Chapter 119: Phase One

Chapter 119: Phase One

Now, it was time to really get started. To my side, Yamato tensed her body, raising her club as she narrowed her eyes at her father. In front of me, Kaido towered like a giant, his Haki coating his club as his face was completely serious.

I raised my sword, and for a moment, the world was still. Then, as a crack of light flashed downward and made contact with Kaido’s club again, everyone moved at the same time.

A clang rang out as we all lunged forward, his massive club swinging into both my sword and Yamato’s club at the same time. I pushed forward, blocking Kaido’s swing with my blade as black lightning crackled around the impact from his Haki, shaking the air around us.

Yamato came from the side, her club swinging low toward his ribs as our weapons were stalled, but Kaido was skilled enough to avoid it. He grunted and twisted his upper half, meeting her strike with the shaft of his weapon as the main part pressed against my blade, but the force still sent him skidding back a few feet, gouging trenches into the floor with his massive heels.

I didn’t give him a chance to recover, swiftly using [Quick Step] as I tilted my blade, letting his club slide off the side as sparks flew, and stepped into his guard. My sword lashed up, blurring in the air as a barrage of strikes came in only a few seconds.

Kaido snarled, twisting his body again as his huge arm lashed out - slamming into Yamato and knocking her away as his club rose. He blocked the first two strikes with his weapon, but the difference in speed was too much, and my third swing slashed across his shoulder.

But, as the blade made contact, instead of sinking into his flesh and drawing blood, it stalled out. It pressed into his chest, as if I was trying to cut through metal with a normal sword, and it wouldn’t budge.

I smirked lightly. His END was no joke, and I’d need to put some real power into my swings if I wanted to draw blood.

"Annoying brat!" Kaido barked as my sword failed to cut into him, and his club suddenly surged forward with brutal speed. It shot over my head like a bullet, breaking through the air, and I swiftly ducked under the swing. A shockwave exploded behind me from the force, blowing apart various destroyed pieces of the rooftop and sending them falling off the side.

As Kaido swung, Yamato was already moving again, leaping above him and twisting mid-air before slamming her club down harshly. Her strike landed on Kaido’s shoulder, pounding down on his torso and driving his feet a bit into the ground with a crash that sent debris flying in every direction.

However, the man’s shoulder didn’t budge, and no blood came pouring out as he just looked up at Yamato with an annoyed gaze. His END really was insane.

But, he should’ve trained his speed a bit more as I lunged upwards from below, gripping my sword as I put more strength in the swing than before. I carved the sword upward, upper-cutting across his body as the sword dragged from his gut to his neck.

"GRAH!" Kaido grunted loudly, stumbling back as the sword cut across his front, but, once again, it didn’t draw blood - though, from the pained grunt he gave, I assumed he at least felt something from the blow.

Kaido’s head snapped down angrily, and he lunged forward, becoming a blur to an untrained eye despite his size, and this time it was my turn to be on the defensive. His club rose and came crashing down over and over again, moving in fluid, skillful arcs.

I raised my sword in response, swinging back as I parried each attack. His blows were like cannonballs, with each swing of his club sending out a rippling shockwave that sent chunks of the rooftop flying out in every direction.

I parried one swing, then another, and then a third, but, as he stepped forward suddenly and the arc of his club changed mid-swing, I raised the sword to block. The club slammed into my guard, pressing a huge weight down on me, and I was almost sent skidding backwards.

Almost. If it were another opponent, I probably wouldn’t care much about the exchange, and would’ve let myself be pushed back to create an easier opening to counterattack. But, against a fellow Conqueror, I wouldn’t let myself budge.

And, as I stood like a brick wall, unmoving despite Kaido’s club bearing down on me, Yamato had her opportunity. She launched at him from the side, her club cocked back as she swung a harsh and brutal attack directly into the side of her father’s head.

Kaido didn’t say a word, just grunting lightly as the club pressed into his cheek - pushing his head to the side just a little bit as he wouldn’t budge either. Then, he broke his clash with me as he rotated his body, and swung his club outward at Yamato.

In response, Yamato shifted her weight, yanking her club back and slamming it forward to match her father’s as she fell to the ground. A clang of blows rang out as both Beast Clan members duked it out, their clubs blurring through the air as they continued to meet in the middle.

