Dodging a slash from Hosen, using that window of vulnerability, I swung Naga-sa at him, yet just before I managed to hit him, Cancer attacked me from behind with his sword as well, forcing me to give up my initial attack and evade his slash by kicking the ground, breaking the deck in the process as I dodged by a hair's breadth.
However, I wasn't given a second to rest as Hosen, once again, attacked me from a distance, launching a sword wave right at me from a distance while Cancer followed up right behind it. Bringing Naga-sa forward, I gripped the deck tightly with my feet and blocked the initial attack before violently swinging toward the approaching Cancer, who brought his sword forward and stopped my attack after skidding back a little.
Flexing the muscles in my arm, using all my might, I flung Cancer back towards Hosen as the two regrouped and eyed me from a distance.
'Hehe, fighting two Vice-admirals is tough, even if one is decently weaker. I wish there were another, but oh well, this is still fun!' Thought Diddy with a grin as he retracted Naga-sa and lowered his stance, eyeing the two in the distance.
"Ah, Chaos Kong is one tough cookie; I'm glad I read Mini's report. I'd honestly thought he was exaggerating a little, but he might've been undermining his strength." Remarked Cancer with a frown as he brought his sword forward and warily observed Diddy.
"Yeah, he's incredibly agile and powerful, has astonishing instincts and reflexes, and to top it all off, he still hasn't used the ability native to minks: electricity." Stated Hosen with a deep frown as he stood beside Cancer, ready to follow his move.
"Hehe, what's with all talking? We should be fighting!" Declared Diddy with a chuckle as he pushed off the ground using soru, swiftly reaching the two, which Hosen reacted first by jumping forward and blocking his charge.
Slamming my bo-staff against Hosen's sword, I knocked him slightly off balance and was about to follow up with a kick, but Cancer quickly intercepted me and stopped my kick, allowing Hosen to regain his balance and retaliate alongside Cancer. Instead of backing away, I lunged forward, narrowly weaving through the two's attacks before striking Cancer with my bo-staff and punching Hosen in the stomach.
'Tsk, couldn't dodge all of it.' Mused Diddy with a light frown as he looked down at his side, spotting a small bloody gash before suddenly leaping into the air, evading a sword wave from Cancer, who was bleeding on the side of his head.
Despite having used tekkai, it didn't provide much help; in fact, I've noticed in my last couple of fights its usefulness has been rather mediocre; then again, it's meant to stop blunt attacks like fists, clubs, and hammers, not swords or claws.
'That's fine; I can already manifest armament haki, so that'll substitute tekkai; the only problem is that I'm not proficient enough to use it in battle. It takes quite a bit of focus on my part to use haki, and I can't really focus on anything else while fighting against two strong opponents.' Thought Diddy with a slight frown as he kicked the air above him and shot forth toward Cancer while Hose launched a sword wave at him, which he evaded.
Slamming Naga-sa down atop Cancer's sword, I kicked the air once more, increasing my might as I pushed him through the ship's deck; with Cancer momentarily out of the equation, I shifted my focus to Hosen, who changed from offense to defense. Landing on the deck beside the hole Cancer crashed through, I swiftly lunged toward Hosen and launched a thick bolt of lighting while following up with a swing from my bo-staff.
'72 Bian, variation 22: Wild Strikes.' Thought Diddy with a grin as he swung his bo-staff to Hosen, who managed to block it after dodging the bolt of lighting.
Swinging faster and stronger with each successive missed attack, I was constantly pushing Hosen, who looked to be on the edge of faltering, back with every swing of mine; with my arm's bulging muscles, I swung at Hosen with such force I broke his defensive. Quickly retracting Naga-sa, I prepared to deliver the final blow, but before I could, I sensed Cancer lunging right toward me from behind, causing me to smirk as I covered Naga-sa, my bo-staff, in a cloak of lightning before turning around and violently swinging at Cancer, and although he managed to block in time, he underestimated the strength of my blow and coupled with my lightning, I instantly broke though his defensives and landed a devastating blow to his chest, flinging into the distance.
