| Icons' Showdown | ||
| Date Started: 4/20/24
Date Finished: Ongoing Previous Role-Play: Timeline: 1593 Setting: Elbaph, New World Characters Involved:
| ||
| Participants | ||
| User:YANZ OP • User:EmperorKamui • User:Blackdagger01 | ||
Two Fronts[]
They weren't even on the island yet, but the chill around Elbaph, caused by snowstorms, was already beginning to affect them. The Pantheon Pirates, already a well-known crew despite having been formed relatively recently, were approaching the Isle of Giants at high speed. Scallops were scattered everywhere on and inside the ship carrying them, each taking on a specific task and carrying it out meticulously. The pirates had grabbed some special clothes for the occasion, ones that saw them traveling through the Calm Belt to this island. They were to defeat an Emperor, Heidrun Thrymr.
At the bow of the ship stood the young captain of this veritable army, arms folded. Dressed in a white shirt and beige pants with red fringe, his style exuded the essence of a leader. His fur-collared coat billowed behind him like a hero's cape, but he wasn't one; at least, he wasn't one anymore. With over fifteen years at sea, four of them as a pirate captain, this wasn't the first time he'd taken part in such a risky mission; but he always returned. Since that incident in Clertane, which ignited the spark that led the captain to become a pirate, he had grown and progressed. He was really beginning to live up to his epithet, Titan.
511,790,000An all-out assault on a Yonko territory with such a limited collective seemed like a suicide mission, but Thieron was not intimidated. And above all, he wasn't alone. Thieron continued to look out over the snow-covered island, and behind him advanced a man of considerable stature there too, similar in stature to the captain, in an attire sweaty for snowy weather. With his bun tied up and his hand resting on the bar of his sheathed saber, he was the crew's second-in-command, Ichimura Kogeru, a native of Wano whose bounty is 334,870,000. Like his captain, he had grown up. Despite the discomfort of the missions, it was an enriching experience that made him realize he had to reach the ceiling of his abilities if he wanted to be useful and remain an asset Thieron could count on.
"We have arrived, Captain..." He said.
Having only met in the New World a few months after his captain's departure, the samurai was now second on the ship only to Thieron and a key member of their crew. To tell the truth, this operation was far too reckless for him; they were going to face an Emperor in their own turf after all; but now was not the time for regrets. Thieron came back to reality, he hadn't even noticed the time passing, perhaps he was lost in thought?
The Titan Pirates' ship made landfall and the pirates immediately began to disembark. A grin appeared on his face as he stepped off the ship, accompanied by his officer. Their ship stood behind them, acting as a background, but it wouldn't be long before that would change. The porting area seemed like it was a neutral zone. Or at least they hadn't raised at red flags at the moment. The entire crew had just shown their faces and with their recent rise to fame, it wouldn't have taken long for even the most common foot soldier to recognize them. "Kogeru, keep them in check. As quick as I want this to be, things could still get hairy. We destroy everything in our path, cause as much of a ruckus as we can. We lure out who and what we can early on!"
Kogeru was a strategist. He was like a second brain for the crew, assisting almost all the time in the creation of attack plans. But here they were in the middle of an emperor's territory. It didn't sound like a plan at all. It looked like something Thieron would have conceived in a rare moment of recklessness, going against Kogeru's planning for the sake of his own gains. "Oh my gosh..." he whispered. The samurai turned to the rest of the crew. "The rest of you will follow the coast. Kasa, you take the lead. Thieron and I will stay here. Keep a tight formation and destroy everything in your path!"
Kaza was third in command, and was also a force of nature, as evidenced by his 247,800,000 bounty. He was very serious and dedicated to his missions, never wasting time in carrying them out. "Sure." he replied, before starting to walk away, gesturing with his hand. "Let's go, guys."
Thieron took a step forward in the direction of the palace, or at least the center of the island, closely followed by Kogeru. "We’d better get going. Actually, they’re probably already aware of our presence."
4,320,540,000The King of Elbaph sat upon his throne. He was lost in his own thoughts, thinking of his wife and his children. He felt secure - that even in the land of war loving giants, there was still the closeness of family. He could only hope to continue to do right by them. He almost called out to summon his wife, but his attention snapped back to reality though as one of his subjects ran into the room, an armored giant that quickly kneeled. “Speak,” commanded Thrymr.
The giant nodded. “My Lord, a crew has landed on the island, we await your command.”
The Dread King arose from his throne. “A crew landed on my island? One not of Elbaph? Were the Wotan asleep? How the hell did they make it to the land without being sunk beneath the waves?” questioned the king, his anger flaring up. In his youth, his anger guided him on several war paths. These days, his anger was more reserved; however, foreigners entering his home uninvited was an action he could not tolerate.
“Send for Norn and Angrboda, these upstarts - no matter who they are - will be dealt with,” commanded the king as the lesser giant nodded and rushed out. The Dread King grabbed his great spear, the divine Gungnir, and readied himself for a fight. He knew his commander and fellow clan leader would arrive shortly. “Come to me my Vaettir, let us remind the world Elbaph is off limits!”
The cries of animals filled the castle as four creatures approached Thrymr. The stench of smoke was carried by cold winds, carrying the rumbles of thunder. The creatures clearly danced around Thrymr as he walked out his castle to greet his guests.
Off in the snow filled forest of Elbaph a symphony of ear piercing shrieks echoed out across the island, followed by the occasional deafening boom of boulders being crushed into pebbles. Angrboda, freshly crowned head of the Bestla clan, one of the largest and most powerful tribes of Elbaph, had been off on one of her crusades again.
Currently the young giantess had been dealing with a pack of Toskr Squirrels, Elbaph’s apex predator. Notoriously aggressive and feral, these massive predatory squirrels were a nuisance that was ever present on the island, wreaking havoc at any opportunity available. With a lust for battle that was nearly impossible to properly satisfy Angrboda often took it upon herself to hunt the creatures, something about their absolute ferocity and unhinged nature made them the perfect opponent for someone like her, though after a while even they would only drive her to boredom. When the Thrymr’s messenger had finally arrived she was in the middle of dispatching one of the foul beasts, one hand gripping on to the creature’s head and forcefully twisting it to snap its neck in an instant while simultaneously holding a second Toskr Squirrel by the throat with her free hand.
“Invaders at the coast? Bout damn time, I’ve been itching for some action!”
Angrboda proclaimed happily. Flinging the now dead Toskr squirrel into a pile of the beasts’ corpses Angrboda would go on to crush the throat of the second beast in her hand and drop it to the ground, claws marks adorning her shoulder along with a small cut on her cheek. Next to her a massive sword had been plunged into the ground, which she would soon go to yank from the earth and slide into a sheath on her back.
“Tell him I’m already there.”
Angrboda said with a smile as she tensed the muscles in her legs and leapt into the air, covering a vast distance in a single bound. Angrboda prayed for the day that someone grew the balls to try and attack Elbaph, her adrenaline already pumping at the idea of a good fight. For someone like her, the call to battle was the equivalent of a dinner bell, and she was absolutely starving for a good scrap. These intruders had best be prepared for the battle to come, because Angrboda wasn’t one to let such infractions slide without consequence. Waging war on her island was the same as spitting in her face, and she wouldn’t let such disrespect go unanswered. If it was war they wanted, her presence on the battlefield all but guaranteed that it was war that they’d get.
Norn herself was already at the docks, the news having gotten to her rather quickly given she remained by the shores at all times. It made little sense to her that someone had gotten all the way to land without being sunk to the depths of the briny blue and so she needed to see what foolish fellows went through so much trouble to die by giant hands. Her sword was already drawn, her metal armor clinked and scraped together as she leaned against the large sword whose length was nearly if not more so than that of the ship that made its way toward the shore.
Looking to the massive ships docked she debated using them to blast the approaching ship to smithereens but she justified holding off, wanting to meet the brave souls who'd traversed this far, though in truth she merely awaited the command of their captain. His word alone would decide their fate, she would simply weave it so.
Thieron and his right-hand man moved forward, halting their pace. Kaza and the rest of the crew were already well away and out of sight. Even then, they were still a long way from their destination, and there were no giants in sight. But despite this, Thieron could only feel a presence nearby, an imposing presence. His Kenbunshoku Haki almost screamed out to him that someone was close-by. "Do you feel that too, Kogeru?" he said with a grin but a neutral tone, without turning around. The samurai merely nodded in response. He glanced back to where he thought the presence was. "You shall reveal yourself."
"I ain't hidin'" Norn spoke, stepping forward, her fingers rubbing genlty against themselves yet the sound of metal against metal was no present in spite of her metal guantlet. "You've got yourselves a lot of nerve showing up on these shores, Shorty. If you aren't careful you'll be squished like, ew, bugs..." Norn warned them that their presence was not welcome, her massive sword expanded outward like a ballon before a loud croak came from it.
