Boom! Boom! Boom!

Like the thunderous rumble of an engine, the heart beneath the Vice Admiral’s bloodstained chest—tough and relentless like a dragon—began pounding wildly, as if triggered by something deep within. His skin visibly reddened, and hot steam blew from his nostrils.

A low, beastlike growl rumbled out. Under the stunned gazes of Ivankov and Kuma, Daren's seemingly lean figure suddenly shot forward like an arrow!

He charged straight into the raging, brutal Houki!

It was like a meteor slamming into the earth.

Blood-slicked arms latched tightly onto Houki’s massive fangs, and then—

Boom!!

More than a dozen muddy water columns, each several dozen meters high, exploded into the air behind the Vice Admiral. The earth beneath them couldn’t handle the sheer force of the clash and crumbled with a tortured groan.

Not a single step back!

"Hahahaha! That’s what I’m talking about!!"

Daren threw his head back and roared with wild laughter. The wind whipped through his black hair as fire blazed in his eyes.

An uncontrollable force erupted from every pore of his body, compelling a furious roar from his throat. The surge of blood energy rolling off him made even Ivankov and Kuma's scalps go numb.

Ivankov, especially, stood frozen, disbelief etched into the eyes beneath his purple eyeshadow.

"He... he blocked it!!"

Seeing this insane clash between figures of such wildly different sizes, Ivankov raised his hand to shield against flying debris, barely believing his own eyes.

"My Tension Hormone... is this strong!?"

"No. It’s Daren-san’s physique that’s just too powerful."

Kuma’s voice was low and heavy, but his eyes betrayed his shock.

This level of raw power was beyond anything he’d ever imagined.

"This... is impossible!"

Topman Warcury let out a violent roar, his lantern-sized blood-red eyes locked on the tiny figure before him.

The other three Five Elders were just as shaken.

When it came to strange abilities, Warcury couldn’t compare to Saint Saturn’s Gyūki.

In raw attack power, he was outmatched by Saint Nusjuro’s Bakotsu.

In regeneration and recovery, he was no match for Saint Peter’s Sandworm.

But in terms of physical toughness, defense, and brute force, the monster form of Warcury—Houki—was unquestionably the strongest among them.

Forget mere humans—even the most elite warriors and elders of the Elbaph Giants couldn’t take a full-force charge from Houki.

Yet now, the scene before their eyes shattered everything they believed.

"You decrepit fools relying so much on Devil Fruits... what do you even know about a body honed through countless life-and-death battles!?"

Daren sneered, his arms swelling with muscle like coiled dragons, massive and bulging.

With Ivankov’s Horu Horu no Mi stimulating him, he felt power surging endlessly from within.

Every pore, every cell, every nerve seemed to scream with joy, urging him to let loose everything he had!

The overwhelming sense of strength threatened to burst from his body.

He could feel it—under the boost of the Tension Hormone, his strength and speed had increased by at least twenty percent!

If he had to put it into numbers, his current power level had definitely surpassed 98 points!

"Get the hell up!!"

Madness flickered in Daren’s eyes as he bent his knees and sank low—then exploded with force!

"Just how strong am I now..."

Under the frozen stares of the Four Elders, he clutched Houki’s massive fangs—and lifted the towering beast, tens of meters tall, into the air!

"...Even I don’t know!!"

And then—he slammed it viciously into the ground!

Boom!!

Like a meteor crash, Houki smashed into the earth like a collapsing skyscraper, flattening a swath of forest and leaving behind a gaping crater from the impact.

The ground shook violently!

"Attack!"

Saint Nusjuro’s eyes sharpened. As his hooves thundered, his figure blurred into a streak of black and shot forward, diving from above.

"We can’t afford to drag this out any longer!"

He couldn’t help but urge the others on.

This Marine brat was just too strange.

His body should be at its limit, and yet the longer he fought, the stronger he became.

His terrifying growth rate was downright chilling!

But right then—

A bear-like figure silently appeared behind Daren like a ghost.

With a focused expression, he raised one large paw and gently patted the Vice Admiral on the back.

Thud.

A soft, muffled sound echoed through the air.

"No!"

Bakotsu Nusjuro's pupils contracted sharply.

Under Kuma’s gentle pat, the Marine Vice Admiral’s body trembled slightly—then a dark, red-black gas in the shape of a bear paw suddenly separated from his chest.

In that instant, the world seemed to slow down.

As the strange, red-black mist drifted away from his body, Daren felt an overwhelming sense of relief—every ounce of exhaustion and pain that had clung to him since the beginning of the battle vanished in an instant!

Then...

That murky, ink-like ball of intangible energy floated upward—rising just in time to sink into the body of Bakotsu Nusjuro, who was descending from the sky!

In a flash—

Bakotsu Nusjuro’s eyes froze.

Something seemed to explode within his massive body. His limbs spasmed uncontrollably, and strange ripples shimmered across his skin.

"Ah... aahh..."

Low, agonized howls escaped his throat, each one sharp enough to trigger shockwaves through the air.

From the second battlefield on Miracle Island where he intercepted the Whitebeard Pirates, to the Holy Land, to hunting Celestial Dragons on Philseque Island, to the brutal showdown against Saint Saturn—Daren hadn’t rested once!

The accumulated fatigue and pain from this relentless slaughter, from wounds so deep they should’ve been fatal... it all transferred into Bakotsu Nusjuro!

Boom!

The massive figure of Bakotsu crashed to the ground, rolling violently and kicking up a blizzard of snow and dust.

His skeletal frame gushed black blood, painting a grotesque and horrifying scene.

Even with his near-immortal regeneration, this kind of torment—pain and fatigue that gnawed at the soul—was unbearable.

"Damn it! That brat’s energy is recovering—fast!!"

Saint Saturn couldn't bring himself to glance at Bakotsu’s pitiful state. His eyelids twitched wildly, and a foreboding sense of dread surged in his chest.

"All-out attack—kill him!!"

Saint Peter roared, voice hoarse with fury. Transformed into a Sandworm, he lunged up from underground, jaws wide open, aiming to devour the Vice Admiral whole.

But just then—

A surge of overwhelming bloodlust and energy burst out from the heart of the swirling dust cloud!

"You think... you're the only ones who can get bigger?"

A cold, mocking voice echoed.

Everyone froze.

Ivankov and Kuma were struck speechless, faces stiff with disbelief.

Even the Four Elders stood stunned, unable to process what they were seeing.

From within the cloud of dust, that small, insect-like figure suddenly emitted sharp cracks of bones shifting—his body expanding at an incredible rate, rising like a mountain!

Three meters... ten... thirty... fifty... eighty... one hundred meters!

He now stood on par with, if not larger than, the monstrous forms the Five Elders had taken!

Before they could even react—

A massive, blood-drenched arm reached out from the dust and clamped down on the oncoming sandworm’s gaping maw.

Then, a towering black-haired giant, bare-chested and wild-eyed, lunged forward—both hands grabbing the writhing jaws of the Sandworm.

With a furious roar,

He pulled.

—RIP!!

A storm of yellow-green ichor sprayed into the air as the colossal Sandworm was torn apart—alive—ripped straight down the middle from its mouth by the raging giant.