Big Mom was furious.

She had just unleashed her full power with a strike, and Kuke hadn’t even bothered to defend himself with Haki. Instead, he relied solely on his body and was unharmed. Though Big Mom had expected Kuke’s physique to be formidable, she had never imagined it would surpass her own.

In her decades of experience, no one had ever compared to her in terms of pure physical resilience.

If she had taken that hit with just her body, she would’ve sustained internal damage at the very least, even if her exterior was unscathed. Big Mom’s Armament Haki had long reached the advanced level of internal destruction. But Kuke…

He appeared completely fine.

No internal damage, no visible harm—Big Mom couldn’t see any sign of injury.

Such terrifying defensive strength led her to believe that Kuke’s regenerative abilities and vitality must be at an equally monstrous level.

“Damn you, Kaido.”

Big Mom gritted her teeth.

Kuke was nothing like the man who couldn’t last.

Crude curses spilled from her lips—seventy percent directed at Kaido, thirty percent at herself. She cursed her own foolishness for walking right into this.

“What’s wrong? Afraid?”

Kuke gestured for Big Mom to come at him.

Big Mom’s face turned pale.

Slowly, Kuke drew the Supreme Grade Sword, Ace.

No matter what Big Mom felt at the moment—fear, defiance—Kuke had decided that first, he would beat her down. He intended to carve the pain into her very bones so that even if she went insane or lost her rational mind in the future, she would have an instinctive fear of him.

BOOM!

Kuke stomped down, and a shockwave erupted from beneath his feet, sending countless boulders flying into the sky.

Golden Haki, combined with advanced Armament Haki, enveloped his blade.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

The space around them began to fracture before they even clashed.

The sky itself seemed to tear apart.

Big Mom swallowed nervously. The situation grew increasingly terrifying.

Instinctively, she stepped back. One step, then another.

But each step seemed to increase the oppressive weight on her, making the air itself feel thick and suffocating. The more she retreated, the greater the pressure became. The fear turned into rage.

“I AM BIG MOM!”

No more retreating.

With a furious roar, Big Mom charged forward, Napoleon in hand.

Clang!

The air shattered, expanding out from the clash of their Haki.

The cracks spread, reaching both Big Mom and Kuke.

The fractured air carried the weight of both their accumulated power—the strongest force of destruction.

But the momentary surge of Haki and momentum that Big Mom had managed to build up vanished instantly.

With a scream, she was sent flying once again.

Kuke broke through the fractured air, leaping above the airborne Big Mom.

“Zeus, Prometheus, save me!” Big Mom shouted in a panic, seeking help from her Homies.

The massive fireball and lightning cloud charged towards Kuke.

“Conqueror!”

A torrent of Haki burst forth behind Kuke, taking the form of a distorted, ethereal figure—the embodiment of a king’s might.

He swung his sword downward.

It sliced through the clouds and fireball, striking Big Mom with full force.

Sparks erupted.

Big Mom screamed in pain.

She plummeted to the ground, creating another earth-shattering explosion that shook Cake Island.

“Argh! It hurts! Damn it, it hurts!”

In the crater, Big Mom rolled around, desperately patting her chest to extinguish the sparks.

A deep, red gash had formed on her chest, cutting through to the flesh beneath.

The pain was unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was enough to make Big Mom forget her dignity, writhing on the ground in agony.

“Thunderous Wrath, Annihilate All!”

Kuke summoned lightning.

A bolt of lightning, like divine retribution, struck Big Mom as she rolled in pain.

A ring of explosive energy expanded rapidly, covering the crumbling earth.

Electricity flashed and shot out.

Rock and soil disintegrated into nothingness.

“Aaaahhh!”

Big Mom clutched her head, letting out a pitiful scream.

When the lightning finally dissipated, Big Mom’s entire body was still sparking with electricity, her skin blackened, smoke rising from her head, and black fumes pouring out of her gaping mouth as her eyes rolled back.

Kuke landed on the ground, his gaze cold as he stared at the seemingly lifeless Big Mom.

Seconds passed—tens of seconds.

Slowly, Big Mom’s eyes regained focus, her pupils shifting back into place.

