Bege walked out of the ruins. The hardened, invisible barrier around his body cracked and shattered, making it look as though his own body were breaking apart. With a final crack, the barrier disappeared completely.
Beneath it, Bege was unharmed, but his brow was tightly furrowed, his eyes now holding a new gravity.
The Sulong form of Master Nekomamushi was terrifyingly powerful. He couldn't afford to underestimate it. He stomped, shattering the ground, and launched himself forward. The ground behind him exploded twice more as he instantly appeared behind Nekomamushi, swinging the Fire Cloud Sword at his back without hesitation.
However, it was as if Nekomamushi had already sensed him. His long, massive tail whipped through the air, creating a sonic boom as it lashed toward Bege with the dexterity of an arm. Bege changed the angle of his blade and slashed at the tail.
With a loud clang, the sound of metal striking metal rang out. Nekomamushi's tail, coated in Armament Haki, had blocked Bege's attack.
Nekomamushi spun around, his right paw swiping fiercely, the thick claws tearing through the air.
Bege instantly used Soru to dodge, appearing in the air above him. The Fire Cloud Sword began to glow red-hot as he brought it down in a powerful slash, unleashing a massive blade of fire.
Nekomamushi raised his left paw and swiped, his hardened claws actually tearing the flaming sword-breath apart. His right paw immediately followed with another swift attack.
Bege blocked with his sword but was thrown back by the immense force. He landed on the ground like a lightning bolt, shattering the earth beneath his feet.
"Bege, if you leave now, we can pretend none of this ever happened," Inuarashi said, walking over, his voice grave.
Bege's gaze turned sharp as a blade. An aura of supreme Conqueror's Haki swept over them, crashing into Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. Their expressions changed drastically, becoming even more solemn.
"You think you've already won?" Bege asked, his face devoid of emotion as the ferocious Conqueror's Haki around him grew even more violent. "Then you are severely underestimating the power of an Emperor of the New World." A red light gleamed in Bege's eyes, and his aura became even more savage and brutal, whipping up the dust and sand around him, making him look like a demon.
"And you shouldn't underestimate me in my Sulong form," Nekomamushi snarled, his long white mane whipping in the wind. He took a step and charged toward Bege with raw, untamed aggression.
Bege's eyes narrowed. The space in front of Nekomamushi instantly hardened. The cat mink slammed directly into the barrier, shattering it on impact.
Nekomamushi's charge was halted for a moment. He shook his head, caught off guard by the unexpected collision. A vicious light shot from his blood-red eyes. His claws glowed black as he coated them in Armament Haki and swiped forward, tearing the hardened space apart with two claw marks as he lunged for Bege.
Not to be outdone, Bege swung his burning Fire Cloud Sword, and it collided violently with the hardened claws. Fire and lightning crashed together, and a ferocious shockwave erupted from the point of impact.
Nekomamushi's left paw swung down. Bege met it with a punch, and black lightning crackled. The force sent Bege stumbling back a step. Nekomamushi's terrifying strength was truly astounding; without having absorbed any shadows, Bege found it difficult to withstand his raw power.
Nekomamushi pressed his advantage, his paws a blur as a sky full of claw marks once again descended upon Bege.
"Beast King!"
With a roar, a brutal slash of flaming sword-breath erupted from beneath the claw marks, tearing them apart. Nekomamushi pressed down on the flame slash with both paws, using his sheer strength to force it back toward the ground, aiming for Bege.
Bege retreated rapidly. The flame slash hit the ground and exploded, sending a ring-shaped shockwave blasting outward. It slammed into both Bege and Nekomamushi, sending them flying and carving out a massive crater.
Nekomamushi climbed out of the rubble, several wounds now visible on his body, his blood staining his silver-grey fur.
Bege emerged from the ruins as well. His Castle Skin was now active, and the ferocious explosion had only left a white mark on it.
Nekomamushi looked at the mark on Bege's skin, then at the bleeding gashes on his own body. His face was grim. "Old dog, let's go together!" he shouted to Inuarashi. "I can't hold him on my own!"
Inuarashi flickered, appearing beside Nekomamushi, his body wreathed in electricity.
"This guy is many times stronger than he was a decade ago," Nekomamushi said heavily, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "We have to go all out, or we won't win."
"Go!" Inuarashi roared. The two of them transformed into two thick bolts of lightning and shot forward.
Bege drew the cursed sword Hannya with his left hand. Blood-red flames immediately ignited along the blade as a bloody aura began to drift from his body. He lunged forward, a crimson shadow colliding with the two bolts of lightning.
Boom!
Two impacts echoed in all directions as two shockwaves swept out. Bege's two swords had blocked the claws of both minks.
The pause lasted only a breath before all three moved at once. The minks' hands were a blur, their tough, sharp claws their greatest weapons.
Bege swung his blades to meet them. A dense series of impacts rang out, a constant stream of sparks and lightning. The three of them moved faster and faster until only three afterimages could be seen clashing back and forth within the shattered crater. The ground was continuously breaking apart as rings of shockwaves formed a gale that kicked up dust and sand, obscuring the battlefield.
By now, the Guardians and the Musketeers had arrived. They stood at the edge of the battlefield, unable to enter due to the terrifying shockwaves.
"The Master and Duke Inuarashi are both in their Sulong forms, and they still can't overwhelm the 'Demon Dragon'? Is this the power of an Emperor of the New World?" Pedro stared at the terrifying scene, deeply shaken.
The intense battle raged for three minutes before the three figures suddenly separated. Bege's feet scraped along the ground for dozens of meters. A bloody aura flowed from his crimson eyes. His suit was in tatters, and his Castle Skin was covered in a dense web of claw marks. A few of them had even broken through, drawing blood.
He looked up just as Nekomamushi and Inuarashi charged at him again.
"Do you really think I'm made of clay?" Bege's eyes turned cold. A bloody light erupted from the cursed sword Hannya, and a terrifying slash of blood-red energy swept out, tearing through the air as it surged overwhelmingly toward the two minks.
This was his strongest technique—Beast God.
"If you can't block this, don't blame me for your deaths," Bege thought, his eyes flashing.
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi stopped in their tracks, stunned by the terrifying blood-red slash. The electricity around them flared, and they both stepped forward, their muscles bulging as they swiped with their claws.
Cat claws and dog claws met the oncoming slash of blood-red energy. The terrifying power of the Beast God slash pushed them back, sending them sliding across the ground for over a hundred meters as they tried to withstand the blow.
They roared, unleashing their full strength to hold back the blood-red energy. Then, almost simultaneously, they threw their hands upward, flinging the slash into the sky. The blood-red energy shot into the heavens like a bolt of crimson lightning and then exploded with the force of a thunderclap that shook the very sky. A ring-shaped, blood-red shockwave appeared in the heavens, instantly expanding for thousands of meters and pushing the clouds away.
Warm sunlight shone down.
The terrifying aura of the explosion rained down from hundreds of meters above. Every mink on Zou trembled under the ferocious and demonic power. Even Zunesha let out an uneasy rumble.