134 An Unexpected Turn of Events

The flames dissipated, leaving Xuanye with his feet buried deep into the earth, having carved two long furrows into the ground. Gritting his teeth, he braced himself and stood amidst the wreckage.

Wiping a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth, the explosive rumbling beneath his feet ceased. Xuanye looked up, his eyes burning like embers, and fixed a cold, ruthless gaze upon the center of the chaos.

He had to admit, aside from being mentally unstable, this guy was superhuman in every other regard. His strength, agility, and recovery were all top-tier. It even made Xuanye wonder—could having a monster for a father really grant such terrifying inherited bloodlines?

As the smoke cleared, the chaotic scene was revealed. Across from him, Weevil stood drenched in blood, gasping for air. He was in bad shape; it was clear he was no match for Xuanye.

A flicker of malice crossed Xuanye’s eyes, and he vanished once more. He was determined to send this mother-son pair to hell today.

"Swish... Swish..." Meanwhile, Weevil discarded his naginata, his hands rippling with white vibrations—he was clearly unleashing the full extent of his Devil Fruit power.

"Bang!" The ground erupted as sand and soil flew into the air. It was as if the earth were being reshaped; the entire battlefield became even more devastated.

Fist met foot, the collisions ringing out like steel.

"Swish... Swish..." One red, one white—the figures blurred into afterimages. With the ground detonating beneath them, it was impossible to track the movements of Xuanye and Weevil.

"Ugh!" With a muffled groan, Xuanye coughed up blood, having taken one of Weevil’s strikes head-on.

Gritting his teeth, his eyes bloodshot and his elbows coated in obsidian Haki, he spun around and delivered a strike against Weevil’s chest with the force of a crashing mountain.

"Crack..." At the sound of snapping bone, Weevil let out a shrill scream, vomiting blood as he was sent flying.

Xuanye was right on his heels, appearing above Weevil like a pillar descending from the heavens.

Weevil, his face a mask of blood, crossed his arms to defend. Instantly, an incomparable force, vast and surging like the ocean, poured down upon him.

"Boom... Boom..." The ground shattered, sending countless boulders flying. In the center of the spider-webbed crater, Weevil lay with shallow, ragged breaths, blood pooling from his mouth.

Xuanye never missed a chance to strike a fallen foe. He plummeted from the sky, closing the distance in a flash.

"Boom!" Moving with desperate effort, Weevil narrowly dodged the strike. His face was deathly pale, his eyes filled with insanity.

"Flame Beam."

Expressionless, Xuanye extended his hand, fingers splayed. His fingertips glowed red, and five beams of thermal energy tore through the atmosphere.

Gritting his teeth, Weevil balled his bloodied fists and hammered them against the incoming light.

In an instant, a white shockwave erupted, creating a powerful blast that swept across the landscape.

"Swish!" Xuanye vanished. The violent pressure made the hair on Weevil’s arms stand on end. Before he could react, Weevil condensed a high-danger shockwave into his right fist and swung it backward in a desperate counter.

"Bang!" Fist met flesh; the sound of the collision was deafening, like a war drum.

Enduring the blow, Xuanye grabbed Weevil’s right arm with both hands. Flames erupted from his entire body, and in a split second, the temperature spiked to terrifying heights.

Terror widened Weevil’s eyes as white ripples surged across his body, desperately trying to break free from Xuanye’s grip.

"One Hundred Million Degrees: Stormfire."

A pillar of fire connected heaven and earth, shattering the landscape. A thunderous explosion followed, sending Xuanye flying backward.

"Ah..."

As the firestorm faded, only a charred figure remained on the ruined, liquefied ground.

"Huff... huff..." Breathing heavily, Xuanye spotted Weevil’s faint life force. He stumbled forward, his gaze icy, a blade of fire manifesting in his hand.

Standing over the crater and looking down at the broken Weevil, Xuanye raised his blade, his voice fierce. "Unforgivable. I will make you wish you were dead. The pain you inflicted upon my master, I will make you pay back ten, a hundred, a thousand times over."

There was no pity, no compassion—only endless rage and hatred.

He raised his arm, preparing to drive the blade into Weevil’s right arm; he would not let this man die so easily.

However, at the last possible moment, the seemingly dying Weevil suddenly surged upward. Clenching his fists, he unleashed a world-shattering white energy directly at Xuanye.

In a flash, Xuanye’s hands morphed into obsidian-black feathered wings, which he hurriedly crossed before his chest.

"Waugh!" His eyes bulged as he was sent flying, coughing up blood before crashing heavily into the ground.

"Cough... cough..." Amidst the shifting rubble, Xuanye shakily rose to his feet. Blood flowed uncontrollably from his mouth, leaving his face deathly pale. It was clear this strike had wounded him.

Clutching his chest, Xuanye glared at Weevil, who was standing and gasping for air. "Is this how you made my master lower his guard?"

"Huff... huff..." Weevil’s aura was chaotic, his eyes filled with madness. White energy began to emanate from his entire body, causing the surrounding space to tremble.

Wiping away the blood, Xuanye’s expression turned vicious. He stared at Weevil; this man had to die.

"I’ll kill you!" Across from him, Weevil clenched his fists, thick Haki swirling around them. The air hummed, and streams of white energy began to condense and wrap around him. In an instant, a suffocating pressure expanded across the entire battlefield.

"Impact: Earth-Shattering Roar."

Taking a step forward, Weevil pulled his hands back, his face twisted, and thrust them toward Xuanye.

"Boom... Boom..."

The entire ground detonated. A shockwave the size of a house, carrying an unstoppable aura, crushed toward Xuanye like a force of nature.

Thunder cracked and dark clouds swirled overhead. Weevil was betting everything on this final blow to eradicate Xuanye.

Expressionless, Xuanye watched the disaster-like shockwave approach. Flames erupted from his body, and he moved in perfect synchronization.

"Underworld: Flame Bloom."

He brought his hands together, then pulled them apart. A tiny spark at the center rapidly expanded. In a heartbeat, a two-meter-wide pillar of flame surged forward, colliding directly with the tidal wave of force.

"Boom..." The destructive clash shook the entire island. A bottomless fissure snaked out from the center of the impact, cleaving the island in two.

Xuanye took a step back, gritting his teeth as his heels carved deep grooves into the earth.

"Haki Ignition." With a heart of stone, his aura roared to life. In an instant, the beam in Xuanye’s hands turned pitch black and grew thicker. A column of black-red light erupted, tearing through the heavens.

"Bang... Bang..." Unable to withstand the pressure, Weevil was sent flying backward, gasping his final breaths.

"Die!" Xuanye’s face was twisted with ferocity. He took a step forward, shifting the black-red beam to finish Weevil off.

In the blink of an eye, a small figure appeared not far behind Xuanye, an eerie aura radiating from her.

"Do not mistake me for a mere ornament. Illusion: Depths of Emotion."

In an instant, a strange black ripple struck Xuanye.

The light beam vanished. Xuanye, who had been filled with murderous intent, suddenly went still. If one were to look closely, they would see his face contorted in agony, as if he were struggling against something.

It was as if he had fallen into an illusion from which he could not escape.

Meanwhile, Miss Bakkin scurried to Weevil’s side. A surprising burst of strength erupted from her small frame, and she hauled the dying Weevil away, vanishing from the spot.

All of this was beyond Xuanye’s expectations. He had never imagined that the seemingly elderly Miss Bakkin was also a Devil Fruit user.