Hunter and prey, the reversal of roles

Garp knew very well what Kaido meant when he said "time is limited." Kaido viewed their fight as a game, intending to leave before reinforcements from Marine Headquarters could arrive.

But Garp had no intention of letting that happen. Kaido's actions seemed a bit crazy, making him unpredictable. As Kaido said, time was limited, and they wouldn't be able to determine a winner in such a short time.

However, Garp wasn't about to let Kaido leave. There is no way such a terrifying battle would go unnoticed by the HQ. Once reinforcements from HQ arrived, they could quickly take down Kaido. For now, Garp just needed to stop Kaido from leaving, and when the time came, they would have enough power to capture him.

Regardless of the World Government's policy, Garp had made up his mind: he would send Kaido to Impel Down.

"If you think you can stop me, go ahead and try!"

As Kaido watched the incoming shockwave punch, Kaido readied his club to fight back. On the muddy ground, the two monsters clashed back and forth, locked in a frenzied battle.

Within the base, the Marine soldiers prayed for Garp's victory. Facing the two locked in chaotic combat, their guns and cannons were completely meaningless. The only thing they could do was offer mental support.

...

Meanwhile, high above in the sky, the battle with Hydrachton raged on. Lightning and rainstorm had no effect on it, but for Momonga and Bogard, it was a serious hindrance, making it even harder for them to contain Hydrachton.

"How on earth are we supposed to deal with this thing…?"

Momonga wiped the rain off his face. Every living thing can be killed, and this strange dragon should be no exception, yet no matter what they did, they couldn't kill it.

They had inflicted damage to both its heart and head, but the result was always the same: Hydrachton would recover in no time. Its eight heads still loomed large, while both Momonga and Bogard were now covered in many injuries.

"It has to have limits, but we can't seem to find them…"

In Bogard's understanding: no living creature could regenerate endlessly. Even Logia Users would eventually run out of stamina while releasing elemental attacks, and once exhausted, they could no longer use their ability as freely.

Hydrachton's regeneration energy couldn't come from nowhere; there had to be a limit to it.

Bogard wasn't wrong. If they could exhaust Hydrachton's stamina, it would lose the ability to resist. Even with multiple lives, it could be killed with repeated attacks.

However, draining its stamina seemed even harder than killing it eight times over.

"It rarely uses the heads in the middle to fight. Those, along with the largest one in the center, might be its weak spot."

They had only cut off two of Hydrachton's heads at the beginning, but those were the side heads, which Hydrachton primarily used in combat. The central and rear three heads rarely engaged in direct combat.

"I'll attract its attention, and you try. If we keep this up, our stamina will run out first. We can't keep waiting around; who knows what other troublesome abilities this thing might have."

The thunderstorm didn't worry them; it wasn't something particularly difficult to deal with. The Marines' Science Unit could easily handle such situations. What truly worried them was the presence of more unknown powers.

Momonga and Bogard quickly came to an agreement. Momonga focused on drawing Hydrachton's attention, while Bogard looked for a new opportunity.

As they schemed, Hydrachton was also plotting. These two were a nuisance, and it couldn't finish them off quickly. If it went lower, it would be attacked, and while staying at a higher, safer altitude was possible, the damage it could cause from there was limited.

Being slashed by those little humans hurt, and Hydrachton had no desire to keep getting hit. As it pondered, a new idea seemed to form in its mind.

Momonga and Bogard made a big mistake: in the middle of a thunderstorm, they were communicating by shouting loudly. Although Hydrachton could understand Kaido's orders, the two of them didn't think too much of it.

A dog, when trained, can understand simple commands, but Pokémon are different. They can comprehend human language with near-perfect accuracy, and their hearing is incredibly sharp. This meant that Hydrachton had overheard their entire plan.

In the Pokémon world, this isn't uncommon. Even in arenas, some Pokémon make more effective decisions based on their own understanding and the opponent's attacks—like a certain remarkable Dracovish.

At this moment, Hydrachton set a trap for them. It didn't strike immediately but continued its high-altitude guerrilla tactics as before. When it descended, it deliberately shifted positions, allowing itself to be slashed twice, then acted enraged.

No longer maintaining its altitude, Hydrachton launched a furious assault on Momonga. Its powerful consecutive strikes were hard for him to block, but Bogard seized the opportunity and sliced off one of the heads on its rear side. This time, Hydrachton controlled its body and didn't regenerate right away, and the remaining heads also showed signs of fear.

"It worked! Its middle heads are the weak points!"

Bogard retreated briefly with a joyful smile. Discovering a weak point was great news, as it meant they could now adjust their strategy.

At first, Bogard aimed for the central head, but Hydrachton adopted a posture that made evasion impossible and used another head nearby to block the attack.

"Something doesn't feel right. Don't you think this is going a bit too smoothly?"

The plan was working too well, and Momonga had an uncanny feeling. This dragon surely has more tricks up its sleeve.

"Let's try again. Maybe it really is effective?"

"Yeah, you're right…"

Though they were suspicious, they didn't have any better options. Moreover, it's just a beast— how smart could it really be?

The two continued with their previous tactic, taking turns to draw Hydrachton's attention. Originally, the multiple heads formed a perfect defensive line, but with the gaps now present, Hydrachton's defense was no longer perfect. A few times, they nearly managed to strike the main head.

Hydrachton grew more and more furious, until finally, Momonga noticed a massive opening.

"Geppo, Soru!"

Combining Geppo and Soru, Momonga drew his blade and slashed toward the central head. But before his blade could connect, Bogard's voice rang out in his ear.

"Watch out!"

The head that had been unable to regenerate suddenly regrew. The newly-formed head glared viciously at Momonga, jaws wide open, its venomous fangs gleaming menacingly as it lunged toward him.

Hydrachton had taken all those hits just to lure these two slippery, eel-like opponents to this spot—a position where they could no longer evade its attacks.

And they had fallen into the trap!

Momonga never imagined that he and Bogard would be outsmarted by a mere beast. They had been so careful, testing its responses for so long, and when he finally saw an opening to attack, it turned out that Hydrachton's patience exceeded their own.

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