Because I switched my target to Cancer, it left me open for Hosen from behind as he slashed his sword down at me, and even though I swiftly leaped out of the way, he still managed to hit me.
"One sword style, sweeping edge!" Yelled Hosen as he slashed at Diddy horizontally, leaving a gash on his back, though it wasn't too deep since he moved just in time.
Grunting in pain, I flipped myself in the air and lunged back towards Hosen, though before I could, I sensed Cancer coming from behind, causing me to evade a sword wave from him while kicking at him, launching a rankyaku right at him, which he dodged with his sword.
'Tsk, getting through that Haki will be a pain.' Mused Diddy as he eyed Cancer, who, despite taking such a devastating attack, wasn't too injured, his chest singed and his ribs bruised.
"Hosen, let me take the front assault while you assist me from behind." Stated Cancer seriously as he removed his cape and lunged toward Diddy, not even waiting for Hosen to respond.
"Roger that." Said Hosen with a nod as he followed after Cancer, the two engaging in battle once more.
I don't know what they talked about, but this new way they were attacking me was making it tedious for me to land any blows on them; whenever I managed to break through Cancer's defense, Hosen would take over until he regained his bearings. What made it worse was that Hosen stayed at a distance and only attacked me while I was in the middle of either attacking, blocking, or dodging, making it difficult for me to do anything.
'Alright, so you want to play like that? I can play like that.' Thought Diddy as he changed his strategy, and instead of constantly attacking, he went on the defensive, allowing Cancer to attack.
Now that I was mainly on the defensive, I was managing them much easier than before, but I was primarily observing them, wanting to see how they, mainly Hosen, reacted. Though, I will say they weren't Vice-admirals for nothing; despite having the advantage, Hosen didn't try to join Cancer, which annoyed me, but it was fine.
'72 Bian, variation 54: Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.' Thought Diddy as he used his staff to redirect each of Cancer's attacks back at him while staying on the defense, allowing him to gain the advantage.
Pushing Cancer back, Hosen also tried attacking to help, but it was only worsening his partner's situation, and using one of his attacks, I redirected the force to Cancer while also adding my own, hitting him in the abdomen, before following up and kneeing him in the face, which thanks to his haki, felt like I was hitting solid steel.
With Cancer out of the way, Hosen came to take a point, but I wasn't making it easy for him; with the pulsing of my heartbeat, I synchronized my attacks with it, allowing to me exert greater force than normal, and combining that with Wild Strikes, he was quickly overpowered and flung right towards Cancer, looking somewhat worse of wear.
"C'mon, is the best 2 Vice-admirals have? Rather pathetic in my opinion, even my two crew members, Freyja and Sebas, can put up more of a fight than this." Remarked Diddy with a grin as he looked at Cancer and Hosen, annoying them, though they were far too experienced to lose their cool so easily.
"Welp, it doesn't seem like that plan worked; it looks like we've just got to go back to plan A." Said Hosen with a slight frown as he grabbed his jaw, trying to rub the pain away, to no avail.
"He's no pushover; we'll have to whittle him down slowly." Remarked Cancer with a nod as the two dashed toward Diddy side-by-side, a sight that caused Diddy's blood to boil in exhilaration.
"Hehe, come on, then!" Yelled Diddy in joy as he lunged toward the incoming two Vice-admirals.
Engaging in another much more vicious and fierce battle than the last, both sides traded blows, and neither of us was obviously stronger than the other; I was stronger than both Cancer and Hosen individually, but fighting them two-on-one left little in the air. As the minutes passed, two of them pushed me further and further to my limit, littering my body with several wounds, though I was still fighting them with most of my might while a smile never once left my face; fighting against them was fun.
Slamming Naga-sa on Hosen's head, I dodged back as Cancer was following up right behind him, though he managed to leave a diagonal slash on my chest alongside the many others. Launching a bolt of lightning, which he dodged, but I still managed to force him, and that was all I needed as I regained my bearings.
'Hehehe, what fun!' Mused Diddy as blood dripped down his golden brown fur onto the deck below.