At the center of Ash Town on Grandline Road.
Locke and Barett looked at the forest in the distance with serious eyes. Their bodies were tense and alert. The feeling that kept stimulating their nerves kept reminding them of the terror of the monster in the distance.
"What the hell is it? Locke, have you sensed the other person's appearance?" Barett's muscles tightened, his fists clenched tightly, his body slightly bent like a beast, ready to pounce on his prey at any time. Locke held his long sword horizontally in front of his chest, focused on his vigilance.
"I don't know. What I received from my visual and smell is that the other party is not very big, like some animal, giving me a complicated feeling." Although Locke saw that the color was mighty, he could not ultimately see what the other party was like through his vision.
His sight range was only more comprehensive, and he could easily distinguish the number, strength, and words that Wen Se had sensed. Barett was satisfied with Locke's words. "Since you don't know, then force him out!" After speaking, Barett exerted force on his feet and roared. He charged directly into the forest.
His clenched fists were covered with a layer of solid military domineeringness. Because of his full strength, the muscles on his arms bulged violently. "Get the hell out here!" With a furious roar, Barett swung his fist fiercely at the forest. The strong force created a massive shockwave under the friction of the air.
"Boom!" With a loud bang, Barett smashed the ground with his full strength. The fist collided with the environment. In the blink of an eye, Barett's power directly destroyed the forest initially hidden by the monster. A deep pit several meters deep also appeared on the ground.
Massive dust flew into the air and filled the entire forest, completely burying Barett's figure. The rumbling sound was endless. Locke stared fixedly at the monster in the dust above Barett that flickered with an incomparably scarlet gaze. "Barett! Above!" Locke shouted as he quickly sent out a purple gravity slash.
Buzz! The horizontal gravity slash aimed directly at the red-eyed monster in the air. "Ji" The beast let out an angry roar as it was hit by horizontal gravity. "Huh," Barett grinned at the beast in the air. Then, he exerted force from his feet and jumped directly toward the beast.
"Hahahaha! I saw you!" With a roar, Barett punched the monster in the abdomen with his fist covered with strong Busoshoku. "Jump!" There was a loud sound when the fist collided with the monster's abdomen.
"Ji!" The monster roared and stared at Barrett with its scarlet eyes. Its sharp claws clawed at Barett.
"Sizzle---"
Barett was not surprised at all. He grinned and punched out to resist. "Huh" However, Barett might not have expected that the monster was a bit stronger than him and suffered a loss for a moment. The beast failed in its attack. It swung its tail behind it and struck Barett on the back with lightning speed.
"-"
The sound of a whip hitting his body rang out, and a vast wound appeared on Barett's back from the monster's attack. "Woo!" Barett let out a muffled groan and fell at a breakneck speed.
"BOOM! " Barett's body fell from the sky and smashed into the ground. A human-shaped hole appeared on the already uneven ground. It happened too quickly, and was filled with surprise. Locke never thought that Barett would be defeated so easily.
"Bastard!" Just as Locke was surprised, a furious curse rang out from the hole where Barett was. Then, Barett's muscular body rushed out. "Watch me kill you!" Barett charged at the monster at an extremely fast speed. He instantly ran to the top of the monster's head and fiercely punched the monster's head.
The violent force directly smashed the monster into a daze, causing it to drop down from the sky and crash into the ground below extremely fast.
"Whoosh!" With his successful attack, Barett fell from the sky and stepped on the ground. "Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" A loud gasp came from Barett's mouth.
"Bang -"
"Ji -"
The sound of the earth churning and the roar of the monster sounded at the same time. Barett looked warily at the pit not far away. The dust slowly drifted away. Finally, Locke and Barett saw each other. It was a giant rat that was two meters long.
Although it looked like a rat, not only was the Rat huge, its skin was crimson red, and its muscles bulged. White smoke was also coming out of its body. Its eyes flashed scarlet light and filled with a murderous and oppressive aura.
"Ji!" Rat roared angrily at Barett and Locke. A terrifying aura that was different from others erupted. This aura was filled with madness, violence, and killing intent. "Hmph!" Sensing this terrifying aura, Locke and Barett let out cold snorts at the same time. Their domineering auras erupted at the same time and swept towards the Rat.
Buzz! Their domineering auras collided with the Rat's strange aura. The explosion of time sent out an intense shockwave that blew away all the surrounding trees and rocks. After an unknown period, the momentum of the two sides collided and dissipated. The entire battlefield was left with only bare land. Locke looked at the mouse with a strange gaze.
"What kind of power was that just now? It was shocking!"
"Hahaha, indeed. I feel that that power is not bad!" Barett's eyes flashed with excitement as he looked at the giant Rat. He was full of interest in the strength of the Rat just now.
"Ji!" The Rat roared as it looked at Locke and Barett. Its muscles bulged, and the white smoke around its body spread wildly. Then, it pounced at Locke at a rapid speed. Its two claws flashed with harsh cold light. In its eyes, dealing with the thin and short Locke was more accessible than the muscular demon.
Locke suddenly laughed when he saw that the Rat had given up on fighting Barett and pounced on him. "Hey, do you think I'm a pushover? However, I might disappoint you." Locke chuckled. He held his sword horizontally in his hand and faced the sharp claws of the Rat while reading a book.
"'JACG'!" The sound of iron colliding rang out, and Locke and Rat's claws fiercely collided. The force of the collision blew away their clothes and hair. Buzz! Just as Rat was in disbelief and with a violent look in his eyes, a purple halo suddenly passed from Locke's long sword to his body.
"Boom!"
"Ji!"
The mouse, covered in purple light, suddenly felt a terrifying gravity erupt from his body, smashing him into the ground. With an angry roar, the mouse wanted to get up and attack Locke, but the terrifying gravity pressed down on his body, making him unable to move.
Locke pressed his sword against the mouse and controlled the force to suppress the mouse. He crouched down and looked at the mouse. "Tsk, you treat me as a soft persimmon. You're at a disadvantage now," Locke said as he stared at the mouse.
What was strange was that Locke saw unwillingness, curiosity, anger, and unwillingness in the eyes of the Rat.``Hey, Locke, that was the prey I had my eyes on!" Barett walked to Locke with a slightly sad expression, then crouched and looked at the Rat curiously.
"Hey, Locke, what is going on with this Rat? The power he uses is extraordinary. Do you know what it is?" Barett looked at the Rat curiously and asked Locke.
"Ah, I don't know either."
"That should be the power of ghost energy." Suddenly, Rayleigh's voice sounded and answered Barett's question.