"g!!!"

  Time flew by. Nearly a month had passed.

  The seas had plunged into an eerie silence. While the Wover issued stant nations and threats to annihite the Fallen Angel Pirates and unch a Buster Call on Totto Land Kingdom, their forces showed no immediate iion to mobilize.

  Across the Grand Line, many fas sensed an oppressive atmosphere. It was as if a storm was brewing—a foreboding tension that uled all.

  …

  In the Calm Belt, on a deserted isnd…

  The sharp, grating etal echoed through the barren nd. A massive iron hammer, cloaked in Haki, collided head-on with a blood-red scythe.

  "Whoosh... whoosh..."

  Strong gusts of wind carried debris in every dire, scattering rocks and dust.

  "g... g..."

  Sparks flew as the heavy iron hammer and the crimson scythe cshed repeatedly, their wielders locked in fierbat, her willing to back down.

  "Tsk!"

  With a swift motion, the blood-red scythe carved through the air, unleashing a massive, razor-sharp ssh. But Cyril Oka anticipated the attack using Observation Haki. Sidestepping at lightning speed, he evaded the strike. Using his enhanced agility, he surged forward with blinding speed, brandishing the enormous hammer in his hands.

  "g!!!"

  The crimson scythe, fortified by Haki, intercepted the ining hammer. The force of the collisiohe agile figure reeling backward, her momentum carryio safety.

  "Mwahahaha~! Why not just use your Devil Fruit powers?"

  The predator-like grin ohe Blood Demon’s face was chilling. Lig her lips, she s Cyril, her scythe poised in readiness.

  "Without them, even as a Bueer, you’ll never be my match!"

  "As you wish!" Cyril’s expression hardened, his resolve unwavering.

  In an instant, his already muscur physique began to swell. His body transformed visibly, shifting into his hybrid form. A sharp horn emerged from his head, his features took on a menag edge, and his fur bristled with streaks of crag electricity. Three bushy tails flicked behind him, adding to his imposing presence.

  "Heh, so it’s the Dog-Dog Fruit: Mythical Zoan—Kaminari form, huh?" Irene cackled. Unwilling to be outdone, she underwent a transformation of her own.

  (Bleam: … I keep fusing Kaminari and ōkuo Makami, ofteing them as the same in transtions. However, as I dig deeper into the Japaranstions, I realize they are different.)

  Her body grew even more lithe and deadly, adorned with sickle-like cws remi of the legendary Kamaitachi. From her back, leathery wings sprouted, demonid menag.

  "Mwahahaha..."

  Brandishing her blood-red scythe, Irene swung it with merciless precision.

  "Gale Ssh!"

  "Whoosh... whoosh..."

  The air filled with r winds. Invisible, tless bdes of air shot toward Cyril, slig mercilessly through the surroundings.

  "Thor's Hammer!!"

  Cyril wasn’t about to be outdo nearly seveers tall in his transformed state, his aura was utterly domineering. Wielding an enormous hammer crag with electricity and infused with Armament Haki, Cyril brought it down with relentless force.

  "Boom... boom..."

  Each swing of the colossal hammer smashed through the ining wind bdes, scattering them effortlessly. With unyielding momentum, Cyril charged toward Irene, his killing i palpable.

  "Whoosh..."

  But Irene was far too quick. Transf into a whirlwind, she vanished in the blink of an eye, causing Cyril’s strike to miss entirely.

  "g!!!"

  Armed, Cyril’s instincts kicked in. He spun to his right, swinging his electrified hammer with all his might.

  "g!!!"

  The csh reverberated as his hammer met Irene’s blood-red scythe once again.

  "Whoosh... whoosh..."

  A fierce gust of wind surged around them, followed by a hail of razor-sharp wind bdes slig through the air.

  "g... g..."

  The ground cracked and splintered beh them, marred by deep gouges left by Irene’s relentless attacks. While Cyril mao fend off the onsught, Irene used her agility to retreat after each strike, denying him any opportunity to terattack.

  "Damn it, this speed is just piing!"

