Chapter 51: King's Unexpected Helper
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Brontes watched in surprise as King made another desperate dash for the sea.
"Still trying to escape." He muttered to himself. The sight of the future leader of the Three Calamities fleeing was baffling. Brontes wondered if his own power had increased, as it seemed too easy to overpower King, the Chief Warden of Impel Down.
Without wasting a moment, Brontes rushed towards King and instantly appeared right behind him.
King, however, didn't want to waste his precious time with usless words. His gritted his teeth, he spun through the air with incredible speed, his body igniting with flames. The flames intensified with his spinning motion, transforming him into a blazing tornado high above in the sky.
"Woosh!
The sound of the fiery whirlwind was immense. It swept up Brontes in an instant, leaving the marine soldiers aboard the warship staring in shock as the firestorm grew larger in the sky, Brontes's form completely obscured.
"Boom!"
Then, with a series of thunderous booms, the fire tornado burst, staining the sky a vivid orange.
The explosion sent a relentless barrage of flames cascading towards the island, igniting a massive firestorm that engulfed the land in a sea of fire.
"Where is he?" King wondered, his Observation Haki in full use as he surged forward, using nearly all his remaining strength.
This last attack was meant to buy him time to escape, but it seemed his efforts were in vain.
"I'm right here." Came Brontes's voice from behind, almost as if he had read King's thoughts.
"Damn it! Raptor Claws!" In a flash, King's left hand transformed into a set of razor-sharp claws, which he swung viciously at Brontes.
With a loud "Bang!" Brontes raised his left hand and blocked King's attack with ease. He then seized King's clawed hand in a strong grip.
The size difference between them was very big. King's towering form was much larger than Brontes's, his stature surpassing Jack's and nearly rivaling Kaido's. Yet, in the face of Brontes, King's superior size didn't translate to superior strength.
"You can't escape. Why do you even bother trying when it's impossible?" Brontes said, shaking his head.
"I won't give up, no matter how strong you are. I'm not going back to the Impel Down!" King gritted his teeth and said.
"That's not for you to decide." Brontes interjected with a sneer.
Suddenly, a crackling "ZliZli!" noise erupted as lightning flared from Brontes's left hand.
King felt a shock like a lightning strike, rendering him motionless. His body wouldn't respond, as if it were paralyzed.
"Move! God damn it! Move!" King mentally urged his body to react, but it was useless. He couldn't control his movements at all. Then he noticed Brontes's arm expanding, coated in a thick, black shine – the unmistakable mark of Armament Haki.
"Damn it!!!" King's eyes widened in desperation as Brontes's right fist moved toward him, a surge of fear rising within.
He let out a fierce roar, his body finally regaining movement, but time seemed to crawl, the world around him a blur of grays and whites, devoid of hope.
"Too late!" King's heart sank as he heard Brontes's calm voice. There was no chance to evade the coming strike.
"Boom!"
The impact resonated through King's body like a drum, a deep, reverberating sound emanating from within.
"Lightning Fist!"
Brontes's fist, wrapped in the power of Armament Haki, slammed into King's abdomen, leaving a deep imprint. Then, a torrent of thunder and lightning erupted, illuminating the sky.
The lightning exploded around King, his body wracked with countless bolts, each one more terrifying than the last. The combined force of the lightning and the Armament Haki was nearly enough to obliterate him. The severity of the attack gave King a chilling glimpse of death's door.
"Why hasn't he come yet?" King clenched his teeth against the despair rising within him. Brontes's strength was overwhelming, making King feel like a mere plaything in his grasp.
Despite being an Ancient Zoan devil fruit user, and an awakened one at that, King found it difficult to withstand the raw power of the lightning.
Any normal person would have been incapacitated by a single bolt, but King's monstrous resilience had allowed him to survive the onslaught of electric attacks until now.
"It's over," Brontes said, releasing his hold. King's body was left smoking, the intense heat of the lightning leaving a charred scent, even amidst the flames that enveloped him.
