Roar!!!
It was clearly nothing more than an ordinary roar, yet when it fell upon Jarul's ears, it instantly became like a heavy hammer being swung up and smashed down hard onto his brain.
Dark-type move—Snarl!
The sound wave, infused with Dark-type energy, struck straight into Jarul's soul, causing his body to stagger violently.
And at that very moment, Barto, who had entered Pokémon-ization, used the opportunity to leap down from between Jarul's fingers. His figure flickered several times in midair, quickly opening up distance between himself and Jarul.
"Haa…"
Jarul clutched his dizzy head. Watching Barto's figure gradually retreat in his vision, he found himself unable to pursue even half a step.
"What was that…?"
As a giant, Jarul knew absolutely nothing about the Pokémon moves Barto was using, much less could he understand why a simple roar could have such a severe effect on him.
But when Jarul raised his head again, what he saw was a half-bodied demon condensed from a transparent barrier, sharpening its claws while staring at him with hollow eyes.
And within that demon was none other than Bartolomeo, once again posing in the stance of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit!
After undergoing Pokémon-ization, his expression was far more vicious than before, no different at all from the barrier demon surrounding his body.
This was clearly the combat form Barto had created after Pokémon-ization, using his body enhanced by Pokémon power, while combining his Devil Fruit ability with Dark-type energy.
For this, Barto had even specially asked Red to give the move a resounding name—
Susanoo · Barrier Form!
In this form, not only was Barto's spirit strengthened to a certain extent by Dark-type energy, making him immune to the vast majority of mental shocks, but even his Observation Haki received a tremendous boost, giving him enough time to dodge certain spatial attacks.
Of course, those two aspects merely made up for Barto's weaknesses slightly.
The truly powerful part of Susanoo · Barrier Form was that, under the absolute defense of his barrier power, it also granted him the ability to move flexibly.
In other words, even though Barto had to maintain his special stance right now, he could still rely on Susanoo's power to fight normally.
From defense to offense—
And not just offense, but overwhelming offense!!!
Whoosh!
The demon's sharp claws, made even sharper by the move Hone Claws, suddenly swung out, leaving a fierce slash mark through the air.
The next instant, Barto's figure leapt violently. The half-bodied demon wrapped around him also leapt out at the same time, stretching its claws toward Jarul's body.
"Feel true fear, you stupid giant!!!"
Barto, not forgetting to mock him, burst into loud laughter while secretly activating the Dark-type move—Power Trip!!!
Power Trip's effect was to attack the opponent by swaggering and showing off, allowing the boosting moves one had used on oneself to gain a second amplification, making one's attack even more terrifying!
This was the strange nature of the Dark type!
Although its attack power was inferior to Psychic, and its mystery inferior to Ghost, the Dark type fused together characteristics of both Psychic and Ghost, giving birth to an offensive form unique to evil!
Power Trip plus Hone Claws.
Neither could be considered an especially powerful Dark-type move on its own, yet at this moment, they formed a perfect combination technique.
On the other side—
Seeing that Barto had actually used his ability to condense a strange demon whose size was in no way inferior to his own, Jarul, who had recovered his senses, immediately gave a bitter laugh.
"Size… really has no effect on the Straw Hats at all, does it!?"
It seemed that the strong fighters of the Straw Hat Pirates were even more enthusiastic about the oppression brought by size than the giants themselves were.
They were clearly just a group of ordinary humans, yet every one of them possessed unique skills, transforming into forms that lost nothing to the giants in physique.
After sighing with emotion, Jarul's expression grew stern once more.
Facing Barto's claw attack, he quickly picked up the heavy axe that had fallen to the ground, then assumed an attacking stance.
Victory was no longer something he hoped for.
Although Barto's Snarl had not inflicted any truly serious injury on him, it had allowed him to understand one thing: besides that barrier with absolute defense, Barto also possessed a powerful force that could strike directly at the soul.
That was likely the Pokémon power Shanks had warned him about earlier.
Yet knowing was one thing.
Faced with Barto, who possessed so many strange abilities, even the experienced and knowledgeable Jarul had no idea what method he should use to defeat him.
Since schemes were useless, then he could only use the most primitive method!
The warriors of Elbaf had never feared head-on clashes!!!
Boom!!!
A surging aura rose once more, forming a violent wind that swept in every direction.
