Dozens of basketball-sized spheres of black lightning snapped into being, humming like living things. Smelling blood, the swarm locked onto Zephyr and surged in from every direction.
Zephyr's face changed; the black orbs felt far deadlier than ordinary lightning.
He pushed Armament Haki to the limit, the black on his arms deepening into an eerie dark flame.
Smash Barrier!
He roared, fists shooting forward. A domed shield of black Haki wrapped him completely.
The next instant the black orbs slammed into it.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!
Blasts rolled across the sky. Each detonation quaked the air, black bolts devouring the shield.
The barrier rippled, flickering, on the verge of shattering.
Veins bulged on Zephyr's forehead as he held the line, feeling his Haki drain away.
Through the glare he saw Big Mom hovering nearby, calmly smoothing wind-tangled hair.
'Damn it…' A wave of frustration surged in him.
For five years he had thought he could beat her, yet every time she unveiled something new and shattered his confidence again.
When the explosions finally ceased, his shield was thin and dim; he panted, eyes grave.
'Tch.' Big Mom frowned. 'Troublesome. I hate you stamina monsters.'
'You're one too!' Zephyr roared, Moonwalk bursting him forward. Arms like sledgehammers, coated in peak Armament, crossed in a crushing strike.
Smash Cyclone!
His fists tore the air into a visible vortex, sealing her escape.
With a sweep of her draconic wings she shot upward, barely dodging, and brought her nodachi down in a titanic flying slash laced with black lightning.
Zephyr's pupils shrank; he Moon-walked backward, the slash missing him by inches and carving a hundred-metre trench in the sea.
'Still running, Zephyr?'
She pressed the attack, blade, wings and thunder-cannon in an unbroken rhythm.
Energy blooms burst overhead like rolling thunder.
'Don't get cocky, pirate!' Calm amid the storm, Zephyr's fists smashed most strikes apart.
A few slipped through, leaving shallow burns on his Haki-clad body—nothing fatal, but making him look harried.
Worse, Moonwalk cost far more stamina than her wings.
He glanced aft: the st. freya's sails were now a speck about to dip beneath the horizon.
'Running?' Alarmed, he surged his Haki, punched the next bolt aside and tried to break through.
'Hey, your dance partner is me!' She flashed in front of him, sword-tip at his brow, smirking.
'Still not learned? Sinking your last ship obviously wasn't lesson enough.'
'You dare mention that! It was the Navy's newest model!'
'Stop chasing me and it won't happen!'
Thunderclap!
Slash!
A heavy blow forced him to guard; she flicked a glance to confirm the st. freya had escaped.
Objective met, she lost interest.
A feint sent him reeling; wings snapped wide and she flew back, sticking her tongue out: 'Done playing, you hopeless fanboy! Remember, this was just the appetiser—haunt me again and I'll give you a memory you'll never forget!'
Before the words faded she had become a pink streak racing after the ship.
'You flying bastard! Who's a fanboy?! Get back here!'
Zephyr chased with Moonwalk, but the gap widened visibly.
He watched her vanish and punched the air, the boom of futility shaking the sky.
She slipped away… again.
Five years of this; her flight left him powerless.
Maybe… I should eat a Devil Fruit—one that lets me fly.
The thought, once unthinkable, surfaced unbidden.
He had always preached pure body and Haki, scorning crutches, yet air superiority had beaten him too often.
However refined, Moonwalk could not match true flight.
While his mind wavered—
BOOM!
A thunderclap erupted behind him—unnatural, cataclysmic, familiar.
'No!' He spun toward his warship.
At the same moment his transponder crackled: 'Vice Admiral Zephyr! Your newly-loaned ship—another black bolt just struck the keel! The engine room's gone; she's sinking!'
His gleaming flagship snapped in half, smoke billowing as Marines leapt into the sea.
'BIG—MOM—! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!'
Zephyr's roar flattened the sea around him, grief and rage shaking the heavens.
He had personally pre-paid for that ship—his wages for years ahead—and it hadn't even been fully financed.
Now it was gone, debt and all.
Far away on the st. freya, Big Mom alighted gracefully, faintly hearing his anguished howl.
She flicked an ear as if brushing off gnats.
'Sank another one?' Ripley asked from the rail, amused.
'Of course.' Gloriosa tidied Big Mom's wind-tousled hair. 'Anyone foolish enough to hound our Linlin loses their ship. You'll get used to it.'
Big Mom dusted off non-existent dirt, gazed at the blue sky and smiled: 'Nothing to it—just skill born of practice.'
Years of piracy had taught her exactly where to cut for maximum efficiency.
Soft laughter swept the deck as the Heavenly Calamity Pirates sailed on, leaving only the Vice Admiral raging beside his sinking wreck.
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