The battered and bruised azure dragon roared high in the skies, its voice a thunderous proclamation that seemed to shake the heavens themselves.
"KAEN DAIKO…!"
Kaido, the so-called "Strongest Creature," had transformed into a monstrous dragon wreathed in boiling, molten lava. His once-magnificent azure scales were now charred and cracked, replaced by rivers of molten rock that coursed along his body.
The sheer heat radiating from him distorted the air around him, creating a mirage of a hellish beast. Yet, despite his injuries—his torn scales, shattered horns, and the blood oozing from countless wounds—Kaido's defiance burned brighter than the magma consuming him. He was a cornered beast, and a cornered beast was most dangerous.
But defiance alone would not save him.
Opposite him, standing like a titan of legend, was Edward Newgate—Whitebeard. The strongest man in the world stood unmoving, his presence radiating unshakable dominance. His face, weathered and etched with years of battles, bore the grim determination of a man with a singular purpose: to take Kaido's head and fulfill his vengeance.
The fiery dragon plunged downward, Kaido's massive form blotting out the sky as he became a descending inferno. His roar was a cacophony of rage and desperation, shaking the very air as he hurled himself at Whitebeard, intent on obliterating the man who dared challenge him.
Whitebeard, unyielding, stood atop the air itself. Beneath his feet, the space cracked and splintered, a web of fractures glowing with his immense power. He had used his Tremor-Tremor Fruit to create a platform in the sky, a technique that mirrored the Geppo of the Rokushiki—but his was infinitely more devastating. The air around him seemed barely able to contain the raw, unbridled might of his awakened devil fruit powers.
As Kaido's blazing form closed in, Whitebeard's voice boomed like the toll of a divine bell. "So this is the extent of your strength, Kaido? A pathetic display."
The sea below rumbled in response to Whitebeard's rising fury. Massive waves tilted unnaturally, the entire ocean bending to his will. Kaido may have been a dragon born of fire and rage, but Whitebeard was the embodiment of the world's very foundations, his power capable of splitting the seas and shattering the heavens.
Kaido descended, an unstoppable force of molten fury.
But Whitebeard was ready.
"World's End!"
Whitebeard roared, his voice carrying the weight of mountains, and swung his massive naginata—Murakumogiri—with godlike precision. The halberd, coated in Armament Haki so dense it gleamed like obsidian, pulsed with the overwhelming force of his Conqueror's Haki. A white halo erupted around the blade's edge, the tremor energy concentrated into a devastating arc that ripped through the atmosphere.
The strike met Kaido mid-air.
The collision was apocalyptic.
The sheer force of Whitebeard's attack stopped Kaido's descent dead in its tracks. The tremor-infused blade didn't just strike—it tore apart the very fabric of reality. The sky split open, a jagged wound of blinding light and deafening thunder. The air rippled outward in shockwaves, obliterating clouds and sending debris flying for miles.
Kaido's molten form was bisected by the sheer magnitude of the attack, the tremor energy ripping through his lava shell and carving into his dragon flesh. The dragon's roar turned into a scream of agony as the blow shattered the magma casing and sent fragments of molten rock scattering like a fiery storm.
The sea below erupted, a massive chasm forming as water was displaced by the tremor's force. Columns of seawater shot into the air like geysers, each one the size of a mountain. The very ocean seemed to recoil from the power of Whitebeard's strike.
Kaido, battered and broken, was hurled back into the sky, his body trailing smoke and embers. His once-mighty form now looked frail, his invincible defenses shredded, his scales scorched. His defiance faltered for the first time as he stared down at the man who had brought him to his knees.
Whitebeard didn't lower his weapon. Instead, he raised it again, his eyes burning with unrelenting fury. His voice carried over the chaos, a challenge and a promise.
"Kaido! Your time has come. This is the end of your reign!"
Kaido, blood dripping from his maw, could do nothing but let out a ragged breath, the fire in his eyes dimming as the reality of his defeat loomed ever closer.
