บท 741: Jack and Elizabeth, a battle between two extremes
City Terrain, this region was packed with numerous buildings, leaving only wide streets for people to pass through.
The realism of the buildings wasn't particularly high; Arceus' abilities don't extend to architecture, and he doesn't know any Wood Release: Construction Technique. The houses only vaguely resemble actual houses, enough to serve as cover, but it was sufficient for an arena.
This was the region Elizabeth had chosen. Although she has the ability of Water-type Pokémon, and her true form was that of a basilisk lizard capable of running on water, she hadn't chosen an Ocean Terrain but instead opted for this city region.
She was a sniper, an assassin—that was her position. As Olga's partner, she had always operated under Olga's illusions, becoming the most terrifying blade hidden in the shadows. Direct combat wasn't her strong suit.
In the sky, a few Altaria flew by, and the weather over the City Terrain became remarkably clear. They acted as Weather Setters for the venue, adding even more unpredictability to the competition.
At the same time, Queen flew over, microphone in hand. Ann had already finished her duties, and it was now Queen's turn to host.
Under Kaido's order "keep fighting as long as you don't die", both the audience and host were at some risk, so Ann couldn't handle this dangerous job.
Even the spectators needed to have some level of self-defense ability—or at least their friends and family should.
So, those who came to watch were either core members or their families. The ones at the highest risk were the pirates of subordinate crews who followed their captains to broaden their horizons.
But before they arrived, they had been thoroughly screened by Queen.
Ever since the arenas were raised, the Marine surveillance ships knew that the Beasts Pirates were conducting their regular event here, but they had no clue what was actually happening.
If someone among them could have infiltrated, the surveillance ships wouldn't need to nervously monitor the area, risking their lives.
"Muhahaha! Your favorite Lord Queen is back! Now, let's take a look at the battlefield—Miss Olga's partner Elizabeth and our boy Jack are ready to face off. Let's—hey!
Watch yourselves! If you accidentally hit the referee, don't blame me if you get disqualified!"
Flying above the arenas, Queen provided commentary on all the ongoing battles while dodging various bizarre attacks. He even suspected that some of them were aimed at him on purpose.
...
By now, the fight between Jack and Elizabeth had begun, though it wasn't particularly intense. Compared to the heated battles in other arenas, this one was unusually quiet. The moment the battle started, Elizabeth had vanished from Jack's sight.
Armament Haki and Observation Haki weren't exclusive to humans. As long as one had enough talent and opportunity, any creature could potentially learn Haki. Observation Haki wasn't Jack's strength to begin with, so right now, he couldn't sense Elizabeth's location.
The clash of Observation Haki wasn't about me predicting your move, then predicting your prediction, leading to an endless loop. If that were the case, the fight would just turn into two people standing still, staring blankly at each other.
Observation Haki could be used not only to sense others but also to evade their detection. When two people of similar Observation Haki levels fought, it was as if neither had it. At that point, the battle relied entirely on instinct.
Transformed into a Copperajah, Jack scanned his surroundings. Suddenly, a powerful Hydro Pump shot out from the window of one of the buildings. However, due to Jack's high defense, it only forced him back a few steps.
His Armament Haki was much stronger than his Observation Haki, and combined with the defense provided by his Copperajah form, the attack had no real impact. However, when he followed the direction of the attack, he found nothing but an empty building.
At the same time, from another direction, Elizabeth's attack hit its mark again, but unfortunately, it still had little effect.
After several probing attempts, both sides frowned—they each disliked the other's fighting style.
Elizabeth specialized in guerrilla tactics, using her invisibility and high mobility to look for one-hit-kill opportunities on the battlefield. But when facing a heavily armored warrior like Jack with high defense, her attacks were less effective, significantly limiting her efficiency.
She had used this method to defeat Babanuki before—no matter how strong the opponent's attacks were, if they couldn't land a hit, it was useless. Even though her damage output wasn't high, she could slowly wear down her opponent, though it was a very time-consuming process.
Clang!
A sharp sound rang from the back of Jack's neck as Elizabeth's tail knife was deflected by his powerful defense. As Jack turned his head, his flexible elephant trunk swung behind him, but ultimately, it hit nothing but air.
Jack preferred direct, close-range, hand-to-hand combat. He found such agile opponents irritating, and for a while, the two entered a stalemate where neither could gain the upper hand.
"These buildings... are such a nuisance."
After a few more attacks, Jack changed his strategy. Instead of wasting energy chasing Elizabeth, he shifted into his Beast Form and began slowly destroying the battlefield.
One by one, the buildings turned to rubble under his stomps as he chose to use scorched-earth strategy to shrink Elizabeth's fighting space. As long as he could force her into an open area for a direct confrontation, he would hold the advantage.
...
"Worororo, Jack's quite clever, but I don't think they'll settle this anytime soon."
Up in the sky, Kaido was watching the battle below, occasionally offering his own comments.
"But at this rate, the arena you built will need to be rebuilt."
"It's fine; it wouldn't take much effort."
No one was bothered by the destruction of the arena. In a way, this was a "Divine Arena," created by Arceus, which could fully repair itself in just a few moments after the battle ended.
Kaido then shifted positions, realizing that it might take Jack and Elizabeth a day or two to settle their fight. The arena was large enough that it wouldn't be completely destroyed anytime soon, and Elizabeth was also gradually wearing down Jack's "HP".
But as Kaido moved, he noticed something odd—Yamato, who was also watching the battle nearby, always repositioned herself whenever he moved, making sure to keep Arceus between them.
"Yamato, what are you doing?"
"Huh? I'm watching the competition! Looks like it's Maria's turn next. Father, do you think Maria will win?"
While changing the subject, Yamato adjusted her position once again. This was a tactic she had learned over the years during past ranking battles to avoid Kaido's sudden urges to spar while watching. She needed to make sure she was always in a safe spot.
And the safest position? Having Arceus between her and Kaido.
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