Chapter 48: Into The Blood Mist
Initially, Sengoku was at a loss, baffled by Doflamingo's actions. What sort of madness was Doflamingo unleashing in Cervantes? But before he could fully grasp the situation, over half of Cervantes' townspeople had already fallen victim to Doflamingo's massacre!
The blood torrent had transformed into an uncontrollable, raging flood.
"What have you done!?" Sengoku roared, his voice booming towards Doflamingo who hovered in the sky.
"Why are you so enraged, Admiral Sengoku? For you Marines, there isn't a single innocent person on Cervantes Island... Don't forget, this place is the embodiment of evil in North Blue!" Doflamingo responded, standing in the sky, his tone indifferent as he looked down at Sengoku.
Sengoku paused for a moment, processing Doflamingo's words. Could it be that there was some truth in what he said? Certainly, there really weren't any good people on Cervantes Island. If every resident were subjected to the law, it's likely that nine out of ten would face the death penalty, and the tenth would directly be killed.
Yet, despite this realization, seeing Doflamingo's ruthless annihilation of most of the town still stirred intense anger within Sengoku. Doflamingo's blatant disregard for human life, his viciousness, and brutality – it was all too much.
Today he dares to massacre a city, what more heinous deeds could he commit tomorrow?
In that moment, Sengoku's eyes were opened to the depth of evil and darkness within Doflamingo – a darkness so dense it could not be resolved.
Noticing the wavering expression on Admiral Sengoku's face, Doflamingo's lips twisted into a smirk, laced with malevolence and tyranny. "When I use my abilities sparingly, you accuse me of arrogance. And now that I've unleashed my full power, you're infuriated. You Marines really are a troublesome bunch..."
"Doflamingo, you..." Sengoku started, but his words were cut short.
Doflamingo wasn't interested in a dialogue.
As Sengoku spoke, Doflamingo raised his hand, and the blood torrent that had been spreading chaos through the town soared upwards, forming a towering pillar.
As the massive column of blood reached its peak, Doflamingo clenched his hand and bellowed, "Into the Blood Mist!"
The towering blood column, as if crushed by an unseen colossal hand, collapsed in the air. In a split second, it transformed into a dense, expansive blood mist that rapidly enveloped everything.
First, the sky above the town, and then, the entire island.
In just a few moments, all of Cervantes was cloaked in this ominous, merciless blood mist, obscuring all visibility.
Within this blood mist, Sengoku assessed the thick, blood-red fog surrounding him, making rapid judgments.
First, his line of sight was significantly obstructed, and secondly, his Observation Haki was also affected.
It wasn't that Observation Haki was being suppressed; rather, the blood mist was so 'noisy' that it was like every drop of blood had its own 'voice.'
This condition didn't suppress Observation Haki but increased the difficulty of using it to analyze the situation.
Normally, it would require processing a single piece of information, but now, it necessitated processing hundreds, even thousands!
This hindrance applied to both Sengoku and Doflamingo.
However, Doflamingo had an edge over Sengoku in this environment – this was his territory. Even without relying on Observation Haki, Doflamingo could 'see' everything in the blood mist simply by sensing its movements.
The shift from utter stillness to dynamic activity happened in an instant.
Sensing a presence, Sengoku launched a punch into the blood mist. True to his intuition, Doflamingo's figure emerged at that spot the next moment. Both of Doflamingo's arms erupted with Armament Haki, colliding with Sengoku's fist.
But in terms of Haki strength, Doflamingo was outmatched by Sengoku. Almost immediately, the Haki on Doflamingo's arms was shattered, and then Sengoku's fist, overpowering Doflamingo's defenses, struck his chest.
Reeling back dozens of steps, Doflamingo appeared weakened.
However, Sengoku, despite gaining the upper hand with that strike, wore an expression of dissatisfaction. He noticed that the moment Doflamingo was injured, the dense blood mist rushed into Doflamingo's wound as if it had its own consciousness, healing him instantly.
This blood mist... it seemed to be the very source of Doflamingo's life, perpetually sustaining his combat capabilities.
To put it bluntly, Sengoku was feeling a toothache from grinding his teeth at the moment.
From what he had observed of Doflamingo's abilities, it wasn't clear whether Doflamingo had not fully utilized them or they were still underdeveloped. In any case, the offensive capabilities seemed lacking. The blood-sucking ability had indeed drained a significant amount of blood from his body, but other than that, Doflamingo's attacks had not inflicted any real damage on Sengoku.
Indeed, so far, the development of Doflamingo's fruit abilities in terms of offense seemed quite limited.
The focus seemed to be on 'immortality.'
And at this juncture, Sengoku also realized the extent of the challenge Doflamingo posed. Although Doflamingo's offensive might not have fully surfaced, the difficulty of the battle was becoming increasingly apparent.
This guy seemed immune to death!
Just as Sengoku was contemplating his strategy, the blood mist around him began to stir.
"Blood Prison!" came Doflamingo's voice from within the dense mist.
Suddenly, copious amounts of blood mist converged around Sengoku. As the mist grew thicker than ever, it merged to form a liquid prison of blood!
In an instant, Sengoku found himself enveloped in a sea of blood, seemingly intended to imprison and drown him.
Sengoku, now drenched in blood, his eyes blazing with intensity, radiated a brilliant golden light the next moment. Transforming into a golden Buddha, he roared, shattering the blood prison that sought to bind him.
From a distance, on a Marine warship, the lookouts could just make out a faint golden glow erupting and flickering within the blood-misted Cervantes.
Every time Sengoku's abilities cleared some of the blood mist, in various nooks and crannies of Cervantes, the remaining mist would engulf the surviving individuals, replenishing its blood supply.
Doflamingo continued his relentless assault on Sengoku from various angles.
Sengoku, presumably enraged by now, met each of Doflamingo's attacks with a ferocious counterattack, inflicting severe injuries.
But in a mere fraction of a second, Doflamingo would draw enough vitality from the blood mist to recover from his injuries.
Again and again, until the last drop of blood in Cervantes was spilled, Doflamingo would not fall.
As the battle wore on, Doflamingo's attacks grew increasingly fierce, matched only by the ferocity of Sengoku, the Marine Admiral. Two top-tier Mythical Zoan users engaged in a relentless clash amidst the blood fog.
At first glance, they appeared to be evenly matched. However, upon closer inspection, it was evident that Sengoku held an overwhelming advantage in terms of offense.
But no matter how aggressively he fought, Doflamingo withstood every blow.
To the outside world, Sengoku, the Admiral, seemed to have lost his composure, relentlessly attacking Doflamingo despite his almost 'immortal' characteristics.
But in reality, Sengoku, the Resourceful General, had thoroughly analyzed Doflamingo's situation from every angle.
For the twenty-eighth time, Sengoku made a mental note. Throughout the fight, Doflamingo consistently dodged attacks aimed at his heart. In hundreds of exchanges, he had used evasive maneuvers to avoid 28 strikes targeting his heart area.
What did this mean!?
It suggested that Doflamingo's heart was the key to his seemingly immortal body!
Sengoku used his advanced Observation Haki to glimpse into the future.
A spark of realization flickered in Sengoku's eyes, as if he had seen a brief vision.
In the next moment, he aggressively grabbed Doflamingo's arm, his body surging with the mighty force of Conqueror's Haki – the ultimate embodiment of justice and power.
Although Doflamingo also possessed Conqueror's Haki, at that critical juncture, his mind seemed to falter, his movements growing sluggish.
And then, as Doflamingo recovered from the overwhelming influence of Sengoku's Haki, he saw Sengoku's fist transform into a claw, striking swiftly towards his heart.
With an expert move... Sengoku went straight for his heart!
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