After a loud roar, the Big Mom abandoned the useless Prometheus and Zeus, grabbed Napoleon, and charged toward Vic. Crimson Inazuma crackled around the blade, making it incredibly powerful and oppressive.
In their previous clash, only Vic's Blood Wither Blade was wreathed in Armament Haki. This was because Vic hadn't withdrawn his Haki because he wanted to forge the Black Blade as soon as possible, while Big Mom hadn't used Haki at all.
The Big Mom initially thought she could easily defeat Vic with her physical advantage, but after several attempts, she felt she couldn't keep up. Now that Vic had angered her again, she resorted to Conqueror's Coating.
Not only was Napoleon's body wreathed in Conqueror's Haki 'Conqueror's Haki, but his other hand, which wasn't holding a knife, was also enveloped in it, with crimson lightning Inazuma and surging across his fist. He had already planned his next move, ready to crush Vic to death.
"Good timing!"
Seeing that the Big Mom had used Conqueror's Coating, Vic didn't hold back any longer and similarly wrapped Conqueror's Haki Coating around Blood Wither.
Seeing the crimson Inazuma also wrapped around Vic's knife and sensing the powerful aura, the Big Mom frowned and dared not be careless anymore. She realized that she had underestimated Vic before, and this tea party was going to backfire.
Thoughts raced through his mind, but the Big Mom's hands didn't stop moving. She rushed towards Vic, and Vic didn't stand still either; he rushed towards Big Mom as well.
Blood Wither and Napoleon clashed from a distance, their Conqueror's Haki meeting between their two swords, spinning rapidly like a sphere crackling with crimson Inazuma as they fiercely battled each other.
Vic and Big Mom, the two people directly involved in the confrontation, showed no abnormalities, but the mental shock generated by the clash of Conqueror's Haki instantly spread throughout the entire Whole Cake Island, and those who were not strong enough fainted in droves around the two of them.
The entire cake-shaped castle was instantly split in two by the two's attack, just like a large cake that had been cut in half!
But that wasn't all. Dark clouds filled the sky above Whole Cake Island, but a slash like the creation of the heavens could be clearly seen appearing in the clouds—a sight that hadn't appeared before!
Those inside the Whole Cake Chateau could see the slash across the clouds through the cut at the top of the castle, which made their hearts leap into their throats in horror!
Their attack not only cleaved through the castle but also cleaved the sky itself—what incredible power! It was beyond human capabilities. These people from the Underworld, though top-tier in their respective fields, had never witnessed a battle between such elites. The top of two fields are not the same at all!
Those who had never seen such a sight were shocked, but the battle in the arena did not stop because of their astonishment. Vic's companions and Big Mom's children had basically all seen this sight before, and although they were still shocked, it did not affect their fighting!
The attack between Vic and Big Mom was inconclusive, and Big Mom followed up with a massive punch, her fist wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, aimed at Vic's head.
Vic's head looked tiny in front of the Big Mom's fist. Just as the Big Mom's fist was about to hit Vic and she felt a little smug, that sticky feeling she had felt before returned, enveloping her fist and her whole body.
What was supposed to be a sure thing turned into an unexpected situation. She didn't know what kind of ability it was, but she realized how powerful Vic's ability was, even a strong person like her was greatly affected.
Vic tilted his head and calmly dodged the Big Mom's punch. Then, using the momentum, he sprang up and kicked the Big Mom in the face. The Big Mom flew out like a giant meatball cannonball, leaving a colorful afterimage in the air and creating human-shaped holes in the walls of the Whole Cake Chateau as she passed through them.
With Vic's Speed-Speed Fruit ability, Big Mom had no chance to dodge the kick. One accelerated while the other slowed down, and the difference was huge.
After learning of the existence of the God Realm, Vic has been eating Soul Fruit every day, focusing most of his energy on developing the fruit's power. This is how he acquired the fruit power that can influence the Emperor of the Sea. Although the fruit power has not yet Awakening, Vic can feel that it is not far from Awakening, so he needs to accelerate this process through battle.
"Kid! You've completely enraged me!"