Jarul once again gathered all the Haki in his body, converging it onto his heavy axe. His feet stomped forward in succession, trampling one deep pit after another into the earth.
"Aaaah!!!!"
"Elbaf Glory · Supreme Heaven!!!"
Whoosh!
The sharp axe blade tore through the void, leaving behind a brilliant trail as it slammed toward Barto and the half-bodied demon surrounding him.
In the next instant—
Clang…
A heavy sound of metal clashing rang through heaven and earth, like the deep toll of a great bell, long and resonant.
Yet as Jarul listened to that extremely rhythmic sound wave, the expression on his face showed no ease at all.
Holding the axe with both hands, he poured all the strength in his body into his wrists. But no matter how hard he exerted himself, the axe blade blocked by the half-bodied demon could not advance in the slightest!
"Heh heh~ Do you think the current me is still as easy to deal with as before!?"
Beneath the Susanoo, Barto split his mouth into a wide grin, laughing wildly as if possessed.
"Useless! Useless!"
"You lot, cowering in this tiny Elbaf, have no idea what true power is!"
Puchi!!!!
A surge of blood suddenly shot into the sky, dyeing the battlefield scarlet.
Barto, controlling Susanoo's other sharp claw, slowly pulled it out from Jarul's abdomen while laughing madly without end.
His other claw took advantage of the moment when Jarul was weakened by injury and swung fiercely, directly activating the Dark-type move—Sucker Punch. With a speed even faster than Jarul's Observation Haki could respond to, the sneak attack succeeded.
And because the barrier possessed absolute defense, it had granted Susanoo the characteristic of absolute hardness!
In this world, there was already no one who could contend with the current Barto in a head-on collision.
Even if Luffy and Zoro came, the result would be the same.
Precisely because of this, Moria had once even considered letting Barto fight Shanks.
However, Red had constantly been explaining to them that Shanks likely possessed power second only to the Pirate King. As a result, they ultimately decided to have Law—the true strongest member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, who could perfectly defeat Barto every single time—fight the former Emperor of the Sea, Shanks.
"Elder Jarul!!!"
Seeing that enormous spray of blood, the giants immediately let out furious roars of concern.
But immediately afterward, Jarul suddenly spoke.
"Do not show the posture of the weak!"
Although his resolute eyes remained fixed on Barto, everyone knew that, at this moment, he was speaking to the giants behind him.
"The warriors of Elbaf fear neither life nor death!"
"A mere wound that pierces through the belly is nothing at all!!!"
Boom!!!
The violent pain in his abdomen seemed to make Jarul recall the past of his youth. A strange light flashed in his eyes, while under the stimulation of pain, his body suddenly erupted with an even more terrifying aura.
A gale swept across the battlefield, blowing sand and stones into the air.
The smile on Barto's face did not fade in the slightest, but he praised Jarul, whose fighting spirit had not declined at all despite his serious injury.
"As expected of the leader of the giants!"
"I take back what I said earlier!"
"Although the giants of Elbaf are still a bunch of weak frogs at the bottom of a well, you are definitely the one among those frogs with the greatest chance of breaking out of the well!!!"
Whoosh!!!
Under Barto's control, the claw-wielding Susanoo suddenly brought both hands together and quickly manifested a barrier greatsword!
Barto continued laughing.
"Come, warrior of Elbaf!"
"Your fighting spirit has earned you glory! Let me show you my strongest move!"
The Susanoo, holding the sword with both hands, suddenly lowered the enormous sharp blade to the left and right in front of its chest.
"Be careful!"
"Because this next move can really kill someone!!!"
Barto, who had seemingly never placed Elbaf in his eyes, suddenly lost all mockery in his gaze at this moment.
The next instant, his body violently twisted. Surging Dark-type energy poured continuously from his body like the ghostly soul of a demon, rushing into the heavy sword formed from barrier power.
Under Jarul's tense gaze, Barto slowly spoke.
"Susanoo Secret Technique—Great Sword Brutal Swing!!!"
Swish~!
The instant Barto's voice fell, his body violently spun in place.
And the Susanoo on his body also began spinning fiercely along with him.
The enormous treasured sword, carrying surging Dark-type energy, instantly drew afterimage after afterimage through the air, until a terrifying storm suddenly formed and rapidly advanced toward Jarul's location.
Brutal Swing was not, in itself, a particularly powerful Pokémon move.
Or rather, many Dark-type moves were naturally weaker in raw power than moves of other Pokémon types.
