Chương 180: Chapter 170
"Nox Blast."
Kaidou found his vision shaking as an abrupt punch landed on his cheek.
*BOOOOOOOOOOM*
Such punch was so powerful that an intense gust of wind blasted out, affecting the nearby pirates.
Rowan, in Linlin's eyes, could only be seen with a blur. One notable aspect that she could sight before the former's disappearance once again, was the ferocious red-coloured eyes.
Linlin, upon witnessing that Kaidou was suddenly blasted out of the scenery, brought her Ares up.
"H—"
Before Linlin could speak a word, she was crashed down to the ground due to Rowan's kick.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Immediately after, Kaidou appeared behind Rowan in his hybrid form, ready to smash Hassaikai onto Rowan's back,
*SWOOSH*
but Rowan was already gone from Kaidou's sight. Subsequently,
Kaidou found Rowan's palm resting on top of his already-bloody x-shaped scar.
"Nox Blitz."
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Kaidou let out a loud scream, causing the whole air in proximity to vibrate.
Rowan's technique completely penetrated his hard skin, which even a ten-thousand-feet fall wasn't able to do so.
However, Rowan wasn't done. Although he already expressed some degree of exhaustion, his palm that lied on top of Kaidou's bleeding body morphed into a fist.
"*Huff*... *Huff*... Terraform—"
"FLAME DRAGON TORCH!!!!!!!" Kaidou, who was beneath Rowan, roared as his body transformed into a full dragon form and exploded in a potent flame simultaneously, which interrupted Rowan's following attack.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
Rowan gritted his teeth as his body skyrocketed upward from the momentum. He initially spun in an uncontrolled manner, but through the quick succession of the bounce forces, he quickly came to a stop—right where Linlin was waiting.
"Mamamama! Your end is approaching fast, Grimheart!!!"
Her appearance was frightening to look at. Her gigantified sword on her right hand, Ares, was encased within Hera's crackling electricity. Her whole body was encased within a perfume-like cloud, Aphrodite. Her hair was burning fiercely due to her fusing with her flame-homie: Hestia. With Hermes on her right foot, she was able to levitate in the sky. The dark-homie, Hades, fused with her clothes and turned them into pitch-black. And finally, behind her floated an ice-bow-homie: Diana.
"Union... Supremacy!!!!!" Linlin swung Ares horizontally toward Rowan, and in accordance, all homies launched their attacks toward Rowan.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*
At a close distance, all seven attacks exploded in a chaotic manner. Yet,
*SWOOSH*
Rowan flew through the huge explosions with a trail of blood on his Haki-covered face.
'10 minutes left...!'
Rowan wasn't in a condition to care about the damages that he received. Within 10 minutes at maximum, both Linlin and Kaidou had to go down, no matter what.
Although his state wasn't normal, Rowan, with determination, outstretched his right leg, which began to heat up imminently.
"Nox—"
Linlin, without any time given to dodge, took the full blunt of Rowan's kick,
"GRIMHEART!!!!"
"—Drive!!!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Linlin vomited a huge amount of blood as her eyes became bloodshot from the pain. She was sent crashing down onto the ground, where a huge crack formed.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Second blast.
Rowan continued to push his leg into Linlin with all he got.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Third blast.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. Seventh. With each blast, the cracks on the ground enlarged, before an enormous pit was formed; even Linlin, the one with an incredible physical prowess, couldn't fully endure the damage.
"*Huff*... *Huff*..." Rowan's whole world was spinning. An exhaustion from a prolonged fight, followed the use of heavily-taxing techniques. When combined with the injuries that he took against Linlin and Kaidou, it wasn't an easy feat for Rowan to continue.
His speed was slowing down.
'9... minutes...'
Just as Rowan thought, Kaidou, who was encased within a gigantic dragon of flame, roared as he flew in the sky domineeringly. Then, just as Kaidou's eyes flashed murderously,
his huge form began to dive onto Rowan.
Rowan grimaced as he lowered his stance, ready to evade Kaidou's strike.
'Supersonic—'
"Heh... heh..." However, Rowan's escape was prevented by... Linlin, who tightly held onto Rowan's ankle with a huge purple-coloured bruise on her stomach, "Mamamama!!! *Cough* *Cough*... You aren't going anywhere, Grimheart!!!"
Then, Linlin, with surprising strength, threw Rowan toward Kaidou.
"Falling Dragon,"
Kaidou crashed onto Rowan's exposed body,
"FLAME BAGUA!!!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Rowan's vision became blurry due to an incredible blast of flame, and he found a sharp pain protruding into his body.
Then, Kaidou's jaw bit onto Rowan's torso, in an attempt to crush him into pieces.
'I have... to get out...'
Rowan's Conqueror's Haki: Manifestation began to flicker unstably; it desperately defended Rowan against Kaidou's hot flame and sharp fangs.
With a shaky arm, Rowan gripped onto Kaidou's huge fang, before,
*BOOOOOOM*
breaking it into pieces.
"AHHHHHH!!!!" Kaidou cried in pain as his jaw opened, releasing Rowan back into the air.
'8... ugh... minutes...' Rowan gathered his mind together while turning around and meeting Linlin's sword, Ares, with his fist,
""Union Supremacy!!! / Nox... Blast!""
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Both of them were seen with their share of injuries. However, Rowan, as he pushed against Linlin's Ares, noticed that her injuries were rapidly closing.
"Mamamama! Surprised, aren't you?!" Linlin grinned maliciously, "By using the ability of my Soul Soul fruit, I can restore any damage that I receive! It is the 'life' of someone else that I am using to heal myself!"
From the back, Kaidou's flame dragon growled as Kaidou, from within, frowned with his mouth bleeding,
"Is this all you got, Grimheart?!!" Kaidou shouted angrily, "Damn you!! You should've used all your strength from the very beginning!!! Now, with you already having been exhausted... your death won't be as honourable!!!"
"Haa... whatever." Rowan, huffing in tiredness with Emperors having surrounded him, lifted his hands up toward them, with each palm facing each one of them.
'How many minutes are left by now? 6? 5?' Rowan, whose mind was incapable of thinking logically at the current moment, thought as his palms began to brighten up in a brilliant yellow.
There was one thing that Rowan understood right now: that he had to end this battle right now. Forget 12 minutes; his mind was on verge of shutting down from enervation alone.
"Terra..."
Linlin and Kaidou stiffened in realization. They recognized Rowan's strongest technique, which had the destructive capability that rivals their combined attack: Conquest of the Sea.
"Union... Great Supremacy!!!" Linlin, without a moment of hesitation, swung her blades at her maximum strength. Just as she did so, all homies' attacks morphed into one chaotic storm that flew toward Rowan.
"Rising Dragon..."
Kaidou's flame dragon burned even greater. Black lightning began to crackle around its form due to the use of Conqueror's Haki: Infusion. Then, it shot out toward Rowan along with Kaidou's roar,
"—FLAME ASCENDING BAGUA!!!!!"
"...forming."
The sky above the Delta island... then exploded into oblivion.
A bright white flash. An instant demolition of the whole layer of clouds up in the dark sky, revealing a starry night. The violent waves that, perhaps, will become an enormous tsunami on another island. A disastrous storm unlike any other, which engulfed various individuals mercilessly.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
A calamity has fallen upon the Delta island.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Upon the non-stop explosions that rippled across the whole area, all other battles came to a stop.
"Tch... what exactly is going on there?!!" Ace exclaimed with disbelief as he tightly gripped onto the ground, using his utmost strength simply to prevent himself from being swept up into the storm, "Is that truly the fight between the human beings?!!"
Jozu's eyes shook in an amazement, "It's just like... when pops and Roger first met one another... in their primes."
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
'Rowan...' Carina glanced at the storm with worry as she stabbed her knives on the ground. She knew him better than anyone else. She knew that Rowan only used his strongest techniques as a last resort; he was in a tight situation right now.
'He needs help.' Carina glanced to Vista, who nodded back knowingly.
'Mama...! To think she was forced to exert her strength to this extent when she is fighting along with Kaidou...' Katakuri, whose mochi-body was glued on the ground, looked at the storm with a pale expression, 'If Grimheart was given more time, he would've been unstoppable. Just who is this man?'
Katakuri, whose eyes flashed in red, then noticed Carina at some distance away from him.
"Mochi, *Huff*... Grab!"
A thick layer of Mochi rose from the ground and shot out toward Carina. Before the latter noticed, Katakuri's mochi attached to Carina's ankle, immobilizing her.
Carina's eyes widened, "Katakuri!!!"
Katakuri glared back adamantly, "You aren't going anywhere, *Huff*, Phantom..."
Carina turned to Vista, and saw that his swords were stuck within a thick layer of candy.
On the other hand,
"Hang on tight!!!" Robin, from the ship, shouted with a troubled expression as her arms sprouted out wide, which tightly clenched onto the all Heart pirates, Twin Cats pirates, and Bonney pirates together with Prominence.
*SPLASH*
"HELP!!!!"
"AHHHH!!!!!"
Many ships flipped and became destroyed due to the violent sea that fluctuated up and down. All the battles in the sea weren't able to continue, as everyone lowered their body and desperately held the ships to preserve their lives.
And now, when the chaos finally died down,
"*Cough*..."
Rowan, whose whole body was full of bloody injuries, coughed out blood as the 'Grimheart' and 'Grimlock' died down.
"Worororo... *Huff*... I commend you for your strength, Grimheart." Kaidou, who was now back in his hybrid form, stood up wobbly as he grabbed onto his Hassaikai, "However, it seems that you weren't a Joyboy either."
'Mythical Zoan, eh...' Rowan, with half-lidded eyes, weakly gazed at Kaidou, whose wounds were slowly healing up, 'And that regenerative ability... awakened probably.'
"Ahhh!!!! Grimheart, you made me use up all of my saved-up lifespans!!!!" Linlin, on the other side, snarled frighteningly as she glared at Rowan, "How dare you?!!!!"
Linlin's Ares slammed onto Rowan, who was only able to coat his arm in Armament Haki: Hardening at the last moment.
*BOOOOM*
Rowan helplessly collapsed onto the ground. However,
*Boom*
Rowan, with the use of his bounce force, stood back up.
'12 minutes... I haven't used it all up.'
Rowan thought as his eyes blazed up in golden-colour,
'Although I doubt that I will be able to utilize Conqueror's Haki: Manifestation anytime soon, I can still move.'
As long as he was able to fight, it wasn't over yet.
"Thunder,"
Kaidou, who clenched his Hassaikai with two hands, then charged toward Rowan,
"Bellow Bagua!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOM*
Rowan's eyes whitened and his jaw opened from pain as he was sent airborne, vomiting another round of blood. Yet, he gritted his teeth and he landed back on the ground.
*BOOM*
He, without yielding, stood firmly, enduring Kaidou's blow.
Then came another sword slash from Linlin,
"Ikoku Sovereignty!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOM*
Rowan endured.
Kaidou's furious attacks?
"Kundali Dragon Swarm!!!!"
*BOOOOM*
Rowan found his vision darkening. However, he gathered his mind once more. Although he could no longer think rationally, although he could no longer see what truly was going on, he knew one thing: that he can't fall here.
*BOOOOMBOOOOMBOOOOM*
By the end of Kaidou's strikes,
*Thud*
Rowan fell to the ground. Yet,
*Boom*
he stood back up once again.
"Why are you standing back up?" Kaidou, with a genuine curiosity, asked, "Why won't you stay down?"
"Haa..." Rowan, who was half-unconscious at this point, muttered weakly,
"Because... I am the bounce man."
Kaidou could feel an incredible determination from Rowan.
'Just like Oden...' Kaidou liked this kind of man, who stood to their beliefs until the end, unafraid of death.
"...Good answer." Kaidou, whose eyes widened in surprise, grinned crazily.
'Ha, is this the end?' Rowan, with a hazy mind, thought as he saw Kaidou's Hassaikai approaching him.
Everything seemed to be slowing down. Rowan felt as if his whole life was flashing right in front of him. The life which he came to cherish, the life which he came to enjoy. Although the beginning was harsh, and it still was harsh, Rowan found genuine happiness through his crew.
"Thunder..."
'But...'
There was so much that he wanted to do. He wanted to try living a peaceful life in this harsh world. He wanted to have a family and actually live past the age of 25 at least—the age at which he died in his previous life.
When Kaidou's Hassaikai finally slammed onto him, there was only one final thought that entered Rowan's mind,
'Carina...'
"BAGUA!!!!!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOM*
With Kaidou's final blow, their battle finally came to an end.
*Thud*
It was Linlin and Kaidou's victory.
"Mamamama!!!" Linlin laughed in exhilaration, "Finally! Now, that flying horse is going to be mine at last!! And One Piece—"
"You were a noteworthy warrior, Grimheart." Kaidou, who stared into the cloud of smoke, said in a gruff tone, "That, I shall remember—"
*Boing*
""...Hm?""
Linlin and Kaidou froze at the same time.
Nearby, there lied one pebble, which... was bouncing continuously.
*Boing*
It seemed so out of place, and so sudden, that Linlin and Kaidou couldn't help but stare at it.
*Boing*
____________
Rowan was hollowly sitting on top of a rock, gazing at what lied right in front of him.
A red orb, with notable cracks around it, floated up in the sky.
'I... am not dead yet?'
*Crack*
Then, another crack appeared around it.
Rowan, for some reason, found his eyes locked on the peculiar scene in front of him.
<What is this?> Rowan asked back then.
<A memory.> And that was Bob's answer to him.
And now,
*Crack*
the red orb broke apart. What followed after was mesmerizing,
for his whole mindscape has become painted in a bloody red.
And in the center of all, there lied... the words.
<The one above all.>
Then, Rowan's eyes met a bright red flash that caused him to close his eyes.
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