DOOM!

The mountain moved.

If even Kanata's group watching from afar sensed it, then Junshi's group closer at the harbor undoubtedly saw its form clearly.

Boasting a size several times, even over ten times larger than Feiyun the giantess, its gigantic stature that could crush a town with just its palm left everyone speechless.

"...The world is truly vast. So humans like that exist too?" Junshi was amazed and at the same time terrified.

"Like hell! It's gotta be one of those Ability users!" George was losing follicles rapidly.

"Either way, that's no size we can normally fight. We'd better evacuate quickly before it destroys the ships!" Junshi suggested.

"Evacuate where?! At that massive size, it'll trample us by just taking one step!"

For ordinary humans, it was not a size they could handle. Yet even for giants, the difference in scale proved too extreme.

George turned his gaze toward one of the few individuals he deemed potentially capable of handling this situation, "Kuro! Can't you do something about that thing?!"

"Dunno...I've never tried swallowing down a mass that huge before."

"We must try whatever is possible."

"But using my 'Darkness' on that enormity... it'll take time to fully swallow it down."

"I shall somehow buy you time--"

"--I'll do it." Feiyun declared so in a trembling voice while staring at the mountain-like gigantic figure.

Certainly a giant would fair better against it than ordinary humans, but even she seemed no match for that colossal, mountainous body.

"Don't be reckless!" George shouted, still fearing the girl despite her giant stature.

Feiyun couldn't help but smile wryly at his concerned tone. "It'll be okay--because I'm an Ability user too."

Thump!

She firmly planted her feet on the ground. Leaving behind the stitched winter garments Kanata made her, Feiyun strode straight toward the enemy despite her reluctance to fight.

With each step, her height doubled. And doubled again with the next.

Doubling, redoubling, redoubling - until Feiyun grew to the same towering size as the giant stony monster.

The two titanic figures stood facing each other once more, their enormous bulks leaving onlookers awestruck.

The stony giant solemnly opened its mouth, quietly burning with fighting spirit. "--So it is you again. This time, I'll crush you for sure."

"You won't! Because this time, I'm not alone!"

The first time was during the conflict among the Five Great Families long ago.

The second time here and now, as one seeking to join the new Five Great Families versus those aiming to obstruct them.

Grappling with both hands, they clashed in a pure contest of overwhelming force.

Boom!

The instant they collided, shockwaves rippled outward, shattering the windows of the warehouses one after another.

Witnessing the earth-shaking impact of the two gigantic figures colliding, even Kuro's eyes went wide. "Damn, they're something else..."

"No time to gawk! That girl's buying us time, so hurry up and do it!" George yelled .

"Yeah, yeah!" Kuro's body exuded wispy 'Darkness' tendrils.

The 'Darkness' that devoured even light spread out to envelop the ground, growing to the size of the stony giant's foot. It was as if opening a hole in the earth itself.

"Here goes—Black Hole!"

Thump!

The stony giant tilted as its left foot sank into the spreading 'Darkness'. The infinite gravitational pull dragged it deeper into the 'Darkness', gradually cracking apart its rocky body.

Though its sheer enormity meant the swallowing process would still take considerable time, Kuro judged that at this rate, victory remained possible.

But then--

"Don't underestimate me just because you took one foot!" The giant shattered its own left foot, stone fragments scattering everywhere.

Yet this proved only momentary respite, as its foot swiftly regenerated, allowing it to replant itself firmly on solid ground beyond Kuro's 'Darkness'.

"What the hell is going on...Is its body made of stone? So it's a natural Logia-type then?" Kura was confused.

"Regardless, it does not seem an opponent we can defeat easily," said George.

"And I can't exactly grasp something of that size with my powers."

However, its size had diminished slightly...

If a natural Logia ability, that should not occur. As Kanata and Kuro demonstrated, their bodies' very structures changed, precluding any unintentional increase or decrease in volume.

Moreover, the stony giant deflected Feiyun's Haki-less blows. Thus, one could definitively conclude its ability stemmed from the Superhuman Paramecia class.

"Feiyun won't last much longer against that...If we could somehow knock it into the sea, that might work, but..."

"Shall we try dragging it under?" Kuro proposed.

"Not without Kanata returning first. Dragging it beneath the frozen seas now would only cause you to fall in as well, defeating the purpose. And I'd sooner avoid any impromptu winter swimming myself."

In any case, swallowing it via Kuro's 'Darkness' proved at least partially effective. Repeating the process could gradually whittle it down over time.

Judging so, Kuro spread his 'Darkness' once more.

But then--

"--So it's you." The stony giant's gaze fixed squarely on Kuro.

With solid ground beneath its feet, conditions seemed ideal for utilizing its ability. So it changed tactics instead.

Fwoosh!

Suddenly, the stony giant froze in place, immobile.

