Although I was in pretty rough shape, the same could be said for both Hosen and Cancer, if not worse; they were both injured and somewhat exhausted, and I was only thankfully injured. I only get exhausted when I participate in long, drawn-out battles, and both times that's happened, I was fighting someone stronger than me.
Dodging a slash to my neck by a hair's breadth from Hosen, I retaliated with a kick while using geppo off his body, allowing me to evade an attack from Cancer as well. I was about to attack him next, but before I could, I heard Sebas speaking in my mind, which I did not want to hear amid such an exhilarating fight.
'Captain, I hate to interrupt, but-' Said Sebas lightly while he, too, was fighting against Gion on the other side of the ship, though before he could say anything more, Diddy cut him off.
'Be quick, Sebas!' Ordered Diddy with a growl of anger as he blocked attacks from both Cancer and Hosen simultaneously while also speaking with Sebas, a feat that required utmost focus.
'Grand, Trenza, and Scar have captured their men; I need to go down there and manipulate their minds so they can report back through the transponder snails.' Replied Sebas quickly as he stopped beating around the bush while also launching volatile spheres of psionic energy, which exploded in contact with anything physical, forcing Gion to dodge them.
'What does that have to do with me, Sebas!?' Exclaimed Diddy angrily as he knocked both Cancer and Hosen back, though not before earning a slash on his arm from one of them.
'I can't do that while also fighting against Gion; not only would it put the six people in danger, but I could potentially damage their minds.' Stated Sebas solemnly as he blocked a sword slash from Gion while floating around the air, making it hard for her to hit him, which she hadn't done; otherwise, the battle would've been long since over.
Despite not verbally or mentally saying it outright, I understand what Sebeas was implying; he wanted me to keep Gion busy while he dealt with those six people the three stooges had captured. I wasn't going to say no, as I couldn't; I was the only one among the four of us who could handle three vice-admiral, though even I would be hard-pressed to win in a fight against three of them, the best outcome would be me defeating them before collapsing, and even then that was a challenging task, especially given the fact, I don't know how Gion fights.
With a quick look around, I spotted Freyja fighting against Dalmatian and Mael fighting against Doberman; both gave it literally everything they had while fighting their opponents. Freyja's body was bloody and battered, and the same went for Dalmatians as they fought it out while constantly clashing at the front of the ship; Mael, on the other hand, despite having a logia devil fruit, was forced to evade Doberman haki infused attacks, which thankfully for him, he couldn't infuse into his sword, forcing him to use his hands.
'What are you waiting for, Sebas? Bring Gion over here; I'll let her join in on the fun; the more, the merrier!' Said Diddy with a feral grin through the mental connection with Sebas, who nodded his head and slowly made his way to Diddy, something Gion noticed but didn't bother to stop since it would only help her situation.
It didn't take long for Sebas to arrive, and following him was a battered and injured Gion, making it seem like Sebas was having an easy fight, but, given his heavy breathing, sunken and pale face, and sweat-covered body, he was reaching his limit. Swinging Naga-sa, I pushed Cancer and Hosen away and lunged toward Sebas; passing him, I dashed right toward Gion and launched a thick lightning bolt at her while Sebas used this chance to head to Trenza, Grand, and Scar speedily.
'If I found out you used this as a chance to take a break, I'm waterboarding you, Sebas.' Declared Diddy with a feral grin as he sensed Sebas enter the ship while he stopped Gion from following him.
"Hehe, where do you think you're going? You're dealing with me now." Stated Diddy with a ferocious smile as he swung Naga-sa at Gion, who blocked it, but the explosive might behind his attack flung her back toward Cancer and Hosen.
"Ugh, you two have been fighting against that?" Remarked Gion with an ugly expression as she stopped herself by stabbing her sword into the ground before looking at Hosen and Cancer, who stood on her sides.
"Yeah, quick note, but his reflexes are immaculate." Replied Cancer with a nod as he looked at Gion before lunging at Diddy, followed by Hosen doing the same.