Kaido lay sprawled on the shattered remnants of the battlefield, his colossal frame reverted to his oni form. His breaths were ragged, each one a struggle against the suffocating weight pressing on his chest.
He could barely keep his one remaining eye open—the other rendered useless, a jagged gash slashing across it, dripping blood that stained his face and mingled with the scorched earth beneath him. His left arm hung limp at his side, twisted at an unnatural angle, while his chest bore a wound so deep it seemed as though his body had been cleaved in two.
"Am I… going to die here?" Kaido muttered, his voice barely audible over the distant rumble of the ocean that had yet to settle from Whitebeard's devastating attack.
The words tasted bitter in his mouth, the concept foreign to a man who had declared himself unkillable. The strongest creature in the world, reduced to this—bloodied, broken, and unable to muster the strength to even stand. For the first time in decades, a sliver of fear crept into his heart, an icy tendril that coiled around his defiance.
Kaido clenched his jaw, his cracked teeth grinding against each other. No.
He squashed the fear with the same brutality he wielded in battle. He was Kaido, the King of Beasts, the man who was destined to rule this world. The man who was meant to bring it all to its knees. Yet, no matter how he tried to convince himself, his body refused to move.
His immense vitality, the legendary resilience that had made him an indomitable force, was fading. His body, riddled with the lingering tremor energy from Whitebeard's attacks, betrayed him. It felt as if his very core had been shaken to the brink of collapse, and even his vaunted self-healing powers faltered under the strain.
Kaido's mind raced, memories flashing through his consciousness with a cruel clarity. The taste of blood, the thunder of battle, the moments he had carved his legend into the annals of history. And then… the memories he had buried deep.
The first time he had felt helplessness—at the hands of Garp, the Marine Hero, who had crushed his arrogance with the force of a meteor. The shame that burned hotter than any flame when Rosinante, the young man he had underestimated, humiliated him by besting him not once but twice, first at Wano and then at Punk Hazard and vanishing into legend.
That moment had been a turning point. Kaido had sworn, through clenched teeth and fists trembling with fury, that he would never falter again. He vowed to never drink until he had taken Rosinante's head as a trophy.
But somewhere along the way, that fire had dimmed, especially after he climbed onto the mantle of Emperor of the Seas. Kaido had allowed himself to revel in his strength, to drown his ambitions in sake and self-indulgence. Linlin's death had shaken him, but not enough to curb his arrogance. He had told himself he was still invincible, that no one could challenge the King of Beasts.
And now, staring death in the face, he knew the truth.
I became complacent.
The thought seared his mind like a brand. Kaido felt a surge of anger—raw and self-directed. His fists clenched, nails digging into his palms until blood dripped freely. He wasn't angry at Whitebeard for defeating him. No, he was angry at himself. Angry that he had allowed himself to grow weak, to lose the edge that had once made him unstoppable.
"Not… yet," Kaido growled, his voice a low rumble that carried with it a flicker of the beast he once was. His body screamed in protest as he tried to push himself up, but he didn't stop. He couldn't.
The heavens themselves seemed to watch, the skies dark and heavy with storm clouds, as if reflecting the turmoil within him. Kaido's breaths came faster, his chest heaving with the effort. Blood poured from his wounds, soaking the earth, but he didn't care. He couldn't let it end like this.
"This… isn't… my end," he snarled, his teeth bared in defiance. His vision swam, but his mind was razor-sharp now. The complacency that had dulled him for so long was gone, burned away by the crucible of this battle.
Kaido's remaining eye burned with a renewed intensity as he finally collapsed back to the ground, his strength spent. But in that moment, something changed.
It wasn't defeat. It was a beginning.
The beast that lay broken on the battlefield wasn't the same Kaido who had entered it. This Kaido was no longer the arrogant tyrant who thought himself untouchable. No, this was Kaido reforged—humbled, yet more dangerous than ever.
As the storm raged overhead and Whitebeard loomed above him, Kaido whispered through bloodied lips, his voice carrying a promise:
"I will rise again… and next time, I'll bring hell with me."
