Laughing chaotically, I used my tongue to wipe the blood blocking my vision as I shot through the air while evading Imu's attacks, only to arrive face-to-face with her; silently gazing at each other, I stared at her inhuman face while she looked back into my eyes, only for her figure to suddenly blur just as my hand stabbed her chest, causing me to click my tongue.
"Hehe, and here I thought I caught you by surprise." Said Diddy with a bloodthirsty expression as he licked his nails while glancing at Imu, who reappeared far in the distance behind him.
She didn't seem interested in entertaining a conversation and immediately returned to attacking me, using an uncountable number of devil fruit abilities that were at her disposal; even with the fact I could see about a second further into the future than she could, the sheer uniqueness of her powers still made it extremely challenging to get close to her, let alone actually land a hit. Honestly, without that advantage, I probably would've long since been defeated; the sheer number of devil fruit abilities she's attacked me with was absurd.
'Heh, that's number 45,679… Never mind, make that 45,680 different devil fruits she's shown.' Thought Diddy lightly as he glanced at the massive, ethereal, bluish avatar that emerged from Imu, surrounding her.
The avatar that surrounded Imu was an exact copy of her, though there was only the top half of her, yet that didn't mean this unexpected move of hers was any less dangerous; snapping open her eyes, the avatar suddenly shot a beam of energy toward me, causing whatever fur I still had on my body to stand on end as I quickly leaped to the side, narrowly evading the attack, which didn't seem to damage anything it hit.
'What the hell? Am I seeing things correctly?' Thought Diddy in confusion as he looked at the bluish beam that quickly changed directions, heading right for him.
Plucking one of my furs, I tossed it in the air and dashed towards the incoming beam, only for my figure to blur as the beam hit nothing but my afterimage, though when it enveloped my strand of fur, it remained the exact same.
Scratching my head in confusion, I had half a mind to let my arm get hit just to see what it would do, but given what my instincts sensed, that attack seemed to be a little too dangerous to fuck around with.
Clicking my tongue in annoyance since I knew never figuring out what that beam could do would irritate me forever, I dashed to the side, outrunning the beam as I headed straight for Imu, who was motionlessly floating where the avatar's heart would be.
Seemingly realizing its beam attack wouldn't catch up in time, the avatar stopped and suddenly raised its hands before slamming down, causing me to smirk as I clenched my fist, meeting the attack head-on with my own.
"Beast Fist!" Said Diddy with a grin as he transferred all the strength throughout his body into his arm while thrusting his fist upwards, punching the massive bluish hand.
The moment our fists collided, I was met without an enormous, almost impossibly heavy force as I was smashed into the ground, though just before I was crushed, I used my other hand to stop the hand.
"I-I understand it now." Said Diddy through gritted teeth while blood slowly leaked from his facial orifices.
Taking a deep breath, I forwent using any physical object and instead attacked solely with my conqueror's haki, causing the avatar's hand to be forcefully pushed back just enough for me to escape. Dashing out of the crater, I leaped into the air and stared at the avatar, which, in reality, was Imu's soul, and it was the reason why my earlier attack failed so pathetically; I was attacking her physical body, not her soul.
'So, would that beam attack from earlier have fried my soul or something?' Thought Diddy with a curious gaze as he rubbed his chin, only for him to suddenly thrust his palm forward while surging his conqueror's haki in tandem, blocking the avatar's punch.
Punching the air, I flung myself to the side while summoning Naga-sa back to me as I violently swung it at the avatar's back, manipulating my haki in a certain way as I aimed to attack the soul rather than the physical body.
"Urgh." Muttered Imu softly as her avatar faintly trembled in pain, causing Diddy's eyes to suddenly widen in surprise.
'D-Did she just experience pain!?' Thought Diddy with a shocked expression as he stared at Imu, who swiftly dispelled her avatar, causing her soul to return inside her body.
