A dragon's tail extended from behind, her limbs beginning to take on draconic form. White fur emerged across her face, and scales and bone spurs formed at her joints. The form of Okuchi no Makami continued to evolve alongside Yamato's growing power.
It was becoming more and more attuned to her new Tao Dragon body. Compared to the wolf, Okuchi no Makami now embodied a greater proportion of dragon.
In her Human-Beast form, Yamato's body swelled slightly, and the shoes beneath her feet were declared beyond salvation. Her sharp claws had already shredded through them.
This was one of the drawbacks of a Zoan-type ability. Unless it was one that barely altered one's physique, highly elastic clothing was a necessity for any Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.
That was how the textile industry of Beasts Fruits developed: garments made from special threads, as elastic as bodysuits, capable of stretching with the wearer's body during transformation. Page One's pants were made from the same material.
However, clothes made of this material lacked any shaping function, which was why he always wore a regular jacket, and why he had the habit of removing it before transforming.
Shoes, however, didn't share that luxury; the claws extending from the feet could easily tear through existing materials.
A chill spread from Yamato's claws across the arena floor. Before the eyes of everyone present, a layer of frost quickly formed, and within moments, even the air temperature began to drop. Snowflakes started to drift down from the sky.
"Snow…snow is falling?! What a terrifying power! To think that she could make it snow in Dressrosa at this time of year!"
Although barely one in ten of the audience remained conscious, Gatz still continued his commentary. As long as there was even one viewer, he would not stop his commentary.
Even if everyone on-site were to faint, there were still those watching through the broadcast; people who, for various reasons, couldn't come to the arena. Now, that had become a stroke of luck.
Feeling the snowflakes settle on his shoulder, Gatz was struck by a sense of unreality. Dressrosa might have a winter season, but it was still a tropical island.
Even if there is winter, they would be unusually brief. If not for the extreme climate of the New World, heavy snowfall scenes like this would never appear in this country.
And it wasn't even winter now. Snowfall in Dressrosa was like a fairy tale, yet the cold biting into Gatz's hand told him this was real.
Just a brief Zoan-type transformation had altered the weather itself. This power was even more terrifying than the Haki intimidation from before.
What's more, the sun still shone brightly overhead. The clouds had long since been pushed aside when Redfield and Yamato's Conqueror's Haki clashed, leaving the sky clear and vividly blue.
The snow wasn't falling from the clouds at all. It was condensing out of thin air.
That was proof that Kyurem's power was becoming ever more complete. As the "strongest dragon," Kyurem possessed a fearsome side. Weather itself was but a toy in the hands of many Pokémon, especially for Kyurem, which is Tao Dragon's body.
Even on a sunny day, the moisture in the air could turn into ice crystals under the extreme cold and slowly drift downward.
"The rest is up to you guys. If you can't handle it, don't forget to call me for help."
"Don't worry, go do your thing. We'll get that fruit back for you. But next time… please try to keep that aura under control!"
As Ulti spoke, her axe blades were already in her hand. The transformations of Redfield and Yamato seemed only the beginning. One after another, the Zoan-type Devil Fruit users in the arena began to transform.
At this point, seven Mythical Zoans had already appeared in the arena. To be more precise, eight, though one among them had yet to awaken.
Yamato had already engaged the strongest opponent, Redfield. Yet among those remaining were still plenty of troublesome people, and the Beasts Pirates had no intention of losing in the finals.
"Rebecca, don't even think about fighting them. Of everyone here, the most you could do is trade a few blows with that red-nosed guy. Everyone else is way out of your league, especially that Shiryu. Stay far away from him."
After giving a couple of instructions, a red afterimage burst forth from behind Redfield as he left the place.
He had taken a slight interest in Rebecca, but that was all. A few words of advice were already more attention than he usually gave. On this battlefield, he had his own matters to attend to.
Now, like many others, his goal was also to become the Pirate King. To reach that position, battle was inevitable.
Redfield wanted to see for himself what the world had become after his decades of disappearance.
As Redfield entered his transformation state, a red blood mist spread around him, faintly shrouding him and blocking the sunlight above.
As a Devil Fruit user, Redfield naturally wouldn't burn to ashes at the touch of sunlight like the vampires of legend, but it still affected him somewhat. At the very least, the sunlight was far from comfortable.
Redfield tightened his grip on the umbrella in his hand. Reinforced by Haki, the umbrella had turned completely black. As he waved the handle, both the blood-red mist and his Haki gathered around its tip.
"Come on, little girl, this is a greeting from an old geezer!"
"Then I won't hold back either, Thunder Bagua!"
The umbrella and kanabo clashed in midair, and black and red lightning spread out from the point of impact. The collision of their sky-splitting Haki had merely been a greeting; now came the true declaration of battle.
"Hey, old man, that's one hell of a greeting. Starting off right away with Conqueror's Haki infusion?"
"You're no slouch yourself, little girl. When I was your age, I didn't have half your skill. The youngsters now are really something else."