Vic heard a huge crash outside the castle, and then saw the Big Mom rushing towards him from the hole created by the impact.
This time, the Big Mom didn't charge in recklessly. She wrapped her body in Armament Haki. It's common knowledge that Devil Fruit abilities are countered by Armament Haki, and the Big Mom certainly knew that. Having learned her lesson after being burned a few times, she was wiser now.
Previously, she couldn't have covered her entire body with Armament Haki. Her physical strength alone was comparable to that of ordinary Armament Haki Hardening. Moreover, at her level, she would never fight in such a foolish way as to wrap her entire body in Haki. Even now, Vic wouldn't Armament Haki Hardening anymore, as she no longer needed it after mastering Observation Haki.
However, physical strength is one thing, but to counter a Devil Fruit ability, one still needs Armament Haki. Big Mom was forced to do this.
Vic tested the Speed-Speed Fruit's power and found that it could no longer slow Big Mom down. The Emperor of the Sea's Haki was indeed not to be underestimated!
However, while he couldn't slow down the Big Mom, he could speed up himself. Although the effect was only half as good, it was better than nothing. He needed to use his ability more often in the fight.
Seeing that slowing down the woman was ineffective, Vic stretched out his palm, aiming it at the flying Big Mom, and a bolt of purple Inazuma instantly struck Big Mom.
The Big Mom's body was covered in Armament Haki. Vic's Inazuma did not harm her, but it did cause her flying figure to pause, greatly slowing down her speed and reducing her enormous kinetic energy by more than half.
Vic seized the opportunity to rush forward, unleashing Blood Wither attack on Big Mom with his Conqueror's Coating. Although Big Mom's speed decreased, the battle-hardened woman remained calm and met the attack head-on, wielding her Napoleon, which was also imbued with Conqueror's Haki.
This strike was fueled by immense rage. Although she wasn't panicked, Vic's abilities disgusted her.
Each time she gathered tremendous kinetic energy, intending to deliver a powerful blow to Vic, she was always interrupted by Vic, losing most of her strength. That feeling of having the power but being unable to unleash it was disgusting and made the Big Mom extremely unhappy.
Another clash between the Conqueror's Coating caused the weather on Whole Cake Island to change drastically. The castle, which had already been divided in two, was completely split in two and fell to either side, raising a huge cloud of dust.
The Big Mom looked down at Vic with a dark expression. This was the downside of fighting on home turf: the enemy could attack without restraint, but you had to be timid and hesitant. Fortunately, most of the buildings on Whole Cake Island were made with Devil Fruit abilities, so she wasn't too bothered.
However, many of her children live on the island, including newborn infants. The Big Mom must have given birth to eighty or ninety children every year to reach this number, sometimes even several at a time, otherwise there simply wouldn't be so many.
Although the Big Mom can be quite irrational and even attack her own children, she still has some maternal love when she's lucid, though not much, because she has too many children to love them all.
Vic didn't care what would happen to Whole Cake Island. He clashed with Big Mom's Napoleon, his Big Mom's Conqueror's Haki -enchanted Blood Wither clashing with her. The Speed-Speed Fruit accelerated him, and lightning occasionally struck Big Mom, both weakening her Haki and slowing down this human tank.
The two exchanged blows for dozens of moves. Vic, with his numerous abilities, naturally had the upper hand. During their Conqueror's Coating exchanges, he was able to use his abilities to land a few blows on the Big Mom.
Although the Big Mom had Armament Haki protection, she still suffered some injuries. Even with the combined defense of the Iron Balloon and Armament Haki, it was impossible to block Vic's Ryuo attacks all the time.
Meanwhile, Big Mom's Prometheus and Zeus are still trapped by Vic's Artistic Conception of Ice Artistic Conception of Wind and haven't escaped yet, so they can't help Big Mom.
The Big Mom's powerful children were all tied down by Vic's companions and couldn't help her. Those who were slightly weaker didn't dare to get close, as the aftershocks of their battle could tear them apart. Therefore, the fight between the Big Mom and Vic made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She always had a feeling of being unable to use her strength. She had the ability to do so but couldn't, and was completely restrained, which was very painful!