Shadow is the universal substance possessed by all things.
Whether it is stone, flowers, grass, or flowing water, everything has a Shadow.
The Shadow of a living being possesses power. It is the reflection of one's spirit, vitality, and willpower, the unique "other side of the soul" belonging to every creature.
And naturally...
As a "perfect copy," the fox-tail clones created by the Thousand-Faced Nine-Tailed Devil Fruit, which could even replicate Devil Fruit abilities, also possessed their own Shadows.
That was precisely the scene Ochoku was witnessing at this moment.
After blocking his previous attack, Inu and his eight fox-tail clones stood alongside the nine "Shadow Mages" beside them. At that moment, the Shadow Mages began to transform.
Their bodies were compressed in an instant, gradually turning into pitch-black spheres of Shadow that landed in the hands of their respective masters.
Then... Inu and the eight fox-tail clones swallowed those Shadow spheres without hesitation.
[Shadow Gathering Ground · Ninefold Devouring]
Bang!
In the next moment, an overwhelming aura carrying immense power erupted from their bodies. The enormous boost equivalent to the Shadows of two hundred people simultaneously manifested within Inu and all eight fox-tail clones.
And then,
Boom!
In the very next instant, Ochoku was horrified to discover that, aside from Inu himself, the other eight clones vanished with nothing more than a violent sonic boom.
"So fast!"
The thought flashed instinctively through Ochoku's mind. Their speed had increased by far more than just one or two times compared to before!
However, his reaction was equally swift.
"Freeform Script · Guardian Talisman!"
"Freeform Script · Five Senses!"
He immediately wrote four characters onto his body. In the next moment, his five senses were greatly enhanced, allowing him to clearly hear the violent gust of wind approaching from his side.
Boom!
"Katakuri" had already arrived, his fist reaching its target.
Bang!
The punch slammed into Ochoku's body, producing a harsh metallic clash as if iron were colliding with steel.
"Urgh!"
Even Ochoku, who had strengthened his body to the hardness of steel through the character Guardian Talisman, could not help but let out a muffled groan.
"Its strength has increased as well." Ochoku's heart trembled.
"Freeform Script · Thunder!"
Without hesitation, he wrote another character into the air. Crackling lightning burst forth instantly, seeking to drive "Katakuri" back.
But,
Buzz!
At that moment, he had already seen a book and a mirror appear before him.
Boom!
The roaring lightning shot into the book and mirror, only to be completely swallowed. Those were the abilities of Charlotte Mont-d'Or and Charlotte Brûlée.
And at that very instant,
Buzz!
Katakuri's arm, transformed into sticky mochi, had already wrapped itself around him.
At the same time,
Whoosh!
Flames blazed, steam exploded, and slashes flowing like torrents of water swept in from behind.
Those belonged to Oven, Daifuku, and Smoothie.
Bang!
Fists thundered forward, syrup flowed, and a sharp biscuit drill pierced toward him from the front.
Those were Compote, Perospero, and Cracker, and the aura and power erupting from their bodies now… Were on an entirely different level from before.
"I have to release more of it!" Ochoku gritted his teeth fiercely.
The armor covering his body visibly caved in once more, and his vitality weakened further. But in exchange, the character Guardian Talisman engraved upon him seemed to shine even more brilliantly.
[Freeform Script · Enhanced Guardian Talisman]
At the same time, Ochoku activated one of the martial arts he had mastered in years past.
"Steel Energy Art · Iron Bridge!"
His body hardened yet again.
Boom!
Moments later, the fists and slashes of the numerous fox-tail clones struck Ochoku simultaneously.
The immense force exploded where he stood. The ground cracked apart inch by inch, slashes flew into the distance, and flames burned everything in their path.
Creak...
Yet despite his entire body emitting the groan of steel being forcibly bent, Ochoku still did not fall under the combined assault of the eight attackers.
"I barely managed to withstand it."
But just as he gritted his teeth, looking at the eight figures around him and preparing to counterattack,
!!!
The corner of his eye caught sight of a scene that filled him with horror.
Besides the eight fox-tail clones,
At this moment, Inu's true body also moved.
Boom!
He stepped forward. Those icy, piercing fox eyes slowly rose within Ochoku's field of vision as Inu's body began to swell and grow larger, as though being inflated.
In his hand, the figure of the tricorne hat Napoleon appeared.
Rumble!
The Thundercloud Zeus drifted through the air.
Whoosh!
The sun Prometheus circled around him.
Yes… In only a few moments, he had transformed into BIG MOM.
[Nine-Tailed Transformation · Charlotte Linlin]
"So it was you..."
Upon seeing this scene, Ochoku immediately understood. The one who had dealt him that heavy blow at the very beginning of the battle had been Inu's true body.
The difference, however, was that, at the time, the Big Mom Inu transformed into had merely been a weakened version. But now, after devouring the Shadows, although the form he had assumed still could not compare to Big Mom at her peak,
Its aura and presence were clearly on a completely different level from before.
And most terrifying of all...
"...I can't move."
Ochoku finally realized his opponent's true objective. Although he had blocked the attacks of the eight fox-tail clones, they had successfully pinned his body in place, leaving him unable to move at all.
"Heaven!"
"Above!"
"Fire!"
At that moment, the layered voices rang out once more.
Countless Big Moms appeared out of thin air around Ochoku. Each of them raised a hand, pulling flames from the Prometheus in the sky and attaching them to the Napoleons they held.
Then,
"Spear of Elbaf: Flaming Might of the Nation!"