In response to Redfield's remark, which could be seen as either modest or flattering, Yamato did not take them to heart. There was no animosity between her and Redfield; their fight was merely a spar between strong warriors.
At this moment, Yamato could even understand Kaido a little. Fighting someone like this was indeed far more interesting than bullying the weak.
Suddenly, Yamato shook her head. She had unknowingly been influenced by Kaido, which was undoubtedly a huge taboo for her. After forgetting that twisted line of thought, Yamato's arm continued to exert force, and judging solely by strength, Yamato had the upper hand.
For Yamato and Redfield, this arena was a stage for their duel, but for everyone else, it was far from a friendly place.
The collision of Conqueror's Haki Infusion lacked the shockwaves of their earlier Conqueror's Haki clash, yet the aftermath of their fight still affected the arena below. Anyone who ventured near the epicenter of their fight would be crushed by a pressure so intense it would be enough to make it difficult to breathe.
Worse still, even the normally fearless fighting fish now felt terror in the face of this horrifying aura.
Self-preservation is the instinct of all living things. Swarms of fighting fish dared attack warships before, but that was because they saw the ships as prey. Now, however, the several Conqueror's Haki conveyed a genuine sense of death.
Approaching recklessly could mean death. The primal instincts within their genes warned them that staying away from their usual "dining table" was the only way to survive.
Even the fighting fish that carried the Quake-Quake Fruit was no exception. They now only dared to watch from a distance, inadvertently making things significantly harder for the other contestants. If they couldn't obtain the Quake-Quake Fruit, their final goal would be impossible to achieve.
"Honestly, Yamato always makes things complicated… Pay-tan, it's up to you. Reel that fish in."
"Uh, Sister, this is…"
The dignity of a fisherman made it hard for Page One to refuse the command, yet in truth, he had no idea how to comply.
Hooking a specific target was far easier said than done.
"In any case, Pay-tan, just focus on catching that fighting fish. Don't worry about anything else, we'll handle the enemies for you."
This time, Ulti wasn't being stubborn or unreasonable. Instead, she had come up with a relatively sound plan.
Instinct drove the fighting fish away from the arena, yet their nature kept them from diving beneath the surface. Instead, they occasionally surfaced to watch what was happening above.
Among the four remaining people, Page One was the only one capable of true flight. His hovering ability was the strongest, making him the most suitable for this mission.
"I understand. I'll leave this place to you guys, then."
Without another word, Page One bent his legs slightly and launched himself upward, soaring straight toward the fighting fish. But halfway there, Marco, his body wreathed in cyan flames, swooped in to intercept him.
"Hey, hey, why don't you let us have that fruit? That's the last thing Pops' left behind."
"Page One and Marco are both heading for the devil fruit! The Beasts Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates seem to have made the same decision: to send in their contestants with flying ability to seize the Quake-Quake Fruit first. Both sides have realized this is the most direct path to victory.
But the contestants without the ability to fly aren't sitting idly by either!"
Before Marco and Page One could even start their race, another voice cut through the air.
"Birdlime Mochi!"
Katakuri's arms stretched out like whips, and with the powerful foresight granted by Observation Haki, he seized Marco and Page One by their ankles. Now that Yamato had already begun fighting, the other members of the Beasts Pirates had no way left to avoid his Observation Haki.
Against someone who could foresee the future, neither Page One nor Marco could fully evade his attack.
"I've already seen it, you two won't succeed! Get back here!"
Katakuri tensed his arms, attempting to drag them both down, but it wasn't that simple. Marco's strength was comparable to his, and the two quickly locked into a power struggle.
Although Page One was yanked off balance, he quickly stabilized himself midair and immediately tried to cut through Katakuri's extended mochi. However, reinforced by Haki, the ordinary mochi displayed unimaginable hardness and resilience.
"Let go of me!"
Raging flames gathered in Page One's mouth, then erupted in a massive flaming cross toward Katakuri on the arena below. Marco wasn't standing idle either.
In his judgment, Page One was no match for him; as long as he broke free from Katakuri's interference, he could swiftly obtain the Quake-Quake Fruit, and for that reason, he even formed a brief alliance with Page One.
Marco spun once in midair and kicked toward Katakuri from afar.
"Phoenix Brand!"
The bird-claw-shaped mark exploded midair, releasing a shockwave aimed directly at Katakuri. Aside from Page One and Marco's counterattack, the people on the shore were also far from idle.
"Stay out of this, Fire Fist!"
Flames burst out from Ace's body, gathering into a massive fiery fist that hurtled straight toward Katakuri.
As some intervened, others moved to protect. Facing Ace's Fire Fist, Oven's body temperature rapidly rose, and he then blocked Ace's Fire Fist with his bare body.
Yet Oven was far from the only one in the arena. As he blocked Ace's attack, the others, too, began to move.
TN: Hey guys, I've picked up a new One Piece novel. You can search it: One Piece: The Undying King.
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