No Place For The Weak[]
Thrymr rode upon a massive thundercloud, the occasional bolt of lightning escaping it. Thunder bellowed as the giant raced towards the coast, signifying his arrival. It was soon that he saw his invaders, the Titan Pirates. Thrymr knew nothing of their clan of pirates, he hardly concerned himself with any force outside his island. The giant leapt from the storm cloud and landed with an earthshaking thud.
The one-eyed Dread King looked down upon his guests, ants compared to his mighty form. "I know not who you are, nor do I care. I give you merely a warning," spoke the giant as he kept his single, emotionless eye upon them. "Leave now and never return, or you will forever buried within the great lands of Elbaph!"
The giant slammed his spear into the earth, the metal pommel clanging on the earth as it tired through the snow. The storm cloud dissolved into two beasts, a small - by Thrymr's standard - goat and horse. "Modi, Sleip, greet our guests," mocked the giant as the goat, Modi, released a thunderous cry. The horse, Sleip, scraped its hoof on the ground, creating gales of wind as it did.
The duo continued on their way, unperturbed by anyone or anything. A false sense of calm hung over the young men, but it wasn't long before it was replaced by the sound of lightning. Could it be a storm? There were no particularly gray clouds in the sky, though. The sky was covered only by this white mantle. Also, a most imperial presence was approaching, dominating by its very intensity over all the others. Thieron grinned as he looked at the sky, having very well identified who was coming. "It's him."
Asudden, a gigantic, domineering man emanating a regal aura, lands. The ground itself vibrated as the giant touched down. Around him danced creatures of various kinds. "Is-Is that for real?" Kogeru's eyes, trained on their assailant, were wide open, but he kept his cool. Thieron kept his smile. The words spoken by the Emperor of the Seas were very clear; they served as a warning, a warning which, if unfortunate enough not to be heeded, would most likely result in brutal and merciless punishment.
"Go." Thieron said calmly, talking to his right-hand.
"Are you sure, Captain?" Kogeru asked, keeping his hand on the grip of his katana and ready to unsheathe at any moment.
"Go and take care of that fucker from earlier! Getting ambushed wouldn't make our situation any better, wouldn't you agree!?" The Captain ordered firmly. Kogeru complied without further discussion, and seemed to disappear.
Thieron now found himself alone against a Yonko and an army of giants. But he refused to give in. From where he stood, he could clearly see the Giant's head without having to look up too much. "Hey! The emperor!" He still wore that petty grin. His feet were tense and his fists clenched. Whatever words came out of his mouth decided his fate. "Do I look intimidated to you?!?!" He exclaimed, his voice reflecting the very essence of defiant youth he was incorporating at that moment.
A primal roar escaped his mouth as veins appeared on his forehead. His right eye sparkled, and in a flash of brilliant white pressure, a wave of pressure was exerted over the entire region. The very air around the pirate vibrated, bearing witness to the captain's spiritual power. Anyone around him who didn't have the same spiritual strength as he did would find themselves suffocated, crushed beneath an invisible wall, before falling unconscious in the blink of an eyelid under the sheer intensity of the captain's willpower. Giants, whether in the Emperor's army or not, would then drop like flies, unable to resist the Captain's demonstration of power. "To us both, Emperor!"
The pressure reached Thrymr, whose one eye squinted as it washed over him. The young pirate was a conqueror? The giant was slightly impressed, it took him years to fully hone the skill. It mattered not though, the conquering spirit of an ant was still merely that of an ant. The giant revealed his own, exuding the power of Haoshoku to ward off the Thieron's attempt at subduing him.
"You come into the home of the King of Giants, a Yonko, and suspect him to fall to such mere pressure? You are either foolishly overconfident are woefully unprepared," stated the man, again showing his preference to his title of king over any other by the mere order of them. As the two usages of Haoshoku clashed, the snow between them blew away from the pressure. As the snow flurried about, the remaining creatures of Thrymr appeared - the frozen cow Audum and the burning wolf Skoll.
Thrymr extended his great spear, pointing it at Skoll. "Incinerate, Gungnir!" shouted Thrymr as the wolf leapt at he spear head. The wolf's plight, which looked like it was ready to die by leaping towards a powerful spear such as Gungnir, instead saw it infuse its spiritual body into the weapon. The head of Gungnir ignited into flames. Swing the spear as the clash ended, a massive wave of fire flowed from the weapon, melting the snow and scorching the earth as it threatened to consume Thieron. "This is the fate you chose, child," declared Thrymr.
As the Emperor's gigantic, powerful fire attack raced towards the rookie, Thieron didn't move. He refused to move, to yield. The attack turned everything it touched to ashes, and melted the snow in front of it as it progressed relentlessly; leaving a black, charred, snowless landscape in its wake. Titan remained firm on his feet, his coat billowing behind him and his braids almost dancing on his forehead. "Bring it on, emperor!" Thieron infused his arms with Armament Haki, which became covered with a dark protective layer. "I'll show you that..." His grin didn't waver as he placed his hands in front and interlaced his fingers like a sumo wrestler. "My guard isn't anything to sneeze at!"
As if by magic, the attack, which was hurtling towards him at full speed, seemed to crash, with a roar like the end of the world, against a wall, a wall that could not be seen. A powerful shockwave emanated from the point of impact, stripping the surrounding trees of their leaves. But no, it wasn't magic, Thieron had just used an advanced form of Haki Armament, Emission, enabling him to emit his spiritual energy outside his body. Here, he was using it as a barrier around himself - invisible, but very real. The two forces met and stalled each other. Thieron let out a war cry, putting all his strength into this parry. He slid along the ground for several meters, but never gave in. Had his strength been sufficient, he would have succeeded in blocking an attack from an Emperor, providing undeniable proof of the Captain's Herculean strength.
The giant emperor smirked, happy his opponent wasn't so easily beaten. He hasn't stretch his muscles in some time. While he was sure this would be far from a proper work out, the Emperor was happy for some light cardio. "I'll give you this, human. You made a great mistake coming here, but it would have been worse had you bored me." Slamming the butt of his spear on the ground, Skoll reformed from the blade. "Suffocate, Gungnir!"
On cue, the horse-like Homie galloped through the air and entered the spear. A column of wind formed a tornado beneath Thrymr, who pointed his spear at the ground. A secondary tornado formed from it, sucked up stones from the charred earth and gathering falling snow. "Form your invisible shield, human! The force of winds can still throw you about!"
"Is that really the case?" provoked the rookie with a smirk, proud of his feat. Again, while he wanted to charge at the emperor, another attack was directed at him; it was incessant! But this time, even more than with the attack before, he was confident. When the attack had him in its meshes, it began to spin in the tornado at a frightening speed. With him spun an incredible amount of debris of all kinds. Despite all this, he remained calm.
"Argh... This is so annoying...!"
His eyes flashed for a moment, and what happened afterwards was unimaginable. From the direction Kuzma came and seemingly out of nowhere, a blue figure slithered around in the massive tornado. Emerging from the tempest, an head revealed itself. It alone was bigger than the Emperor himself. Its pair of horns, perched high, let there not be any doubts. The sky above the creature darkened and lightning fell as if a god had just entered the place. A deafening roar emerged from the monster, which revealed itself in its entirety. A chinese dragon, Shenlong.
"I hope you stand firm, old hag!" The gigantic dragon spoke. From the head to the end of the tail, this beast was probably five hundred or six hundred meters long. Thus the roles were turned over; Thieron had become the giant and Thrymr had become the ant. A long, serpentine body, blue scales, and a menacing but ethereal aura, this would seem like another more known Mythical Zoan fruit, though it was very different.
The dragon opened his mouth wide and immediately his neck began to swell. "Demolition..." The wind was like being sucked into the lizard’s mouth, and the storm was still raging. "Wind!!!" Suddenly, an extremely powerful wind, well enough to raze a district or a city was sent to the emperor. It was the power of Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Shenlong, a Mythical Zoan fruit.
Thrymr stood undisturbed. In his career as a warrior, a pirate, and a king, he had faced all manner of devil fruits imaginable. "I thank you, foreigner. You've merely made the target bigger!" declared Thrymr as he pointed his spear at the incoming attack.
"Vedrfolnir!" shouted the Dread King, a devastating tempest of wind launching from his spear. The two fronts of wind clashed, forming a powerful tempest as the wind of the dragon and the Yonko's horse swirled together. The great gusts of wind might have scared a lesser force, but Thrymr could give life to any thing he saw fit. Waving his hand, particles of his soul flew out and into the windstorm. The groans of the storm became laughs as it took on a a face. The wind mass came under Thrymr command.
Thrymr leapt from the air column to it as Sleip flew from his spear. The four Vaettir flew into the wind mass, consuming it and becoming larger than they were moments ago. Using the terrain here could be his advantage. Sure, he melted a great deal of the snow, but the island has far more of it offer. Pointing his spear towards his spirits again, the bipedal cow raced towards him. "Freeze, Audum!" declared Thrymr as ice formed around the spear head.