  Cyril Oka’s face was grim. He recalled Iron Cw Hark, who once used overwhelming speed to leave him battered, bloodied, and ultimately defeated before beio Impel Down. Of course, now—with the enha from his Mythical Zoan: Kaminari Form—he could easily tend with Hark’s incredible speed.

  However, Irehe Blood Demon, as a user of the Mythical Zoan: Kamaitachi Form, had her own speed boosted further by the partial Vampire abilities she ied as a blood thrall. Her speed rivaled, or even surpassed, Hark’s.

  "Whoosh—"

  In an instant, Irene’s figure zipped through the air. Her blood-red scythe, gleaming with lethal light and infused with Armament Haki, sshed down at Cyril’s back.

  "g!!!"

  Sparks flew as their ons cshed. This time, however, Irene didn’t retreat after the initial strike. Instead, she pressed forward relentlessly, her scythe unleashing razor-sharp wind bdes with every swing.

  "Whoosh... crackle…"

  "g… g…"

  Lightning crackled as fierce gusts howled. Two figures—one massive, the other swift as a shadow—cshed at blinding speed. Occasionally, bolts of thunder and sharp wind bdes erupted from their attacks, leaving the already-scarred ndscape even med. The ground was scorched, scarred, and utterly devastated.

  "Mwahaha! Cyril’s powers have indeed improved with the Kaminari Form."

  Watg the fight from a distance, Linlin turo El, grinning: “He’s already approag Admiral-level strength. He hold his own against them in battle. Even if he ’t win ht, he won’t lose easily either.”

  Despite Cyril’s short time as a Kaminari Form user, his growth was evident. Given more time, Linlin believed he would undoubtedly rise to greater heights.

  "Indeed, impressive. He hasn’t let us down," El said with a satisfied smile.

  Years of impriso hadn’t dulled Cyril’s edge; instead, they had sharpe. During his fi iernal darkness of Impel Dowernal Hell, Cyril had honed his Observation Haki to an incredible degree. Although not at the level of predig the future, his senses had growraordinarily acute. Even Irene’s ghost-like speed was something he could now ter, albeit barely.

  "g!!!"

  Lightning bzed as Cyril’s hammer met Irene’s scythe once more.

  "Dance of the Serpent and Dragon!!"

  Cag madly, Irene shot into the air. Her blood-red scythe danced in her hands as she unleashed a storm of razor-sharp wind bdes.

  "Whoosh... whoosh…"

  Violent gales swirled into a massive tornado. The whirling winds formed serpentine shapes, seemingly alive as they shed out. Amid the maelstrom of debris and razor-sharp currents, the storm bore down on Cyril with deadly i.

  "Boom… boom…"

  Cyril fought against the onsught with all his might. But as the storm intensified, he began to falter. Several gashes appeared on his body, bleeding lightly, as he struggled to hold his ground.

  Reizing the danger, Cyril retreated swiftly tain his footing. His pierg gaze locked onto Irene, his Observation Haki trag her every move.

  Gripping his electrified hammer tightly, Cyril unleashed a fearsome aura:

  "Elbaf Spear…!"

  "Mighty Nation!!!"

  His colossal hammer crushed the air as it swung downward, releasing an enormous, drical shockwave that tore through the battlefield. The bst hurtled straight toward Irene, obliterating everything in its path.

  "Oh? So even the Spear of Elbaf that El personally taught you has been mastered?"

  H in midair, Irene’s grin widened. With a glint in her eye, she unched herself higher into the sky. Her body spun at breakneck speed, her scythe f a deadly vortex:

  "Dance of the Kamaitachi…!"

  "Whoosh… whoosh…"

  A massive hurrie formed around her, spinning faster and faster. The windstorm coalesced into a colossal dragon-shaped tornado, its jagged edges crag with devastating energy. R like a livi, the wind-dragon charged forward, meeting Cyril’s shockwave head-on.

  "Boom… BOOM…!!!"

  The resulting collision rocked the isnd, sending shockwaves rippling outward and kig up debris into the sky. Lightning and wind cshed violently, the grouh them trembling uhe immense pressure.

  Bleam