New World, Levende Island.
Boom!
Rumble!
BOOOM!
Gigantic, visible shockwaves ravaged the town. The ground shattered, and debris flew everywhere. For a moment, the roar was deafening, kicking up countless plumes of dust and air currents.
Immediately afterward, an intense, biting cold erupted. The temperature plummeted sharply, and within a few breaths, the surrounding environment was enveloped in a coating of frost, as if a great winter had descended.
"Roar!"
A minotaur several meters tall swung a colossal axe, roaring furiously, the sound practically forming a sonic wave.
"Run! Devil Fruit users are fighting!"
"We'll die if we get caught up in it!"
"Stop! You wretched… Ah!"
The town's residents scattered in panic. Some cocky individuals, confident in their own strength, attempted to interfere, but they were instantly taken out by the terrifying shockwaves.
"Damn it! What rotten luck to be discovered at a time like this!" Benson's face was etched with horror. His luxurious clothes were ragged and covered in dust and grime.
Whoosh!
Rumble!
A huge black shadow flew backward at high speed, smashing through several houses in succession, creating a crater several meters in diameter on the flagstone street and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Out of the crater struggled Colby Genno, a five-meter-tall man with a powerful upper body, slender legs, dark skin, and leather armor. He spat out a mouthful of blood, picked up the huge wolf-toothed club that had fallen beside him, and urgently said to Benson, "Benson-sama! When is Mando coming back? We are no match for that monster on our own!"
"He left yesterday! How am I supposed to know when he's coming back!" Benson looked at the god-like, demonic figure in the sky, a wave of terror sweeping over his heart.
"Damn it! He's so much stronger than he was back then!"
"Hohohoho… I see! The Swap-Swap Fruit user isn't here! No wonder you haven't run yet!" A thrilled, low chuckle came from the sky, and the figure extended its hand once more.
"Then you all can just stay put! Impact Wave!!!"
Ohm!
Rumble!
The air trembled, and a colossal transparent shockwave descended from the sky, enveloping the ground. A blinding white light burst forth, instantly obliterating all the surrounding buildings. Everything the eye could see was reduced to ruins.
"Benson-sama! You go ahead! I'll hold him off!"
Bowen the Minotaur leaped up, swinging his two-meter-long metal giant axe. The sharp blade tore through the air, heading straight for the figure in the sky!
"Bowen! Don't do anything stupid!"
Benson was horrified and tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
Clang!
The sound of clashing metal was deafening.
"How can this be?!" Bowen froze in mid-air, staring blankly at the dark, metallic-lustered hand that had firmly caught the blade of his giant axe.
The figure raised his head, revealing a young, sunny face, though his expression carried a hint of savagery. The pair of golden earrings in his ears swayed slightly.
Aeridar looked at the nearly five-meter-tall minotaur before him and couldn't help but say regretfully, "Wilmin Bowen. I quite admired you back then. What a shame."
"Damn it!"
Bowen gripped his giant axe, struggling constantly in mid-air, trying to yank the axe free. But no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't overpower the man who was less than two meters tall yet could float in the sky.
"If you want it so badly, here you go!"
Aeridar grinned and let go. But before Bowen could recover, a leg, like a steel whip, violently lashed across his face.
BAM!
Caught off guard, Bowen's massive body was instantly sent flying sideways, leaving a broken trail of blood in the air.
CRASH!
The ground shook. The black shadow of Bowen slammed into the edge of the town. The terrifying force caused the ground to swell and sink, forming a crater over ten meters in diameter. The resulting air current became a massive vortex that swept the surroundings, kicking up sky-high dust that, like a chimney, shrouded an area hundreds of meters wide.
"Bowen!"
Benson and Genno's eyes were bloodshot with fury.
"Hohohoho… Don't worry. I'll send you along, too~" Aeridar curled his lip and slowly descended from the air, chuckling playfully. "Of course, if you tell me who the mastermind behind you is, I might consider sparing your lives."
"You bastard! Cold Breath!!!" Benson was almost crazed with rage. He opened his mouth and spewed a stream of white cold air. Within a single breath, the area for tens of meters in front of him was covered in a snowy layer of frost.
"Too slow."
Aeridar flashed forward, lunging with a punch toward Benson.
"Die!"
Colby Genno instantly blocked Benson. The muscles on his thick arms bulged, veins throbbing. His colossal wolf-toothed club smashed down toward Aeridar's head.
"Genno! Don't try to match his strength!" Benson was alarmed at the sight and quickly warned him.
After years of fighting him, he already knew the strength Aeridar possessed. Few in the entire world could match it.
However, the punch and the club collided in an instant.
Dong!
A muffled thud rang out from nowhere. A circle of white air erupted and spread outwards, forming a powerful, hurricane-like air current.
Under the terrifying and astonishing force, the ground instantly broke apart, with countless dense fissures rapidly spreading out from beneath their feet.
Crack!
The next moment, a hairline fracture appeared on the wolf-toothed club. A few breaths later, the fracture covered the entire club.
In the blink of an eye, the massive wolf-toothed club shattered into a pile of splinters.
"What incredible power. That actually made me feel something!" Aeridar looked at the large man in front of him with slight surprise. It was truly rare for someone to withstand a punch imbued with his Impact-Impact Fruit ability!
"My bones… they've fractured…" Genno winced, his face ashen, his entire right arm trembling incessantly.
If he had used his fist instead of the club, his arm probably would have exploded.
This time, Benson stood in front of Genno, staring at Aeridar. "How did you know we were here?" he asked in a low voice.
Benson was only here to find a new base of operations in the New World. He never expected his greatest enemy to come after him before he could even settle on a location.
"It seems you all got the news and started preparing early. It doesn't matter if I tell you. Umit the Deep-Sea Currents, Giberson the Concealer, and Lu Feld the God of Fortune, whom you contacted, are all my collaborators. If you had only contacted some small-fry, I might not have even known." Aeridar sneered with contempt. "Transporting arms, hiding personnel, and using gold and jewelry as collateral for high-interest loans, how could things like that be kept from me."
"Umit the Deep-Sea Currents, Giberson the Concealer, Lu Felud the God of Fortune… all Kings of the Underworld. You truly have a hand over everything!" Benson's face turned ugly, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock.
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