Chapter 159

"You're good; I'll give you that," Anne admitted, her breathing heavy. "But you're not invincible."

"Never claimed to be," I replied, a grin spreading across my face. "But I'm having fun. Aren't you?"

With a roar, Hector charged at me again, and while his body morphed into a hybrid form, I tried to discern what kind of Zoan fruit he had consumed, but my observation haki detected a new attack. I ducked under the sand blades and delivered a powerful uppercut, sending Hector sprawling backward. Anne tried to take advantage of the opening, but I spun around and blocked her attack, our swords clashing in a shower of sparks.

Crocodile, seeing an opportunity, launched a massive wave of sand towards me. I responded with a burst of lightning, the two forces colliding in a spectacular display of power.

"You're outnumbered and outmatched," Crocodile spat, trying to regain his composure.

"Numbers mean nothing against absolute power," I retorted, my eyes gleaming with determination. "And let me show you what absolute power means."

Black lightning surged out, forcing Hector, Anne, and Crocodile to immediately create some distance. "You said I was outmatched, right? Let me show you how naive you've been all these years, Crocodile."

More black lightning crackled, and the pressure mounted on the three of them. The skies darkened as thunderclouds covered the entire sky. Despite the commotion, the Buster Call ships fired on the island unrelentingly. I wasn't bothered by Ohara anymore. Sending Aokiji to check on the evacuation ship wasn't out of compassion; it was to pit Sakazuki and Aokiji against each other. My plan was soon to come to fruition.

I unsheathed Shusui, the blade vibrating with a rhythmic hum as if eager to be unleashed. Channeling black lightning into the blade, I couldn't help but smile—Shusui handled the strain unlike Sandai Kitetsu.

"Here I come, ready or not!" I vanished and reappeared behind Anne, unleashing Shusui with a massive bolt of lightning tracing my sword. Anne immediately stopped holding back and unleashed her Devil Fruit power. A thick layer of snow formed a shield behind her, but my lightning-clad sword tore through it. The shield, however, gave her enough time to dodge.

Snow began to fall, and a snowstorm started building, forming a domain of snow. I moved like lightning, slashing at her. Blows came in rapid succession, each attack sending a jolt of pain up Anne's arms. Shusui swung, aiming for her neck, but she turned into particles of snow and dispersed just in time. She reappeared a dozen meters away, sweat forming on her forehead despite the low temperature.

"Are you guys here to daydream, or are you too afraid to face him?" Anne sneered, turning to the other two Shichibukai. She was simply trying to rile them up, knowing that alone it might be too dangerous for her to face me.

"Desert Spada!!" Crocodile roared, sending a massive sand blade towards my back. I simply clad my blade with Haki and swung at it, shattering it to dust.

Suddenly, with a roar, Hector morphed into his Zoan form. He was a towering, twenty-meter-tall abomination—a Gorgon from mythology, with serpentine hair and a monstrous visage. His scales glistened with a sickly green hue, and his eyes radiated a malevolent glow.

Hector's transformation was a sight to behold, a terrifying blend of human and mythological beast. His massive, muscular body was covered in impenetrable scales, and his hair writhed with living serpents that hissed and snapped at the air. His eyes glowed with a sinister red light, promising destruction to anyone who dared challenge him.

"You think you can handle this?" Hector's voice was a guttural growl, echoing through the battlefield. He swung his massive tail, smashing the ground and sending shockwaves in every direction.

I held my ground, my eyes locked on his. "Do you even realize how ugly you are?," I replied calmly, gripping Shusui tighter. The blade vibrated in anticipation, black lightning crackling along its edge.

Hector lunged at me, his giant fists crashing down with the force of an avalanche. I dodged, moving with lightning speed, and countered with a swift slash aimed at his midsection. My blade met his scales, creating a shower of sparks, but not before leaving a shallow scar.

"Is that all you've got?" I taunted, jumping back to avoid his sweeping tail. Anne and Crocodile took the opportunity to attack simultaneously. Anne's snowstorm intensified, her snow particles trying to freeze me in place, while Crocodile sent another wave of sand blades my way.

I spun around, my blade a blur of motion as I deflected Crocodile's attack and dissipated Anne's snow particles with bursts of lightning. The three of them were powerful, but I was faster and more agile. My Observation Haki gave me the edge, allowing me to anticipate their moves and counter them effectively.

