Are You Worthy?

"Is that so...?"

Bethany sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Not knowing this information beforehand was truly frustrating; what was supposed to be a perfect infiltration had now turned into a battle against an approaching enemy.

"There's no other way but to summon it."

She muttered something to herself as she stroked the golden mark on the back of her left hand.

The next moment, the mark was activated, transforming into a stream of light that detached from the skin and outlined a pentagram magic circle on the floor in front of it.

A golden light shone brightly as the Big Stone and Lycaon answered the call.

"Hey, Bethany, I've already heard about the situation from Ain, so where are the enemies?" Lycaon was eager to get started, looking for someone to fight.

"How did this Big Stone come along too?" Bethany looked at the Big Stone.

"This is called Poneglyph. My master had it come with me to test the fusion's effects... Here's something fun to show you."

Lycaon chuckled, pressing his wolf claws against the Poneglyph.

In the next instant, he transformed into pure Devil Fruit power and merged into the boulder.

This was actually Animation entity created by its master... Bethany was surprised. Their Devil Fruits couldn't just reside in inanimate objects; they could only Animation by their master.

Then, a miraculous scene unfolded.

Originally a square Poneglyph, after being possessed by Lycaon, its nature was altered by the power of the Devil Fruit, and its shape quickly transformed from a square boulder into a werewolf.

However, unlike the usual Lycaon, the Lycaon in front of us had no hair and its skin was stone-like, just like a living werewolf statue.

"This feeling... is not bad!"

Lycaon grinned, tried to make a fist, and found his fingers clumsy as he moved them.

"What's wrong with you right now?" Bethany stared in disbelief.

"Currently in [Rock Wolf Form]."

Lycaon was quite pleased with his transformation and eagerly asked, "Bethany, where is the enemy? I'm going to end his life!"

Before Bethany could speak, Ain answered first:

"It's in the direction of the elevator, we're almost there."

Upon hearing this, Lycaon turned and sprinted towards the dark passage without saying a word. His Observation Haki had already detected a powerful aura rapidly approaching.

Shiryu of taking the spiral staircase, and with the elevator stopped on the sixth basement level, Shiliu jumped directly down the stairwell to the sixth floor.

The moment he descended to the sixth floor, heavy footsteps echoed from the end of the dark corridor.

Each step felt like a boulder crashing to the ground, making a continuous thud, thud, thud.

"With such a commotion, are all the people upstairs idiots... how come no one noticed?"

Shiryu drew his beloved sword from his waist, Armament Haki coating the blade, and in the next instant, he plunged into the darkness.

When the two were less than ten meters apart, Shiryu could barely make out that the thing in the darkness was a living werewolf statue.

What is that?

Shiryu moved, flashing close and bringing his blade down on his opponent's head.

Lycaon raised his arm, without using Haki, relying solely on his own defense to withstand the slash.

Boom!

"Hey, human, your sword looks pretty good. May I offer it to my lord?"

The blade, imbued with Armament Haki, struck the werewolf statue's arm but failed to leave a mark, instead sending sparks flying.

Shiryu of the Rain's eyes were filled with astonishment. What kind of damned defensive power was this?

"It's too early to be surprised!"

Lycaon roared and slammed his other fist into his opponent's face.

A solid punch landed on Shiryu's right cheek, without any Haki- infused binding, just pure brute force.

Even so, the punch still sent him flying.

Shiryu flying backward, crashing straight into the elevator, twisting the steel structure behind him.

He covered his right cheek, staring intently at the monster in the darkness.

"... Nice punch!"

With a cold laugh, Shiryu spat out his broken tooth and slowly stood up.

"You're worth hunting! Which of the Seven Deadly Sins are you?"

Upon hearing the address "My Lord," he immediately guessed the other person's origin.

Lycaon emerged slowly from the darkness, his steps heavy.

Only a sliver of light from above the ladder shaft illuminated half of his figure.

Chapter 118 Are You Worthy?

Lycaon's body was half in light and half in darkness. He Shiryu's questions and kept his eyes fixed on the knife in the other's hand.

Before Bethany summoned him, his master had given him instructions to seize the weapon if the opportunity arose.

It's no big deal!

"Put down the knife, and I'll at least spare your life."

Thump, thump, thump.

Lycaon took heavy steps, gradually accelerating as he rushed towards Shiryu, then clenched his fists and slammed them down on Shiliu's head.

As the Chief Warden, Shiryu a veteran of countless battles. Faced with a powerful attack, he did not choose to withstand it head-on. Instead, he leaped away, dodging the attack and simultaneously slashing downwards in mid-air.

The blade struck Lycaon's left shoulder, but only produced a few sparks.

So hard! It's clearly a slash infused with Armament Haki, yet the Haki can't penetrate it... Shiryu remained absolutely calm, secretly analyzing his opponent's abilities.

Advanced Armament Haki Internal Destruction.

By injecting Armament Haki into the enemy's interior, attacks from within can be effective in most cases, no matter how strong the external defenses are.