"Eh?!"

The stone giant Feiyun grappled with went limp, its strength sapped as if drained.

Pushing it over effortlessly, she shattered its body as George's group cheered--though Junshi remained warily on guard, his brow furrowed.

(What's going on...?)

Feiyun's innate Observation Haki vaguely sensed the culprit's presence.

Not inside the giant they'd just toppled--no. Beneath their feet, slithering through the ground itself, an indistinct shadowy figure. Ominous 'voices', malicious intent, audible from an unseen location. And she was not the only one who could perceive it.

"Kuro, get back!" Seizing Kuro by the scruff, Junshi flung him away as stony spikes erupted from the ground where he'd stood moments before.

The instant he realized the threat lurked below, Junshi reacted without hesitation.

"Humph!!"

His powerful kick bored through the ground, radiating cracks that shattered the harbor's surface, forcing their enemy to reveal itself as it fled.

A burly 3-meter figure with unkempt long black hair emerged. Its eerie, hollow eyes fixed on Junshi.

"Giga-ga-ga-ga-ga, not bad..."

"I should thank you for revealing yourself. You saved me the trouble of searching."

"If you think this's enough to beat me, you're sorely mistaken--"

Rumble!

The surrounding stone reshaped into countless spears that lashed out at Junshi.

With allies behind him, evading would only put them in harm's way - he had no choice but to deflect the attack head-on.

"Nngh!"

Armoring his fists with Armament Haki, Junshi battered aside the stone spears one by one as Kuro positioned himself at his back. Muttering they could go anytime, Junshi dropped into a combat stance and raised his fists.

"That confidence of yours--allow me to shatter it."

"Dark Water Vortex!"

"--?!"

Kuro's 'Darkness' unleashed its gravitational pull, inexorably dragging the Ability user's very being towards its inescapable vortex.

And awaiting at the end--Junshi's raised fist.

"Eight Impact Fist, Ultimate Technique--"

He unleashed an unparalleled, absolute strike aimed squarely at the man's heart.

"--Drilling Dragon Striking Nail!!"

***

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The silhouettes dashing across the frozen sea, heedless of the biting cold air as they hurried back to the harbor - Kanata and Zen.

"...That stony giant has fallen silent for now, it seems."

"Heehin. Shall we hasten our return Milady?"

"The Rock Assimilant...If there's stone around, its body can appear from anywhere and form countless weapons. With Kuro and Junshi there, they should manage, but still..."

Even so, that mountainous gigantic form would prove untouchable through normal means. Had Feiyun not possessed that ability, they may very well have met their demise.

"The Deca Deca no Mi's Gigantification. Her personality doesn't exactly suit combat to begin with, and as a giant, she's still but a child."

As her de facto parental guardian who raised her, Zen disliked involving Feiyun in battlefields when possible.

Yet she could not avoid fighting, having clashed in that conflict and against the Rock Assimilant itself.

Unlike the previous encounter where its sheer enormity prevented even Zen from acting, this time proved different. They had reliable allies present.

"Our crew's gained some Ability user members too..."

Come to think of it, they did recently acquire an unidentified Devil Fruit. While confirmed as a Zoan-type, they had yet to determine its powers - perhaps worth feeding to any interested parties.

Barring extraordinarily rotten luck, the ability obtained should prove reasonably manageable.

"Heehin, nearly there. If only this could end without further incident--"

"...No, that seems unlikely."

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the harbor. The ground writhed, reshaping as the rocky humanoid form rose once more.

Encasing itself in a stony armor would minimize the freezing effects, and Kuro's gravitational pull alone could not extract its core being.

However, Kanata possessed one remaining recourse.

"Hurry, Zen."

"You need not instruct me! I shall advance at full gallop!"

Mounting Zen's back, she gathered her strength. Sharpening her senses, perceiving the enemy's presence, position, and ominous 'voice'.

--Thus fully prepared, Kanata arrived at the harbor's battlefield.

***

Junshi's Drilling Dragon Striking Nail technique undoubtedly pierced the man's chest.

Yet like Chinjao, leader of the Happo Navy who could shatter glaciers, he defiantly rose despite the devastating blow.

"Don't...underestimate me...With just...that much...!" Coughing up blood, nearly collapsing to his knees, the fiery defiance never left his eyes.

As Junshi reassumed his stance and Kuro prepared to drag him in with his 'Darkness', the man acted first.

Sinking into the earth, he reshaped the harbor's stone to rematerialize as a towering giant once more.

"I'm...going to be the king of this West Blue sea! Trash like you won't stop me!!"

The stony giant raised its fist to utterly crush them--only for its movement to halt mere moments before impact, its arm seized from behind by the approaching Feiyun.

"I won't let you harm those I wish to protect, no matter what!"

"Impudent brat...!"

--And so the two titans clashed anew.

 

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