"Hahaha, Beast Fist!" Yelled Diddy with a grin as his golden brown fist collided against Roger's fist, only for him to overpower the former King of the Pirates as he violently punched him in the stomach.
Launching Roger into the distance, I quickly leaped backward, dodging an attack from Whitebeard as he slammed into the Redline naginata first, causing the world to violently shake, which I couldn't fully dodge given the simple nature of his devil fruit; however, thanks to my black skeleton, it absorbed most of the damage, sparing any serious damage to my internal organs, causing them to merely jostle about a little, which meant nothing when I could literally swap their location.
Slapping my tail against the air, I used the moment to swing Naga-sa at Shiki and Rocks, both attempting to attack me from behind after Whitebeard's attack, but I managed to stop, though what I wasn't able to stop was Linlins massive sword that swung upwards at me since I was already busy with Shiki and Rocks,
"Hakoku Sovereignty!" Yelled Linlin loudly as she violently swung her newly appointed homie upwards, launching a mighty attack that slammed into Diddy's back, forcing him higher into the air.
Having narrowly managed to block Linlins attack using my arm, I clenched my hand, forcefully destroying the attack as I looked at Linlin, only for Shanks to suddenly appear in front of me, prompting me to swing my bo-staff in his direction, though, he ended up just being a distraction since the moment our weapons collided, Roger and Whitebeard leaped into the air behind me.
"Wahahaha, Divine!" "Gurararara, Rupture!" Yelled Roger and Whitebeard, respectively, as they swung their weapons in unison at Diddy, launching a terrifyingly powerful attack that engulfed him in a mighty explosion that shook the heavens.
"Tsk, did that finally get him?" Asked Shiki lightly as he rubbed his jaw while floating towards Rocks, who licked the blood dripping from his nose.
"Xebahahahaha, you already know the answer to that, Shiki." Tch, excuse me for trying to make small talk, annoying bastard." Remarked Rocks and Shiki, respectively, as the former laughed while eyeing the smoke in the sky, causing the latter to scoff in annoyance.
With a wave of my hand, I dispersed the smoke, revealing my now injured figure to my six opponents; that attack of theirs was pretty powerful and left a respectable-sized gash on my back; though it only cut through muscle, it stopped once it reached my spine.
"We attacked with the intent to bisect him in half, yet we only managed to leave a flesh wound on his back. Was he born from a rock?" Said Roger softly as he rubbed his head while gazing at Diddy, who merely grinned before kicking the air behind him, propelling himself to the group.
Slamming my bo-staff onto the ground directly in front of them, forcing them to all leap backward as the ground surrounding me exploded in a violent display of lightning. I was about to lunge towards the closest person, who just so happened to be Rocks, but before I could, I stopped before snapping my head in the direction of my disciple, only to smirk.
"Heh, I always knew he had the qualities of a conqueror." Muttered Diddy with a feral grin as he gazed at Scar fighting against all of CP0, only to raise his hand, catching Rocks's fist, which was enveloped with miasma.
"Xebahahaha, you've got one powerful crew." "Heh, you do as well, but you're lacking; if you didn't die, your crew would've overthrown you eventually." Remarked Rocks and Diddy, respectively, as the latter clenched his fist with a smirk, seemingly attempting to crush the former's hand, only for Roger to come to the rescue.
Flexing my muscles, I stood in place and watched as Roger's sword swung at my arm, slicing through my muscles with difficulty, only for his weapon to come to a halt after hitting my bone.
"What the hell is your skeleton made of? I-I can't cut through it, nor can I remove my sword now." Asked Roger curiously as he glanced at Diddy, who chuckled before grasping the blade with his other hand.
Removing the sword from my arm, I yanked Roger towards me, grabbing his clothes as I violently hit him and Rocks into each other before spinning in a circle and tossing them at Shiki and Whitebeard, respectively, leaving Linlin by herself as she attacked with her sword, prompting me to raise my bo-staff as I blocked the attack; however, to my surprise, the sword suddenly turned into dust the moment it collided with my weapon.