“I almost died,” Big Mom muttered shakily as she struggled to stand.

She looked at Kuke with lingering fear.

He was too terrifying.

Far too ruthless, showing not a shred of mercy.

“Not bad, your defense is stronger than Kaido’s,” Kuke praised.

No wonder Big Mom was considered to have the strongest body in the original story—her defense was unparalleled.

Being complimented did nothing to lift Big Mom’s spirits. She looked at Kuke warily, her voice small, “Are you not tired?”

To unleash such attacks… Was he not exhausted?

“What do you think?”

“I think you should be tired,” Big Mom said, forcing a strained smile.

If even this didn’t tire him out, if it didn’t deplete him—then how could any of them even be called monsters compared to him?

“You can try making me feel fatigued during battle.”

Big Mom’s smile twisted further into something almost grotesque.

Seeing Kuke approaching, she started scrambling backward across the ground, desperate.

“No, at this rate, I’m done for.”

Big Mom was, after all, an experienced Emperor of the Sea, having risen to power even before Kaido. She wouldn’t cower completely just because of one defeat.

“I have to go all out—if I don’t, there’s no hope of winning. I have to gamble that Kuke can’t keep this up for long.”

It was her only chance.

Whether it was a real chance, she didn’t know.

But there were no other possibilities for victory.

“If I lose today, Kaido, you just wait.”

Big Mom stood up again, forcing a fierce expression.

“I can explode in power too.”

She roared, her enormous body shaking as an overwhelming aura radiated outwards. Her presence grew stronger and stronger, her body increasing in size until she stood around ten meters tall, like a giant.

“In this form, I am invincible.”

In her enlarged form, Big Mom felt the surge of strength within her, giving her the illusion that she could defeat Kuke.

From a distance, Perospero stared blankly at his transformed mother.

“Mama… she used her lifespan.”

“In such a short time, Kuke has pushed Mama to this extent.”

This technique was her trump card.

By sacrificing her lifespan, she gained an immense but temporary boost in power.

Far beyond her usual strength.

“Come on, I will have you!”

Big Mom raised her giant blade and charged Kuke once more, carrying her final shred of confidence.

Kuke, wielding his sword with one hand, effortlessly blocked her strike. “Ikoku Sovereignty!”

BOOM!

The battlefield echoed with thunderous explosions.

Sharp, crescent-shaped shockwaves were visible, slicing through the air.

They soared high, shredding the clouds.

When they fell into the ocean, the sea split apart.

When they struck the ground, they created an abyss.

Every strike was beyond what any vice-captain-level fighter could hope to withstand.

“The extra power is decent,” Kuke said with satisfaction.

He casually blocked Big Mom’s frenzied strikes with one hand, giving her time to vent her fury.

Within an hour, the coastline had vanished, the forest had vanished, the mountains had vanished—even far-off Cake Island had been split into over a dozen sections.

As time passed,

Big Mom’s strength waned.

The power that came from sacrificing her lifespan was rapidly depleting.

Big Mom’s berserk rage also began to subside.

She looked at Kuke, who had been blocking all her attacks with just one hand.

Her massive face wore an expression of utter misery.

“Can’t you at least pretend to be in pain?”

Big Mom was enraged.

That approving look—was he praising her performance as if it were some kind of show?

“Since you’ve reached your limit, it’s my turn now.”

Kuke moved.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

From afar, all anyone could hear were dozens of muffled thunder-like sounds.

And then, silence fell upon the shattered remains of the battlefield that had once been half of Cake Island.

Half a minute passed.

A minute.

Three minutes.

Still, no sound came.

“Is the fight over?”

Everyone thought the same thing.

So long without any noise could mean only one thing—the battle was over.

“What time is it?”

On the Radiant Eclipse, Shakky quickly asked.

“It’s 3:02 PM,” Gion answered, glancing at her watch.

Precisely 3:02 in the afternoon.

“Huh? The biscuits aren’t ready yet!” Makino exclaimed, rushing towards the kitchen in a fluster.

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DONT FORGET POWER STONE

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up 40+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep