Chapter 161: Breath of Darkness, Second Form: Dark Slash!

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After Abel landed a punch to the back of Elephante's head, the ground shattered, yet there didn't seem to be any sign of injury on her; she simply shook her head and stood up again.

Moreover, the eyes that looked back at Abel had turned bloodshot red, clearly indicating that her rage had reached its peak.

"Elephant Kick!"

Elephante stomped fiercely on the ground, breaking through the roof of the abandoned warehouse and then assumed a flying kick pose, crashing down hard from above.

During the fall, her right leg rapidly grew even larger, resembling that of a real elephant's leg. This was a special attack formed by specifically enhancing one part of the body.

Then, the moment she landed, it was like tons of explosives going off at once. With a loud boom, she destroyed the entire abandoned factory!

Luckily, the spot was remote with almost no one around. If there had been, they would have undoubtedly fled the scene or perished in the blast.

Even Abel didn't take the risk, having donned his Ice Dragon Armor early, which resulted only in being blown away without much harm.

Suddenly, from the midst of the thick dust, a long and thick trunk flew out, wrapping around Abel and tightening its grip.

"Got you."

Elephante emerged from the dust.

"Is that so? I don't think so."

"Then I'll squeeze you to death!"

Elephante thought Abel was just being stubborn, so she immediately began to constrict her grip.

An elephant's trunk is exceptionally flexible and can easily crush a person's entire skeleton.

Crunch, crunch...

Elephante seemed to already hear the sound of her opponent's bones being crushed bit by bit.

But in reality, what shattered was merely the empty Ice Dragon Armor!

The real Abel had already utilized the special properties of dark energy to silently move behind her, undetected.

Though Elephante's attack was hidden and sudden, she couldn't escape Abel's Observation Haki awareness.

Facing such a huge opponent with an astonishing defense, nicknamed "Big Sis Elephant," Abel didn't act recklessly. Instead, he focused his mind and carefully unsheathed his sword.

Breath of Darkness, Second Form: Dark Slash!

It looked like a plain thrust, barely touching her lower back, and it was uncertain whether it even broke the skin.

Feeling something unusual from behind, Elephante couldn't help but turn around, "You sure ran fast, but are you just trying to tickle me with that toy knife?"

With those words, her long trunk smashed down.

However, Abel seemed not to care at all, just sheathing his sword while softly uttering, "Explode."

In an instant, a massive amount of dark energy burst beneath the skin inside Elephante's body, transforming into slashes that blossomed from within, tearing apart her tough hide and leaving numerous wounds as blood splattered everywhere.

Suddenly struck by such a heavy blow, Elephante's offensive momentum stopped in its tracks, and she looked like she was about to topple backward.

But just then, the tenacity of a Zoan Devil Fruit user came into play, quickly regaining control over her body. With only a single step back, she readied herself for a counterattack.

Her long trunk smashed down once again!

Abel revealed a hint of surprise, not expecting her to have such strong resilience. However, all her attacks were too slow, completely within the scope of his Observation Haki.

In a matter of seconds, he performed three actions in succession.

The first action was to step forward to the side, avoiding the opponent's attack while also closing the distance between them.

The second action was to grab the opponent's descending trunk with both hands.

The third action was to let his muscles bulge, channeling strength from his feet throughout his body, and then converged it in one place for a powerful outward swing!

With a loud boom!

Elephante, more than five meters tall, was slammed onto the ground by Abel, who had grabbed her trunk, executing an over-the-shoulder throw.

The scene was incredibly shocking!

It was just a pity that the audience had already run off.

No, that's not right, Baby-5 was standing at a distance, cheering him on.

"How about it, it's not too late to surrender now. With your abilities, you can only show off in the North Blue; the waters of the Grand Line are too deep for you to handle."

Elephante, dazed from the throw, seemed to be provoked by these words and began to go berserk!

Accompanied by a deafening elephant roar, Elephante disappeared, replaced by a white giant elephant standing 8 meters tall at the shoulder and 15 meters long.

After being continually suppressed, she finally transformed completely into her beast form.

"After escaping from that hellish place, I swore that anyone who sees me like this must die!"

The white giant elephant, though capable of human speech, was full of murderous intent.

Abel then noticed that in such a short time, the wounds on the opponent's body had stopped bleeding and were healing.

However, there was a particularly noticeable scar on its side, as if it could not be wiped away.

The mark resembled the hoof print of some animal, with one large circle, three small triangles on top, and one small triangle below.

This was the Celestial Dragon's Hoof!

It was a brand given to slaves by the Celestial Dragons, a mark of their status!

It was the eternal proof of an "inferior human."

When Elephante maintained its human or human-beast form, the brand could be hidden.

But upon assuming full beast form, the brand could no longer be concealed.

This was one reason why it had been reluctant to transform into its beast form.

Now that someone had witnessed its shame, only one person could leave alive.

The white giant elephant charged at Abel, its very run creating the false impression of an earthquake.

Abel, now serious, drew his sword, Onimaru, and prepared for battle.

He would not go easy on the opponent because of its past, nor would he consider it an 'inferior creature' because of a brand.

He had come today only to complete a mission.

That was all.

"Then let's enjoy a thrilling battle!"

Abel charged forward, not retreating but running towards the fray.

When the blade collided with the tusks, the giant elephant's charge was forcefully stopped, but Abel was also sent flying backward like a cannonball.

However, upon landing, Abel immediately retaliated with a Shura Aurora Slash.

The white giant elephant, unable to dodge due to its immense size, could only opt to endure the blow with its thick hide.

With a splat!

Blood splattered, leaving a deep wound on its body.

But this was not fatal to such a massive creature.