"H-He's been knocked out of bounds! The Bandit Jean Ango is disqualified! A one-hit KO!"
"The attacks from the Obsidian Archbishop of the Church of the Night, Horkheimer Max, are simply unstoppable!" Gatz screamed from the announcer's booth, his voice crackling with excitement.
On the other side of the ring, Boo, Vice-Leader of the Happo Navy, faced off against the Funk Brothers.
Kelly Funk, the elder brother, was a scrawny man with star tattoos on his left shoulder and chest, wearing boxing gloves. Narrow-minded and arrogant, he possessed the Paramecia-type Jacket-Jacket Fruit ability. However, his individual strength was lacking, and Boo made short work of him, knocking him back with ease.
Bobby Funk, the younger brother, was a titan of a man with his hair and beard tied into twin braids and a lightning-bolt tattoo on his neck. Despite his intimidating frame, he possessed a timid personality, claiming he had never been in a fight since the day he was born. Yet, his body was as hard as tempered steel; when Boo struck him with an axe coated in Armament Haki, the blade shattered into two pieces while Bobby remained completely unscathed.
The Funk Brothers only became truly formidable when they used the Jacket-Jacket Fruit to fuse. Kelly's predatory instincts and combat techniques combined with Bobby's indestructible physique raised their combat power exponentially. However, since the Paramoutn War, Boo's strength had reached a new level. Even against the fused brothers, he held his ground, trading blows without yielding an inch.
While Boo tangled with the Funks, Sai, the Leader of the Happo Navy, was locked in combat with "Destruction Cannon" Ideo.
Ideo, a master of a unique martial art, possessed a punch that could trigger violent explosions, similar to the Bomb-Bomb Fruit ability used by Arlan. But his opponent was no ordinary fighter. Having survived the brutality of the Paramount War and the agonizing death of his grandfather, Don Chinjao, at the hands of "Golden Ring" Aeridar, Sai's strength had reached terrifying heights through two years of hellish training.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The two figures blurred across the stage. Every time they clashed, a violent detonation shook the air. A dozen other contestants were caught in the crossfire, left crippled or dying in the wake of their struggle.
"Destruction Cannon!!!" Ideo stepped forward, lunging with a massive, explosive punch.
"Hasshoken!!!" Sai met him head-on, throwing a powerful kick.
KABOOM—!
The collision triggered a massive blast. Searing flames and thick black smoke engulfed them, but a series of visible air ripples vibrated around Sai's leg, shielding him perfectly from the inferno.
"Fighting someone this strong... it makes my blood boil!" Ideo snarled, his eyes fixed on Sai.
"I've spent the two years since the Paramount War training in hell. It wasn't so I could lose to trash like you!" Sai remained expressionless, but a vision of a certain man flashed through his mind, and his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"You're looking down on me?! You bastard!" Infuriated, Ideo gathered every ounce of his strength for a final strike.
Destruction Cannon!!!
In an instant, his red boxing gloves ignited with friction, wreathed in white-hot flames as they tore through the air.
Wujiaogen Heel!!!
Sai's gaze sharpened. He stomped the ground and leaped into the air, his right leg coated in obsidian-black Armament Haki. He delivered a devastating spinning kick mid-air.
BOOM—!
The resulting explosion sent a pillar of fire and smoke high into the sky. A terrifying shockwave rippled through the arena, causing the entire ring to groan and vibrate.
Whoosh—
A dark silhouette flew out of the smoke, crashing violently into the edge of the ring dozens of meters away.
"I-Ideo is defeated!"
Seeing Ideo lying at the edge of the arena, eyes rolled back and blood leaking from his nose and ears, Gatz bellowed, "Look at that! The man who survived the Paramount War two years ago has decisively defeated 'Destruction Cannon' Ideo! It seems the legend that he once destroyed a dozen enemy warships single-handedly is true! Truly a Leader of the Happo Navy!"
"The V2 Champion of the 'Central Fighting Tournament'? To a man like that, you're nothing but a minor character," Sai said somberly, his voice low. "If I aim to surpass that man, I have no right to avenge my grandfather if I can't even handle someone like you."
Meanwhile, the giant mercenary Hajrudin was also clearing the field. The "Colosseum Grim Reaper," the brutal bull that had gored twenty contestants, was knocked unconscious with a single elbow strike from the giant.
"It's you... Horkheimer Max!" Hajrudin recognized the man standing below him.
Hajrudin had once been hired by the Alliance of Nobles of the Bivins Kingdom and had participated in that kingdom's war of annihilation. During Aeridar and Enel's raid on Griffinfort, he and four other giants had suffered a crushing defeat at Enel's hands, though they had narrowly escaped with their lives.
"Giant Mercenary Hajrudin. I remember the Bivins nobles hired you back then," Max looked up at the twenty-meter-tall giant, his tone flat.
"That's right. That was the day I learned the true power of monsters," Hajrudin rumbled, his voice heavy. "But this time, the Flame-Flame Fruit is mine!"
"Pity. I had the same idea," Max replied calmly.
Hajrudin swung a massive fist downward, the sheer pressure of the strike scattering the dust on the ring.
CRASH—!
The entire ring shuddered. Stones shattered and dozens of cracks spider-webbed across the surface, forming a massive crater. The shockwave kicked up a wall of air and a cloud of debris.
"Too slow."
In the blink of an eye, Max appeared in mid-air, level with Hajrudin's eyes.
"Nani?!" Hajrudin gasped in shock.
Night Secret Art: Black Hammer!
Max let out a low growl. His Obsidian Scepter flashed with a pitch-black metallic luster. Like a massive sledgehammer, it slammed into the left side of Hajrudin's face.
BAM—!
A shockwave erupted at the point of impact. The force snapped Hajrudin's head to the side, blood spraying as his massive frame began to tilt uncontrollably.
THUD—!
Hajrudin's body crashed onto the ring with the weight of a falling mountain, rendering him instantly unconscious.
"The giant... has fallen!"
Gatz couldn't believe his eyes. A small human had toppled a twenty-meter giant with a single strike. The audience watched in stunned silence, their eyes nearly bulging out of their heads.
"The arena is electric! With overwhelming strength, he has systematically eliminated several powerful seeds and dozens of ordinary fighters! The spotlight of Block C is fixed entirely on Horkheimer Max!" Gatz leaned halfway out of the booth, his expression one of pure awe.
"It looks like the winner of Block C will be the Obsidian Archbishop, Horkheimer Max!"