The snow clouds ahead rained down harder than before. Hands of snow formed from the ground and the heavens, grabbing on to the serpentine dragon. "A Mythical Zoan, if I've ever seen one. Impressive to some, perhaps, but the snakes of my kingdom are this size naturally," declared Thrymr as the freezing hands clinched down on the dragon. Thrymr prepared his spear, throwing it with all his might at the heart of Thieron, infusing it with Busoshoku Haki as he did.
The emperor's power was truly unimaginable. Thieron watched the Emperor avoid and then turn his attack on himself, with no apparent effort. "What the-" How was such precision, speed and grace possible? The captain had no idea. From what the Emperor had just done, he deduced that using another wind attack would have been useless. But before he could complete even a small plan, the emperor landed on top of him. His scales were filled with nerves, so not only could he feel Thrymr on him, he also knew exactly where the Emperor was. Leaving no chance, he'd use Observation Haki's advanced application, allowing him to look a few seconds into the future. What he saw was his heart being pierced by Gungnir, the emperor's spear. He regained focus and kept his composure.
There was no way he was letting that happen.
The physiological ability of his draconic form was that of skiing, gliding on the wind; or rather, swimming in the air, and he could do it very well despite the fact that he had only had this fruit for around a year. Losing no second, he slid on the air like a leaf, soaring towards the clouds. But instead of just doing that, he also began to spin on himself at a mind-blowing pace, making dozens of rotations on himself at every moment. "Idaten..." The wind being driven with him, a devastating tornado formed around the captain, ravaging the surrounding environment. Being in its full beast form, thunder lit up from the inside the tornado, hitting the earth with cadence. This maneuver was for the sole purpose of bringing down the emperor, or even just disorienting him enough to miss his throw. "Typhoon!!"
Thrymr reached his hand out, Gungnir seemingly returning to him at will, using the snow homies in the air to easily guide it back to himself. The dragon seemed to know the path of his spear. The great giant, the Captain of the Ragnarok Pirates, wondered just how strong this whelp was. He had little time to truly consider this as the man launched another powerful attack at him.
Rather than reacting himself, Thrymr called upon his Vaettir. "Modi, Sleip, bring about the storm!" The goat and horse spirits ran towards the typhoon, their hooves clambering on the ground as they did. The spirits of lightning and wind began to dissolve into their elements, merging together into a massive storm cloud. Their combined might formed a storm equal to Thieron's, gaining steam as it moved forth to surpass it. The result of the two storms classing released several tornadoes and bursts of lightning all over the northern part of Elbaph. "Perhaps you aren't are green as I thought, but you are still decades too early to challenge me in my own domain!" declared Thrymr as he stabbed the spear into the earth. Icicles formed into spears reaching towards the heavens themselves. However, the tornadoes formed by the clashing storms tore them fro the earth, launching the ice towards the dragon like rendering spears. The giant could be at risk too, but so long as Audum resided in his spear, the ice was under his authority.
Thieron stopped spinning, but his tornado continued. His plan had worked, since the emperor was no longer on his back. But that was no longer the problem, as the emperor had just created an even stronger tornado close to him, and sharp bits of ice were heading towards him at full speed. Fortunately for him, due to his skin covered with hard scales, these sharp pieces of ice would never have been a threat to him, and would only have been felt as mother mosquito bites.
He'd even glide into the sharp wall coming towards him. Lightning struck all around him as he pierced the sky like an arrow being launched with precision towards the emperor, at dizzying speed. But as he advanced, he transformed once again, this time into his hybrid form, but due to the energy stored, he continued his slide. Now in half-human form, he regained his agility but retained his durability. Perhaps, now his physical attributes were all boosted.
Then, from the gigantic tornado he had formed, a much smaller form emerged by surprise, almost indistinguishable from the wall of wind behind him. He infused his arms with Armament Haki and continued to rocket towards the Giant King, the emperor, the insurmountable. Had he been at a safe distance, he would have sent a super-powerful punch towards the emperor, using an advanced form of Armament Haki, Emission, which would have enabled him to strike the emperor without ever touching him. "HMPH!"
The emperor stood his ground, having moved little throughout this clash of captains. He watched as the draconic man became his hybrid form. "So the worm thinks himself a man?" taunted Thrymr as he saw the telegraphed punch. However, in a moment, Thrymr received a vision of being sent flying by an invisible force. It would not be enough to kill him, but could prove to be an opening for Thieron. He would not allow himself to fall and be disgraced in his own home.
He decided it was time to show Thieron a taste of power, real power. Raising his spear, it blackened with red lightning forming around it. "Allfather's..." Thrymr said as we slashed with the spear, "Frenzy!" A crescent of energy, the Yonko's Haoshoku Haki, clashed with and cleaved through the wall of Emission. It raced towards the draconic man as the giant slammed the butt of his spear on the ground. Audum fled the weapon as the Yonko stepped towards Thieron.
"What is it you hoped to accomplish here? Did you think stepping into Elbaph would be a little vacation? That you would claim the throne of my ancestors like a child reaching for a toy?" Thrymr spat as he pointed the conquering spear at the man. "Did you think you would prove your worth to the World Government and be afforded some meaningless title? If you wish for such nonsense, it's best do it without a suicidal ambition of coming to me."
The two opposing forces, the punch of Thieron and the attack of the emperor, met and settled in a roar of the end of the world. Eventually, the King's spear attack took over and sent the rookie waltzing in the air. Blood coming out of his mouth as he shot into the air. Trying to regain his balance, he firmly planted his feet in the ground, as well as his hand infused with the Haki Armament, sliding several meters before arriving at a total stop.
Thieron was breathing hard and remained in this position. Drops of blood flowed from his mouth and fell to the ground. "What I hope to accomplish here, you say?" He questioned. He always looked at the ground. "I don't care of your territory or of some futile status! If I came here it is for..." He continued, slowly. Then he glanced at the emperor, looking straight into his eyes, and displaying a confident grin. "I came here hoping for a challenge! What could be better than frying an emperor?" He shouted defiantly. He was not afraid at all. On the contrary, he was very confident and enthusiastic. The emperor’s words only rekindled the flame in him.
Losing no second, he rose. His captain’s cape swung behind him. His eyes shone and his smile was wide. Despite the cold, he went and stripped his shirt, which remained around his waist like a loincloth. The fresh air caressed his chest, well-built and well-built. He controlled his breathing but kept his eyes on Thrymr. He raised his hands slowly, as if performing a step of theater. His hands continued to climb, more and more, before finally landing on the handle of the sword behind the captain’s back. He executed himself without much delay, drawing the enormous sword behind him. Revealed in the open, here was the Nordsterjen. The sword was enveloped by a mystical aura, as if a demon, a conqueror, were hidden in it. This same sword was in the past a true treasure of Elbaph, having been the weapon of a legendary warrior of the country who was known as a monster hunter. Any swordsman in this country could have recognized him among thousands, despite the fact that he had been stolen from the land of the Giants over a century ago.
The defiant rookie pointed his sword to the emperor, keeping both hands firmly around the handle of the mythical weapon. "Now be kind and give me an opportunity to surpass myself! Or has the title of emperor become so easy to get?"
Thrymr seemed almost amused. "I see we are similar then. Meaningless titles are just that, meaningless. The World Government can strip me of the Yonko title and it would be like clipping a nail from my finger. You were smart to not come for my land, the home of my children..." Thrymr cracked his neck.
The conflict so far had not fulfilled him, given him the feeling of being a warrior. "However, to clash with me is still a grave mistake. I don't stay in my land because I'm a coward or because I'm weak, boy. I stay in my land because the rest of the world... is meaningless. I don't need same gaudy empire like Caesar, all I care for the continued safety of the proud Giant race."
When the man revealed the sword, Thrymr's eye narrowed. "So you uncovered the Nordsterjen? Do you take that as a sign from the heavens?" Thrymr's grip on his spear tightened. "Remember, boy, the heaven's too need a messenger. Today, that is your role when you return that blade to me," Thrymr said as he suddenly appeared behind Thieron. Despite his size, he held incredible speed. Lunging his spear, he intended to skewer Theiron. The color of conqueror's Haki remained imbued in the spear, crackling with black lightning as Thrymr fought with the casualness of two children playing.
Thieron smiled at the emperor's little moment of appreciation, or rather gratitude. But this moment was cut short when the emperor mentioned the rookie captain's sword.
"HA! This sword was made for me, old bag! There's nothing in the world that could make me leave it to you!" Thieron exclaimed proudly.
The icy wind caressed the pirate's scaly skin, still in hybrid form. His black coat swayed behind him. His hands were clasped around the hilt of his gigantic saber; his eyes were fixed on the Emperor. Thieron was ready for anything that might happen. But then without warning, the Fimbultyr, disappeared. "What the-" The captain's eyes glowed bright red briefly as he looked into the future. Thrymr appeared behind him as he teleported, and thrust his spear at the rookie, impaling him on the spot.
At least, that's what would happen if Thieron didn't act fast.
