Chapter 104

"Hmph! Utterly arrogant!"

Hearing this, even with Hades's capacity for tolerance, his expression could not help but darken.

Among the three present, the weakest, Bluenote, still possessed strength in the top five of the Ten Wizard Saints, and the strength of 'Zero' was no less than that of the Four Heavenly Kings.

And as the founder of Fairy Tail, having touched the source of magic, Hades's strength was not much different from the top-ranked of the Four Heavenly Kings, Serena.

Looking at the other side, it was merely one person, even if they were from another world.

Being all alone, where did he get the confidence to say such things?

Not just him, 'Zero' and Bluenote were the same; clearly, they did not believe Blackbeard could take on three people at once.

"Ze-hahahahaha... It doesn't matter. You're going to be dead men soon anyway."

Blackbeard laughed with a casual look on his face, his level of arrogance causing the veins on the foreheads of the three opposite him to bulge.

As powerful individuals, when had they ever suffered such contempt and humiliation?

"Master Hades, why not leave this to me to resolve?"

Seeing that the Seven Kin of Purgatory had already left, Hades, having no further worries, was just about to act when he heard Bluenote's voice.

Although his expression remained as usual, Hades, who knew Bluenote very well, was clear that the man before him was already enraged.

The next second, without waiting for Hades to reply, Bluenote leaped into the high air and made his move.

"You guy can fly!"

Boom, boom, boom—!

Magic power surged, and under endless gravity.

The earth cracked, and in the next second, tens of meters of ground rose into the air, smashing toward Blackbeard.

Upon making his move, Bluenote directly displayed two different uses of gravity magic—attraction and gravity—without holding back in the slightest.

However...

Black mist emerged from Blackbeard's hands, transforming into a lake.

The falling ground disappeared into the darkness in an instant.

The next second,

Seeing this, Hades narrowed his eyes slightly and shouted loudly to Bluenote.

"Watch out for the opponent's black mist; it seems to possess some kind of devouring ability."

"I'll return it all to you!"

As soon as the words fell, Blackbeard had already begun his counterattack!

Boom—!

Through the black mist, the ground Bluenote had released flew out, along with the God's Black Flame from Zancrow earlier.

Logia: Dark-Dark Fruit

Known as the most dangerous ability in the history of Devil Fruits, it possesses the gravity of an abyss, capable of sucking in everything that touches the darkness, compressing and crushing it, or even storing it.

He can release the things stored in the darkness at any time; Blackbeard himself is equivalent to a small black hole.

The black flame Zancrow had released earlier was stored in his body, and now it was being returned twofold along with the ground Bluenote had stripped away with gravity.

Almost in an instant, Bluenote had simulated various scenarios of Blackbeard's counterattack in his mind, but he had not expected the opponent to strike back in such a way!

However, Bluenote was no simple character; with a wave of his right hand, he released gravity, and the attack flying toward him instantly hit the ground.

Yet this was not the end; he brought his hands together, and terrifying gravity instantly descended upon Blackbeard's body.

Boom—!

Invisible pressure descended from thin air; with Blackbeard as the center, the ground instantly collapsed for tens of meters, and the large swaths of surrounding trees also collapsed with a roar under this impact.

If the surrounding trees were like this, there was no need to mention Blackbeard, who was at the center.

The gravity he endured was several times more than at the edge!

However...

Under this gravity, Blackbeard, with black mist radiating from his entire body, walked forward step by step as if unaffected.

"This... how is this possible!?"

"Did Bluenote's magic have no effect at all?"

"Could it be that Bluenote didn't use his full strength?"

Although they had fled the center of the battle, Ultear and the others had not gone far.

Controlling the airship, they flew into mid-air, watching this battle.

But when they saw Blackbeard, who was still fine while inside the gravity space, their eyeballs almost popped out.

One must know that before 'Zero' joined Grimoire Heart, Bluenote was the strongest Class Mage second only to Master Hades.

His strength was so great that even Ultear, the leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, was no match for him.

Not just them, but Hades and Master 'Zero', who were watching the battle from the side, were also shocked by the scene before them.

"No, Bluenote cannot take him down alone; that guy called Blackbeard is too bizarre."

Hades's eyes darkened slightly; clearly, the power Blackbeard displayed had somewhat exceeded his expectations.

In fact, Blackbeard's performance even surprised Lin Cheng, who was controlling him.

Wrapped in the black mist, Blackbeard felt almost no pressure at all.

"It seems the ability of the Dark-Dark Fruit is more powerful than I originally imagined."

Although Blackbeard had been upgraded to two stars at this time, in fact, the two-star Blackbeard had no other bonuses besides the addition of Conqueror's Haki.

The Logia Dark-Dark Fruit is said to be the most dangerous ability in history, but in fact, in the original work, Blackbeard, who possessed the Dark-Dark Fruit, was still quite weak.

Even when Ace was hunting him, they fought back and forth.

In Lin Cheng's view, what truly made Blackbeard worth the price of 300 million emotional points was based on the dual-fruit ability.

Only by reaching the three-star stage and awakening the fruit's ability could the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit truly be manifested.

But what he didn't expect was that when Lin Cheng tried to use the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to resist the opponent, the opponent's gravity fell into the black mist as if falling into a void, sinking into the darkness.

"It seems there are no useless fruit abilities, only useless people; this saying is truly true."

Lin Cheng shook his head and sighed.

Although Devil Fruits can bring people huge abilities, if one does not develop or cultivate them, one can never manifest the fruit's power.

And now, although the Dark-Dark Fruit was mastered by Blackbeard, the actual controller was Lin Cheng.

Through battle, the Dark-Dark Fruit was instead developed by him to a brand-new level!

"No, Bluenote is no match for the opponent; if the battle continues, Bluenote will undoubtedly be defeated, and there may even be a danger to his life."

"Let's attack together and finish that guy off as soon as possible."

On the other side, Hades, who had been watching the battle and never spoke, spoke slowly.

After several rounds of exchanges, although he had not completely seen through the opponent's ability, it gave him a vague probability of Blackbeard's capabilities.

He hadn't stopped Bluenote earlier in order to observe the opponent's strength; seeing that Bluenote could not take him down directly, he immediately demanded that 'Zero' join forces with him.

The opponent had just arrived, and who knew if there was really only one person, or if there were some unknown trump cards.

Without absolute certainty, taking down the opponent as quickly as possible is the true way to survive.

Fairness?

That is only a rule among the weak.

And in the eyes of the strong, rules are meant to be broken.

— Author's Notes —

·······Seeking flowers·········