Chapter 782: Chapter 782: Zephyr Critically Wounded

"No! Whitebeard is dead!"

Robin spoke up calmly from the side. "The only ones who possess that power now are Yonko Blackbeard... and ’Golden Ring’ Aeridar!"

"Blackbeard!"

"Golden Ring Aeridar!"

Both names sent a wave of shock through the Straw Hat crew.

"If I’m not mistaken, the one fighting ’Z’ up ahead is Aeridar," Robin said, crossing her arms with a distant look.

During the events at Sabaody Archipelago, Robin had been sent by Bartholomew Kuma to Tequila Wolf in the East Blue, where she briefly became a slave before escaping with a stolen key and joining the Revolutionary Army. She had spent the last two years at their headquarters, Baltigo.

During those two years, she had learned much, including the fact that the Revolutionary Army and the Neo Marines had joined forces to raid a Chris Pirates research base six months ago. The Neo Marines had made an enemy of Aeridar long ago. To be fighting Z at this critical moment with the power of tremors... it could only be him.

The Straw Hat crew fell silent. This wasn’t their first run-in with that man, and they knew all too well the terrifying strength he wielded.

Meanwhile, amidst the world-shaking vibrations, the distant forest was being torn apart. Massive slabs of earth were being uprooted, and deep, jagged fissures swallowed the landscape. The trees were toppled, and the forest was rendered unrecognizable.

On a small hot spring mountain overlooking the destruction, Kuzan stared down at the wasteland.

"Arara... what terrifying destructive power. Using tremor abilities on a volcanic island? Is this guy not afraid of triggering the magma below?" Kuzan shook his head and sighed. "What a total madman."

BOOM!

In the ruins of the forest, a massive boulder was flipped over, crashing into the earth. Zephyr crawled out of a crater, staring grimly at the transformed landscape.

"Newgate’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit power... he really is a dangerous lunatic..." Zephyr muttered. "He has Shiki’s Float-Float Fruit abilities too. With a man like this in the world, the future is looking very grim indeed."

Zephyr knew he had lost his chance to destroy Secon Island. His plan had failed.

However, a final resolve sparked in his heart.

"I’ll bet everything I have! This man must die here! Even if... I have to take him with me!" Zephyr’s gaze became unshakable. This would likely be his final battle.

Pop~

Suddenly, the air rippled. A powerful figure appeared behind Zephyr, launching a fierce roundhouse kick aimed at the back of his head.

Zephyr’s eyes narrowed. He ducked instantly as a violent gust of wind whistled over his head, kicking up a cloud of dust. Without missing a beat, Zephyr twisted his torso and threw a punch behind him.

BOOM!

The punch struck the air, and the sheer force of the impact caused a massive rock ten meters away to explode into fragments, sending stone shards flying like bullets.

"To still have this kind of strength... you really are a monster!"

Aeridar stood dozens of meters away on an upturned slab of earth. His expression was distorted, carrying a hint of manic glee.

When Zephyr saw Aeridar’s current form, a look of pure shock crossed his face.

The man was now over three meters tall, with muscles so dense they looked like cords of steel. His entire body was coated in obsidian Armament Haki, making him look like a literal iron titan; taller, stronger, and more intimidating than Zephyr himself.

"Life Return... You monster!"

Zephyr’s face darkened. He recognized immediately how Aeridar had achieved such a transformation.

CRASH!

Aeridar let out a feral grin and stomped, shattering the earth beneath him as he rocketed forward. Having gambled everything, Zephyr had no path for retreat. He would meet this force with everything he had.

"Monster! Die!" Zephyr roared, swinging his fist.

The two blackened iron titans collided.

BOOM!

A deafening roar echoed across the island. The earth buckled and heaved, and a shockwave of compressed air swept outward like a physical wall.

"Soru!!!"

"Rankyaku!!!"

Zephyr kicked the ground over a dozen times in a heartbeat, appearing in front of Aeridar in a blur. His leg lashed out like a giant blade toward Aeridar’s neck, trailing a cutting wind.

BAM!

A circle of violent wind exploded outward. Aeridar was knocked back a hundred meters, the ground crumbling beneath his heels.

"Shigan: Fist Authority!!!"

Capitalizing on the opening, Zephyr lunged again, his blackened fist threatening to shatter the very air.

"Impact Cannon!!!" Aeridar roared, punching the air directly in front of him.

Terrifying impact force compressed the atmosphere into a white halo. A massive pillar of white air blasted outward, carving a deep trench into the ground. Zephyr was caught dead-center by the air pressure and was sent hurtling backward.

RUMBLE!

The violent gale swept across a five-hundred-meter radius. The white pillar of air tore through the landscape, plowing a deep furrow into the earth and boring a long tunnel straight through a small hot spring mountain.

The onlookers stared, their mouths agape and eyes bulging. By some stroke of luck, the blast had tunneled through the mountain without rupturing the magma chamber within.

At the end of the trench on the other side of the mountain, Zephyr lay deep in the ground, buried under dirt and rubble.

"The other side of the mountain... I certainly flew far," Zephyr groaned, his head spinning as he looked back at the tunnel through the peak.

"ROAR—!"

A beast-like roar descended from the sky. Zephyr looked up to see six gargantuan lion heads made of sand soaring over the mountaintop, their maws open to devour him.

"Dammit!"

Zephyr forced himself up, though the agonizing pain nearly made him collapse. As the sand lions descended, he ignored his injuries, stepping through the air with Geppo and delivering a massive horizontal kick.

BOOM!

A giant crescent-shaped vacuum blade sliced through the lead lion. The ten-meter-high construct collapsed into a deluge of sand.

"Curse you!"

The falling sand covered Zephyr, blinding him for a crucial second. The remaining five sand lions lunged like a pack of wolves.

CRASH! 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The lions collided, collapsing into a mass of sand with the force of a falling building. The impact caused Zephyr to cough up blood as he was slammed into the ground.

The sand quickly contracted, forming a twenty-meter-high golden pyramid. Trapped within one of its faces was Zephyr’s head, his eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.