Thieron turned, finding the emperor already thrusting his spear at him. With such a gigantic size, how could he be so fast? Realizing that he'd be hit no matter what, the defiant rookie used one of the skills he'd acquired while still in the ranks of the Navy, Seimen Kikan. This ability gives users complete, total control over their body parts. In Thieron's case, he jumped skywards on his right side, removing all his vital organs where he thought the attack'd hit, potentially avoiding lethal injury.
BOOM!
Impact. The Gungnir slammed into the left side of Thieron's abdomen, just at waist level, perforating his scaly skin before piercing completely through the pirate, leaving a gaping hole, but not so large that he jumped out of the way. The captain gritted his teeth, but he couldn't stay on top of it for long either. Quickly regaining his composure, he put his eyes back on Thrymr as he continued his ascent through the air. He had no time to lose now. Thieron imbued his sword not only with Armament Haki, but also with the lightning power of his fruit. Lightning struck all around as the captain with the 500 million berry bounty prepared to clash once more with the King of Elbaph. Once again, he used a technique he'd learned as a World Government officer, Geppo, and literally bounced through the air towards the emperor. "Ikoku..." He said in a fierce tone. Paired with his air-sliding ability, which drastically increased his speed, Thieron would have been close to the emperor in an absolutely ridiculous amount of time. Once he was close, he would bring the Northstar towards the giant with enormous force, letting out a deafening war cry. "Ragnarok!!!"
"That sword was forged by the might hands of the Elbaphian Giants. For a mere human to wield it is a disgrace. If you think yourself worthy prove it, boy," Thrymr declared as he removed the spear from the draconic man. In truth, he was starting to amuse Thrymr - perhaps he could be of some use to the Giant. As he saw the dragon not die from his attack, Thrymr glared upon his foe.
The power of Kenbunshoku allowed the user to see intent, thoughts, feelings, and more. Thrymr was a master of it, so his vision was greater than it ever was when he had two eyes. "I see, you possess power over your body, a handy skill. As the man bounced about, Thrymr smirked. "And walking on the air. Were you a mutt of the government at some point?"
Nonetheless, Thrymr held his spear before him, blocking the powerful attack with its point. "You have... some level of potential, I will grant you that much. However..." Thrymr said as Audum flew into his left hand, "to try and attack the master of the Ragnarok Pirates with an attack bearing my crew's name - your foolishness outweighs whatever potential that may be."
Sidestepping the path of the blade, Thrymr removed his spear to allow Thieron to fall. "Audum's Fist!" shouted Thrymr as he moved to punch the reptilian with his spiritually infused fist. Ice threatened to incase Thieron from Audum's power surging through his creator.
"My past is none of your business, old man! Ack-" Thieron spoke audibly as his attack was again blocked by the Emperor. The ex-Marine was honestly amazed by the giant's power, but the jab at his past enraged him. He was no longer a Marine, that was ancient, faded history. He was a pirate, now the Dark Knight, Captain of the renowned Pantheon Pirates. He was a man of prestige, and he was willing to show it, to Thrymr.
But how surprised he was when Thrymr let him down. It didn't bode well, and having his back to an Emperor was the last thing he wanted to do. "Kami-E" he said before he even hit the ground. Although he didn't see the attack coming directly, his body seemed to bend and deform with supernatural flexibility, letting Thrymr's gurgling fist pass without touching him.
He rolled to the side without missing a beat, barely getting back to his feet before swinging his sword at the Yonko's arm, sending a super-powerful shockwave towards him. He had come here with lofty ambitions, and it was out of the question for him that his dreams should come to an abrupt end here.
Thrymr caught the blade with his frozen hand. Ice started forging around the area it touched and travel down the blade to its owner. "You're correct. Your past is none of my business - nor my interest," dismissively spoke Thrymr. Thrymr would have threatened to break the blade, but it being a relic of Elbaph - he refrained from acting on his anger.
Clinching his other fist, the ice grew more rapidly than it had before. "Whatever your story is, you are far too much of a novice to have come here. You could have sought worthless titles by any others means and have never been a gnat in my eye. However, you came here - to my kingdom, the home of my wife my children, and my people. For that, you have become a pest worthy of extermination. I offer you a mercy though, if you are wise enough to take it before I kill you, your crew, and use your ship as a playground for the children of Elbaph," spoke the king as he threatened to incase Thieron as a whole.
"I don't need your pity, old hag!" Thieron exclaimed. Despite the fact that the Yonko was literally just a few feet away from him. He was sure of himself at all times, and it had already wronged him; but some things just don't change. His eyes glittered with defiance, his bare, scaly torso bleeding from the blow he'd taken to the side of his body. He gripped the hilt of his saber with all his might before it froze completely. He let out a primal roar as he generated lightning from his hands, which encapsulated the sword completely.
This was not only to electrocute the Emperor, but also to thaw the saber, as lightning is intensely hot. Tens of thousands of degrees quickly became the temperature around the legendary sword, enough to melt or even vaporize metal. Then all that remained was to remove the saber from the trap, which Thieron did by bringing his entire abdomen back in one swift motion, removing the Nordstjernen and himself from the emperor's proximity. But while still in the air, Thieron seized control of the wind around him, pushing himself toward the Jotunn's head, which he would meet with his reptilian foot imbued with Advanced Haki. "Take... this!"
Thrymr sighed as the man stood defiant. Raising his Haki, the electricity did little harm Thrymr - the experienced king's will being honed from years of combat and rule. As the reptilian prepared to kick in Thrymr's head, the powerful giant saw the future of the attack. As such, he allowed Theiron to continue his attack.
Just before the kick could land, Thrymr grasped the man and violently threw him aside. "You are outclassed, child. You denied mercy when I kindly offered it to you," Thrymr said as he plunged his spear into the earth. A cascade of icicle spears raised from the ground, racing to pierced and maul the draconic man. "I could remove your very soul, but do not wish to defile Elbaph with it."
The icicle spears sought to pin Thieron in, imprisoning him in all his folly. Thyrmr approached with this spear, trained to Theron's heart. "Tell me, gnat, why did you come here? What could you have hoped to gain? As you so eloquently put it, am I not merely an old hag?" mocked Thrymr.
"Shit." Thieron exclaimed, dissatisfied with his failure yet again. It had been several times already that he'd tried to finally strike a blow at the Emperor, to no avail. It frustrated him to no end. It's often said that Man surpasses himself when confronted with death; and here, as he was being swung by Thrymr and about to be pierced by icicles, he had a moment of enlightenment, a moment of lucidity.
Maybe he didn't need to surpass the Jotunn in any attribute; maybe he just needed to outsmart him.
And so, a plan formed in his head. As the ice peaks came dangerously close, Thieron took control of the wind. He'd come to a sudden stop and put on a false expression of pain and confusion, creating a near-perfect illusion of himself being pierced by the spikes, even though he'd really only be floating a few centimetres above them. So he waited in this position for the King of Elbaph to continue his attack.
As the latter's blade approached, Thieron smiled as time seemed to slow down for him. He seemed to feel everything. He was ecstatic and lost in thought.
"As much as I hate to admit it, being in the Navy made me who I am. You're an Emperor, so you've had to face many of them to get where you are... Even so, as you've admitted so well, you don't give a damn about what happens beyond your territory. And unlike Soru and Geppo, this technique isn't that widespread. Even though I used it earlier, I don't suppose you've heard of it that much, have you?"
"Kami-E." He said, widening his eyes and looking the Emperor in the eyes with intensity, as if to kill him with his gaze. And so, his body would fold like a sheet of paper, supernaturally, almost frighteningly even, leaving Thrymr's spear to continue its path towards the ground, uninterrupted. The merit of this technique is that it gives its user unprecedented flexibility. Coupled with good reaction time, the user becomes virtually untouchable for a few moments. Two points with which the captain, whose head had a bounty tag of five hundred million, was endowed.
It was now or never.
Having dodged the attack, it was only natural that Thieron should now counter-attack, and he had put himself in a superb position to do so. So, grinning, he clenched his left fist and imbued it with advanced Armament Haki, Emission, before sending it hurtling towards Thrymr's chin.
Knowing that his speed alone was far too low to catch his opponent unawares, he pushed his own fist through the air, enabling him to reach a breathtaking speed, one that would then seem instantaneous.
But the fist itself wouldn't be the one that made contact with Thrymr's chin, as it would stop dead in its tracks, just as quickly as it had started. Rather, it would be Thieron's own Haki, emitted thanks to his mastery of this advanced form of Color of Armament, which would strike the emperor with unparalleled, immense and simply superhuman force.
In the hope of silencing him, was now a meticulous attempt to finally land an attack on the truly unstoppable force that was Jotunn.
Clanking Sounds[]
"I ain't hidin'" Norn spoke, stepping forward, her fingers rubbing genlty against themselves yet the sound of metal against metal was no present in spite of her metal guantlet. "You've got yourselves a lot of nerve showing up on these shores, Shorty. If you aren't careful you'll be squished like, ew, bugs..." Norn warned them that their presence was not welcome, her massive sword expanded outward like a balloon before a loud croak came from it.
