"Shunpo!"

  In the instant, the sound of wind howled.

  'Whoosh—' With a press of his foot and a fp of his wings, El’s massive, ferocious form became a swift blur, like a ghostly shadow. He relentlessly pursued the airborne Iron Cw Hark, who had bee flying and was still struggling tain his bance.

  'Crackle, crackle...'

  Fmes roared into the sky as waves of heat surged outward. The surrounding air sizzled, bubbles bursting, and the moisture in the ground evaporated instantly, igniting the trees around them. El’s fiery fist, wreathed in fmes and coated with advanced Armament Haki, lunged forward with terrifyi and power.

  "Fsh Strike!"

  Like prey targeted by a beast, Hark’s pupils tracted, his body tensing i. His half-beast form, shrouded in bck fmes, moved with lightning speed. Just before El’s devastating blow could nd, he vanished, narrowly dodging the lethal strike. But Hark was merciless, immediately ung a terattack.

  "Ssh!"

  Hark reappeared behind El in a fsh. His cws, sharp as scythes and infused with powerful Haki, sshed toward El’s head, neck, and shoulders. However, as a Lunarian fully itted to offense, El’s rea was instantaneous. Using his unique Observation Haki, he predicted Hark’s i, evading the attack with precision.

  'Boom… boom…'

  "Is this the best you do?" El taunted, his energy radiating overwhelming fidence. He didn’t even g the ground, which had been ripped apart by Hark’s failed strike. His jet-bck fists, bulging with veins and radiating intense heat, burned with fmes, causing the air around him to shimmer. With unstoppable force, he charged toward Hark.

  "Armament Haki: Hardening!"

  Having been mocked repeatedly, even the usually posed Iron Cw Hark couldn’t suppress his pride as a Navy Admiral. Surrounded by bck fmes, his figure exuded lethal i. His fists, encased in Haki, met El’s attack head-on.

  'Bang! Bang!'

  A fierce battle erupted on the Sabaody Archipego, engulfed in fire and smoke. The two terrifying figures cshed with earth-shattering force, exging blow after blow. Yet, in terms of raw strength, Hark was pletely outmatched. Each impact sent him flying, the grouh him crag as he ushed further and further back.

  In mere moments, dust filled the air as Hark was thrown dozens, if not hundreds, of meters away. His feet dug deep into the earth, leaving behind two long, jagged trenches.

  'Ugh—'

  Hark’s face turned pale, his fists scorched and bloody. Soured from him as his body felt like all its moisture had been sucked out by the intense heat. His burned arms trembled, numb from the force of El’s attack, as though they were about to snap.

  "What a monster…"

  Realizing he couldn’t match El’s strength, Hark shifted to dodging and weaving, using his agility to evade direct frontation. His scythe-like cws fshed as he attacked from blind spots, seeking an opening.

  "It’s useless; your fate is sealed!" El shouted, his movements sharp as he tinually predicted Hark’s path and tered. He moved at lightning speed, parrying and striking back with uing force.

  'g! g!'

  Sparks flew as their ons cshed, the sound of metal against metal eg across the battlefield. Both fighters moved so fast they were nearly invisible to the naked eye. Each csh sent out waves of pressure, tearing apart trees and colpsing buildings in the area.

  Although Hark’s arms had been burned and torn in the initial csh, his A Zoan Devil Fruit power had fully awakened. His accelerated healing allowed his wounds to scab over rapidly, showg his monstrous resilience.

  'Bang… bang…'

  Time passed as the two fierce oppos battled on, exging blows with incredible ferocity. Their relentless fight carried them from Isnd No. 1 to Isnd No. 5 and beyond to Isnd No. 13. Everywhere they passed was left in ruins, the ground scarred and broken, sending chills down the spines of onlookers.

  El, relying on his mastery of 'Life Return: Paper Drawing Martial Body' bined with the Lunarian's most aggressive form, domihe physical battle. Though his speed gged slightly behind Hark’s Zoan-enhanced abilities, the gap was small. El handled Hark’s attacks with ease, and the tide of the battle began to shift in his favor.

  'Ssh!'

  At that moment, Hark found an opening. Like a ferocious beast, he pounced with blinding speed. "Dragon Cw: Scythe!"

  'Sg—'

  His cw, sharp as a bde and brimming with power, struck El’s right side. To his shock, the cw couldn’t pee El’s tough skin, merely pressing into it as though it had hit solid steel.

  'Boom!'

  The force of the blow sent El flying backward, his internal ans ing. He spat out blood but immediately retaliated.

  "I’ve got you now!"

  Even as he flew backward, blood dripping from his mouth, El’s eyes fshed with fury. His right leg, coiled with Haki, shed out like a shadowy rocket.

  "What!?"

  Hark’s eyes widened in terror as he tried to dodge. But it was too te. El’s foot smmed into Hark’s stomach.

  'Bang!'

  The kick was devastating, colpsing Hark’s abdomen and causing his internal ans to shift painfully. Blood spurted from his mouth as he was sent hurtling through the air, his eyes locked on El in disbelief.

  'Boom… boom…'

  Hark’s body crashed through trees, smashing them like twigs, before smming into a pile of rubble. But even in this beaten state, Hark dragged himself from the debris, wiping blood from his mouth.

  "Not bad for a Navy Admiral," El muttered, wiping the blood from his own lips. Despite his overwhelming advahe battle wasn’t easy. Only someone as monstrous as El could endure a fight like this, matg Hark blow for blow without using his full power.

  Though he had sacrificed some strength for speed, it made his ans more resilient. Still, the force of Hark’s strikes was nothing to scoff at.

  'Crack—'

  A sudden burst of sound drew El’s attention. From the dire of Isnd No. 35, a signal fre soared into the sky, releasing a cloud of red smoke.

  "Hmm?"

  Gng at the fre, El paused, a smile f on his lips. "Finally getting serious, are we?"

  Meanwhile, out at sea, a rge naval warship was in chaos, with swarms of bloodthirsty bats attag the soldiers aboard.

  "Heh, time to start, I suppose," a blood-red demonic face ughed from above, eager for the ing battle.

  "Fallen Angel El—"

  At the same time, on the devastated Isnd No. 2, Hark, covered in blood and fury, let out a thunderous roar as he charged forward once more. His figure, wreathed in bck fmes, was terrifying, his eyes filled with murderous i as he gred at El.

  'g!'

  Sparks flew as their ons cshed again, the sound sharp and grating. El easily blocked Hark’s scythe-like cws with his Haki-infused arm.

  "Awakened A Zoan users have impressive recovery powers," El remarked coldly, as Hark gred at him, trying to suppress his rage.

  'Roar—'

  Suddenly, El’s body began to shift and grow. Hark’s eyes widened in shock as El transformed, his already terrifying frowing even more powerful.

  "You’re finally using your Devil Fruit abilities?"

  Sensing a surge of danger, Hark immediately retreated, his body teh caution. This Lunarian monster had already pushed him to his limit without even using his fruit powers—now things were about to get much worse.

  "This is what you wanted, isn’t it?"

  Now t over Hark, El had fully transformed into his Zoan form, a fearsome creature with golden horns, scales, wings, and a long, snake-like tail.

  Staring down at Hark, El’s gaze was cold, filled with killing i. "Thanks to you, I now uand—Navy Admirals are nothing special after all."

  "But the warm-up is over… It’s time for you to die!"

  "Arrogant bastard!"

  'Boom—'

  Bleam