While completely dazed from the sudden attack that came from seemingly nowhere, I didn't let such an opportunity slip from my grasp, not when facing such a powerful opponent; enlarging Naga-sa, I swung it toward Imu with full force, leaving behind arcs of lightning through the sky as it slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater that violently shook the Redline.
Raising my bo-staff out of the crater while shrinking it back to normal, I rested it against my shoulder and clicked my tongue; despite being staggered by that surprise attack, she was still quick enough to teleport away at the last second. However, now she was hiding somewhere, and given how Imu sees everyone as beneath her, I couldn't force her into revealing herself by attacking her allies, so there wasn't any point in that.
"So all I can do is wait? Tsk, not fun." Muttered Diddy with a frown as he stabbed his bo-staff into the ground and landed upon it, only to fold his arms in annoyance.
Since I genuinely could do nothing about it right now, I used this chance to recuperate as I had accumulated a decent amount of injuries from earlier when I was training to improve my observation haki.
'Tsk, what coward runs away in the middle of the battle? Hmph, no respect.' Thought Diddy with a twitching expression while steam emitted from his body as it worked overtime to heal his various wounds.
Thankfully, now that my observation haki could see further than Imu, I wasn't worried about her sneaking up on me, so I dropped my guard, which I also hopped would further incentivize her to reveal herself; however, I don't know what it was, but it took a while before she appeared within my future-sight, which meant another thirty-five seconds of waiting.
Grumbling under my breath at her cowardly nature, I released a yawn just as she appeared in the distance, though she surprisingly didn't try to attack me and just stared at me while her gaping hole in her head emitted a dark, pulsing glow that caused my body to shiver from both fear and excitement.
"Look who finally decided to reveal themselves, tsk, fucking finally. So, did you figure out how I managed to attack you or what?" Remarked Diddy in annoyance as he leaped off his bo-staff and floated in the air, only to sport a mocking grin, one that caused Imu to frown.
"How did you do it?" Asked Imu softly as she looked at Diddy, who sported a bloodthirsty expression.
"Hehehe, just stay right there for some time, and I'll show you." Replied Diddy as he licked his fangs, his words causing Imu to narrow her eyes, only for him to suddenly frown.
Raising my head, I narrowed my eyes, searching the sky for the scent of death my instincts were warning me of, yet, no matter where I looked, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary other than the full moon in the sky; everything looked the exact same, and I should know since I always sleep outside. Although I didn't find anything, I didn't doubt my instincts; they've never led me astray before, and I doubt they suddenly would now.
However, while still confused about the sensation of ever-approaching death, I was forced to dodge attacks from Imu, who wasted no time and began attacking me with her full force, yet now that I could see farther into the future, dealing with her onslaught of attacks had become significantly easier, though it was still a bit of a pain given the sheer volume of attacks I was dealing with, after all, Imu had access to every devil fruit ability in the world.
'Still, at the end of the day, haki reigns supreme like always.' Mused Diddy with a smirk as he dashed through the sky, leaving behind afterimages that Imu would mistake for his true self.
Smashing into a barrier that was suddenly erected around Imu, I grinned like a madman and slowly dug my nails through the barrier, ripping it to shreds as I began to forcefully pull it apart, only to stick my head through once it was big enough.
"Hehehe, here's Diddy!" Stated Diddy with a grin as he eyed Imu, who swiftly backed away, only for another massive explosion to occur, smashing the barrier to bits.
Closely following Imu, who was flung far into the distance, I swiftly outstretched my hand, grabbing Imu's long, white hair before I brought her face equal to mine, only to open my mouth as I bit down onto her face; however, I was only able to rip off part of her nose before she escaped my grasp, appearing far off into the distance with a nasty wound on her stomach from my earlier attack, though as for her nose, it had already thanks to Marco's devil fruit.
"Hehe, looks like someone's in trouble." Said Diddy with a grin as he relentlessly lunged after Imu, refusing to give her a moment's break, forcing her to utilize even more power, which in turn furthered the collapse of her vessel.