With his Captain fighting the Emperor, Kogeru decided to take the giant nearby as a target. Moving with grace and fluidity, just as with speed and agility, he emanated the very essence of what it meant to be a Samurai. Unlike Kaza or even Thieron who took pleasure in the long fights, who provoked their opponent and even discussed with them, Kogeru went straight to the point, disliking barking around for nothing. With him, it was truly all bite, no bark. This time though, it was different. Advancing as fast as the wind, he didn’t take long to reach his target, drawing out his katana and hitting the iron with the giant. "My captain is taking care of yours, so I’ll show off a little bit-yo."
Norn closed her hand, and as did sticky buso infused webs that had already been weaved came up from all around. The ground, the trees, pulled taut created a thick maze of interwoven threads stronger than steel. "It's reckless to close in quickly on a predator you know nothing about. If you're caught in my webs there will be no escape. I'll rip you limb from limb and feed you to Gram." The giant spoke with a most casual tone, making it clear that she was not only serious about her threats but that he would not be the first to have met such a fate.
Kogeru grinned at the giantess's provocation. A trap, he thought, but the samurai was anything but prey. "Don't get the wrong idea, there. You're just a nameless fish placed on my cutting board-yo!" The samurai spoke up. Although younger, by a wide margin, than the giantess, he wasn't lacking in spunk and showed no fear towards her. "You could be among the strongest here... But facing me, you're just a common animal to be butchered! I'll start by stripping you of your scales!" Kogeru provoked again. His confidence was palpable, and he wasn't about to give up.
Not turning his attention, he positioned himself to attack. He crouched slightly, his cloak moving behind him like a cape. "If there's one thing I've learned as a swordsman, it's... A samurai can slice through anything!" As soon as these words left his mouth, he sprinted towards the giantess like a bolt of lightning. Kogeru was not only strong, he was also very fast, and that was what characterized his style. As he advanced, he made an impressive number of slashes, aiming to effectively cut through any obstacle that stood in front of him. But that wasn't the main show, his sword seemed to generate flames. But it wasn't, Kogeru was a master of the Foxfire Style. If he succeeded, he'd find himself face to face with the giantess, allowing him to begin his fight in earnest. "To the two of us!"
Norn's smile widened as the man attempted to cut through her webs, with the simple motion of moving her hands forward did something happen the small swordsman would not have expected, his sword did not cut through her webs. Not because he had no capability or the skill required to do so but rather, she'd given the webs slack and with that, his blade could find nothing to catch onto, no friction with which to cut.
"Surely you don't think yourself the first swordsman I've faced? Did you think trying to cut through my webs would be some unexpected, genius play?" Norn scoffed, her slacked webs falling around the man as he continued forward toward her. Her webs stuck to his sword, as he continued to move they would begin to stick to the rest of his body.
"You're playing with the big boys now, it's time to start thinking outside the box." Norn chuckled as she stabbed her sword into the ground in front of her, its blade began to expand outward in a bubble before it quickly deflated alongside a loud and massive "Kero!" that send a shockwave through the forest, knocking snow from the tree tops and hopefully sending the swordsman flying back where he could only find more of her webs waiting to entangle him.
"What the-" The samurai said. Spider webs embraced him and blocked him. But was that really enough? The shock wave reached and struck him, sending him flying through the air to other spider webs woven farther away. But what she didn't know was that Kogeru was never going to get caught. In the air, at the right moment, he struck the air with his sword with such force that it would have sent him very high into the sky. "The big boys, you say?" He spoke as he went up. "You seem very confident, but only the one who wins this confrontation has the right to speak like that! And I assure you, it won't be you." He provoked. He was not cold in his eyes, even though he had been the first to be touched.
"Nothing broken... Her skill seems useful but as long as I don't get caught in her spider webs..." He thought. Reaching the climax of his jump, he put himself in the attacking position once more. "I'll just have to slice you from afar!" He shouted. Promptly, he pointed his katana towards the sky, which immediately caught fire. "Foxfire Style..." He brought his sword back to the ground in a swift and fluid motion, sending a sharp, fiery shock wave to the giant; not to touch her, but rather to burn all the spider webs around her. "Blazing Crescent!"
"You'd sound more convincing if you weren't floundering around in my webs." Norn watched as his flaming slash began it's descent, the smile on her face never once faltering as she closed her fist and with it the branches of the massive trees shook violently sending massive amounts of snow down toward the ground. As the snow fell upon the samurai's attack a hiss rang out and steam bellowed into a thick cloud between the two combatant temporarily limiting visibility between them.
"I feel bad for your captain, to command such weak men." Norn spoke, followed by the sound of her spitting as though mocking him. However, she was not spitting on the ground in some show of disrespect. From the cloud of steam came three large purple-colored balls of liquid. Norn had spit poison at the man using the venom of her Kumo Kumo no Mi, Model: Tsuchigumo.
"A captain's reputation isn't totally based on his prowess, you know-yo?" The swordsman talked. The poisonous attack was advancing towards him, but contrary to what one would have thought he would do, he propelled himself directly towards it. "I am everything but weak-yo!" He continued. Approaching, he put his saber back and prepared to retaliate.
"Your attack doesn't look very good to me, but..." He began to bring his saber back to make a flawless slice. "I'll just cut across-yo! Splitter Supreme!!!"
SWING!
The attack went off, sending a sharp shockwave towards the gigantic fish ball, slicing it cleanly in two, sending the two half-spheres to either side. The epeist, landing on the ground, gave off a mystical aura. He looked at the giantess with an assassin's gaze.
Norn looked down at the man, for a moment her glare met his own, but it seemed she couldn't keep a straight face and her tight lipped stare turned into a smirk. In the midst of the falling snow, subsequent steam, and his cutting through her venomous spit, he hadn't noticed that her sword was nowhere to be found.
From above the same loud "KERO!" That had sent him flying before now rained down upon him from above completely blasting the snow in all directions from the spot that he was standing in.
Were he to look up he would see a massive frog coming down from above him, it's long, sticky tongue shooting out from it's mouth down toward him intending to grab hold.
"Gram also possesses a zoan devil fruit, if you hadn't noticed. He won't eat you though, weak men give him indigestion. Kukukuku!"
Just as the swordsman was landing, the giantess attacked again. A giant frog fell from the sky, its long tongue protruding from its mouth. The sun was completely obscured by the very presence of the gigantic creature. But in all this chaos, Kogeru looked particularly calm. For him, the world slowed down as he closed his eyes, giving his senses a chance to express themselves. He crouched slightly, stretching his right arm, whose hand wielded his katanai, out in front of him.
His breathing slowed in this moment of optimal concentration. In his mind, the visualization of a cherry blossom tree appeared. His senses were sharp and alert; and to this was added his Kenbunshoku Haki, enabling him at this moment to feel every little vibration in the air, every little disturbance in the wind in a hemisphere around him. He clenched his saber, but at the same time, he didn't feel it. He was legitimately one with the world. This technique was endemic to the Hanamura clan of Wano, it was endemic to the Sakura-Ryu; it was Falling Blossom Emotion.
The moment Gram the frog's tongue or body entered that immaterial, imaginary region around Kogeru, he would, in miniscule time, be met by the samurai's sharp, Haki-imbued blade. Not only that, but the immense force of the attack would send a super-powerful, crescent-shaped shockwave through the air, cutting through everything in its vertical trajectory without exception. As it advanced, it would become stronger. Faster. Sharper. And cut and cut and cut everything in sight; the air, the wind, and the unlucky frog in the process.
And cut it did, the moment the tongue of the giant frog crossed that imaginary border blood sprayed from it's split flesh. The faded pink of it's tongue quickly being coated in red. Quickly Garm was pulled away, transforming mid-flight back into the giant blade now too coated in red from the attack.
Norn wasn't quite sure what it was that she had just seen, the blade seeming to have moved in a flash. It was no doubt a sword technique of some kind but it was different than the ones he'd used up until now.
The giantess ran her hand down the length of her blade, wiping off the blood which fell into and stained the white snow around her. "So you finally decided to get serious, huh? Here I thought I was going to die of boredom. Fine then, let's see what other tricks you've got up your sleeve!"
"Let's finish they guy off quick, Gram. We'll get that tongue patched up, I'm sure Thrymr is already finished with that captain of his." She told Gram before she stabbed him into the ground and taking a step forward, dragging her sword behind her she swung it upward rending the ground and sending a large wave of dirt and debris toward the swordsman.
The samurai would not be intimidated by mere dust and debris. He continued to breathe as he took up an attacking stance; slightly crouched, both arms around the handle of his katana and the latter raised above his head. He wasn't worried about anything, he was strangely calm, as evidenced by the fact that his eyes were closed. He'd already put his trust in his captain and didn't need to worry about him, he just had to concentrate on his prey.
The Emperor's commander had only underestimated him, and he was determined to show that he wasn't just a lowkey part-time pirate.
When his eyes reopened, it was as if an infernal fire burned inside them as his saber suddenly caught the flames. "Foxfire Style!" he exclaimed loudly. His grip became firm as the flames intensified. It was as if the sun itself had dislodged itself to accompany the samurai in his fateful dance. Then he lifted off from the ground towards the wave of debris. But this wasn't going to be a one-shot attack.