"What the?" Asked Diddy in confusion as he tilted his head to the side while gazing at Linlin, who seemed just as confused.
I didn't need anyone to explain to me what was happening as I watched as Linlins 'healthy' appearance rapidly deteriorated, though the ones who had it the worst were the other four corpses, as they reminded me of zombies.
"Huh, I suppose my vitality ran out; that sucks; I was enjoying myself. Still, it lasted for nearly two hours, more than I expected, so I can't be upset." Said Diddy lightly with a sad expression, only for him to shake his head and sigh, his words causing Rocks to laugh while lunging toward him.
"Xebahahaha, so what? We're still plenty strong enough to give you all a good fight!" Stated Rocks with a feral grin as he launched a powerful wave of miasma towards Diddy, though it was noticeably weaker than before.
Shaking my head at his statement, I swung my bo-staff, burning the wave of miasma with my lightning as I lunged towards Rocks while lightning arched off my body.
"Nah, not really. Besides, I've just remembered I've got a government to destroy." Said Diddy lightly as he glanced at Rocks before tossing him into the air.
Surging lightning into bo-staff, I swung it Rocks, launching a terrifyingly powerful bolt of lightning, which he attempted to block by creating an attack of his own, but with the loss of my vitality, he was too weak to block my attack.
The moment my attack collided with his body, the sky was briefly illuminated with bright blue light, only for it to swiftly vanish while Rock was nowhere to be seen, only a piece of his clothes to waft about in the sky, which I, too, brunt with a lightning bolt.
Stabbing my bo-staff into the ground, I glanced at Linlin, Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki, who gave me knowing looks, having come to understand their time was up.
"Gurararara, I'm supposed to be dead anyway." "Wahahaha, yeah, I was enjoying my time with my wife!" Said Whitebeard and Roger, respectively, as they fearlessly charged at Diddy with their weapons.
"Fine by me, death isn't all that bad; it's not like that bastard of a child will let me live anyways." Said Shiki lightly as he glanced at S-Gecko before shrugging his shoulders and flying towards Diddy alongside Whitebeard and Roger, leaving Linlin alone.
"I-I'm just tired." Muttered Linlin softly, her desire for revenge fading away alongside her body, which slowly turned to dust as she returned to the world of the dead.
___
___
"So, what's it going to be, Shanks?" Asked Diddy lightly as he held a bloody and injured Shanks by his neck, calmly looking at him with his vertical slit eyes.
"Heh, I've come to stop you; that's it." Said Shanks lightly with a faint smirk as he fearlessly looked into Diddy's eyes, causing him to drop him to the ground.
"Well, you can't, and you've already been beaten." "W-Why don't you kill me then?" Said Diddy and Shanks, respectively, as the latter slowly sat upright while glancing at the former, who was approaching his bo-staff embedded into the ground.
"I don't know. I don't know if it's because you're too weak for my taste or if it's something else, but I don't really feel like killing you. I mean, if you want to die, I can kill you; it's not going to be hard." Remarked Diddy lightly with a thoughtful expression as he rubbed his chin while holstering his bo-staff before glancing at Shanks, who chuckled and shook his head.
"I-I'll just lay here. I've already given it my all to stop you; whatever happens now is beyond my control." Said Shanks softly as he lay on the destroyed ground while staring into the sky.
"Besides, I can tell you don't have much time left. The fight against Rocks was a telltale sign if you know how his devil fruit works." Added Shanks lightly as he looked at the setting sun, his words causing Diddy to briefly freeze before smirking.
"Heh, yeah, it won't be long until the full moon appears; I'll only have a few hours to use my Sulong state. However, I'm confused about what you mean about Rocks. Anyways, I'll see you later; try not to die." Remarked Diddy with a faint smirk as he suddenly leaped into the air, propelling himself towards the mansion in the far distance.
"Heh, the strongest one among us, yet he didn't so much as leave a small injury; he really doesn't have much longer." Muttered Shanks faintly as he glanced at Diddy with pity before shaking his head.
(Note: I don't know if I had ever mentioned it, but Rocks had eaten the Death Death fruit. Only in this novel.)