But just as Kaido struggled to rise, his battered body defying his will, Whitebeard descended upon him like a meteor wreathed in destruction. The sheer force of his landing was cataclysmic, a collision that shook the heavens and the earth.
Tremor waves rippled out from Whitebeard's form, tearing through the final remnants of vitality that clung to Kaido's once-impervious defenses.
Whitebeard descended like a wrathful deity, a meteor wreathed in power and rage. His massive form crashed into Kaido's battered body with the force of an earthquake, his tremor powers amplifying the already devastating impact.
The ground beneath them buckled and shattered, fissures racing outward like jagged veins as if the island itself sought to escape the overwhelming carnage.
The ground beneath them gave way, shattering into jagged fragments as a massive crater formed, swallowing Kaido's massive frame deeper into its depths. Whitebeard's devastating tremor powers reverberated through Kaido's body, amplifying the fractures in his bones and tearing at his already broken form. Blood spattered the air like crimson rain, the sound of splintering bones and rending flesh mixing with the cacophony of destruction.
CRACK.
The sickening sound of Kaido's ribs splintering filled the air, echoing like thunderclaps. His once-mighty chest caved under the relentless force, his invincible body betraying him in the face of Whitebeard's unyielding assault.
A massive crater formed beneath them, spanning hundreds of meters wide, as though the earth itself sought to devour the fallen beast. The tremor's force rippled outward, the sheer destructive energy shaking the very seas that surrounded them.
"There will be no next time for you, Kaido." Whitebeard's voice boomed like a divine proclamation, his words laced with fury and finality. His piercing gaze burned with an intensity that rivaled the sun itself. "You will die here… today!"
Whitebeard planted his massive naginata into the ground beside him, its blade quivering from the raw power radiating from its wielder. His fists crackled with energy as he coated them with both Armament Haki and the unparalleled might of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit. The air around his fists distorted, vibrating with untamed power, the ominous white halos of destruction forming in their wake.
With a guttural roar, Whitebeard unleashed the full weight of his wrath. His first punch crashed into Kaido's face, the shockwave from the impact tearing through flesh and bone, splitting the air itself. The force drove Kaido's massive frame deeper into the earth, his body sinking further into the crater. Blood sprayed like crimson rain as Kaido's roar of defiance turned into a guttural, choked gasp.
Whitebeard didn't stop.
Another punch followed. Then another. And another.
Each strike was an expression of Whitebeard's fury, his grief, and his unrelenting vengeance. The very heavens seemed to weep as tremors rippled through the sky, clouds parting as if the world itself recoiled from the raw, unfiltered rage of the strongest man alive.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The ground quaked violently with each blow, the shockwaves traveling across the battlefield, uprooting trees, splitting rocks, and tossing debris into the air. The sea roared in tandem, waves crashing wildly, as though they too carried the rhythm of Whitebeard's wrath.
Every punch was driven by a singular, visceral thought: Oden.
Whitebeard's mind was a storm of memories—Oden's laughter, his unwavering spirit, his determination. And then, the memory that burned deepest of all: Oden's final moments, his sacrifice, his pain. The anguish and fury of losing a brother, a friend, surged through Whitebeard like an unstoppable tide, fueling his blows with an almost supernatural force.
"THIS IS FOR ODEN!" Whitebeard roared, his voice carrying across the battlefield like a battle horn signaling the end of days. His fists, now drenched in Kaido's blood, smashed again and again into the oni's unyielding flesh, shattering the illusion of invincibility that Kaido had carried for so long.
CRUNCH.
Another sickening sound rang out as Whitebeard's fists drove deeper into Kaido's body, each punch an explosion of pure, destructive power. The crater deepened, the island cracking further and further as if trying to swallow Kaido whole.
Kaido's body, once a testament to his title as the world's strongest creature, was now a battered ruin. His face was barely recognizable, his chest a mangled mess of broken ribs and torn flesh. Yet, even in his pitiful state, Kaido's remaining eye burned with defiance—though it flickered like a dying ember.
"Kaido-sama!"