He advanced gracefully, as if drawn into a fluid dance. As soon as one of his feet touched the ground, a slash would have already gone towards the debris. Next step, the same thing. The slashes were fluid and clean, and it didn't take long for the wall of debris to be smashed to smithereens. Once the samurai found himself in front of Norn, he would leap towards her head with his blade in front of him, ready for action and displaying a murderous, empty stare. Kogeru would spin around in a hurry, taking his saber with him in a frenzy of movement to simply decapitate the commander.
In one, swift motion leaving a flame trail behind that would appear, from above, to have the shape of a serpentine dragon.
And suddenly, as if she'd simply vanished into thin air, Norn was gone. Not even a phantom trace of her remained, not after-image, not even footsteps in the snow to tell what direction she had gone.
And so the samurai's sword slash would find nothing but the cold and howling winds of Elbaph before as quickly as she had appeared, she was behind him in all her height but something was off, as she swung her fist at him it would seen more than triple the size it had been before, nearly rivaling her own size as it barreled down toward Kogeru glistening with the black of her busoshoku haki. This was the mythical ability of her Tsuchigumo she could shrink and grow as she pleased, having had the fruit long enough that she had learned to grow and shrink her limbs individually.
"Kumo Kumo Meteor Fist!" Norn let her attack be known to the man.
Kogeru wondered as the giant disappeared. How could she be so big but so fast at the same time? He had no idea. Luckily for him, as the giantess reappeared and sent out her gigantic fist, already drawn into its rotation, he would then only adjust his speed in order to cross swords with the giantess's hardened skin. And cross it he did. But now there was a problem: Kogeru was in the air and, unlike his captain, had no means of propelling himself through it. This sent him plummeting towards the ground, not just by the force of the blow, but by the pull of the world itself, inevitably drawing him down.
"Shit." As he was pushed down, Kogeru changed strategy and put his feet down. When he landed, his feet would absorb the force of the blow, but would not allow him to be crushed directly. It hurt, but at least he was on his feet. Wind emanated from the point of impact as the two attacks momentarily matched. The samurai put his hand horizontally and pushed the sleeve with one hand, and the tip with the other, hurting himself in the process. He grunted like a ferocious beast as blood spurted from his mouth from the effort. But in the end, all this would only serve to reduce the power of the blow as much as possible, for he was quickly overwhelmed and crushed to the ground. But despite expectations, it wouldn't be the end of him yet, for he was still alive... And conscious.
Clash Of Boom[]
A little further along the island, Kaza, followed by the crew, skirted the coast of the Isle of Giants. A Yonko territory? Really? This territory was really peaceful, too peaceful even. They'd been walking for several minutes and hadn't even met a single native yet. "Dat's really weird..." He thought.
Kaza’s observation of peace was soon to be made null and void as something, or rather, someone seemingly fell from the heavens and crash landed in front of the commander and the rest of his crew, creating a small crater upon landing and kicking up dust and debris. While her figure may have been temporarily obscured, her presence was felt along the entirety of the coast. Kaza’s proportionately weaker crewmates didn’t stand a chance before the aura that this new arrival possessed, falling unconscious in mass as massive sparks of black and crimson lightning ripped through the dust cloud and shot out into the air. Waves of pressure swallowed up Kaza and his comrades in close enough proximity, cracking the earth and threatening to topple nearby trees alike as the object of this pressure would finally become visible.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long..”
Angrboda spoke, rising to her full height as she towered over her opponent. Despite her relatively small stature by giant standards, to anyone else she was still vastly superior when it came down to sheer size, and Kaza would be no different. Her reddish hair flowed wildly in the winds that her unconscious release of haki created, a crazed grin spread across her face as she walked forward. With each step it felt as though her presence had been magnified tenfold, the ground trembling under the pressure she generated, the pressure of a ruler. Reaching up to her back Angrboda would grab the hilt of her sword and pull it from its sheath, resting it on her shoulder as she continued speaking.
“The day someone had the balls to come to my home lookin for a fight. You interrupted my hunting, so now it’s your turn to entertain me. I’ll even letcha get the first blow to keep it interesting, but you better not miss.”
Kaza moved forward with the rest of the Titan Pirates, having still not encountered the slightest trace of civilization or life for that matter. Apart from the flora, neither humans nor animals were visible. Were they all hiding? This was emperor territory after all. Where were they all? All these questions raced through the Supernova commander's mind. But that was without counting on the arrival of a giant woman.
And her arrival was not the most discreet. As soon as she arrived, she used her undisputed leadership qualities, knocking everyone but Kaza unconscious. Kaza felt tingling, but didn't fall. "It tingles like crazyy!" he exclaimed, impressed. The other members of his crew were already snoozing, leaving only him. As soon as the barrier of willpower had passed, he took up an attacking stance, putting both arms out in front of him like a boxer. A protective black layer instantly covered his arms. "Ya're here to figh't, are't ya? Come to me, I'll kick yer ass!"
”Hesitation is weakness.”
She scoffed with disgust, allowing the cyborg a free attack and him refusing to take such an opportunity told her all she needed to know about the outcome of this battle. With a one handed swing of her sword a blade of wind even taller than she was erupted forward, cleaving into the ground and leaving a massive fissure in the earth as it made its way towards the opponent.
“You’re not cut from the same cloth as the other two, huh? How disappointing.”
She taunted, though her voice sounded oddly.. close. Just like that Kaza would find himself stuck between a rock and a hard place, Angrboda’s speed being phenomenal despite her massive size. A nearly battleship sized blade of wind from one direction, and her fist threatening to collide into his back and sandwich him into the projectile with a level of force that could only be described as cataclysmic. She may not have boasted the size of her giant peers, but when it came to physical might it was clear she was a giant through and through.
Kaza sensed the danger and had to react quickly. His Observation Haki was triggered, and he soon had a complete overview of the situation he was in. Seeing that he was being sandwiched, shifting to one side or the other would have served no purpose other than to delay his seemingly inevitable fate. Strangely, the commander began to smile. "KA...!" Quickly, his feet turned into mines; or rather, mines appeared under his feet. Kaza had just used an abilty of his Yaku Yaku no Mi, enabling him to generate or turn any part of his body into any type of ammunition.
"BOOM!" Not even a second later, due to the pressure exerted by his body on the mine, a cataclysmic explosion occurred. This explosion was not intended to kill the giantess, but to propel the Titan Pirates' left-arm man above the two attacks, which it did. Kaza was propelled dozens of metres above the ground, avoiding both attacks at once. In this way, if the shockwave from the explosion hadn't been powerful enough to propel the giantess backwards, her trap would have backfired, as her fist, which hadn't hit anything but air, would have been in the path of her own slicing attack. "I bet ya didn't see that comin', did cha?!"
”What a cheeky little fruit you’ve got, but an explosion won’t work against me, especially not one of such lackluster quality.
Angrboda commented. Kaza was correct in his intention, Angrboda’s enclosed fist was on track to collide with her own flying slash from moments prior, and he must have thought that this was a checkmate situation for him. That’s when a cynical grin crept over her face, accelerating her fist forward to collide with her slash. With a sudden change in her fist’s trajectory paired with the same black sheen coating her arm, Angrboda would send the slash flying up into the sky after Kaza.
“You wanna see what a real explosion looks like, kid?”
The giantess inquired. Having eaten the Bomu Bomu no Mi Angrboda was impervious to any and all explosions, and so the mines that Kaza created under his feet quite literally did nothing at all to the Elbaphian warrior. Taking a deep inhale, Angrboda released the breath up towards her opponent in a powerful gust of wind, and at her whim the winds from her breath would explode without warning, an explosion of immense proportions that sent a tremor from the island to the nearby waters of the coast, large and powerful enough to handily blow mountains of Elbaph away if it were aimed at them. Her devil fruit allowed her to generate explosions from any part of her body, including things her body excreted like her own breath, a fact that she could use to terrifying effect.
“Oi. That didn’t kill ya, did it?”
It hadn't, in fact, killed Kaza. As soon as the commander noticed that the giant's attack had been redirected towards him, he covered his torso with Armament Haki, which would have protected him effectively. The attack crashed down on his torso, exactly in the middle and along the entire length of the pirate's body, but didn't penetrate the flesh as it was blocked by the impenetrable layer of invisible armour protecting him. "Shiii! Are't you tough!" he proclaimed. The attack, due to its strength, pushed him higher and higher, towards the sky, quickly giving him enough height to get a full view of the scene. But this would work to his advantage...
Kaza would put his arms forward, clenching his fists and pointing them at the side. He also covered them with the same protective layer as on his torso, which would have had the effect of multiplying their strength and durability by an implausibly large factor. He quickly turned them into missiles thanks to his devil fruit, but kept their shape, which made his forearms look normal but thus gained reactors behind them.
He shot them on the sides, immediately gaining new forearms due to it being a part of his devil fruit's abilities. This would have looked silly because his target was in front of him. But that’s where the genius behind the attack came into play. His forearms weren’t normal missiles, those were homing missiles. This would simply mean that Angrboda would have nowhere to go or hide because these faster-than-sound missiles would continue to chase her relentlessly, would they not have hit other obstacles. So, if they hit their target, Angrboda would be impacted by two super-powerful supersonic attacks imbued with Armament Haki, before Kaza’s forearms would detonate in a cataclysmic explosion, worthy of an end of the world.
"Hey! I betcha didn't see dis com- Uh?" BOOM! He boasted before being interrupted by the enormous explosion that had just occurred. Kaza was lucky because he was a little higher than the explosion because he had been pushed towards the sky by the previous attack. Despite this, the attack was still extremely devastating and he found himself burned with skin being torn clean from his body. This is where the secret of Kaza would be revealed, this secret that only few knew - Kaza was a cyborg. The skin removed from several places on her body then revealed what was hidden under it, a metallic body. The entire left side of the commander’s face had been torn off, revealing a metallic and robotic skull and a shining bionic eye. Kaza crashed to the ground, digging a crater in his fall. Without losing a moment, he sat down, stunned, grabbing his head with his right hand.
"Dis one was't half-bad... Argh! I fel' dis one!"
Rockets, really? He thought more explosions would be enough to get rid of her? He sure wasn’t the brains of the group, that was for sure, but admittedly his power was interesting. More interesting than his fruit though was the exposure of his metallic skeleton, this caused Angrboda’s eyes to light up.
“You’re a robot..”
With casual effort she gripped hold of both rockets as they came flying towards her, creating an explosion within her hand that subsequently detonated the pair of missiles and generated yet another massive, fiery explosion. Through the flames and smoke more black sparks could be seen erupting through the air as her haki was allowed to run rampant yet again. A pair of red glowing eyes cut through the darkness like laser beams as she stood at the edge of the crater Kaza was in.
“That means I can break you apart as much as I want, right?”
Her tone was nothing short of sinister, finally she was given a toy that wouldn’t necessarily die no matter how much she ripped it apart, her prayers had finally been answered. An explosion went off under Angrboda’s feet, propelling her forward at speeds that far surpassed even Kaza’s missile attack moments prior, launching herself at the opponent with her fist cocked back. With him being stunned, avoiding her attack would prove extremely difficult, and not even purely due to her speed. Another explosion would go off at the back of her elbow, catapulting her fist forward even faster as she aimed it to crash down upon Kaza’s body, her monstrous force only deepening the crater he’d made. Lastly, in the midst of her punch, Angrboda would combust her full body into an explosion that shook the entirety of Elbaph’s coast. Now that it was revealed to her she was fighting a cyborg she wanted to see just how much his robotic body could withstand before yielding to her might. All these factors combined would certainly put the second commander into a precarious situation to say the least, one that could very easily lead to him losing his life if he wasn’t careful.
Angrboda had been right about everything, except that Kaza would last so long in a daze. His bionic blue eyes shone brightly before turning yellow. The giant perfomed a first explosion, catapulting her at full speed towards the second-in-command. He, strangely, began to smile grimly. "Lumin Gearshift..." His lips moved rapidly and his body began to glow ethereally. BOOM! The sound of the explosion reached him, but the warrior's fist was much closer than it seemed, due to its hypersonic speed. "100%!!!" The cyborg seemed to disappear, and Angrboda's attack, which was about to hit him, hit nothing but air. A single beam of light emanated from the crater, as if it were trying to escape the giant's attack, which it succeeded in doing. Almost instantly, it came to rest in the sky, but retained its splendour, now acting like a star, shining brightly in the sky. From there, the second arm, Kaza, was revealed.
"Hey, ya! You're truly amazing, you know dat?!!" Kaza exclaimed in admiration, as if high. He smiled broadly. His senses, his reflexes, his reaction time and even his speed had all reached inconceivable levels. He had been damaged, but now it couldn't mattter less; he was truly in a state of bliss. He was feeling nothing, seeing nothing, hearing nothing... But he was feeling everything, seeing everything and hearing everything, all at the same time. His situation was the best and the worst at the same time.
The Lumin Gearshift was Kaza's own, self-developed cybernetic facility. Beneath his skin was a bionic organ whose function was to store ambient energy, specifically heat and light. When he activated the Lumin Gearshift, this energy was translated into light, which the pirate could use for offensive or movement purposes. When he used this ability in his lower levels, his speed was increased and he could easily continue fighting until his energy reserves were exhausted. But when he was at 100%, his speed reached the limits of what was possible, reaching high relativistic levels, making him one of the world's fastest beings; but the pirate could only continue fighting for a few dozen seconds. However, in the majority of his fights in which he would have used this ability, which were anything but numerous, this allotted time had always sufficed.
"From now on, it's gonna be all 'bout me! Come on, catch me if ya can!"
As the smoke cleared from the explosion, Angrboda had already been looking up at her opponent, having kept track of him via the color of observation. Listening to his words was, the female giant simply couldn’t resist.
”BAHAHAHAHAHAH!! Catch you?! If you’re too afraid to fight, you aren’t worth my time to begin with. If you’re the best they’ve got you don’t got a snowball’s chance in hell makin it in these waters.”
With that, Angrboda slid her sword back into its sheath and started to head off towards the coast, the fires from all the explosions burning wildly, though she casually walked through them without any regard for them or Kaza, wiping the sweat from her brow. Angrboda wasn’t one to play such childish games, if Kaza refused to fight and was content with evading the whole time she’d find someone who wasn’t, someone who was genuinely worth her breath. Just when she thought she’d be set free from her boredom, she ended up with the coward, if that isn’t just her luck.
“Your captain oughta be ashamed, one of his chief officers resorting to a game of tag in the face of his enemy while they risk their lives, pathetic.”
As she walked off into the forest, playfully spinning around each tree with her hand as she ventured further along down the coast, a sign of her boredom and lack of interest. With this opponent being a let down perhaps she’d get her fix of excitement from looking towards what her fellow giants were doing.
“Have fun doin uh.. whatever it is you’re doin up there. I got real opponents to deal with.”
In the midst of her walking Angrboda would suddenly turn to the ship that kaza and his subordinates arrived on, and that’s when yet another devilish smile crept upon her face.
“Huh.. it’d be a shame if you were to lose here and not have any means of getting yourselves off the island, wouldn’t it?”
Just like that, the focus of Angrboda’s attention had shifted once more to the vessel. Blowing it to pieces, hurling it against the side of a mountain, crushing it with her bare hands, slicing it in half, all these potential options rushed through her head and drove her to the border of salivating at the possibilities. She was a glutton for chaos and destruction, a giantess with an insatiable desire to bring about a calamity any and everywhere she went, without question the most unhinged of the three giants defending their home. Now the question was, just who exactly would stop her? It was evident missiles and the like wouldn’t work and if anything would only put his vessel in further danger. It seemed he had no other choice but to risk a head to head confrontation, but is that truly what he wanted with a beast like her? No matter what he decided to do, Angrboda was without question the one in control at the moment.
“Guess you gotta make a decision robo boy. Hope ya choose right.”
"Sure..." Kaza answered immediately, but his voice sounded strangely... close.
Kaza performed an orbit around her, but at his speed, it wouldn't have looked like he'd ever been near her. He took to the skies again and flew like a child. Elbaph had become his playground, and Angrboda was just another toy on that field. "Ya see... I got the speed advantage here, y'know!!!" He spoke with a broad grin. He was ecstatic. Suddenly he would stop in the sky, at most a few seconds had passed. He had to hurry because moving in this form became self-destructive when the duration was too long. He clenched his fist, which made a loud metallic noise. "Ya eva heard of kinetic energy?"
Immediately, he propelled himself at full speed towards the giantess, splitting the air in front of him like a bolt of lightning. In the air, he fired two missiles in front of him, which would act as decoys, potentially drawing the giantess's attention towards them. Kaza, for his part, changed direction and overtook the giant in the blink of an eye, before maneuvering through the air like a fighter jet to come back at her from behind. Both missiles exploded, but Kaza never emerged from the smoke - no, he was behind the giantess. Had she understood what was going on, when she'd turn around, the only thing she'd be faced with would be a super-powerful, vigorous punch coming at her like a bolt of lightning and infused with Armament Haki. "Checkmate!"
Hook, line and sinker.
Angrboda’s trap had been set, and Kaza just as predicted, fell for it like she knew he would. He was far too eager and impulsive even for her standards, relying purely on the chaos his fruit would create for a lesser opponent. Angrboda though was far from a lesser opponent. Wild and unhinged as she may have seemed, taking that to mean that she was incompetent or incapable of rationality would get you killed.
The Bomu Bomu No Mi was an interesting devil fruit, not only did it allow the user to combust any part of their body, but also bodily excretion such as blood, saliva, or sweat. All of which could cause explosions at will so long as they remained on the surface of whatever she wished to blow up. Why that matters you may ask? Well, it’s quite simple: Angrboda was easily able to deduce the disparity between herself and her opponent as combatants, and in order to prolong the bout for her entertainment decided to set up a bit of a trap, however that first required Kaza to enter a false state of security, an opportunity that he himself offered up to her by activating this gear and bragging about his speed advantage.
