Chapter 480: Clown Supremacy
Buggy dashes toward Imu at a very high speed that he gets from his Soru-like movement skill that's already very fast because of his physical power. But with the enhancement of the half-dragon's power boost and lightning, his speed becomes unmatched.
He reaches Imu almost instantly and starts attacking immediately. Imu dodges Buggy's sword that is thrusted at his face by tilting his head to the side. But a powerful tail attack came at his head as soon as he dodged because Buggy had predicted this.
Imu widens his eyes as he knows he can't dodge this. But simply blocking it is also very risky because of Buggy's awakened devil fruit ability that can chop him easily. So Imu generates white fire between his head and Buggy's half-dragon tail to act like a cushion.
A big white fireball forms very quickly in the tail's path. The tail hits it and breaks it into small cubes before slamming into Imu's face. Although it can't stop Buggy's tail attack, the white fireball manages to slow it down, giving Imu time to make an advanced haki shield that blocks Buggy's attack completely.
Imu gets away from Buggy immediately to avoid getting attacked again. Luckily for him, Buggy stops there because something happens to his tail. The part that hit Imu's white fireball is now covered by thick ice, it freezes.
"How strange. A cold flame that can even freeze a hot body part this quickly. No wonder it could slow my attack just now. Seems like you still have a lot of hidden cards."
Buggy whips his tail and shatters the ice that doesn't damage his tail at all. This ice is cold, but it surely isn't as powerful as Aokiji's ice even though Imu's flame is much more powerful than Ace's flame. Well, maybe because this is not real ice, but a very cold flame that can freeze something.
It might be a good attack against weaker people, but it is only good as a surprise attacks for strong ones like Buggy. Buggy thinks that it must be the reason Imu only used it just now. It won't hurt Buggy, after all, so there's no need to use it before this.
Though now, Buggy is very curious about the other colors. The black flame is very destructive, the red flame is very hot, and the white flame is very cold. Imu's flame still has other colors and they surely have different properties which makes Buggy curious.
"Wait! If each flame color has its property, doesn't that make each color equal to a devil fruit ability? If each flame color is like a devil fruit ability, then just how many abilities he has?"
Buggy frowns when he realizes this, but he doesn't panic. Imu has shown 3 different colored flames with different attributes. There are some other colors, so if they have different attributes, it will be equal to Imu having multiple devil fruits.
Still, the other attributes shouldn't be too strong for a battle against someone like him and some attributes might not be combative power. But there might be some annoying abilities among those even though they can't be used against him directly in the battle.
Buggy stops thinking about that and attacks Imu again. It is something he needs to be mindful of, but he shouldn't think too much about it. His goal won't change, after all. He needs to defeat Imu to get what he wants.
They fight closely and it's clear that Buggy has the upper hand. Imu still can handle them somehow, but he is struggling more and more. Buggy's attacks are getting stronger, fiercer, and sharper as time goes on.
Imu is getting pushed back by Buggy's attacks. He is handling those attacks well at first, but it gets more difficult even though he keeps getting away. It's really difficult for Imu to keep up with Buggy's attacks and eventually, an attack lands on him.
Imu falls into Buggy's little trap. Buggy makes a feint left jab toward Imu's face which makes Imu use his arms to block it. But that jab never came. Instead, Buggy's powerful right-hand punch slams into Imu's stomach, making the demon king spit a mouthful of blood.
A strong impact is created by that punch that sends Imu flying to the Red Line wall. Imu crashes onto the wall, creating a big dent with big cracks on it. Buggy grins while looking at his reddened fist that releases a lot of steam because it was burnt when his fist hits Imu's stomach.
Unlike Buggy, Imu's expression is really ugly right now because Buggy's attack hits him again. But what really makes him mad is the fact that Buggy didn't hit him seriously. Buggy didn't use his awakened devil fruit ability, so Imu's body didn't get chopped into cubes.
Heck, Buggy didn't even use advanced haki or other power, only a pure physical attack with normal armament haki. It really makes Imu mad because it's clear that Buggy is mocking him by not using a serious attack. But even such a not-so-serious attack was enough to hurt Imu this much. So even Imu can't imagine just how hurt it would be if Buggy's all-out attack really hit him. It makes Imu feel relieved in the corner of his heart.
'NO! RELIEF? ME? THIS GREAT ME FEEL RELIEF BECAUSE AN INSECT WAS SHOWING MERCY TO ME?'
Imu gets even angrier when he thinks about that because it means he is admitting that Buggy is above him. It's the same as him admitting that he is inferior to Buggy. That feeling is a great insult to him who never bowed down to anyone in his hundreds of years of life.