Without warning, enormous sword strikes carrying terrifying slashing power came crashing in from every direction.
Several fox-tail clones vanished instantly.
[Mirage Fruit LV5: Can freely swap positions with any illusion within Mirage Energy.]
But although Ochoku had finally broken free from his restraints, he no longer had any opportunity to dodge. Or rather, he had no idea which attack he was even supposed to evade.
His teeth ground together with audible cracks. Yet facing the terrifying slashes descending upon him, he knew...
He had only one choice.
"Power... fully released!"
As the low growl escaped his lips, the attacks had already arrived.
The next instant,
BOOM!!!
The violent slash shook the entire Mirror World. The earth was torn apart in an instant.
The ground overturned and the surrounding mirrors shattered to pieces.
Layer upon layer of shockwaves and flames spread into the distance, nearly drilling through everything in their path.
"..."
Even Inu, the one who had unleashed the attack, could not help but become serious upon witnessing the result.
"As expected of Big Mom's power..."
Indeed.
Even if this was merely a replicated version empowered through Shadow Gathering Ground, the Big Mom power he had copied could still be described as overwhelmingly destructive.
One could easily imagine that if the attack had been unleashed by the Yonko herself, its might would have been even greater.
Naturally, despite this brief moment of admiration, Inu's gaze remained firmly locked on the center of the attack.
Within that strike that had nearly split the entire Mirror World apart,
He could clearly see a figure still stubbornly standing amidst the flames.
[Water]
Streams of floating "Water" characters continuously extinguished the scorching flames burning across his charred body.
[Shield]
The floating "Shield" characters around him, along with the giant shields that had already been pierced through, testified to the defensive measures he had taken at the last moment.
That figure was Ochoku.
But it was obvious that the current Ochoku was once again completely different from before.
Because the pitch-black armor that had always covered his entire body, and which had withstood countless attacks, had finally been blasted away, and with the armor gone, Inu was finally able to see the body hidden beneath it.
It was a sight that sent chills down one's spine.
Ochoku's entire body, except for his head, had turned a decaying gray color.
Large sections of muscle tissue had long since withered and rotted away. Only a thin layer of skin remained tightly stretched over the bones, revealing the pale-white skeleton beneath.
His body seemed to have died long ago.
Even now, it was visibly rotting away at an astonishing rate.
At the same time, Inu could clearly see something else.
On the armor that had been blasted off Ochoku's body, lines of characters were rapidly disappearing.
[Heal] [Heal] [Heal] [Heal] [Heal]
And in the end, only a single character remained over his heart.
[Live]
"So that's how it is..."
Seeing this scene, Inu finally understood everything.
"You were already dying a long time ago, and you've only managed to cling to life until now through the support of your ability?"
Indeed.
During their earlier exchanges, Inu had already noticed something strange about Ochoku's condition.
Every time he unleashed greater power, his vitality weakened instead.
Even his Haki would decline along with it and now, the answer was plainly before his eyes.
Ochoku had long since reached the point of death.
His body seemed, in essence, to have already died.
It was only through the armor he had created with his Devil Fruit ability that his body had been prevented from completely decaying, and it was only because of the "Live" character over his heart that the last traces of his fading life force had been maintained.
That explained why, despite displaying powerful martial arts techniques at the start of the battle, he had felt surprisingly weak to Inu overall, completely inconsistent with a veteran of his caliber.
It also explained his strange vitality.
Since he was already forcibly keeping himself alive through his ability, even suffering injuries probably meant very little to him.
At the same time, it answered a question that had lingered in Inu's mind ever since meeting Ochoku.
In the original history, Ochoku had been defeated and killed by Marshall D. Teach, Blackbeard.
And as everyone knew, after obtaining the Dark-Dark Fruit, Blackbeard had mastered a method of stealing Devil Fruit powers from the dead.
Although Ochoku was restricted by his deteriorated body and unable to fully utilize the power of the Write-Write Fruit, a brief glimpse of its capabilities during the battle was enough to reveal that it was undoubtedly an extremely powerful and versatile Devil Fruit.
A Devil Fruit like that,
No matter what, Blackbeard should have kept it. Even if he did not eat it himself, he could have given it to one of his subordinates.
Yet in the original story, no member of the Blackbeard Pirates possessed this ability.
Now, Inu finally knew why.
"Judging from how Blackbeard stole Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he needs at least an intact corpse. He might even require a freshly dead body."
But given Ochoku's condition, the moment he died, he would probably collapse into little more than ashes. It was hardly surprising that Blackbeard had been unable to steal his Devil Fruit.
Still,
Putting all that aside...
"Living like this is more painful than death, isn't it?"
Looking at Ochoku's current state, even Inu could not help clicking his tongue.
"Heh... What... do you know?"
Ochoku's bloodshot, clouded eyes locked firmly onto Inu.
"If two-thirds of my power weren't being used to maintain the King's Armor, I would've killed you long ago."
His voice was hoarse and ragged.
"Why did you have to come after me now? Why are you so strong?"
"You... bastard!"
His chest rose and fell violently.
Yes.
It was almost laughable when one thought about it.
His body could no longer feel pleasure, even from drinking or indulgence.
Every day, he could smell the stench of decay coming from his own flesh, forcing him to hide it beneath layers of clothing and heavy amounts of perfume.
And yet, despite all that...
He had named the armor that sustained his life,
"King's Armor."
Or, to be more precise,
Only by doing so could he convince himself to keep living.
Only by doing so could he continue telling himself...
That betrayal, all those years ago, had been worth it.
(End of Chapter)
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