Blocking, evading, and counter-attacking Hosen and Cancer, I saw Gion in the distance, watching us for a split second before turning around and chasing after Sebas, something which I wasn't about to allow. Blocking both of their attacks, I jumped backward, gaining space as I converged lightning around my arm before punching at them.
'Beast Shockwave!' Thought Diddy as he punched the air, causing a large, almost undodgeable wave of lightning to shoot off his arm toward Cancer and Hosen.
Following behind my attack, I hit both of them with my bo-staff while they tried blocking my initial wave of lightning, flinging them in different directions as I ignored them and lunged toward Gion, who suddenly turned around when I got somewhat close to her.
'Heh, observation haki; better than armament in my scenario.' Mused Diddy as he diverted Gion's slash of the sword before hitting her with the butt of his bo-staff, which she dodged by tilting her head to the side.
"I said, you're staying with me! My second mate has some business to attend to!" Said Diddy with a crazy expression as he suddenly leaned backward, dodging Cancer's attack from behind.
I wasn't given a chance to rest as Hosen came from over the top; kicking the air, I evaded his sword at the last second, but now I was forced to block Gion's attack with my bo-staff while preparing to deal with Cancer's attack again.
'Tsk, annoying!' Thought Diddy with a frown as he dodged Cancer's sword while channeling a large amount of lightning.
"Beast Blast!" Yelled Diddy as he released the accumulated lightning, creating a large sphere of lightning that arched through the air like an EMP explosion, engulfing the three admirals and scorching their bodies.
"Hehe, c'mon, is this the best you three can do against a child? You Vice-admirals are pathetic." Declared Diddy with a grin as he stayed floating in the air using geppo while eyeing the three admirals.
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Listening to Sebas and Diddy's plan, I punched Dalmatian with a flaming fist, forcing him to take a step back before following up with a flaming kick to the gut, flinging a few meters away while I used that chance to look at Diddy hold his own despite fighting against three Vice-admirals.
'Tsk, bastards, such a fucking monster; he's going to get stronger again.' Mused Freyja with a wrathful expression as she ignored the four and focused back on her charging opponent, who was currently a dog-human hybrid.
"Cerberus's Claws!" Said Freyja as she converged her fire around her nails and lunged toward Dalmatian before slashing at him, which he blocked with his haki-covered hands, though the heat was scalding his skin.
'Just fucking go down already!' Thought Freyja as she pushed even harder, using the might of her mythical zoan abilities to overcome Dalmatians' strength and push him back.
"F-Fuck me; these Vice-admirals are no joke." Muttered Freyja in exhaustion as she took a second to catch her breath while Dalmatian stood back up despite his various injuries and charged toward her again.
Seeing him run back toward me, I grunted in anger before doing the same as I punched him in the face, only for him to kick me in the gut, causing me to grit my teeth in pain though I stood my ground. Slapping his leg away, I stepped closer and kneed him in the stomach while he punched me in the face, knocking a few teeth out of my mouth.
Going blow for blow, Dalmatian and I continued our onslaught of attacks; this wasn't the way I fought, but I just wanted this to end, and the quickest way for that was to fight like a brute, something I don't like, but something I was confident in. Thanks to all those beatings, my endurance was second only to my crazy Captain's, so despite the pain, I preserved one. And if I was going to succumb to my injuries and exhaustion first, I could always use my vitality reserves that I've got stored up; I haven't used any in this fight, so I'm actually winning this fight relatively comfortably.
However, I want to win this fight without using any of my revere vitality; I need to prove to myself that I can actually beat someone powerful without relying on such a crutch; if I can't even do something as simple as that, what hope do I have in defeating Diddy? Every day, the gap in our strength widens, and if I can beat someone powerful without needing to heal constantly, I won't need to keep my reserves; I can instead use it to strengthen myself and bridge the ever-increasing gap between Diddy and I.
'If I can beat; no, when I beat Dalmatian, it'll mark a turning point in the day Diddy dies.' Thought Freyja with a determined expression as she was kicked in the face, though she only retaliated with even more ferocity.