi and made a call.

He had to inform Mama at once that the tide of the world had arrived.

And he stood at its center, witnessing the birth of a legend!