Looking at the Devil Fruit in Queen’s hand, Zeraora didn’t try to guess the outcome; instead, something else came to mind.
“I seem to remember… during the last ranking battle, someone reported that one of the Devil Fruits from the plunder went missing, and in the end, no one figured out where it went. Don’t tell me… you took it for this test?”
“Ahem, don’t worry about those details. Anyway, this move is really powerful. If this island wasn’t already ruined, I wouldn’t even consider using it.”
As he gazed over the devastated plantation, Queen felt conflicted. Sakazuki’s Meteor Volcano had caused severe damage to the island, and the subsequent lightning strikes further wrecked it, leaving the ground full of craters.
Forget about growing bananas – now you could practically soak in a hot spring.
“Just use it already. What’s the hesitation?”
“The Natural Gift unleashed with this is different from the usual one. It drains a lot of stamina, and it’s hard to hit. You’ll need to help restrain him somehow. Use that thing. I was afraid of running into a troublesome Devil Fruit User, so I prepared it for you.“
“Just one stab will be enough to stun him.”
As Queen began to ready his move, Zeraora’s Thunder had already come to an end. All Sakazuki could see was Queen holding a Devil Fruit, and visibly growing thinner.
Using moves consumes your own stamina. The Devil Fruit isn’t exactly a Berry. It’s just that Arceus’ power combined the Tropius and Brachiosaurus fruit, ultimately developing this new usage. But the cost is extremely high.
Almost all the energy he’d stored up was going into using this move.
Watching Queen prepare his new ultimate move, Zeraora wasted no time, drawing a seemingly ordinary dagger. Seastone weapons are indeed a bane to Devil Fruit Users, but they’re best suited for sneak attacks.
Once the other party is on the guard, it’s hard to catch them off guard again.
People with sufficient strength have stronger endurance;Seastone can temporarily render their abilities unusable or weaken them, but it won’t directly paralyze them.
Even Charlotte Linlin, wrapped tightly in high-purity Seastone chains, didn’t go limp instantly. If Seastone were truly a divine weapon, during the Summit War, regular soldiers would’ve carried more Seastone and just waited for an opening to use it against Whitebeard.
Its biggest highlight was Onigumo taking advantage of Marco’s inattention and clasping Seastone handcuffs on his hand.
In the earlier fights, Zeraora hadn’t used the dagger, so Sakazuki hadn’t been on guard. But now, in this new round of fight, he suddenly felt a deadly threat.
Zeraora’s initial target was Sakazuki’s heart, but sensing something unusual, Sakazuki didn’t try to defend with Armament Haki and instead dodged swiftly. Even so, he wasn’t quite fast enough, and Zeraora’s dagger still stabbed into his shoulder.
Then, Zeraora quickly retreated. The Seastone dagger sent a jolt through Sakazuki’s body, but he endured the discomfort and pulled it out.
To leave it embedded in the target for a long time, Zeraora would’ve had to keep his grip, but doing so would compromise his agility, and in a direct confrontation, he’s no match for Sakazuki.
Though he could inflict considerable damage during this window of vulnerability, it would not be fatal. If he gets caught because of it, he will instead fall into a disadvantageous position in the subsequent battle.
…
A purple glow enveloped the nearly-melting fruit as it shot towards Sakazuki, while Zeraora once again retreated to a safe distance.
Seeing Queen after releasing his move, Zeraora was now convinced that Queen’s claims about looking charming when slim were total nonsense., or maybe he had slimmed down a bit too much.
“Does this move really drain that much of your stamina?”
“It’s manageable. Just need a good meal or two afterward! Magma b*stard! Feel my wrath!”
Though his tone sounded a bit weak, one could still hear the pride in his words. However, after he finished speaking, only a very ordinary explosion occurred beneath Sakazuki’s feet, with power even less than that of a regular cannonball.
“Are you kidding me?”
Watching Queen’s flashy but ineffective move, Zeraora wasn’t sure how to respond. However, Queen seemed completely calm.
“Don’t be impatient. This thing needs a bit of setup. It’s almost ready now.”
Boom!
Suddenly, an enormous scorpion, over 20 meters in size, appeared near Sakazuki and immediately swung its pincers at him.
Zoan-type • Insect-Insect Fruit • Model: Scorpion — This is the type of fruit that Queen used, and the effect of his Natural Gift could be understood as liberation.
So far, he had only experimented with Zoan-type fruits, as they were unique in that they contained the consciousness of a beast. Queen had essentially freed that consciousness.
This was also why his stamina was almost depleted; using the fruit requires a carrier, and the user’s stamina served as the best option. The Natural Gift unleashed using a Zoan-type Devil Fruit was akin to summoning an awakened Zoan User out of thin air.
The giant scorpion seemed to have locked onto Sakazuki as its enemy, swinging its pincers at him. Even though it was an enormous beast, Sakazuki didn’t take its attack seriously—until the next moment, when he found his body was unable to elementalize.
“What is this thing…?”
As he questioned in confusion, Zeraora had a similar question.
“I’m not sure either. But since a Devil Fruit harbors a devil, what I did essentially freed the devil inside the fruit. Devil against devil—it makes sense that it doesn’t follow our rules.”
That was Queen’s answer, explaining why the scorpion could strike at Sakazuki’s actual body.
“This move has three phases. The first phase is the locking on—whoever I hit becomes the scorpion’s target. Now we’re in the second phase, where the residing devil will go after its enemy. But it’s a shame; this move is really taxing and incredibly costly to use.”
Since discovering this move, Queen had only tested it once, because it was a one-time use. Every time it was used, a Devil Fruit was consumed and the consumed Devil Fruit couldn’t be restored—it would just randomly respawn somewhere on the sea, basically costing one hundred million Berries per shot.
Additionally, it drained a lot of stamina, leaving him completely exhausted every time he used it.
“Alright, we should probably leave now and let him deal with this headache.”
“Doesn’t seem like that thing’s going to last for long.”
Even though the scorpion could hit Sakazuki’s main body, it was only fighting based on beastly instincts, with no remarkable results.
“It doesn’t need to last long. Didn’t I mention? This thing has three phases. When its power runs out, it’s going to explode.”
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