Next, Angrboda needed to set the trap and get him to chase after her, which is where her taunting came in to play. Her playing and twirling around the trees was calculated and done with purpose. With the sweat she wiped from her brow, Angrboda smeared her sweat on to every tree that she touched on her way to the ship, which was the thing that drew Kaza in range of her now readied explosions. While he was correct, he did boast a speed advantage against her in this scenario he allowed that advantage to make him grow arrogant and underestimate the battle sense of his opponent. From there all she had to do was wait for him to take the bait, keeping track of his movements with the use of her observation haki Angrboda didn’t even bother to acknowledge the rockets he launched, her fruit rendering her immune to explosions as established prior.
Instead of looking to the projectiles, the giant’s gaze was already locked with Kaza’s as he zoomed behind her and launched his attack. The very instant that he began to form his fist he’d find himself engulfed in a sea of explosions. Igniting the sweat that she placed upon the surrounding trees, the explosion of his own missiles, and her detonating her entire body into an explosion that would be clearly visible even from the horizon on its own, even Kaza’s speed wouldn’t feasibly be able to help him here. The size, strength, and range of the explosives paired with his proximity to her would make it nearly impossible to avoid with the ability to glimpse into the future. Angrboda’s symphony of explosions produced a heat that could incinerate the flesh off of a sea king in an instant. Compared to her previous explosions, these were different. Unlike the massive blast waves that her previous attacks created, these lacked that same outward force. These were much more concentrated, “sharper”, evident by their effect on the earth below their feet. Unlike before where her explosions in the ground these created a deep fissure in the earth, similar to what her sword slash had done in the beginning of the fight although on a much grander scale. These more concentrated explosions would deal significantly more direct damage to Kaza as their energy was much more finely controlled and efficiently packed.
“Yeah. Checkmate.”
Angrboda remarked mockingly, continuing to make her way towards the coast and looking further down as she picked up on the presence of the other four combatants.
“Hm. They probably don’t need my help. Oi! You dead back there? If not, I wanna go home so uh.. I’d appreciate if you and your fledgling crewmates did us all a favor and fucked off yeah? I think we can all see that this ain’t going too well for you, and I can only take it easy for so long til I get reeeeeally bored.”
Kaza was hit by the explosions, but fortunately for him, he managed to extricate himself before taking the full force of the blasts. Large parts of his robotic body were now skinless, revealing even more of the genius behind the scenes. Kaza retreated to a nearby forest and landed. But unlike anyone else after taking such a blow, the cyborg was smiling. "Well done on yer part, there! But if ya really think that'll be enough to beat me, ye're wrong!" He spoke audibly.
The cyborg began to walk. His body had taken some damage, but he could still fight on. "After all, y'know why I'm the second commander of my crew?" Then he began to fly, attaching electronic-looking devices to trees; eight in all, with one for each chosen tree. If we drew a curve through each of these points, it would give us a circular arc. "That's because... I never fail at my missions!" He continued. Kaza was now more enthusiastic than ever about fighting, this giant was proving to be a real challenge, one that the cyborg was ready to overcome whatever the cost.
"If I've picked up on yer fruit, you can blow things up, right? If that's the case, then i'm yar perfect counter, because, once again, I'm a cyborg! I'm human evolution in the flesh, baby!". Kaza laughed. If Angrboda had succeeded to do something, then it would've been to hype Kaza up.
"If I had been your average homeboy, I probably would have lost!" Kaza moved into the starting position, squatting and firmly planting her feet in the ground. Turbojet engines appeared on his back, palms and soles of his feet. His clothes, destroyed, moved around him. Now explode all you want because today it’s your funeral alive!" The cyborg was pumped hard. "Lumin Gearshift 25%" He says. Immediately, he accelerated in a sonic boom out of the forest, heading straight for the giant. The noise was deafening, the wind was setting the grass. Now, Kaza was four times slower than before, allowing him to hold this shape for much longer. Like lightning, he advanced towards the giant with a raised fist. But what she probably did not know was that here, Kaza was not the real threat.
Once he had arrived just a few meters from the giant, he again used decoys as a distraction, and climbed to the sky. The decoys exploded, but Kaza would have been high in the sky by then. He put his hands in front of him again, as if he was going to shoot, but that’s when his trap started. All of a sudden, the electronic devices he had previously placed in the forest went off, each firing a powerful laser beam. Unlike Kaza, these beams there were made of light, and therefore traveled as such. The giant’s attention would probably still have been on Kaza at the time, and she would have had no way of knowing that this attack was heading for her. The eight rays were grouped out of the forest into one, at their disposal, gigantic, probably larger than a warship alone, and able, with much margin, to encompass a giant.
With such an attack, dodging was simply impossible, except for the fastest people in the world. To add fuel to the fire, the giantess wouldn't even have known that Kaza was up to something in the forest, and wouldn't even have seen the attack coming towards her, as the explosions from the decoys earlier would probably have deprived her of any view of the forest. Here, neither her speed nor her reaction time could possibly save her.
This entire time Kaza has relied upon poor feints to try and catch her off guard, none of which having worked effectively due likely to his sheer underestimation of her abilities. See, giants have a reputation for being these slow, lumbering behemoths with immense strength but lacking in speed and agility, and in many cases this was correct, however Angrboda wasn’t most giants. Upon her birth it was very evident that she wouldn’t grow to the same physical heights as even the average Giant, referred to as a runt by her peers her entire life. However Angrboda would go on to learn to utilize her smaller size to her advantage, allowing her to be more agile than most other giants and still boasting immense physical strength, thus making her into one of Elbaph’s most dangerous warriors.
With Kaza’s repeated downplay of her speed and movement capabilities it wouldn’t be long at all until he really got hurt. As the man slowed down considerably Angrboda had grown tired of his tricks and as a result, decided to follow him into the air. With his speed cut by four times keeping up with him would be a breeze in this state, her fruit ability allowing her the opportunity to completely ignore the explosive decoys he shot forth as she leapt up into the air with incredible speed, using her devil fruit to propel her forward and alter her trajectory on a whim until she had positioned herself behind the man as he hovered in the air, fist cocked back as she swung to slam her knuckles into Kaza’s body, sending him crashing back down into his laser beams should he fail to defend himself in time. Though whether he did or didn’t mattered little to her, Angrboda’s heartbeat hadn’t even been elevated by this pirate yet. She was still merely playing with her food, and if anything would simply wait for him to run out of gas, after all the distance between the pair was becoming painfully apparent. In the back of her mind she was curious about how the other two were getting along, if their opponents were entertaining or just more disappointments like their comrade.
The devastating laser beam detonated but failed to hit its target. It dug an enormous gaping hole as it advanced, leaving a gigantic crack in the ground when it was extinguished, proof of its awesome power. To Kaza's surprise, the giant somehow managed to dodge the cataclysmic attack and headed skywards towards him. But unfortunately for her, in the sky, Kaza was all-powerful; it was his domain. Kaza's agility in the sky was like that of a fighter jet, and he had already demonstrated it several times during this confrontation. Also, since the start of the fight, the damage Kaza had taken was far from substantial; in fact, at that moment, the greatest danger to him wouldn't even have been the giantess, it would have been his energy - which was running out fast.
He had to act fast.
The cyborg smiled as she advanced towards him, for he knew he had the advantage in the air. "I told ya earlier though..." Kaza stopped all his engines and continued on his trajectory without provisioning thrust. "In the skies, there are no two like me!" Suddenly, the engines beneath his feet began to glow, as if he'd reignited them; but he never would. They shone like a sun and, pointed at the rising giantess, would have served as a blinder. Keeping his feet in this state, he pointed his hands upwards and ignited, this time for real, his engines, which would have propelled it at breakneck speed straight into the giant's skull. With such speed, the kinetic energy would have been simply immense. The giant would have been impacted and propelled to the ground below.
"Good, the one of you is worthless enough," Angrboda declared as she raised her hand. It filled with glowing energy as she release a point blank explosion to the incoming robot, releasing a powerful burst as she used Kenbunshoku Haki to feel the intentions of the robotic man. Using a burst of explosive energy, she propelled herself back from the destruction she unleashed.
Filling her blade with explosive power, she stabbed it into the earth. The explosion rippled forth, releasing a storm of stone and boulders up to bludgeon Kaza from below. "Sorry robot, you better run back to your maker. You'll need a down upgrades before you are enough to handle me!"
Finally she readied her blade and crouched momentarily. "Watched you enough to get a feel for it now!" shouted the woman as she used her Kenbunshoku to detect where he was as the rubble began to clear. Explosive power burst from her feet and shot her into the air like a rocket. Sure, she lacked the true power of flight, but she was smart enough and powerful enough to emulate it with her power. She pushed her blade forward, intending to spear through the robot.