King, the first of Kaido's All-Stars with any strength to fight, cried out as he desperately tried to disengage from his battle. His wings spread wide, his face etched with desperation as he attempted to reach his captain. But with every tremor that shook the battlefield, his hope dimmed.
"You think you can look away while fighting me?" Marco's voice cut through the chaos like a razor. In a flash of blue flames, the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates appeared, his taloned foot slamming into King's face with unrelenting force.
King was sent hurtling backward, crashing into the remnants of a ship with a deafening crack. Marco didn't give him a moment to recover, his phoenix flames trailing behind him as he pursued, relentless in his duty to ensure no one interfered with Whitebeard's justice.
Meanwhile, the battlefield itself had become a testament to Whitebeard's unparalleled might. The Beast Pirates were decimated, their forces reduced to shattered remnants. The once-proud fleet lay in ruins, their ships splintered and burning, while the surviving crewmates either fled or lay unconscious amidst the debris.
And at the center of it all, Whitebeard stood over Kaido, the embodiment of vengeance and justice.
His final punch descended, a titanic blow that shook the very core of the island as it crumbled and started sinking, unable to bear the might of Whitebeard. The heavens screamed, the earth shattered, and the sea itself recoiled as Whitebeard's fist connected with Kaido's broken form one last time.
Kaido's body lay still, embedded deep within the earth, blood pooling beneath him as silence finally descended over the battlefield.
Whitebeard stood tall, his massive frame silhouetted against the chaos he had wrought. His breathing was heavy, but his presence was as imposing as ever.
Kaido's fate hung by a thread, but Whitebeard was not a man to gamble when it came to vengeance. He reached for his colossal naginata, its blade still embedded in the fractured ground nearby, and pulled it free with a force that sent tremors rippling outward. As he raised the weapon high, it began to radiate a terrifying, almost divine energy.
Every ounce of Whitebeard's might surged into the halberd—his unmatched Armament Haki coated the blade in a blackened sheen of impenetrable power, while his Conqueror's Haki roared to life, crackling like lightning and splitting the skies above.
The destructive might of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit pulsed through the weapon, warping the air around it with visible fractures that radiated outward like the cracks of a dying world. It was no longer a mere weapon; it had become a god-slaying artifact, brimming with an ominous aura that seemed to defy existence itself.
Whitebeard's voice, laden with raw fury and unyielding sorrow, roared through the heavens with the force of a tidal wave. "FOR ODEN!" he bellowed, his battle cry echoing across the seas and shaking the very soul of every witness.
With both hands gripping the haft of his naginata, Whitebeard plunged the weapon downward with all the force of an earthquake unleashed. The blade drove straight into Kaido's massive chest, its edge cleaving through scales, muscle, and bone with terrifying precision. The strongest creature in the world—the man who had declared himself unkillable—could do nothing to stop the strike.
Kaido's monstrous haki erupted in agony, only to be silenced as the weapon pierced his heart, delivering a final, fatal blow. The ground beneath them buckled and collapsed, a deafening explosion of power radiating outward as the full extent of Whitebeard's wrath manifested. The tremor released from the strike rippled through the island, splitting it apart and sending massive chunks of rock tumbling into the sea below.
For a moment, there was nothing but silence, save for the soft hum of the weapon's lingering power and the faint whispers of the wind carrying away the echoes of Whitebeard's roar. The battlefield stood in stunned stillness, the sheer gravity of what had just occurred freezing even the most hardened warriors.
Whitebeard's gaze lingered on the unrecognizable remains of Kaido beneath his feet. The once-proud Emperor of the Sea was reduced to a grotesque amalgamation of flesh and broken bones, each punch having torn through his vaunted defenses.
The island beneath them was sinking, crumbling under the sheer weight of the destruction wrought by their battle. Yet, as Whitebeard stood amidst the chaos, Kaido's blood coating his arms to the elbows and splattered across his face, he felt nothing.
No peace. No satisfaction. Only emptiness.
With a heavy sigh, Whitebeard let his Haki wane, his weapon lowering as he glanced down at the pitiful ruin of the man who had once been his junior—a brash and ambitious teenager who dreamed of ruling the world.
Whitebeard turned, his massive frame trudging away from the crater, his weapon dragging behind him. But just as he took a step, he froze.
"Thump... Thump..."
The sound of a heartbeat rumbled through the air, deep and resonant, echoing like a drum of war. Whitebeard's Observation Haki flared in alarm, his eyes widening. He was certain—absolutely certain—that he had extinguished Kaido's life. Yet now, impossibly, Kaido's heart was beating once more, its rhythm growing stronger with every passing second.
The skies above began to shift, dark clouds swirling violently as the atmosphere became heavy, oppressive. A surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted, emanating from the crater, unlike anything Whitebeard had felt before. It was overwhelming, primal, and unrelenting, suffocating the air with its intensity. The beating heart grew louder, its rhythm like war drums heralding the arrival of a deity.
"Devil Fruit awakening..." Whitebeard muttered, his voice low and filled with both shock and grim realization.
He knew what this meant. As someone who had only recently awakened the full destructive potential of his Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he recognized the signs. But this... this was something different.
Mythical Zoan awakenings were the stuff of legends, whispered in hushed tones and dismissed as impossible. Kaido's Azure Dragon Fruit was thought to be unawakenable, even among the gods of their kind. Yet here, at the precipice of death, Kaido had seized that impossible power.
The ground trembled beneath Whitebeard's feet, and he felt the overwhelming pulse of Kaido's newfound strength. His window to act was closing, and he would not let the beast rise again.
"Die...!" Whitebeard roared, his voice shaking the heavens as his Conqueror's Haki surged to its peak, rippling outward like a hurricane. He raised his halberd high, channeling the full might of his Armament Haki, his Tremor powers crackling along the blade's edge. With an earth-shattering roar, he brought the weapon down, intending to obliterate what remained of Kaido.
But just as the blade was about to strike, a shadow materialized before him, moving faster than even Whitebeard's senses could fully register. Two arms, blackened with masterful Armament Haki, caught the colossal blade mid-swing. The sheer force of the collision sent shockwaves rippling outward, splitting the ocean and causing the skies to tremble.
"Boom!"
The sound of the clash echoed across the seas, reverberating like a bell tolling the end of an era. Whitebeard's eyes widened as he stared at the figure standing before him. The immense pressure emanating from the newcomer was undeniable, and then it hit him—a surge of Conqueror's Haki unlike anything he had felt in decades. It was raw, unyielding, and utterly monstrous, colliding with his own and momentarily pushing it back.
The figure's presence was undeniable, a ghost resurrected from the annals of history. His voice, deep and commanding, cut through the chaos with an ease that demanded attention.
"Long time no see, Edward," the man said, his tone almost casual, though it carried the weight of a storm brewing. "I'm afraid I can't let you take another one of my prey."
The figure stepped forward, the shadows peeling away to reveal the unmistakable face of a legend thought long dead—Rocks D. Xebec.
Whitebeard's grip on his weapon tightened, his knuckles white as he took in the sight of the man who once stood at the pinnacle of power. The captain who had terrorized the world. The man who had united monsters and sought to claim it all.
Rocks stood tall, his imposing frame unbowed by the years. His jet-black hair, streaked with faint strands of silver, billowed in the winds of his own making. His sharp, hawkish eyes burned with an intensity that seemed to pierce through Whitebeard's very soul. The aura surrounding him was suffocating—a storm of Conqueror's Haki so potent it felt as if the world itself recoiled in his presence.
"You..." Whitebeard growled, his voice low and filled with a mixture of shock, anger, and wariness.
Rocks smirked, his lips curling into a grin that radiated arrogance and menace. "You've gotten stronger, Edward. I'll give you that. But you should have known better than to think you'd seen the last of me."
As his words hung in the air, the battlefield seemed to still, every soul frozen in awe and terror.
Rocks D. Xebec had returned, and with his presence alone, the balance of the world teetered on the edge of oblivion.