A thick, ancient aura shrouded the skull of the bone giant.
The power of the Black Tortoise manifested, forming a mysterious, divine protection.
It stood alone, shielding the giant's head like an indomitable guardian.
A bronze helmet gleamed faintly, exuding a heavy, battle-worn pressure that knew no fear.
At its crest, a strange serpent's head extended upward, as if it were scanning the world.
Waves of probing energy pulsed outward from it, vibrations from a different time and space sweeping in all directions.
Then, a red hue wrapped itself around the exposed bones of the giant's body.
Flame-like armor encased its ribs, glowing with patterns that resembled burning feathers.
The armor stretched upward from the collarbone to the knees, glowing with shifting light that flowed across its etched lines, energy gathering like a coiled spring, waiting for the order to burst forth.
At the back, that energy converged into two luminous wings that suddenly unfolded.
Raging fire danced along the wings, wild, demonic flames that looked ready to consume the entire world.
The fiery wings beat once, and an overwhelming wave of heat and pressure surged toward Sanji.
But Sanji, whose body shared a deep, innate affinity with flame, stood unmoved.
The blazing heat licked across his face, yet could not harm him in the slightest.
A soft wind coiled around the giant's feet, whispering through the air.
The energy of the White Tiger gathered and solidified, forming into massive armored boots.
Each boot bore silver rings at the sides, gleaming with cold light.
The tips of the boots curved forward into twin sharp points, like a tiger's fangs, glinting with an icy menace.
Each boot rose up to guard the leg bones completely, and at their centers were sculpted white tiger heads, jaws open, as if ready to tear into an enemy.
Though they looked like mere ornamentation, the faint divine gleam in their eyes spoke of hidden power.
The four divine beasts had each become living forces of energy, their might fused into the skeletal giant's frame.
The once-twenty-meter figure grew rapidly, its size expanding like a living mountain.
Two vast, black pupils looked down on Sanji, no larger than a thumb from its perspective, like a god staring at an ant.
The fifty-meter-tall giant raised the Azure Dragon Spear high.
A chilling aura rippled outward, cutting through the air like a storm.
"Yohohoho~"
Brook stopped playing his piano and looked up with a grin.
"Sanji-san, you'd better be careful now~"
"This… is my strongest form."
"So…", his smile faded, voice turning low and grave,
"Even I can't always control it."
The playful fire in his eyes dimmed, replaced by solemn warning.
The ghostly flames surrounding him flickered ominously, as though whispering unspeakable words:
If you're not careful… you'll die.
Brook would never say such things to a crewmate aloud, but his gaze said it all.
Sanji's sharp eyes met Brook's across the flames.
Without a word, he reached into his pocket, drew out a cigarette, and placed it between his lips.
He extended a finger,
A tiny spark flickered to life, igniting the tip.
"Huff…"
He exhaled slowly, a wisp of white smoke curling into the heated air.
Then, with a nod toward Brook, he silently said, I'm ready.
Energy stirred once more within him.
The flames coiling at his legs surged upward, engulfing his entire body.
Brook turned his attention back to the bone piano.
His ten skeletal fingers danced across the keys, but this melody was different from before.
It was a battle hymn, filled with the will of the soul.
The rhythm stormed through the air, its vibrations resonating within Sanji's mind.
Then,
FLASH!
For an instant, Sanji felt as though he had fallen through space and time.
The training hall dissolved around him.
Above him rose a blood-red moon, veiled by thick, rolling clouds.
Below, a wasteland of carnage stretched endlessly, rivers of blood flowing across a land of bones and ruin.
The air was heavy with death.
It's like a battlefield after the end of the world…
No, not even that.
No one survived here.
Sanji stared blankly at the hellscape around him.
If someone had told him this was the underworld itself, he would not have doubted it.
Creak… crack…
Before he could regain his bearings, the sound of shifting bones echoed from afar.
Sanji turned toward it.
From the piles of corpses, the remains began to move.
Bones clattered together, and in the blink of an eye, they formed a towering armored skeleton general, its breath chilling and heavy.
"Yohohoho~"
"Here it comes, Sanji-san!"
Brook's voice rang out from nowhere, perhaps from the very sky itself.
The moment his words fell, twin flames of soul energy flared within the general's empty eye sockets.
Like a switch being flipped, the massive general lifted its weapon and roared to the heavens.
"RAAAHHH!!!"
The roar pierced the air like a thousand blades, its sheer pitch enough to rupture eardrums.
And before Sanji could even react,
The spear struck.
It lunged forward like a dragon breaking through the clouds, its blue light streaking across the sky, a single shining line that cut straight toward Sanji.
ZING!
A burst of sparks flared,
The spear crashed into the bone-littered ground with a deafening impact.
The enormous weapon gouged deep into the earth, grinding through piles of corpses in a blur of fire and dust.
It missed!
The general raised its weapon once more.
The tip of the spear gleamed silver, untouched by blood.
The Azure Dragon's spirit shimmered faintly across its length, faint echoes of dragon song humming in the air.
Above, Sanji hovered in midair, flames bursting from his legs with BOOM! BOOM!, keeping him aloft.
He looked down at the towering abomination preparing its next strike.
Controlling his energy, Sanji focused everything into his core.
The burning power within him flared violently, surging outward through his skin.
Another flash of flame erupted,
He shot downward like a meteor, his body engulfed in blinding light.
To the colossal skeleton below, he was nothing more than an insect, but to Sanji, this was his moment to strike.
His shoes and trousers shone white-hot, compressed fire wrapping his legs in pure destruction.
"Diable Jambe—!"
"Dessiner le Dragon, SHOT!!!"
BOOOOM!!!
The sound was like a bell tolling through the mountains,
a roaring explosion as Sanji's kick slammed into the general's skull.
A colossal wave of force burst from the impact, rippling outward through the air, and the power of the strike pierced straight through the giant's body, down into the ground below!
A blazing pillar of fire marked the path of the attack, and the wasteland beneath them was swallowed by roaring flames.
=============
150+ Advance Chapters Available on Patreon! Patreon.com/Veltoria