Chapter 108: Chapter 108 Rending the Heavens, the Emblem of the Super-Strong
BOOOOOM——!
Zzzzzzzz...
Krak-krak-krak...
Extradimensional power?
Extradimensional power is how super-strong fighters greet each other, a force that makes 95% of this world feel despair, a power that shouldn’t seem to exist.
Again, fist against kanabō—
Yet this time Karl’s fist and Kaido’s Hassaikai did not make direct contact.
Between them, as if an invisible substance barred a head-on clash.
Their blows struck that unseen wall and produced a peal louder than thunder—every conscious soul on Onigashima could hear it.
Black and gold lightning flashed around Karl and Kaido like the current of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The gale born above Conqueror’s Haki itself became a terrifying cyclone, flipping every fallen eave and shattered beam, wreaking fresh ruin.
Not only that—the gale felt like a giant’s invisible palm, slapping cracks across the ground for hundreds of meters around Karl and Kaido and smashing the rest of the building to pieces.
Those inside the structure, save for a few powerful pirates—awake or fainted alike—were uprooted like saplings and hurled who knows how far along with the debris.
Even Yamato, watching from close by, had to raise an arm to his face to keep from being driven back.
Even so, grit-laced wind stung until he could hardly open his eyes.
He could only squint at the two figures, of very different height, ringed in black and gold lightning.
He swung his club one-handed to shatter stones flung up from the crazed earth.
Above, clouds had massed and thunder-serpents writhed.
Under the skyward surge of this extradimensional clash and the flood of Haki, that massed cover tore like paper, opening a vast trench through the heavens.
So vast that not only everyone on Onigashima, but all across neighboring Wano, could see the omen.
A heaven-rending omen—the emblem of the super-strong!
Only when two masters both wield the highest use of Conqueror’s coating can the sky split, as if unable to bear it.
If both had driven Conqueror’s to the absolute peak, they could even shatter the sky entirely, turning a cloud-choked day back to blue.
It’s a thing Karl would need to hurl a light-spear to achieve—
But super-strong fighters can do it with Conqueror’s coating alone.
Undeniably, a world-rending force that can change the weather itself!
The Conqueror’s-coated clash lasted far longer than the earlier naked Conqueror’s collision.
Unlike before, when Kaido smashed aside Karl’s Conqueror’s head-on—
When the Conqueror’s on fist and Hassaikai had burned down, the unseen wall surged with irresistible power and blew Karl’s fist and Kaido’s club apart—ending even.
No...
Because Karl was floating, he was blasted away; Kaido only took a single step back.
It looked even, but in truth Karl had yielded the edge.
Karl had been ready for this from the moment he realized the gap between his Conqueror’s and the Four Emperors’.
He had only just learned Conqueror’s coating; if the foe were someone like Luffy in the story who had also just learned it, Karl would doubtless seize an absolute advantage.
Because in overall strength he surpasses Luffy.
But facing a super-monster whose overall might is above his and who has wielded Conqueror’s coating for who knows how many years—if Karl took the upper hand, it would mean Kaido was sandbagging, or that the "world’s strongest creature" wasn’t worthy of the title.
Clearly, that title holds no water.
Unlike the stalemate Karl had felt against the Three Admirals—
Fighting a monster with a top-three physique for the first time, Karl finally understood why people call him a monster.
Because... he’s absurdly tough!
Not the balloon-steel of Charlotte Linlin; Kaido’s vast frame comes with startling speed and reaction.
Save for speed, in strength, stamina, and defense he’s above Karl.
And this is only serious-mode in his human form.
If he went all out, Karl felt that even drawing the Mysterious Spear would merely wound him.
For Kaido’s stamina is no worse than Karl’s—perhaps greater.
In the tale, Kaido fought the Akazaya Nine, then the Worst Generation, then Yamato, Luffy, and Momonosuke in rounds, only then showing signs of flagging.
It’s a record so outrageous even Karl hasn’t matched it.
Because—
While taking on that carousel of challengers, Kaido used his fruit to lift an entire Onigashima.
He was, in effect, brawling while carrying an island on his back.
Whatever his character’s flaws, his unmatched strength is something Karl acknowledges.
At present, the world’s strongest creature is Kaido beyond dispute.
The stronger Kaido is, the more Karl’s battle-maniac nature burns.
Since crossing over, he’d never met a body that could match his.
Now, against one of the same kind—whose physique exceeds his—Karl’s blood sang.
He suddenly called to Yamato, watching not far away. "Yamato, leave now. What comes next may catch you in it."
"Okay!"
Yamato pumped his kanabō and shouted, "Karl, don’t lose! Smash that old geezer!"
He vanished in a blur of that special footwork.
Yet with Observation Haki, he kept his senses fixed on them.
"Thunder Spear—"
Once Yamato had gone, Karl finally stopped holding back.
His hands clapped; blue-white current blazed over him.
Before Kaido could blink in and break the charge with a swing, Karl drew the current together between his palms and forged a blue-white spear of light.
Inside its haft, a touch would trigger the thunder trapped within to detonate.
The contest of body and Haki—of Conqueror’s coating—ended with the realization he was a shade behind in several facets.
Karl now began the duel of fruits.
Let’s see whether the strongest of Logias, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, will lose to the rarer-than-Logia Zoan—Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Model: Azure Dragon.
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