New chapter release ! We are on 160+ chapters on patreon, join us!
p@treon/hemlet.com
Join discord, we are already 100+ members!
https://discord.gg/BxkGNRz9am
---
The northern shore of Dressrosa was now an apocalyptic battlefield. The black pebbles had been pulverized, replaced by a smoking crater wher
The northern shore of Dressrosa was now an apocalyptic battlefield. The black pebbles had been pulverized, replaced by a smoking crater where molten rock oozed in patches. The sea, traumatized, retreated far offshore, exposing torn ocean floors, only to surge back in frantic waves that crashed against gutted cliffs. The sky, ripped apart by clashing Hakis, flickered between menacing ink-black and blinding lightning that streaked the scene with strobing light. At the heart of this devastation, two primal forces collided.
Kaido, in his hybrid form—a mountain of muscle clad in azure scales, with menacing horns and a powerful tail—spun around. His spiked club, the "Hassaikai," screamed through the air with a sinister howl.
Mihawk, swift as a shadow, dodged the first blow, which obliterated a nearby cliff into a cloud of dust and rock shrapnel. But Kaido was already on him, moving with insane speed for his size. The second strike, a sweeping uppercut, caught Mihawk full-on as he tried to parry with Yoru.
CRACK!
The sound was sharp, clean, horrific. Not the metallic clang of a blade deflecting a club, but the snap of bones giving way under unthinkable force. Yoru's guard absorbed the main impact, but Kaido's raw power surged through.
Mihawk was hurled back like a ragdoll, soaring a hundred meters before crashing into the remains of a stone wall, shattering the masonry. A searing pain radiated from his ribcage—one or more ribs broken, no doubt. The coppery taste of blood filled his throat.
"WORORORORO!" Kaido roared, advancing with a heavy step that shook the ground. "You've got some grit, Hawk! But how many hits can you take?"
Mihawk pulled himself from the rubble, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his lips.
He sensed Dressrosa behind him, the lives clinging to it.
His Conqueror's Haki, like an invisible but tangible dome, stretched over the island, absorbing most of the unleashed violence. Yet, fragments of the titanic clash leaked through. In Dressrosa's streets, distant windows shattered as if struck by a silent quake. Cracks spiderwebbed across newly rebuilt buildings. Huddled citizens felt each blow resonate in their bones, an oppressive pressure stealing their breath with every exchange.
Kaido charged again, a bolt of lightning fueled by bestial rage.
Mihawk didn't try to block this time.
He slid aside with lethal grace just as the club slammed down, carving a new crater where he'd stood a split-second before. In the motion, Yoru became an extension of his arm, a black streak slicing the air. Mihawk didn't cut flesh—he cut the space before him.
"Shinku: Tōzoku (Void: The Celestial Thief)."
A high-pitched whistle, like the universe itself tearing. A perfect black arc, sharp as a razor, materialized between Mihawk and Kaido. It met no resistance. The strike sliced through the Emperor's right shoulder as if his scales and reinforced defensive Haki didn't exist.
A deep black gash appeared, spurting dark purple blood. Kaido growled, more in surprise than pain, but his right arm trembled slightly. Blood streamed down his scales, a grim contrast to his azure skin.
"Nice hit!" Kaido conceded, a ferocious grin baring his fangs. He ignored the wound, his mass of muscle and scales already working to close it. "But it's not enough!"
He opened his demonic maw. The air vibrated, sucked toward a blinding point of light growing in his throat. Mihawk felt the heat rise, even from a distance.
A fully charged Boro Breath.
The swordsman didn't move. His Conqueror's Haki thickened, forming a tangible barrier, a wall of pure will against physical destruction.
The beam of devastation erupted, a torrent of raw energy that could vaporize a mountain. It slammed into Mihawk's invisible shield.
The collision was cataclysmic. White light and black energy collided in a muffled explosion that devoured the surrounding air. The ground beneath Mihawk liquefied, forming a pool of molten lava. The pressure was so intense that cracks spidered through his Haki dome, flinging shards of raw energy like rogue lightning that struck Dressrosa in the distance.
A dock district vanished in a white flash, an entire hill collapsed in a dust cloud. Muffled screams from residents reached the shore, drowned by the blast.
Mihawk held firm. His arms trembled slightly, his feet sinking into the searing earth. But he held.
The beam finally faded, leaving a trail of smoke and the acrid smell of burnt ozone.
Kaido seized the moment, leaping through the smoke with monstrous agility, club raised for a devastating hammer strike. Mihawk, still recovering from his dissipated shield, raised Yoru hastily.
BOOM!
The impact was colossal. The earth quaked for miles. Mihawk was driven knee-deep into the molten ground. The vibration surged through his body, a bolt of agony shooting through his left arm. Another bone gave way, likely the radius. He gritted his teeth, channeling the shockwave into the ground, which erupted around him in sprays of lava.
With a fluid circular motion, he used the parry's momentum to swing Yoru in a blazing horizontal strike.
"Kokū no Ōgi: Jigoku no Mon (Secret of the Void: The Gate of Hell)."
Not a slash, but a portal. A perfect black rectangle materialized before Kaido, opening onto an absolute void that seemed to swallow light.
The Emperor, caught off-guard by the attack's nature, tried to retreat, but the rectangle's lower edge sliced like a cosmic guillotine. It carved through his abdomen, leaving a deep, clean gash, like a door cracked open to his innards.
Kaido roared, real pain this time, and staggered back several heavy steps, one hand pressed to the grievous wound gushing blood. His yellow eyes blazed with furious rage and savage thrill.
