Chapter 29: Duang~~~
“Mmm~~~!!”
Boom—A sudden explosion in mid-air generated a blast of heat that sprayed onto Eschbach’s dragon face. While Zoan ability users are known for their toughness, the face remains a vulnerable area for most animals.
Eschbach grunted from the pain of the explosion’s shockwave and heat, simultaneously surprised by the inexplicable explosion.
“Was it a bomb? But there’s no smell of gunpowder, or is it… an ability user?”
The explosion was so sudden, without any warning, an astonishingly powerful blast occurred in the empty air, at a level capable of inflicting damage on Eschbach. Even though Eschbach hadn’t used Armament Haki for defense, the effectiveness of this surprise attack was undeniable.
“Is it you causing trouble?”
His large eyes swiveled, spotting a figure in mid-air that was tiny compared to himself.
It was a bald man wearing a baseball cap…
If you’re going to cover your bald head with a hat, then hide it properly! Why take the hat off and wave hello? Eschbach felt an immediate sense of peculiar awkwardness. Having followed His Highness Elus for years, he had secretly eliminated many strong individuals to hone his skills. He had encountered all sorts of people, his experience could be described as extensive.
But,
This kind of… this kind of enemy, he had truly never encountered before.
“Yo, big guy!”
Marcus, who was falling downwards, waved the baseball cap in his hand and greeted Eschbach.
“I’m Marcus, pleased to be fighting you.”
He shouted.
“…Eschbach!”
After a moment of silence, Eschbach also announced his name.
Then,
He simply watched Marcus, who had put his hat back on, continue to fall downwards. With his back to the ground and facing the majestic, mountain-like Eschbach, a somewhat troublesome, pleasant smile appeared on his face.
Is this… an enemy?
Eschbach was a bit dazed.
“Duang~~~”
A bouncy sound effect echoed through the air.
“Ah!?”
Eschbach blinked, his large eyes watching Marcus fall to the ground and then bounce high up, shooting towards the sky like a rocket. Instinctively, he let out an incredulous exclamation. He turned his neck, changing his posture from looking down to looking up.
In the sky,
The bright sun made Marcus’s figure difficult to discern; only a blurry, dark silhouette against the sun could be seen.
“Catch this, Eschbach!”
Marcus shouted in the sky.
However, the content of his shout was a bit confusing… “Whoosh—” A sound of the wind breaking at extreme speed followed the tail end of his shout. Eschbach saw a small stone, about the size of a wine jar, detach from the humanoid silhouette and fly towards his head at an astonishing speed.
In an instant,
A sense of mortal threat erupted from his bones.
He unleashed Armament Haki, which covered his head like tight armor. The stone was falling too fast; he didn’t have time to move his massive body to dodge this attack that posed a strong threat to him.
Regardless of whether Marcus had shouted or not, there was only one thing he could do.
That was,
To brace himself and take it head-on.
His dark head swung upwards like a flail, colliding with the falling stone.
With a deafening “BOOM—!!!”
Eschbach’s head rapidly sank down, his long neck changing from an upward posture to a downward tilt, directly smashing into the ground. This caused another tremendous impact on the poor land, carving out a huge pit.
“That hurts!!”
Eschbach’s pained cry came from within the deep pit.
He shook his head, slowly raising his neck, trying to clear the dizziness in his mind. He widened his eyes again, looking at Marcus, who was once again falling towards the ground, with a gaze of surprise and confusion.
He was now full of questions.
The stone-throwing attack just now was so powerful it made him question his life? If his Armament Haki hadn’t been tough enough, if his Devil Fruit hadn’t been developed to such a high degree, if Zoan ability users weren’t so resilient… that single stone had a weight capable of sinking a large warship.
“Screech!!!”
The sound of tearing air echoed. Eschbach’s tail, over thirty meters long, was his strongest weapon. His swinging tail possessed destructive power that made the atmosphere tremble. He swung his tail with all his might, striking Marcus, who had not yet landed.
He would not give him another chance to use those strange abilities.
Whether it was using the ground as a trampoline, the inscrutable explosion, or that impossibly heavy stone… it could only be described as bizarre. It was so bizarre that he couldn’t figure out what kind of ability it was. Therefore, Eschbach decided to crush Marcus with absolute violence, not giving him any more opportunities to cause trouble.
His tail struck Marcus, who was still falling.
However,
“So hard!!”
The sensation from his tail made Eschbach’s eyes widen. The painful hardness surprised him; it surpassed steel, and it wasn’t the defense from Armament Haki, but truly felt like being clad in several layers of excellent armor.
Most importantly,
Marcus was not sent flying.
Looking at the small figure tightly holding his tail, Eschbach deeply realized he had encountered a master this time. Regardless of this master’s personality issues, his strange and unfathomable abilities alone made him dare not be distracted.
He violently thrashed his tail again, attempting to fling away the enemy holding his tail.
Just as his tail whipped down to the ground,
Marcus suddenly dropped sharply, landing on the ground before the tail could hit, and once again, as if landing on a trampoline, he quickly bounced up and leaped to the side, avoiding the falling tail. He hopped like a rabbit, but he could leap higher and farther than an ordinary rabbit.
“What kind of… ability is this?”
The ground, which Marcus used as a trampoline, returned to its solid, heavy rock layer in front of Eschbach’s tail. Marcus, hopping around, circled Eschbach, using all sorts of strange abilities to put Eschbach in a rather frustrating situation.
Not understanding the true nature of Marcus’s abilities meant he couldn’t find a way to counter Marcus’s peculiar tactics. This left Eschbach unable to defeat Marcus and achieve victory for the moment. Fortunately, relying on the tenacity and self-healing of a Zoan Devil Fruit User, he wasn’t afraid of a war of attrition.
The combat therefore entered a delicate balance.
