At the cliff's edge, two figures intertwined like lightning.
Ritter didn't rely on scrolls to overwhelm Kaido this time, nor did he hide in the dense mist. This was a true physical confrontation.
Black Tide Greatsword clashed against Kaido's spiked club, sparks flying. The sheer power of their martial combat shook the entire Onigashima.
"Wahaha! Now this is more like it!" Kaido shouted, sidestepping a sweeping strike. He drew his spiked club from his waist. "Let's see how tough your bones really are! You look down on me, don't you? You bastard!"
Ritter leaned back to dodge a rising uppercut, snapping his left leg forward like a whip. "Too slow."
Bang!
The dull clash of Haki-coated limbs against dragon scales echoed across the battlefield. Using the momentum, Kaido spun and swung his spiked club in a wide arc, accompanied by a roaring whistle aimed straight at Ritter's temple.
Ritter didn't retreat. Instead, he advanced, parrying the attack with his sword hilt while his right knee slammed into Kaido's abdomen.
"Cough!" Kaido grunted, but a fierce grin spread across his face. His left hand grabbed Ritter's collar, executing an over-the-shoulder throw that slammed him into the ground.
Dust erupted, but Ritter propped himself up with one hand, locking his legs around Kaido's neck.
Their offense and defense shifted with blinding speed. In pure physical skill, they were evenly matched. Ritter's technique gave him a slight edge, but Kaido's sheer strength kept him competitive, making the fight impossible to call.
They tumbled through rock walls. Kaido's tail slammed the ground, forcing a brief pause, then he flung Ritter into the air.
"Dragon Fall Slash!" Kaido roared, leaping, and brought his spiked club down with tremendous force.
Ritter twisted midair, holding Black Tide horizontally. Clang! The deafening metallic impact sent him crashing toward the ground, but at the last second, he retracted the sword, rolled sideways, and drove Kaido's spiked club deep into the rock.
"Weak point." Ritter's elbow struck Kaido's neck with brutal force.
Without even turning, Kaido's tail lashed like a steel whip. Ritter ducked low, letting the blade graze the tail, sparks flying. Both leapt back and charged again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kaido's arms blocked while his right knee drove forward; Ritter met it with his own knee. Sparks from their clashing shins made Yamato gasp from afar.
"Dad, go!" Yamato pumped her tiny fists, eyes glued to the battlefield. "Hit him in the jaw!"
Kaido feigned a punch, sweeping his tail instead. Ritter, anticipating it, backflipped to dodge. Landing, his sword tip touched the ground, launching him forward like a released arrow.
Hiss! The blade grazed Kaido's chest, leaving a white mark across his dragon scales.
"You skip meals?" Kaido snarled, drawing his sword, his right fist aiming for Ritter's throat.
"Prosperity!"
After another flurry of punches, both slid back over ten meters. Naturally, the sword returned to Ritter's hand.
And so the sun set, rose again, set again, and rose again…
Six and a half days passed.
Kaido's breathing began to falter slightly. Ritter's forehead glistened with sweat, his clothes dirtied, but their eyes burned with the same ferocity.
"This is amazing!" Kaido laughed, tearing off his tattered shirt. "Keep going!"
Ritter twirled his sword. "As you wish."
Rumble!
Kaido's massive cobalt dragon body spiraled into the sky. He opened his blood-red maw, a dazzling white light gathering at his throat.
"End it, Ritter!" Kaido's roar shook the entire New Onigashima. "Hot Breath!"
Ritter: You used your Devil Fruit first; don't accuse me of bullying a junior.
The dragon fire of apocalyptic scale surged, turning the battlefield into a blazing inferno. Rocks vaporized from the heat, the ground melted into searing lava.
Yamato stood at a distance, small hands clutching her clothes.
"Dad… so cool," she whispered, watching the flames, realizing her father's unparalleled strength but feeling a sudden emptiness.
"Dad…" she murmured. "So hot…"
She recalled the lazy man who had casually handed her roasted meat. Ritter had cared for many children his affinity with them was innate. Could she deny the natural warmth he exuded?
Moreover, Ritter wasn't purely a villain in Yamato's mind; he held importance in her perception.
Kaido, naturally, could not shake Ritter's dominance. Losing to a novice would have seemed shameful.
(Kaido: Ritter, Sea Emperor, rules the oceans. Pirates shudder at his name. I fought him day and night, and in the end, lost by a single move, though Ritter himself was severely wounded.)
Yamato: Wow!
Kaido: Ritter, my lifelong rival, next time I will not let you escape.
Yamato: Wow!
"Dad, why aren't you being gentler with him?"
(Kaido looked at the X-shaped mark before him, then at Ritter: I'm fighting him and still have to hold back?)
Then
"Ah… what a pain…"
A lazy voice cut through the flames, clearly audible to everyone.
Yamato's pupils shrank. At the heart of the burning inferno, a slender figure stretched calmly, blood mist swirling around him. Flames could no longer approach.
"I say…" Ritter yawned, "can you two stop synchronizing your expressions?"
The blood mist around his sword surged violently.
"Mist God Style: Kai Ten."
A calm voice pierced the inferno.
In an instant, a scarlet sword light cleaved through the flames! The Mist Blade remained unyielding, tearing the stormy sky into clear sunlight. Fire receded like a tide, creating a vacuum pathway before Ritter.
Ritter walked through the flames, Black Tide resting on his shoulder. Blood mist still clung to the blade, shimmering eerily in the sunset. The hem of his coat flapped in the heat, yet remained unscorched.
"Is that all?" Ritter tilted his head. "Kaido, you don't seem to be making much progress."
Kaido's whiskers twitched violently. "You…"
No one had forgotten how Ritter became the Sea Emperor after all this time without taking aggressive action.
"Mist God Form: Nine-Dragon Coffin."
Ritter muttered casually, and nine ferocious blood dragons erupted from the mist behind him, lifelike, whiskers thrashing, scales and claws spinning.
They spiraled above the burning battlefield, using Kaido's dragon fire as their stage, weaving and twisting through the flames.
Yamato's eyes widened, mouth agape, as she watched the blood dragons move through the fire, the mist enveloping the battlefield.
At this moment, Ritter advanced safely through fire and mist a true emperor who could make the oceans tremble.
The Mist Lord had officially landed on Onigashima.
"So… beautiful…" the little girl instinctively stepped forward.
Kaido's dragon eyes narrowed sharply. He watched his own dragon breath devoured by these blood dragons those damn mist creatures feeding on his flames!
"You bastard!" Seeing his son's admiring gaze, Kaido could not tolerate it.