"Am I really going back to Impel Down as a prisoner?" King stood motionless, blood trickling from his mouth, his voice tinged with defeat.
He glared at Brontes, anger and despair in his eyes, refusing to surrender. But then, his gaze shifted skyward, and a flicker of hope sparked within him. A laugh of relief broke from his lips.
"Haha! I said I won't go back to Impel Down." King shouted, his smile brimming with newfound confidence.
"Well, that's a surprise. Someone has actually come to help you." Brontes said, turning just in time to swing his right fist at an incoming threat.
"Boom!!"
A massive shockwave tore through the air and rippled across the sea, catching the marines on the warships completely off guard.
A kanabo, shrouded in a black sheen and nearly as large as Brontes himself, had appeared out of nowhere. The sight of it left everyone aboard the warship stunned.
Though Brontes managed to block the kanabo, the force pushed him back several steps. His arm, coated in Armament Haki, strained under the impact of catching the weapon.
"Throwing your weapon before the battle even starts." Brontes said, spotting a ship in the distance. The man on its deck was no stranger to him.
"Lightning Brat! We meet again!"
"Worororo!"
The giant man aboard the ship let out a shout, followed by an exuberant laugh. "Kaido! Only someone like him would do something as reckless as throwing his own weapon."
Brontes, unimpressed, shook his head. With a firm grip on the kanabo, he threw it into the sea.
Kaido's eyes widened in disbelief; he hadn't expected Brontes to simply discard the weapon he had thrown to save King.
Kaido had launched his kanabo at Brontes in a bid to rescue King, but he hadn't foreseen Brontes tossing it into the ocean, which would certainly take time to recover.
"Damn it!" Kaido shouted, leaping from his ship before it even reached the shore, rushing towards Brontes with a fierce determination.
"Hmph!" Brontes stood his ground.
Kaido was a formidable foe, but Brontes was no longer the man who had once teamed up with Borsalino to stop Kaido from seizing the seastone ores. Over the past few years, Brontes had grown significantly stronger, having trained and captured countless powerful pirates. He was confident that with the aid of Ark Maxim, he could at least match Kaido in battle.
"Boom!! Rumble!!"
The moment they clashed, it was a spectacle of power, Kaido's fist against Brontes's, with lightning bursting forth from both, a dance of black and blue-white lightning.
"Boom! Boom!"
Kaido's fist surged with power, and the beach beneath him erupted, the ground under Brontes's feet beginning to collapse.
The pressure was immense; Kaido's larger frame bore down on him, and Brontes found himself struggling to withstand the onslaught of Kaido's devastating punches.
"Worororo! Take this, brat!" Kaido's laughter rang out as he raised his other hand, his massive fist rushing down towards Brontes.
"Boom!"
But Kaido struck nothing but air; Brontes had already disappeared. Kaido's missed punch sent a shower of small rocks into the air and left a massive pit in the ground, which quickly filled with seawater.
"ZliZli!"
The faint sound of electricity caught Kaido's attention, and he turned sharply, only to see Brontes standing just below his left shoulder.
"Lightning Finger Pistol!"
Kaido roared in fury and pain as Brontes's technique broke through his formidable defenses.
Despite Kaido's monstrous resilience, Brontes's attack, enhanced with both Armament Haki and lightning, managed to penetrate his tough skin and burrow into his muscle tissue.
"What a pity...."
Brontes couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment.
Against a normal opponent, his finger would have likely pierced through to the heart. But Kaido's massive size meant that the attack was lodged only in his muscles.
Not one to relent, Brontes intensified the attack. His body surged with electricity, which he directed into his finger with precise control.
"Heart Paralysis!"
He shouted inwardly, as a burst of lightning exploded from his fingertip.
"You damn brat!"
Kaido's response was swift and fierce. With a pained shout, he swung his massive fist cutting through the air towards Brontes.
The quick reflexes of Brontes were his saving grace; he retracted his hand and evaded the attack, transforming into his elemental lightning form to escape the wrath of Kaido's counterattack.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone