A shockwave generated from the clash between Blackbeard and I as basic fodders around us scrambled to get away. They were sane enough to understand that they had no business in interfering in a fight between the two captains.
I was not using advanced conqueror's haki right now. I don't want to show my cards this early in the game. Not before I could figure out what new devil fruit power Blackbeard has gained. We locked eyes as both of us retracted our respective attacks.
Darkness seeped out of his body as darkness started to envelop the whole battlefield. This was annoying. I hated the passive effect of Blackbeard's devil fruit. If the darkness spread too much, then it would be bad for our troops.
My sword gained an orange-red hue as I coated my sword with advanced armament haki. I needed to get him out of this crowded zone. Blackbeard might not might the collateral damage that there will be in our fight. But I wasn't like him. I wasn't going to allow my own men to die the name of 'collateral damage'.
Seeing that I was preparing something, Blackbeard clicked his tongue and retracted his own darkness. I rushed towards him with my sword by my side. He crossed his arms and took a blocking position. He thought that I was going to attack him on his vitals.
So, he was quite surprised to see that I just performed a simple stab towards his crossed arms. The sword didn't even touch his body as felt his body fly up in the air. Before even realizing what was happening, Blackbeard found me just before him. My sword gleamed with dangerous as it made an arc through the air.
The power of the swing threw him towards the ground this time. As he landed on the ground safely, he found himself on the very innermost part of the island. A part of the island that was devoid of any lifeform. He studied me once again as the battle raged on far away from us.
"Let's fight here, Blackbeard. There won't be anyone to interrupt us like it happened in Marineford."
"Zehahaha. You just don't want your crew to die as collateral. Don't give these weird excuses."
"I suppose I should not."
I rushed towards him once again as he threw out black spheres towards me. I dodged with minimal movements as I closed in on him. As I closed the distance between us, Blackbeard snarled, his teeth flashing in the dim light cast by the swirling darkness around him. He thrust his palm forward, and a pulse of Yami Yami no Mi energy exploded outward, distorting the air with its gravitational pull.
I planted my feet and coated them with Armament Haki, using sheer force to resist the pull of the darkness. My sword moved with precision, cleaving through the tendrils of shadow that clawed toward me.
"You think that little trick will work on me?" I taunted, stepping to the side and slashing at him.
Blackbeard absorbed the slash into his darkness, but even so, the force of the attack pushed him back. His grin widened, and he spread his arms wide. "You don't get it, do you? My darkness wants your strength. The stronger you are, the stronger it becomes!"
I didn't respond, letting my sword do the talking. With a flick of my wrist, I unleashed a shockwave of haki-infused air, aiming for his midsection. The ground beneath him cratered as he took the full brunt of the attack, his Yami Yami no Mi barely managing to contain the destructive force.
But instead of showing pain, Blackbeard laughed, his dark aura intensifying. "Zehahaha! That's what I'm talking about!"
He clenched his fists, and the darkness around him compressed into dense orbs that floated menacingly in the air. "Liberation!" he bellowed, and the orbs exploded outward, releasing a barrage of debris and rubble that had been trapped in his void.
The shrapnel tore through the air at blinding speeds. I coated myself in Armament Haki, letting the shards glance off as I zigzagged closer. He wasn't trying to kill me with this attack—it was a smokescreen, a distraction.
Through the cloud of dust, Blackbeard lunged forward, his massive frame deceptively quick. His right hand reached for me, coated in darkness. I barely managed to deflect his grasp with my blade, but the touch of his Yami Yami no Mi sent a chilling numbness through my arm.
"You're not bad," I admitted, shaking off the sensation. "But if this is all you've got, you're in trouble."
Blackbeard's grin didn't falter. Instead, he raised his left hand, and for the first time, I noticed something strange—another Devil Fruit power stirring within him. The air around his hand shimmered unnaturally, and then he thrust it toward me.
A massive burst of energy surged forth, and I felt my instincts screaming at me to dodge. The ground where I had been standing erupted in a blast of devastating force, leaving a massive crater. As I collected myself, I looked at his properly. It seemed like his usual darkness powers. But as I looked at the crater that had formed just now, I was greeted with black flames swirling within in. I could clearly feel the heat even from twenty meters away from the point of impact.
"How do you like my new ability? Black flames from the deepest parts of the underworld. Flames that is said to have the ability to kill a god!"
"You read too much fiction, Blackbeard. Think about beating me before you fantasize about killing a god."
I racked my brain trying to figure out what his powers were. Black flames were something that I was not familiar with. It must not be a logia considering that Ace is already there. Not paramecia either. Paramecia types cannot do something like this. It was also because of something I felt before while he tried to use gravitational pull on me.
His darkness only pulls devil fruit users towards me. So, that also meant that he should not be able to use that on me. Another new power of his.There was only one type of devil fruit user that can use multiple types of elements and abilities at once.
Mythical Zoan
As I reached my conclusion, Blackbeard confirmed my theory as green gas filled the air. I didn't need to be a genius to understand that the gas was poison. I held my breadth as the gas started to work as a smokescreen.
I was not immune to poison like Akane was. My poison resistance was much lower considering the fact that I have never faced any proper poison users. But holding my breadth for a long time was not feasible. Just as I was about to dispel the poison with my haki, I felt a hand closing in on me.
I didn't detect it before as the hand itself had no malicious intent towards me. It just wanted to touch me.
Catarina Devon. She wants to copy my appearance. Annoying.
I didn't try to dodge as a kunai made of blood clashed with Catarina Devon's hand.
My sword finished its arc as advanced conqueror's haki surged through my sword. The simple swing dispelled the poison surrounding myself. As the poison cleared, I was greeted with an astonishing sight.
On my side, Catarina Devon clutched he wrist and stared daggers toward a blood soaked Akane. It seems she was enjoying herself.
But what's more astonishing was the sight before me.
Before me stood a fifteen-meter-tall giant hound with three enormous heads. Its eyes glowed with a yellow hue and its skin was dark red. Its teeth looked razor sharp and its fangs could destroy cities. The mere sight of it was extremely unnerving. But even more than that, what was truly unnerving was that the three different heads showed three different emotions.
I now knew how Blackbeard was so calm now. He has divided his own personality in three parts.
Truly a mythical being. The guard of the freaking underworld.
Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Cerberus