The battle raged on, with each clash of weapons and powers creating shockwaves that echoed across the island. The ground shook, and the air was thick with the sounds of combat. Despite the overwhelming odds, I held my own, my determination unwavering.

Hector, frustrated by his inability to land a hit, roared in fury. "I'll crush you!" He brought both fists down in a devastating double strike, the ground cracking under the force.

I dodged to the side, using the opportunity to slash at his exposed side. Shusui cut through a few of the serpents on his head, making him roar in pain and anger. Anne tried to capitalize on my distraction, but I spun around, deflecting her greatsword with a swift parry.

Crocodile, seeing an opening, lunged at me, his hook aimed for my chest. I sidestepped and countered with a powerful kick, sending him flying back and crashing through the trees.

Just as Hector prepared to charge again, I swung Shusui. "Lightning Dragon!" I shouted, summoning a massive black dragon made of lightning. The dragon lunged at Hector, clamping its jaws on the Gorgon's form and sending him flying. As Hector traversed the battlefield, massive lightning bolts repeatedly struck his body, breaking off his scales. Although his armor wasn't as strong as Kaido's, it was still incredibly durable, so the lightning wasn't doing as much damage as I had intended.

Suddenly, a massive dome of snow enclosed me. Anne immediately began layering more and more snow to confine me within the dome. I couldn't help but smile in amusement.

"Busoshoku Koka!!" My entire form was imbued with pitch-black armament haki, extending to Shusui. I sheathed Shusui into its scabbard, holding it in my arm. Outside the dome, Anne relentlessly stacked layers upon layers of snow, already over two dozen layers and showing no signs of stopping. She wanted to bury her opponent under a mountain of snow.

"Ittoryu Iai: Heavens Roar!!!" I unleashed my blade, which moved with the tranquility of water, in harmony with the whole world. In the next instant, a massive pillar of black lightning tore through the ground, piercing through the snowy dome layer by layer.

Outside the dome, Anne was still stacking more layers, but then she suddenly felt everything shake. Her instincts screamed at her to move, and she immediately entered her elemental state. Beneath her, the snow dome cracked, and in the next second, a massive pillar of light emerged from it, engulfing everything within a hundred-meter radius, lighting up the entire sky. The lightning pillar seemed to ascend all the way to the heavens.

Crocodile, who had just picked himself up from the rubble, couldn't help but rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Suddenly, a deafening boom reverberated, the sound of the attack lagging behind its visual impact. Even the people of Ohara on the evacuation ships couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the massive pillar of light ascending all the way to the skies and beyond.

Anne, now in her elemental form, hovered above the ground, her face a mix of shock and fury. Her once carefully layered dome was utterly destroyed, and the display of power left her shaken.

Her entire right arm was drenched in blood, and despite turning into her elemental form and trying to dodge, she was still caught in the attack radius.

Hector charged, roaring madly, his massive form barreling towards me with a ferocity that shook the ground. I met his charge head-on, our weapons clashing with a thunderous impact. The sheer force of our collision created shockwaves that rippled across the battlefield.

I sidestepped Hector's next attack and swung Shusui, aiming for his legs. Hector jumped back, but the blade still managed to graze him, leaving a deep cut. Black lightning surged out, and Hector roared in pain, his scales cracking under the relentless assault.

Anne, seizing the moment, unleashed a barrage of snow spikes from above. I dodged and deflected the spikes with swift, precise movements, each attack barely missing its mark. Crocodile finally joined the fray again, taking advantage of the distraction, and attempted to encase me in a sandstorm, the swirling sands obscuring my vision.

I closed my eyes and relied on my observation Haki, feeling the movements of my opponents through the storm. With a swift motion, I spun Shusui, generating a vortex of black lightning that dispersed the sandstorm, sending particles scattering in all directions.

"You'll have to do better than that," I taunted, my voice cutting through the chaos.

Crocodile lunged at me, his arm clad in a sand blade aiming for my throat. I parried his attack and countered with a swift kick to his midsection, sending him sprawling back. Hector, enraged by the sight, charged again, his massive form creating tremors with each step.

I met his charge with a powerful upward slash, the black lightning-infused blade cutting through his scales. Hector howled in pain, but his momentum carried him forward, and he swung his massive tail at me. I ducked under the tail and retaliated with a series of rapid slashes, each strike finding its mark and leaving Hector reeling.

