As our battle waged on, I steadily accumulated various wounds while still hardly doing any damage to Lindbergh, but I will say I'm satisfied with the fight as I've already lasted way longer than previously; however, all things must come to an end, and the end of this fight wasn't too far away.
Swinging my bo-staff, Lindbergh nimbly evaded it as he snaked his feline body around it and punched me in the chest, flinging me several meters away while coughing blood for the umpteenth time this fight. With the help of my tail, I steaded myself and swiftly contorted my body in an unnatural way, evading Lindbergh's follow-up attack with his deadly claws, which he'd already sliced my body with numerous times.
While still in an unnatural shape, I wrapped my leg around one of his arms and twisted myself around his body before hitting him in the back of his head with my bo-staff, and even though he quickly covered his head in a black hue, thanks to Naga-sa, I was still able to damage him; unfortunately, the damage dealt was incredibly minimal to the point where I'd have to hit him several times in the same spot to cause any significant damage.
Clicking my tongue in annoyance at not being able to by-pass that black hue, I was about to release him and gain some distance, but before I could, he tightly clutched my leg, which was still wrapped around his arm, and violently threw me to ground the ground.
'That hurt like a bitch!' Thought Diddy with a grunt of pain, feeling as if he'd just broken his back from being slammed several meters deep into the earth.
While lying in the crater, I looked up in the sky, only to spot Lindbergh in the air, his body radiating with lightning as he suddenly launched mini bolts of electricity at me, causing me to groan in annoyance as I'm confident I'd dealt with something similar before.
'Ugrh, not this again!?' Thought Diddy, feeling a little deja vu as he swiftly leaped from the crater and retaliated with his own electricity, which proved far more potent than Lindbergh's, managing to destroy his bolts of electricity and continue toward him in the sky.
Thanks to my seemingly unnaturally potent lightning, which I've only realized must be unique to me after my first fight with Lindbergh since, even though he is stronger than me, his ability to produce lightning was much weaker than mine. Though, to be fair, while Lindbergh was a strong fighter, his strength didn't lie in close combat fighting; if it weren't for his desire to fight like a Mink warrior, I'm pretty confident I would've been defeated a while ago, in fact, I might not have survived the first encounter with him if he was serious from the get-go.
I watched Lindbergh fall to the ground, evading all of my electricity bolts that disappeared into the sky, probably dissipating somewhere amidst the clouds. Looking at Lindbergh land on the ground several meters before me with minimal injuries and only lightly panting, while I, on the other hand, was bleeding, exhausted, and riddled with numerous injuries, it was easy to be able to tell who was stronger. Granted, I was a much better fighter, and if it weren't for that mysterious power, I'm confident I would've put up a much better fight, but that wasn't the case.
"Hehe, what's the hold-up, Lindbergh? I can do this all day!" Remarked Diddy with a feral grin amidst his heavy breathing as he eyed Lindbergh and got back into his fighting stance, causing him to look rather intimidating yet somewhat inspiring given his bloody appearance.
'Heh, I can't actually do this all day; his attacks are devastating, especially the ones when he coats his limbs with that mysterious power, causing them to take on a black hue. I can't take much more of this; besides, unlike usual, I'm only here to enjoy myself and kill Mini.' Mused Diddy, though his outside expression, stayed as fearless as before, showing his eagerness to continue fighting.
"You're lying; even if you've got a powerful healing ability, it doesn't seem instantaneous, which means you're most likely reaching your limit, as I know firsthand just how devastating Haki-infused attacks were, especially from someone of my caliber." Stated Lindbergh while lightly panting, working up a good sweet as he crouched down to all fours and eyed Diddy with his pretty blue eyes, which only made sense given he is a Cat Mink.
"Haki-infused attacks? Do you mean when your body takes on a black hue?" Questioned Diddy with furrowed brows as he took the initiative despite his condition and lunged toward Lindbergh, wishing to know more about Haki.
"Yes, what I was using is one of the three Haki's known as Armament Haki, and what you used earlier at the start of our battle was also Haki." Replied Lindbergh as he dashed at the incoming Diddy and leaped toward him with his sharp nails that glistened in the sunlight.
Swinging Naga-sa, I managed to stop Lindbergh's approach while our electricity crackled off on another as they strived to overwhelm the other, which I succeeded in doing relatively easily, but Lindbergh merely used his mysterious power, or I should say Haki, to protect his body.
