Cavendish flinched. "Hey... are you serious?"
His alter-ego, Hakuba, was a bloodthirsty demon who wouldn’t hesitate to cut down his own allies once the frenzy started.
ROAR!
Otto ignored him. He lowered his head and let out a guttural, thunderous howl. His muscles surged and expanded, veins bulging like cords. His brown fur stood on end, and a thick, suffocating pressure rolled off him as his eyes turned entirely blood-red.
"Berserk Mode!" Cavendish cried. "No way... you’re going that far?"
"Dammit! Otto has gone Berserk!" Jason shouted, half-shocked and half-furious. "And he’s calling for that lunatic Hakuba? Does he want to kill too? That idiot Captain, sending two uncontrollable monsters to ’protect’ ? Is he trying to get killed?!"
Usually calm and refined, Jason couldn’t help but break into a cursing fit.
Hakuba went without saying, he was a pure killing machine. As for Otto, while he was hot-headed in his "Beast-Human" form, he could still be reasoned with. But in "Berserk Mode," he lost all semblance of sanity, attacking anything that moved until his strength failed or he was knocked unconscious.
"What kind of monster is this...?" Luffy’s expression turned grim. He clenched his fists, feeling the tidal wave of murderous intent. A bead of cold sweat rolled down his temple.
Shink!
Zoro unsheathed his blades, gripping Shusui and Sandai Kitetsu.
Sanji swallowed hard. He had grown up around biological modifications, but he had never seen a transformation this primal. For a fleeting second, he was almost glad his own "modifications" had failed; if he turned into a beast like that, he’d never be able to woo the world’s beauties.
"ROAAAAR!"
Otto opened his maw, revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs. The roar was a physical wall of sound, a sonic boom that blasted the snow aside.
"Here he cos!" Luffy warned.
Otto’s legs coiled and snapped. With a deafening BOOM, he pulverized the ground beneath him and vanished. The six-ter-tall behemoth covered the distance in a heartbeat.
"So fast!"
Luffy barely had ti to react before a black fist, larger than his entire head, slamd into his face.
BANG!
Luffy’s mind went blank as if he’d been hit by a wrecking ball. He was sent flying like a cannonball, a ring of vapor exploding around the point of impact. He traveled two hundred ters in seconds, cratering into a distant ice wall.
"Luffy!" Nami scread.
"Moss-head, let’s go!" Sanji ignited his leg and charged.
"Shut up and watch! 72-Pound Phoenix!" Zoro roared, swinging his swords to launch two crescent-shaped air compressed strikes.
CLANG! CLANG!
Suddenly, a blur intercepted the slashes. A blond man stood before Zoro, a rapier in hand, having parried the projectiles with ease. He wore a twisted, manic grin. His eyes were cold and filled with a terrifying bloodlust.
"Hehehe... A Supernova of the Worst Generation. Cutting you up is going to feel exquisite!" The man let out a shrill, grating laugh, eyeing Zoro as if deciding where to make the first incision.
"A swordsman, huh?" Zoro’s lips curled into a predatory smile. "Fine by ."
Shink!
Zoro drew Wado Ichimonji with his teeth, entering his Three-Sword Style stance.
"Roronoa, be careful of that man!" Tashigi warned, her grip tightening on her katana. "That’s White Horse Cavendish, an executive of the Chris Pirates, but he’s awakened his second personality. That is the man known as Hakuba!"
"His swordsmanship is twice as fast as before! He is the ’Kamaitachi of Roml.’ They say people only feel a strange gust of wind before they realize they’ve been cut down!"
Zoro’s fighting spirit flared. "A whirlwind? Then I’ll just have to see it for myself!"
"Hehehe... DIE!"
Hakuba vanished.
Simultaneously, Sanji reached Otto. His leg glowed white-hot with the intensity of Diable Jambe, scorching the freezing air.
"Diable Jambe: Premier Hachis!"
THUD! THUD! THUD!
A barrage of kicks rained down on Otto, who simply crossed his massive forearms to tank the hits. After ten seconds of relentless assault, Sanji flipped back, his glowing feet hissing as they touched the snow.
"Phew..." Sanji took a drag of his cigarette. "How’s that for a taste, you bastard?"
Otto was charred, smoke rising from his singed fur.
Two hundred ters away, Luffy pried himself out of the ice wall, wiping blood from his lip. "Damn, that hurt! Is this guy really human?"
"ROAR!"
Otto looked up, his crimson eyes burning with mindless rage. He swung a massive palm with a localized gale.
WHAM!
Sanji was swatted away like a fly, skidding dozens of ters through the snow.
"Sanji!"
Luffy’s form blurred. "Gear 2!"
He appeared in mid-air above Otto in a burst of steam.
"Gear 3: Gomu Gomu no... Giant Axe!"
Luffy’s leg inflated to massive proportions, coated in the tallic sheen of Armant Haki. He brought the "Giant Axe" down with the weight of a falling mountain.
———————
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