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"See, look! Chaos Kong, he's doing it against Lord Imu!" Stated S-Croc anxiously with widened eyes as he pointed toward Diddy and Imu's battle, his words causing Peter, who had just been thrown onto the ground by Kaido, to look.
"Chaos Kong hasn't eaten a devil fruit; otherwise, Lord Imu would have long since killed him. But this… What is he doing?" Muttered Peter softly as he gazed at Imu, only for the ground to shake aggressively as she was violently flung into the ground at breakneck speeds, having received a powerful attack from seemingly nowhere.
"Pay attention, boy." Said King solemnly as he dashed through the air in his hybrid form, leaving a cut across S-Croc's arm, causing him to shift his focus to King.
"Fufufu, like his new technique? As usual, whenever he perfects a technique or martial art, he tests it out on me, and I must say, it's definitely his nastiest one to date; it's completely unstoppable. However, there is one supposed weakness to it…" Remarked Freyja with a faint chuckle as she kicked Nusjuro away while slashing her claws towards Peter, who, in his hybrid form, inhaled in the incoming sharp blades of wind, only to spit them back stronger than before.
"... Awe, not going to ask? Well, I didn't plan to tell you, but here's a little hint… You just need to have REALLY stronger observation haki." Added Freyja with a fake pout as she glanced at Peter, who slithered towards her using his worm-like body, only for her to release a torrent of demonic flames from her mouth that engulfed him.
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"What the hell?" "Wasn't he just getting his ass handed to him because of some training or something; how did their roles so quickly get reversed?" Asked Sabo and Betty, respectively, in confusion as they pushed Fujitora and Kizaru away while glancing at Diddy and Imu.
"See! I told you I should've killed him when I had the chance!" Stated Lindbergh firmly as he lifted his goggles and eyed the Sabo and Betty, causing the former to roll his eyes while the latter released a puff of smoke.
"Well, we can worry about that shit later; right now, he's our alley, so you better be cheering for him." Remarked Sabo lightly as he clenched his pipe while blocking a volley of light beams.
"Tsk, I'm cheering for mutual destruction." "Hmm, that's not bad either." Said Lindbergh and Sabo, respectively, as the latter nodded in agreement with an amused smile while the two shifted their focus to their respective battles.
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Despite slowly breaking her body apart, it was much tougher than it looked, probably thanks to who knows how many devil fruits reinforcing her body, but even with my unstoppable and unblockable attacks, it took nearly an hour of relentless, nonstop attacking to finally whittle her down to the point where most of her body had vanished, and it's place was merely a dark, pulsating, ominous, glowing silhouette.
"Heh, it's a pity your beautiful body is mostly gone. I definitely would've loved to taste it after defeating you, but oh well, it seems it's not my destiny to experience what having sex with an actual WOMEN feels like. I suppose Trenza will have to suffice." Remarked Diddy with a ferocious expression as he landed on the ground, slowly approaching Imu, who had collapsed onto her knees while only part of her face remained, the rest of her dark-skinned body nowhere to be seen.
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Furrowing my brows, I looked around, though, after a while, I scratched my head in confusion.
"Huh, must've been my imagination; I thought I heard someone talking about me." Muttered Trenza softly as she looked around in confusion only to shrug her shoulders while she returned to shooting her enemies.
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Squatting down to eye level, I grabbed her chin and stared into her eyes, which carried only slight sadness despite me having beaten her so badly.
"I really liked this vessel, you know." Said Imu softly as she looked at Diddy, who raised an eyebrow before suddenly chomping down on her remaining face, forcefully tearing it off her head.
Spitting Imu's face onto the ground, I stared at the dark, pulsating, glowing silhouette, which held not a single facial feature, which only added to its eerie look. However, before I could check if Imu was still alive, I swiftly leaped backward as fast as possible, barely dodging a massive explosion while she was lifted into the air.
"Ni've returned once tare." Said Imu, her voice quiet yet loud at the same time as it echoed throughout the whole world, informing the many residents of the original Demon.