However, the move Brutal Swing allowed Barto to use the power of the move to control his own body, letting him freely perform many motions he originally could not make.
This was the characteristic of the Dark type!
It did not only manipulate enemies.
It could also manipulate oneself!
Whoooosh!!!
As Barto's body spun faster and faster, the surrounding airflow was swept up by the sudden tornado and began madly surging toward Barto's position.
Drawn along by this airflow, Barto began moving rapidly toward Jarul.
But at that moment, from within the giant formation behind Jarul, Shanks suddenly stepped forward and shouted a warning.
"Elder Jarul! You can't take this move head-on!!!"
A blood-red light gleamed in his eyes. Clearly, in that previous instant, he seemed to have seen some terrible future through Observation Haki.
However, upon hearing Shanks's warning, Jarul merely glanced calmly behind himself.
At this moment, behind him, aside from the three humans Shanks and the others, there was no longer a single giant warrior who could continue fighting.
With only one look, Jarul turned his head back once more, his voice deep.
"Ah~ I can feel the terror of this move too, Shanks."
"But the warriors of Elbaf can no longer retreat!!!"
If they retreated again, he would not even be able to see what value Elbaf could display to the Straw Hat Pirates.
That was right.
Even as an elder of Elbaf, Jarul could not help thinking that perhaps they might as well join under the Straw Hats.
The powerful fighters who had appeared one after another from the Straw Hat Pirates had allowed him and the giants behind him to witness the terror of the changing era.
The long-lived giants were born with a certain sluggishness that humans could never understand.
That was why, even though the times had changed many times over, the world had not truly seemed to change much to the giants.
But at this very moment, as one of the wise men of the giant race, Jarul was extremely clear on one thing…
If, during this change of eras, the giants of Elbaf once again failed to catch this train because of the sluggishness brought by their long lives…
Then in the center of the next era, there might no longer be a place for Elbaf.
Therefore, the current Jarul had already decided that no matter what the result of this arena battle was, he would lead Elbaf to join the Straw Hats.
Of course!
Wanting to join them did not mean he would admit defeat in the battle before him.
The glory belonging to the warriors of Elbaf would never fall so easily!!!
"Aaaah!!!"
Jarul let out one final roar, raised the giant axe in his hands, and charged directly into Barto's sword storm head-on.
In an instant!
The spinning blade storm became like a crusher. Everything it touched shattered in the blink of an eye, then, under the following impact, was reduced to ash.
The giant axe that had accompanied Jarul for more than three hundred years also shattered with a crash at this moment, turning into countless metal fragments that scattered through the air.
Yet at this moment, neither Jarul nor the blade storm formed by Barto showed the slightest intention of retreating.
Both sides seemed to erupt with a resolve to fight until death, using all their strength to attack the other with ferocious intent.
In the blink of an eye, the giant axe in Jarul's hands vanished completely, leaving behind only a broken axe handle, which was still being rapidly devoured by the blade storm!
"Not good!!!"
In that instant, seeing that the blade storm was about to sweep toward Jarul's body without pause—
And seeing that Jarul had no intention of retreating at all—
Shanks, who stood in the preparation area, suddenly drew Gryphon from his waist. His body turned into a swift streak of light as he appeared between Jarul and Barto.
"This battle ends here!!!"
Sensing the bloody scent spreading through the air and realizing that Jarul's body had already begun to be worn away, Shanks urgently swung Gryphon in his hand.
Surging Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki poured from his body like a tide, smashing violently into the storm Barto had transformed into.
Claaaaaang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A metallic sound that swept across the entire Underworld of Elbaf and echoed leisurely toward the surrounding seas suddenly resounded through heaven and earth.
And under Shanks's ruthless expression, as though he had already used every bit of strength in his body, the storm Barto had transformed into finally slowed abruptly. At last, it came to a halt, locked in a stalemate against Gryphon in Shanks's hand.
At the same time—
Drip… boom…
Drip… boom…
Huge drops of blood crashed onto the earth like falling stones, instantly staining the ground crimson.
Looking again at the place where that blood fell—
Jarul was still maintaining the posture of his clash with Barto, standing there with a dazed expression, as though he had already lost consciousness.
And his hands now had only two bloody palms left.
All of his fingers had been ground into bloody flesh and scattered into the surrounding air during that clash.
(End of Chapter)