"Heh, I appreciate the information, but how come you're suddenly so cooperative?" Asked Diddy with a grin as he looked at Lindbergh, who started pushing back against his bo-staff, his power overwhelming him.
"You're going to die soon, so it doesn't matter whether I tell you about Haki; besides, it's not a secret you'd learn about in the future, that is, if you weren't going to die here." Stated Lindbergh as he forced Diddy's bo-staff back, following up with a sidekick, but he nimbly evaded and retaliated with a swing from his Naga-sa.
"Heh, am I going to die here? I'm not so sure about that." Replied Diddy with a smirk while Lindbergh blocked his attack while swiftly nearing him, evading several swings of his bo-staff as he punched Diddy in the face.
"Say all you want, but you will not be living Centaurea alive; that is something I promise you." Declared Lindbergh solemnly while eyeing Diddy, who regained his balance after taking that haki-infused punch to the face.
"Hehe, don't you know; promises were meant to be broken!" Said Diddy with a slightly chaotic laugh as he lunged toward Lindbergh with a ferocious expression, though while doing so, he suddenly felt a presence attempt to enter his mind, yet unlike last time, this one was much gentler.
Feeling that familiar sensation around my mind, I clicked my tongue as while I wouldn't say I liked the idea of Sebas, or anyone for a matter of fact, entering my mind, I also knew he wasn't exactly able to speak with me any other way, not when I was in the middle of such an intense fight, that required nearly all of my concentration. So, with a sliver of annoyance, I reluctantly allowed Sebas entry into my mind as I engaged in battle with Lindbergh.
'Captain, can you hear me?' Asked Sebas lightly; although his voice seemed to come from a distance, it reverberated throughout Diddy's whole mind, momentarily distracting him, causing him to take a kick to the back.
'Urgh, yes, I can hear you, now turn the fucking volume down! I can't focus when I've got the voice of an old man echoing in my brain!' Yelled Diddy, grunting in pain from the last kick as he regained his bearings.
'My apologies, Captain, but this is the first time I've used my abilities from such a distance; I didn't think it would work. Anyways, since this is working, I wonder...' Said Sebas, his voice within Diddy's brain shrinking to a manageable level, at least before he heard several other voices.
'Sebas? Is that you? What's going on?' Asked Freyja in confusion as to why she suddenly felt a presence appear in her mind while fighting against Mini.
'Father?' Remarked Grand, Scar, and Trenza, knowing this familiar sensation, though they were surprised to hear so many people.
Thanks to the sudden intrusion of four other people, who for some reason also sounded incredibly loud, I was forced to take a knee to the chin from being distracted for just a mere moment; although it was only for a split second, I'm pretty sure I blacked out.
'I swear to fucking god! If I hear another voice appear in my head!' Yelled Diddy mentally as he momentarily stopped fighting Lindbergh and angrily glared into the empty sky.
"Umm, you okay?" Asked Lindbergh in confusion, curious if he had hit Diddy too hard with his last attack.
"Tch, yeah, I'm fine; just a bunch of loud and annoying voices in my mind." Remarked Diddy with a shake of his head, causing Lindbergh to nod wordlessly before the two engaged in another battle.
'Anyways, now that everyone is present, I've got a plan to leave Centaurea.' Said Sebas lightly, his words causing everyone to focus intently.
'Ugh, that's good since my battle against Mini isn't going so well; I'm more than happy to leave this forsaken battlefield.' Said Freyja with a grunt of pain as she had just taken a series of haki-infused punches, granted Mini's haki was weaker than Lindbergh's.
'Heh, even with that transformation, you're still unable to deal with Mini? I'm very disappointed Vice-captain.' Mocked Diddy with a grin, his quick changing emotions creeping Lindbergh out, though he continued fighting him.
'Tch, that's rich coming from you. Don't think I can't see your state, Diddy; you're in no better of a circumstance than me, you weakling of a Captain.' Replied Freyja, her words causing Diddy to click his tongue in annoyance and stay silent as her words weren't false given the situation.
___
Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, it also works this time; I've reset it again, https://discord.gg/5n7RV7Xu (Note: this link only lasts for one week)
___
___
Elven Legacy (Chapter 178: Fun?) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 59: Nearly Late!) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 94: The Mighty Jin!) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]