Unfortunately, this is currently the case in most cases.

He had already used Internal Destruction, but to no avail. His Haki couldn't even penetrate his opponent's body, as if the opponent's body structure was consistent inside and out.

"Such defensive power! Even Kaido of the Four Emperors, isn't this outrageous. However... his attack power and speed are quite ordinary, so it's not entirely hopeless."

Shiryu landed lightly, quickly creating some distance, and continued to observe his opponent's movements.

As he pondered, he pulled a cigar from the inside pocket of his coat, casually lit it, and...

"Hey, Seven Deadly Sins, you look a lot like 'Werewolf' Lycaon. What's your relationship? Twins? What's your purpose in invading the Impel Down in the dead of night? Are there members of your organization among the prisoners held here?"

"What are you babbling about? I am Lycaon!"

Lycaon swung his right hand forward in a claw-like motion.

Ice Wolf Claw!

A chilling aura accompanied the slash, but Shiryu, anticipating the attack's trajectory with his Observation Haki, merely took a half-step back and turned his body halfway around. The Ice Wolf Claws almost grazed his face.

"Your defense is indeed incredibly strong, but unfortunately, perhaps your heavy body is holding you back. Your reaction speed and attack speed are both mediocre. You could attack like that a hundred times and still miss."

Upon hearing this, Lycaon laughed, "The cigarette's out."

"Um?"

Shiryu paused for a moment before noticing that the cigar he had just lit had frozen solid.

He chuckled, then spat out his cigar. "You say you're Lycaon? Do you think I'd believe that? Your abilities and intelligence are completely different!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand and unleashed two flying slashes, one after the other, forming a cross shape.

Lycaon disdained to dodge, simply extending his right hand to meet the attack head-on.

The defensive power provided by the giant Big Stone was simply invincible; he didn't know what kind of attack could break through its outer layer of defense.

He blocked the cross-shaped slash with one hand.

However, in that instant, Shiryu used Shave to appear to Lycaon's left side, half-bent over, and slashed at his left elbow joint.

Even the strongest defense has weaknesses at the body's joints, right?

With this in mind, Shiryu his move.

Bite!

With a crisp clang, Raiu struck the joint, but was deflected by the recoil.

"Hey, you self-righteous idiot."

Lycaon sneered and suddenly kicked high into the air.

Bang!

Shiryu's jaw was struck hard, and he was kicked off the ground, losing his grip on the Raiu weapon.

Ignoring Shiryu, Lycaon swiftly grabbed the Famous Sword, Raiu.

Just then, the light from the ladder shaft suddenly dimmed, and then a purple Poison Dragon descended from above, devouring Lycaon from behind.

Boom!

The Poison Dragon collided with the Bedrock Werewolf, quickly collapsing into a viscous venom that completely enveloped Lycaon.

Then, the venom on the ground began to writhe, gradually revealing a human figure inside.

It was a man nearly five meters tall, with a pair of huge black horns on his head, bat-like demonic wings on his back, a fierce face, and exposed sharp teeth, like Satan from hell.

"Call..."

Magellan, clutching his rumbling stomach, slowly turned around, frowned at Shiryu, and said:

"What on earth is going on Shiryu?!"

Shiryu sprawled on the ground, reached into his coat pocket, pulled out another cigar, lit it silently, and then replied casually:

"That guy's defense is abnormal; you'd better not underestimate him..."

The conversation ended abruptly thereafter.

Magellan's expression changed slightly, and he abruptly turned to look behind him.

Suddenly, a stone werewolf emerged from its venom-covered state, its face beaming with excitement as it reached out to grab something.

"Hehehe... Poison is useless, idiot!"

Magellan's face was gripped tightly by the werewolf's large hand.

An indescribable shock flashed in his eyes. "Impossible, my poison actually..."

Get out of my way!

Lycaon swung Magellan around and hurled the five-meter-tall giant away. With a loud thud, Magellan crashed into the ladder shaft.

At this moment, Shiryu had already sat up and saw Magellan being thrown out like a stone, and couldn't help but laugh.

"I told you, don't underestimate this guy."

While Lycaon was fighting the two Impel Down heroes alone, Bethany's bloodletting mission was progressing steadily.

As time passed, the blood bag gradually filled with bright red liquid.

"Too small. We should have prepared larger blood bags. I didn't expect there to be so many prisoners here. A few more people and it will be full."

Bethany was carrying a full bag of blood, wondering if she should go back and get a bigger one.

At that moment, a deep voice suddenly came from the cell on the right.

"What you want is everyone's blood?"

"Hmm?" Bethany turned around in surprise, looking into the dark cell where she could vaguely see a burly man bound to the wall. "Impressive, he's managed to stay conscious even in the face of my scent."

"I'm Douglas Bullet. How about a deal, woman?"

Bullet grinned, a cruel expression on his face. "Unlock these shackles for me, and you can take as much of my blood as you like!"