A bestial bellow tore through the air. Kaido, purple blood streaming down his azure torso but eyes bloodshot with fury, spun around. His tail, a hammer of flesh and scales, whipped through the space with a sinister hiss. Mihawk sensed the air shift too late.
CRACK! The sudden impact drew a guttural rasp from him, a spray of crimson bursting from his mouth as two more ribs snapped under the titanic force.
Without pausing, Kaido charged, madness glinting in his eyes. His club descended like a comet. Mihawk, face twisted in searing pain, crossed Yoru in a black flash. The clash shook the earth. But before their weapons parted, Kaido's draconic maw gaped wide, an inferno blazing from his throat. The explosive Boro Breath lit the battlefield in blinding light. Mihawk twisted his torso, Yoru deflecting part of the hellish blast.
Too little.
A scorching burst grazed his left temple. A sharp crackle, the bitter stench of burnt flesh, and a black, smoking scar seared into his pale skin.
Kaido pressed on, relentless. A monstrous punch, like a siege ram, slammed into Mihawk's right shoulder. A dull thud, followed by a bone-shattering crunch. The Swordmaster's right arm went limp, numb and useless, Yoru wavering dangerously in his left hand.
But as Kaido raised his club for another crushing blow, Mihawk surged forward, Yoru tracing a perfect, silent black arc.
"Shinku: Hoshi no Kizu (Void: The Star's Scar)."
The blade sliced through Kaido's massive thigh as if flesh and bone were mere mist. A whistle of air through a tunnel, then a sudden gush of purple blood—the black blade emerged without resistance, leaving a clean, gaping hole in the dragon's muscle.
Kaido howled, stumbling under the strange wound. Mihawk gave no quarter. His foot struck the ground, and he vanished, reappearing instantly above Kaido, Yoru aimed downward. With a fluid motion, space itself seemed to tear. Black rectangles—portals to nothingness—sprang up around Kaido's back.
"Kokū no Ōgi: Ten no Hashi (Secret of the Void: The Bridge of Heaven)."
They snapped shut as fast as they appeared, with the sharp, final sound of cosmic shears slicing reality.
SCHLIK-SCHLIK-SCHLIK!
Deep, butcher-like gashes bloomed in a star pattern across Kaido's back. Torrents of purple blood sprayed, drenching his azure scales in a macabre design. The giant staggered under the cumulative shock, his movements losing a fraction of their bestial fluidity, each step now leaving a crimson pool behind.
Kaido looked like a colossus hacked apart, his azure body smeared with his own purple blood.
They finally broke apart after an exchange that lasted minutes but felt eternal. They stood a hundred meters apart in a lunar landscape of smoking craters, molten lava, and shattered rock. The sea wailed its anguish around them. The air crackled with the residual energy of their Hakis.
Mihawk was hunched, one hand braced on his knee, the other gripping Yoru, planted in the ground for support. His breathing was ragged, labored.
Blood dripped from his lips, nose, and wounds on his chest and face. His tattered cape hung pitifully. He raised his head with effort. Another gush of blood spilled from his mouth, splattering the blackened ground.
Kaido stood upright, club resting on his shoulder. Deep, bleeding wounds marred his body. His breathing was heavy but steady. A strange glint passed through his yellow eyes—not anger, not excitement, but a deep, almost sorrowful disappointment.
"Tch…" He spat a thick glob of purple blood. His heavy, disenchanted gaze settled on the faltering Mihawk. "That's it, Hawk?" His voice was low, hoarse, stripped of its usual laugh. "All this noise… all this arrogance… just to end up doubled over, coughing up your lungs after a few rounds?" He shook his head slowly, his neck scales rasping. "I expected… more. So much more. What a letdown."
Mihawk, slumped and bloodied, didn't respond at once. Then, slowly, a smile spread across his bloodstained lips.
"A letdown…?" he murmured, his voice a hoarse rasp laced with irony.
He straightened. "You're impatient, Kaido." He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his gloved hand. "A true duel between us…" His golden eyes lifted, meeting the Emperor's yellow gaze with renewed intensity. "…would take days. Days upon days. Days where Dressrosa would be nothing but a memory, crushed beneath our feet. Days where the Marines would come to pick off the survivors."
He paused, his smile widening slightly, revealing blood-tinged teeth. "I don't have that luxury. Nor the desire for total destruction."
He raised Yoru, studying it briefly as if seeing the blade anew. Then, with unnerving calm amid the chaos, he drove it deep into the ground to his left, up to the hilt.
"You want to see my true measure, Kaido?" Mihawk asked, his voice suddenly firmer, radiating an authority that made the air hum. "You want to know why I claim the title of Pirate King?"
His eyes closed for a fraction of a second. When they reopened, they glowed with an unearthly golden sheen, like molten metal. A different aura began to emanate from him. It was no longer just the cold edge of the greatest swordsman or the crushing weight of a King. It was something deeper.
"Then let's see…" Mihawk said, his piercing gaze locking onto Kaido with devouring intensity. "It's time to get more serious."
Kaido, despite his wounds and initial disappointment, sensed the shift. A fierce, almost feral spark ignited in his yellow eyes. He tightened his grip on the Hassaikai, his scales bristling under the new pressure. A rumble of anticipation rose from his throat.
"Worororo… Finally!" he roared, a predatory grin returning to his lips. "Show me what you've really got, Mihawk! Show me what makes you think you can claim the crown!"