Chapter 517 - 357

Chapter 358: Final Battle of the birdcage (VIII)Kings Plateau.The battle between Law and Doflamingo had reached its final stage.The light of the Gamma Knife faded, leaving behind a deathly silence.Doflamingo's figure remained suspended in mid-air.His body appeared to have no external wounds; even his pink feather coat was perfectly intact.But only he knew just how horrific the impact of that last strike had been.His internal organs, his bones, his meridians... starting from every single cell in his body, everything had been completely destroyed, shattered, and charred by that high-frequency energy.If he hadn't desperately used his awakened strings to form temporary organ replacements at the very last second, he would likely be a corpse rotting from the inside out by now."Pfft~~~"A mouthful of blood, mixed with charred fragments, erupted uncontrollably from Doflamingo's mouth.His body trembled violently, and his vision began to blur and distort as countless long-buried memory fragments flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.Anger, resentment, arrogance, humiliation... He saw his younger self, that spirited Heavenly Yakshawho firmly believed he was the chosen one, destined to trample the entire world under his feet.He saw himself killing his foolish father with his own hands, renouncing his status as one of the Celestial Dragons, and galloping across the sea with his original crew to build his own dark kingdom step by step.Back then, he thought he was omnipotent.Until... that man appeared.The imagery of his memory froze on a certain deserted island in the New World.Young and aggressive, he had clashed with the monster known as the "World's Strongest Creature" over a piece of territory.That was a battle he would never forget for the rest of his life.Or rather, that wasn't a damn battle at all.That man, Beast Kaido, only used one move from start to finish.A seemingly ordinary Spiked Club strike, yet one coated in Conqueror's Haki.Thunder Bagua.Just a single blow.The String-String Fruit abilities he took pride in, the Armament Haki he relied on for survival, and all his schemes and pride were crushed as easily as paper before that Spiked Club.For the first time, he tasted the flavor of "despair."It was from that moment on that his dream of becoming King was completely shattered.It turned out that on this sea, there truly existed out-of-spec monsters that he could never defeat, no matter what.His heart that wanted to become "King" was completely broken by that one strike.From then on, he changed.He no longer aspired to stand at the very top of the world, choosing instead to become the "Power Broker" beneath the peak.Under the alias Joker, he manipulated the Underworld, trafficking arms, selling artificial fruits, and instigating wars, becoming the most important partner of the Four Emperors Kaido.He thought he had found another path to the pinnacle of power.But now, on the verge of death, he finally understood.The moment he abandoned his ambition to be "King" and chose to be a pawn of a "King," his spirit and his Haoshoku were forever frozen in that moment, unable to advance even an inch.He had severed all chances of rising again to become a true hegemon."Fu... fufufufu..."A raspy, bizarre laugh escaped Doflamingo's throat.He slowly raised his head, his blood-blurred eyes piercing through the curtain of rain to stare fixedly at Law nearby."Fuhahahahahahaha!!!"He laughed out loud until tears came out and his body convulsed; his laughter was filled with endless realization and liberation.Oh, so that's how it is.So that's how it really is.Power, strength, wealth... when death truly descends, these things he once held onto at all costs became so laughable, so... worthless.His dreams were crushed by Kaido, his familial bonds were betrayed by Corazon, and now, his life was about to be ended by this brat who inherited Corazon's will.What an... ironic and failed life!In that case... since everything will return to nothingness... then in this final moment, let him reclaim the feeling of being a true "King" one last time!"Law!!!"Doflamingo let out a heaven-shaking roar!In this moment, he cast aside all his resentment, all his anger, and all his regrets!He didn't care about anything anymore!The only thing he wanted to do now was to have a final showdown with the man before him, with no regard for life or death and no path for retreat!!!BOOM-!!!!!!As if in response to his will!An unprecedented, wildly violent monarch's spirit erupted from Doflamingo's dying body!Black and red lightning, like ferocious demonic dragons, surged wildly around him, tearing through the atmosphere and letting out piercing wails!Above the sky, the already gloomy clouds were stirred into an even greater frenzy, forming a massive black and red vortex!The towering Haoshoku aura climbed steadily, exploding exponentially!This aura far surpassed any level he had displayed before!"Come! Law!"Doflamingo spread his arms, letting the black and red lightning converge and coat his awakened strings!Under the buff of the black Haoshoku, the white strings were instantly dyed an ominous pitch-black, emitting terrifying fluctuations strong enough to distort space itself!This... is Conquerors Haki Coating!!!At the brink of death, after completely abandoning everything, Doflamingo—the former king—had actually made a breakthrough in the heat of battle, mastering the ultimate technique that only the top-tier monarchs could possess!"Let us decide everything with this final blow!!!"Law's pupils contracted violently due to the unimaginable scene before him.He could clearly feel that the power Doflamingowas erupting with now was not inferior to his own, and might even... surpass it!But he felt no fear.In those golden eyes, there was only a chillingly extreme calm and the thirteen years of accumulated, relentless obsession for revenge!He slowly raised the kikoku in his hand.Both hands gripped the blade.This was the first time he had faced an enemy with such a solemn posture.Buzz-The blue spatial domain rapidly contracted under his will, eventually condensing into a tiny spherical space that only enveloped the blade.K·ROOM!The strongest application form of the Ope-Ope no Mi!Immediately after, he injected all the Haki in his body into the blade without reservation!Top-tier Ryuo Haki, the spatial energy of the Ope-Ope no Mi, and his top-tier swordsmanship as a Great Swordsman perfectly merged into one at this moment!The blade of the cursed sword kikoku began to vibrate violently, emitting a hum that seemed to come from the depths of the soul, thirsting for blood!Cyan-blue electric light and pitch-black Hakicomplemented each other on the edge, forming a deathly arc of light capable of cutting through all things and severing karma!"Come, Doffy!""Atone for the death of Mr. Corazon!"Both of them let out their final roars simultaneously!"Advanced Armament Haki: Sixteen Holy Bullets: God Thread!!!"Behind Doflamingo, the massive wings composed of billions of pitch-black strings instantly transformed into sixteen terrifying spikes coated in Conqueror's lightning, shooting toward Law like sixteen spears of divine punishment capable of piercing heaven and earth!"K·ROOM!""Gamma Knife: Pulse Cut!!!"Law gripped his sword with both hands and swung his strongest strike, betting everything against those sixteen world-destroying attacks!The next second.The black strings and the black slash collided violently at the very center of the Kings Plateau!In this moment, the entire world seemed to be completely stripped of all sound and color, falling into an absolute dead silence and blankness!Followed by-BOOM-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!!!!!A purely destructive energy storm that could not be described in any language exploded outward with the two of them as the center!White light instantly swallowed everything!The terrifying shockwave transformed into a literal white curtain of light, expanding wildly in all directions!The entire Kings Plateau couldn't even hold out for a single second before this power and was completely razed to the ground!The shockwave's momentum didn't diminish, continuing to spread downward, destroying all the towns, streets, and buildings below!The beautiful island of Dressrosa had a massive chunk of it forcibly erased by this final confrontation!The entire island trembled and wailed violently before this power!