But what can he do now even if he is furious? His anger can't help him fight Buggy anymore. It can't be a fuel that makes him stronger anymore. His anger only clouds his senses. Making his attacks' and defenses' levels drop as they get more obvious even though they are stronger.
Buggy can see through Imu's attacks and defenses much more easily now because they get more obvious. This makes the fight becomes easier for Buggy now. His attacks keep hitting their targets while Imu's attacks never hit Buggy.
Strangely, Buggy's attacks don't chop Imu's body at all now. He doesn't use his awakened devil fruit ability at all and only uses other skills. Physical power, haki, battle techniques, and the borrowed devil fruit abilities are the things he uses now.
His intention? Obviously, it's to torture Imu using deadly attacks that inflict so much pain. Even the Sea Emperors would be dying after receiving this much damage. But Imu is immortal. His immortality that was granted by Ope Ope Fruit makes his injuries heal rapidly, so he won't die from all these grave injuries.
Imu won't die from these injuries, but he might go insane from all the pain. His immortality doesn't give him numbness to pain, after all. So he can feel his skin tear, his flesh rip, his bones break, and his veins burst. The blessing called immortality has turned into a curse now.
Slowly, Imu can't fight back anymore because Buggy's attacks are hitting him faster than his recovery rate. Furthermore, Buggy is aiming his limbs most of the time to prevent him from fighting back or escaping.
Buggy will break the same parts again and again when they almost heal. His attacks are all coated with advanced haki, so the damage they cause is deep and severe. He looks more like the devil now than Imu who has devil fruit ability with demonic transformations.
"HAHAHA! FEEL IT! FEEL IT! FEEL IT! FEEL THE PAIN, MOTHERFUCKER! SHOW ME THE PAIN! THIS IS THE KIND OF PAIN MANY PEOPLE FEEL DAILY UNDER YOUR CELESTIAL DRAGONS' HANDS. DO YOU FEEL IT? ARE YOU HAPPY WITH IT? NO NEED TO THANK ME FOR HELPING YOU FEEL WHAT THEY FELT EVERY DAY."
Imu can only look at Buggu angrily with his bruised face as Buggy mocks him. He can only lean straight on the Red Line wall while receiving Buggy's rain of attacks. Punches, kicks, and tail attacks are raining down on Imu's body which doesn't get protected by haki as Imu can't use it anymore because he is too tired and injured.
"COME ON! FIGHT ME! YOU ARE THE KING OF THIS WORLD, AREN'T YOU? HOW CAN A KING LET HIMSELF BEING HUMILIATED LIKE THIS? COME ON! FIGHT BACK YOU KING OF SCUMS! FATHER OF TRASH! PIECE OF SHIT THAT WAS ALWAYS AFRAID OF A PROPHECY, AFRAID OF JOY BOY, AFRAID OF THE LIBERATOR, THE SUN GOD NIKA!"
Imu widens his eyes when he hears those things. Buggy really knows too many secrets.
"Y-you, I'LL KILL YOU, YOU DAMN INSE-."
*BAM*
Buggy punches Imu's face before he can finish his sentence.
"Ah, sorry, I thought I heard the sound of a fly in your mouth, so I hit you reflexively. Didn't know it was you that sound like a fly."
Buggy grins widely while mocking Imu who obviously gets very angry by it. He looks at Buggy menacingly while his broken face is recovering.
"Bastard! You will regret th-."
*BAM*
Again, Buggy doesn't let Imu finish his sentence. But now Buggy doesn't just punch him straight in the face. Buggy sends him fly to the sky using a very powerful uppercut that dislocates Imu's lower jaw.
Imu is still very furious, but that angry expression disappears soon as it transforms into shock. A massive black cloud sphere with lightning cracking everywhere is floating high in the sky. Buggy was the one preparing it using Enel's lightning that he borrows and he sends Imu straight into the sea of thunderclouds.
"Tell me, do you like shock therapy?"
Buggy suddenly appears beside Imu who stops flying higher after forcing his damaged demonic wings to work and catches his wings from behind. Then Buggy snaps Imu's wings before throwing the guy into the thundercloud sphere.
"Captain Version: Raigo!"
*CRACKLE* *CRACKLE* *BOOM* *BOOM* CRACK* *BOOM* *BOOM*
Sounds of explosions and lightning strikes can be heard rumbling from the thundercloud spheres after Imu entered it.
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You can read more chapters ahead of my fanfics and more pictures on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
Voting for this book is highly appreciate. Cover image is the MC, artist's ig: @fatmaqn_
I've uploaded Chapter 518. Clown Competition
- Pictures of both stories (ex: bounty poster & magazine cover) by /CaptMermain
(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)