~ Support & Read 12 Advanced Chapters on Patreon
❁❁❁❁
The two opponents, their auras clashing, their pride on the line, were locked in a stalemate, but Arthur had a clear advantage.
His wounds were already healing, his body regenerating at an astonishing rate, while Whitebeard's injuries, though minor, would linger.
In a battle of attrition, Arthur would always win.
"Whitebeard, did my little love tap rattle you?" Arthur's voice was laced with a cold, mocking amusement, though inwardly, he was far from confident.
A minor cut on the Grand Line was nothing. Most pirates wouldn't even bother bandaging it. And Whitebeard hadn't even flinched...
"Gurararara! I told you, brat…Your lightning is nothing but a child's toy." Whitebeard wiped the blood from his chest, the flow already slowing.
———
"POPS!"
On the Moby Dick, Marco and Jozu cried out, their voices filled with concern. They knew their father was strong, but seeing him injured—it was unsettling.
"He actually hurt Whitebeard…That damn brat… he's getting stronger," Big Mom muttered, stuffing her face with sweets, her usual gluttony a coping mechanism for her growing unease.
——
"I told you I'd sink you to the bottom of the sea. Did you think I was joking?" Whitebeard's voice boomed, his Haki radiating outwards, a palpable pressure that made the very air tremble.
The blood flow from his chest had stopped. He strode forward, his every step shaking the ground, his aura unstoppable.
"Let's see if you've got the strength to back up your words," Arthur retorted, twisting his aching shoulder.
His shirt, torn and tattered, revealed his powerful, steel-like muscles. He was a force to be reckoned with, a symbol of the coming new era.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Whitebeard didn't waste words.
He charged forward, his every movement triggering a miniature earthquake, his fist, a force of nature, descending upon Arthur.
The sheer pressure of his attack, like a mountain crashing down, was enough to break a lesser man's spirit.
Even the onlookers, watching from miles away, felt a shiver of fear, a sense of their own insignificance.
The air around his fist cracked, the fissures spreading, a tangible manifestation of his power.
Anything caught in its path would be annihilated.
The world seemed to tremble, the very atmosphere collapsing under the weight of his attack, the sea churning, massive tsunamis rising.
"Seaquake——!"
Whitebeard roared, unleashing the full fury of his Devil Fruit, a devastating attack that could shatter islands, a force that could reshape the world itself, his gaze fixed on Arthur, his expression a mixture of disdain and amusement.
The onlookers stared, awestruck.
How could such power exist??
Even if another possessed greater physical strength—they couldn't match his destructive capabilities.
Arthur, his lightning crackling around him, teleported, closing the distance, his purple aura blazing. His eyes glowed, his hair standing on end, his body a conduit for raw, untamed power.
Arthur met Whitebeard's attack head-on, his own Haki flaring in response.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The impact was cataclysmic...
The ships on the horizon were tossed about like toys, the force of the blast threatening to capsize them, the sound of it deafening.
Arthur and Whitebeard were engulfed in the swirling vortex of dust and debris.
Alasolan Island, unable to withstand their clash, shattered.
The smoke slowly cleared, revealing the two figures, their clash seemingly a stalemate.
The onlookers, their strength insufficient to perceive the subtle nuances of the battle, were stunned.
But Rayleigh, Redfield, and the others—they saw the truth.
Arthur's arm, the arteries within it ruptured, his muscles torn, was bleeding profusely.
The battle grew more brutal, more desperate.
Whitebeard's attack had inflicted a devastating injury, but it had also taken its toll on him. He couldn't unleash another attack of that magnitude, his breath ragged.
Moments later, as the dust settled, the world saw the two opponents, standing amidst the wreckage of the island.
Arthur's bleeding arm was broadcast to every corner of the world.
Jessica, watching from Marine Headquarters, her heart pounding, her face pale with worry.
Arthur was injured, but Whitebeard was exhausted.
In this stalemate, the outcome was uncertain.
Lightning crackled around Arthur's arm, the muscles twitching, the flesh knitting itself back together.
In minutes, his arm was fully healed, as if it had never been injured.
Arthur's face was grim.
He had never been so badly injured, not even against Garp.
Whitebeard's power was on a completely different level.
But then... he smiled.
Only by facing such monsters could he truly test his limits!
———
"Still got some fight left in you, old man?" he asked, his voice laced with a cold amusement.
"More than enough to kill a brat like you," Whitebeard retorted.
Hummmmmm…
The air vibrated as Whitebeard attacked again, his massive frame moving with surprising speed, his fist, wreathed in a white halo, seeming to make the very space around it collapse.
He didn't even pause to catch his breath, unleashing another devastating quake.
Arthur stood his ground.
To retreat now, to lose his edge, even if he won the battle, would be a hollow victory.
A massive bolt of purple lightning erupted from his fist, meeting Whitebeard's attack head-on.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The lightning shattered, the force of the quake overwhelming it.
Arthur's lightning, in a direct clash, was no match for Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, a power that could truly shatter the world.
It wasn't that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was weak, but that Whitebeard, with his mastery of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, was the Strongest Man in the World.
A Devil Fruit chose its user as much as the user chose the fruit.
They amplified each other, a perfect synergy of power and will.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit had made Arthur a powerhouse, but his own relentless pursuit of its potential had made him a legend in the making.
❁❁❁❁
~ 12 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)