Their clubs collided again and again, every impact warping the air and sending shockwaves through the entire structure under us. However, with each hit, Yamato was slowly being pushed back, her eyes narrowing and arms tensing as she was forced to backpedal.

If she were alone, she would’ve been forced to transform already, and then still likely be overwhelmed anyway. But she wasn’t alone.

"You’re pretty bad at focusing on two opponents at once," I said casually, coming down behind Kaido like a meteor as he had been distracted with Yamato, "We’ll have to work on that."

Kaido slammed his club forward, pushing all of his strength into his clash with Yamato, and sent her skidding back as a result. Then, he spun around, swinging his club upward to try and block my strike, but it was sloppy and rushed.

My downward swing slammed into his blocking club, and a clang rang out as he struggled to contain my strength. Then, he folded.

His club pushed backward, mashing into his own torso as I came down from above like a meteor. His knees gave out, and he stumbled backwards before falling onto his ass. The ground cracked beneath Kaido’s massive weight as he hit the rooftop, slumping downwards, and it was a wonder that he didn’t fall back through the castle again.

Dust and debris blasted outward from the crater around him, and he glanced up at me, his eyes glaring. Though he still looked more annoyed than angry.

"Punk," he growled, lifting his head as he pushed himself to his feet, then reached down to brush the dust and soot off his body.

"You said you’d acknowledge me, but this isn’t all you can do, right?" I landed in front of him, my eyes narrowing as both [King’s Aura] and [Intimidation] activated simultaneously.

The air on the rooftop shifted again, becoming even more suffocating and heavy than before. The very space around us became tense, warping under the pressure of my presence, and Kaido’s eye twitched as the full brunt of it slammed into him.

"Time to stop underestimating me," I finished simply.

This had been a nice warmup, but I knew there was a lot more he could do. I would stop fighting with just my sword, and if he couldn’t keep up, then this would become disappointing.

"...Your Haki is strange," Kaido finally spoke after staring down at me for a second, "I can’t feel it."

I blinked at his words, raising an eyebrow at him, "Haki? I’m not using Haki."

For a second, the battle was paused as Kaido stared at me blankly, and I stared back just as blankly.

"You... you’re not using Haki?" Kaido finally gritted out, his muscles tensing as his eyes flashed with anger, "You’re trying to say that you’re matching my blows without Haki?!"

"Don’t take any offense to it. I just can’t use it," I smirked, only pissing him off more.

I had considered trying to get Hyougoro to teach me how to use Haki, but had decided to wait for a better teacher, as the elderly man was actually pretty limited in his usage. I could’ve rushed it if I felt like I needed it to take down Kaido, but, to put it bluntly-

"I don’t need it to handle someone like you anyway."

Kaido’s eyes flashed open with anger at my words, and his fingers clenched the shaft of his club, but Yamato was already rushing forward again. She shot in from the side, her club raised, and then it came crashing downward with raw force.

Kaido just narrowed his eyes again, looking unamused as he twisted, his club held by his side, and then stepped forward. For the first time since our initial clash, Kaido looked deathly serious as a spark of lightning shot downward again - coating his club in pink flickers of power.

"THUNDER BAGUA!" This time, his words were an actual shout, and I could tell I had seriously pissed off the Yonko.

I couldn’t really blame him - in this world, there were two distinctions. There were those who could use Haki, and those who couldn’t. Between them, there was a very fine line drawn.

To put it simply, if you were a Haki-user and you lost to a non-Haki-user, then you were, bluntly, a failure to the entirety of Haki-users. Unless your opponent had some OP-ass devil fruit, or was so much stronger than you that they didn’t even need Haki, there was no situation where a Haki-user should lose to someone who couldn’t use the power. There were some rare cases where non-Haki users could come out on top, but for the most part, Haki was overpowered against a non-user.

So, as Kaido was actively getting his ass kicked by someone not even using Haki, I couldn’t blame him for being pissed.

And, I could feel the anger in his swing. His club burst through the air in the blink of an eye, and Yamato’s eyes went wide as the full brunt of Kaido’s strength slammed into her like a semitruck. His club met hers, and without any struggle, powered through it - slamming through the club and into Yamato.

"GAH!" Yamato gasped as the side of the club smashed into her, and she was sent flying backwards in a whirlwind of force. She was launched far across the rooftop, slamming into the ground and rolling a few times from the impact.