Anne, seeing her comrades faltering, intensified her assault. The snowstorm around us grew fiercer, visibility dropping to near zero. She created massive ice constructs, sending them hurtling towards me with deadly precision. I sliced through the constructs with ease, but their sheer number and speed were relentless.

Amidst the blizzard, I sensed Hector's presence closing in. He unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, each strike powerful enough to shatter boulders. I deflected and dodged, the force of his blows sending shockwaves through the air. Our clash was a dance of strength and speed, neither of us was willing to give an inch.

The skies above Ohara darkened ominously, heralding the storm of battle that was about to erupt. Black lightning crackled around me, charging the air with an oppressive energy that made even the most stalwart warriors flinch.

"Have you even considered the true power of that mythical fruit, Hector?" I taunted, my voice carrying across the desolate battlefield. "It's simply being wasted on you."

Hector, in his colossal Gorgon form, retreated just in time to avoid my blade. He was using the fruit's vitality and nearly indestructible body merely to brawl, not realizing its true potential.

"Death Gaze!" Hector roared, his eyes turning golden. Everything in his line of sight began to petrify—the snow, the sand, even my black lightning slowed as if caught in a temporal snare. My movements grew sluggish, the petrifying force sapping my speed.

A smile crept across my face. "Now, that's what I'm talking about."

Suddenly, a massive burst of Conqueror's Haki surged out from me, countering the Gorgon's petrification. The almost invisible force rammed into Hector, throwing his massive form backward. The snow and sand storms were obliterated in an instant.

I launched myself forward, intending to cut Hector down. Anne immediately intercepted, swinging her greatsword to block my path. I swung Shusui, the blade humming with power.

"Ittoryu Iai: Death's Sonata!" A thin, precise blade slash aimed for Anne's neck. She reacted swiftly.

"Iron Maiden!" Anne cried, and a massive construct made of snow erupted from the ground, its form covered in her Armament Haki. It was one of her strongest defensive moves, but against my Haki-infused lightning slash, it stood no chance. The defensive structure was severed and crumbled to snow. Anne's eyes widened, and she mustered every ounce of Armament Haki she had, swinging her greatsword downward to defend herself.

"Boom!" With a resounding explosion, Anne was sent flying through the air from the force of the blow.

"Desert La Spada!" Crocodile lunged at me from my blind spot, not realizing the extent of my Observation Haki. I sidestepped his attack effortlessly, and as he overextended, I swung Shusui, clad in Haki. Crocodile immediately entered his elemental state, crumbling into sand.

"Aaaaargh!" A blood-curdling cry rang out as a wrist dropped in front of me—I had cleanly severed Crocodile's arm at the wrist. He reappeared a hundred meters away, clutching his stump and roaring in pain. He had never imagined that anyone could touch him, let alone sever his arm.

"Gorgon's Breath!" Hector roared, opening his grotesque mouth and firing a massive beam of sizzling acid that scorched through everything, burning trees, the ground, and melting sand and snow. The acid morphed into a massive serpent and shot toward me.

"Dark Dragon's Descent!" I swung Shusui in a downward arc, and a massive black dragon manifested in the sky. With an earth-shaking roar, it descended with ferocity, aimed directly at the acid serpent. The two colossal elemental constructs clashed with ferocity, sending ripples of shockwaves that shook the entire island.

Lightning crackled, acid sizzled, and the ground beneath them formed a massive crater. Despite the potent acid, the Lightning Dragon devoured the behemoth serpent completely, evaporating it and charging forward to strike at Hector.

"Snake's Nest!" Hector roared, and thousands of thick snakes made of poison manifested, surrounding him and forming a massive cocoon. The Black Dragon rammed into the cocoon, melting through the layers. Just then, a phoenix made of snow rammed into the side of the Lightning Dragon. After a dozen seconds of stalemate, the three attacks neutralized each other.

The entire surrounding area was supercharged with static electricity. If these charges weren't dissipated soon, the entire zone would become a lightning field.

Anne supported herself with her greatsword as she climbed out of the rubble, using it as a crutch. The last attack had left a massive gash on her chest, even destroying part of her face. Her once-beautiful visage was now marred and scorched beyond recognition. Fury filled her eyes. She had been hailed as the Snow Goddess, but now all that remained of that beauty was an ugly scar. Rage consumed her, and all she wanted was to kill me and drink my blood.

******

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