Throughout my entire time fighting Imu, not once have I seen her experience pain; sure, I've made her bleed, but she never seemed to actually feel any pain. I always just assumed she was using a devil fruit that lets her remain calm or one that negates any pain, but to think that wasn't the reason…
"... Hehehehehe, I just figured out how I can defeat you." Said Diddy with a sinister expression as he narrowed his vertical slit eyes at Imu, who aggressively waved her hands.
Grinning from ear to ear, I roared with laughter and speedily dashed towards Imu with newfound enthusiasm now that I'd finally figured out how to defeat her; knocking away her attacks, I saw her create numerous forms of protective barriers around her, which only served to fuel me with desire.
"HAHAHAHAHA, I CAN SEE IT! I CAN SMELL IT! I CAN SENSE IT!" Yelled Diddy fiercely as he charged through Imu's attacks with unparallel ferociousness.
"… Your fear." Added Diddy softly with a wicked smile as he eyed Imu while his bo-staff danced with lightning.
Seeing Imu raise a rock wall, attempting to stop me, I thrust my palm forward, smashing right through it while violently hitting her with Naga-sa.
"Beastly Extinction!" Yelled Diddy with a bloodthirsty expression as he smashed through each one of Imu's protective barriers before hitting her body.
With a feeling of satisfaction, I launched Imu into the distance while blood trailed right behind her, causing me to once again erupt into laughter.
"Hahahaha… God's and Demons will all fall one day." Said Diddy with a wicked smile as he walked through the air while spinning his bo-staff atop his nail, only to suddenly grasp it.
Far off in the distance, where Imu had slammed into the ground, I saw her emerge from the crater, and lo-and-behold, for the first time since I broke her vessel, I saw her bleed, and her blood was, unsurprisingly, a thick, blackish liquid that I could faintly smell from the all the way over here.
"Hehehe, what's the matter, Imu? Why don't you just heal yourself? Unless… You can't?" Asked Diddy with a mocking expression as he floated upside-down while eyeing Imu, seemingly treating this entire battle as a joke, which only served to anger her.
Imu did NOT like me mocking me as she attacked me with a level of fierceness she had never shown; before, she merely attacked me as if I were an enemy, but now, she was attacking me as if she had a personal vendetta against me, and although the difference wasn't huge, I definitely noticed it.
Smiling in joy, I knocked away an icicle, which suddenly erupted into an explosion while greenish gas filled the surrounding area, but it was useless since I had long since vanished from where I previously was. Dashing through the sky in a zig-zagging direction, dodging thousands of attacks while blocking and deflecting hundreds more, I slammed my hand into the air, creating a massive arcing wall of lightning that destroyed everything it touched, only a rubber ball to suddenly hit my face.
'D-Dam-' Thought Diddy in annoyance as he glanced at the rubber ball, which suddenly erupted into a massive explosion, engulfing him and his nearby surroundings.
Skidding across the ground, I stabbed my nails into the ground, stopping myself as I shook my body, ridding myself of all the smoke while also coughing a little.
"Tastes like fire… Do not recommend." Muttered Diddy softly as he spat onto the ground, only for him to suddenly push off the ground, turning into a blur as he speedily dashed toward Imu.
Dodging the spikes that erupted from the ground, I leaped onto one of them that blocked my path before lunging towards Imu, who thrust her palms forward while I clenched my fist and punched, meeting her attack as a violent, island shattering collision occurred as we were both evenly matched… Or at least we should've been.
"Hehe, is it just, or have you suddenly gotten weaker, Imu?" Asked Diddy with a feral grin as he flexed his muscles, breaking through Imu's attack while continuing to lunge towards her.
Stabbing my nails into her protective barriers, I slowly shred it to bits, creating a hole just big enough for my hand to fit through as I swiftly filled the barriers with lightning, forcing Imu to dispel them, which I didn't miss the chance to take advantage of.
Kicking against the air, I quickly appeared before Imu and brutally punched her stomach, sending her flying higher into the sky.
"Hahaha, make up your mind, Imu! Are you going to fight me, or are you going to protect yourself? You can't do both!" Yelled Diddy with a feral smirk as he floated in the air while gazing at Imu.