As Kaido whirled around to swing his club at me, I was already in motion. I sprinted forward, sword held by my side, and my other wrist flicked lightly as a [Fireball] launched forward at the beast. He swung his club forward, casually batting through it, but as he did, I was already lunging towards him.

[Hellfire] ignited on my blade as I slashed forward, and Kaido hastily took a step back, then swung his club forward to match my sword. I wasn’t playing around anymore, and [Crushing Blow] activated as I also mentally cast [STR Buff] on myself.

As a result, when the two weapons met in the middle, it wasn’t close. My sword burst through his in a domination of strength, sending it flinging to the side as Kaido struggled to hang on to his weapon as his arm was yanked to the side.

I landed on the ground, sprinting forward as I was within his guard in an instant, and I grinned widely as I pointed my blade forward - jabbing it directly at his side. As I did, my eyes locked onto the small part I was aiming for, and I willed [Worthless]

Kaido’s eyes went wide as it did, my blade spiking through the air and jabbing directly into his side as [Sharpen] also activated. This time, instead of being stopped, the blade carved through his skin and muscle effortlessly - stabbing deep within his gut.

[Devouring Stab] has claimed stats from [Kaido]!

+18,000 HP!

+1,800 MAXHP!

+8,200 STR

+4,125 AGI

+15,770 END

"GRAH!" Kaido growled, stumbling back as he stared down, a mixture of shock and disbelief as, for the first time since he had fought Oden decades ago, blood came flowing from his body.

For the first time in 20 years, Kaido had been injured.

And, sufficient to say, he was not happy about it. His eyes flashed with anger again, and his club whirled through the air, intent on punishing me for besmearing his near-invincible body.

"DAMN YOU!" His torso spun, lashing out his club wildly in rage, but I just grinned wider.

I raised my hand, not even trying to dodge, as a small, reddish-black ball of power appeared on my palm.

"I hope you didn’t like that weapon," I said simply, and a burst of the [Power of Destruction] shot forward in a wave.

It slammed into the incoming club - blowing through the material effortlessly and cutting the massive metal club in half. Kaido paused, his eyes wide as his weapon suddenly disappeared in front of his eyes.

"H-Hassaikai..." He muttered the weapon’s name in disbelief.

Then, I dashed forward as the momentum of his wild swing caused him to lean slightly, and casually lashed out with my blade - targeting the back of his leg as I used his shock to get behind him.

A quick combination of [Worthless] and [Sharpen] ensured that my swing cut deep, and as it slashed across the back of his leg, Kaido let out a roar.

[Devouring Stab] has claimed stats from [Sirzechs]!

+5,000 HP!

+500 MAXHP!

+700 STR

+250 AGI

+2,750 END

"YOU DAMN BRAT!" He yelled, stumbling back as more blood was drawn and his balance was suddenly pulled out from under him.

He fell forward, not having experience with suddenly losing the balance in his leg when he’d barely been injured before, and his hand lashed out. It pressed into the roof, stabilizing himself, but it was too late.

"THIS IS FOR-" Yamato surged forward from behind, her eyes blazing, and her club sparking with red-black lightning as she poured her Conqueror’s Haki into it, "ODEN!"

Her strike hit like a comet, slamming downward as the Haki streamed behind it, and it made contact with the back of Kaido’s head. The Yonko’s body bent forward from the force, and he was driven face-first into the floor, the hard roof shattering as he was sent head-first back to the first floor of the castle.

The massive figure fell through the roof, bangs and slams ringing out as his form fell through floor after floor. I stepped forward, approaching the hole.

I stopped beside Yamato, sword resting on my shoulder, as she huffed, sweat on her head from the effort of using the attack.

"Good work," I said simply, glancing down at the hole Kaido had gone through as the wind howled around us.

"I... did it," Yamato muttered, her eyes wide and almost disbelieving as she stared at where Kaido’s body as gone, "This was... easier than I thought."

"Eh? Don’t act like it’s over already," I hummed, causing Yamato to blink rapidly as she glanced over at me.

As she did, the hole where Kaido had been thrown through came bursting open as a massive figure came flying out - looking much bigger than Kaido had been. Though as the long, almost serpent-like blue dragon soared back onto the rooftop, it was certainly the same Yonko.

If Kaido were to die that easily, then he wasn’t worthy of serving the Beast King.

"We just got to phase two."

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: Thank you for reading! The next Chapter will be posted in a few days!

You can also read the next 7 Chapters right now on !