Chapter 249: Chaotic Battle
Weaving around the numerous black strings headed my way; I swatted a few that were unavoidable and kicked the air, launching me to the right as I dodged another volley of strings; bringing my leg up, I coated it in haki as I used it to divert a sneakily hidden string that Doflamingo had tried to conceal behind his barrage of attacks, but, despite fighting for so long, he still seems to be underestimating my senses.
With his hidden attack doing nothing but scrapping against my skin, I saw his expression scrunch in slight anger as I spun in the air before aggressively slamming Naga-sa overhead; he tried to stop it by launching several strings, which he combined into one massive one, significantly increasing the strength of his attack. However, by simply timing my attack with the pulsing of my heartbeat, I further increased my strength, allowing me to smash right through his haki-clad string after struggling for several seconds.
Slamming my bo-staff right onto his body, I swatted him far into the distance until he slammed into a broken wall, causing even more of it to collapse in the process.
"Heh, this is fun; if it weren't for Whitebeard, I'd love to fight him for longer; it would be an amazing fight." Muttered Diddy with a large, feral grin as he landed on the ground with Naga-sa resting on his shoulders while he eyed Doflamingo in the distance.
Wiping the blood leaking out from my mouth, I looked down at my body, checking the extent of my wounds, and while I was covered in cuts, making my golden brown fur carry with it a tint of red, along with a few bruises, I wasn't all that injured; it looked far worse than it actually was. The same went for Doflamingo; his body was littered with bruises and slight injuries, but up until now, we've been fighting with a decent amount of restraint, though after that last exchange, I can tell if this battle went on for any longer, we will start fighting for real.
"Hehe, ahh, I'd love to fight someone like Doflamingo, someone not too strong and not too weak, a perfect opponent for me. Alas, I'm not missing the opportunity to fight Whitebeard; no way in hell." Muttered Diddy with a slight chuckle as he watched Doflamingo slowly exit from the wall while sporting a deep scowl, only to aggressively bare his fangs before chuckling.
"Hehe, let's save our battle for later, Doflamingo; I have bigger fish to devour; besides, I can tell you're exhausted; even if we weren't using all of our strength, fighting for over an hour would make anyone exhausted." Remarked Diddy with a feral grin as he eyed Doflamingo, who, despite feeling greatly offended, couldn't deny his words, which only served to further enrage him.
"Bastard." Said Doflamingo through gnashed teeth, his veins nearly popping in pure anger while he tried to conceal his exhaustion, though they weren't hidden from Diddy's acute senses.
Doflamingo tried attacking me as he waved his hand, causing tens of strings to be launched toward me at high speed, but I simply laughed before leaping high into the sky, greatly enlarging Naga-sa and swatting away all of his strings.
"Hahaha, until we meet again!!" Yelled Diddy with a smile as he used geppo to fly away, heading straight for Whitebeard in the distance while Doflamingo glared at him.
While heading for Whitebeard, I used this opportunity to overlook the battle happening below, and while the Whitebeard pirates hadn't managed to break past the second barrier and reach the plaza, they weren't too far away, especially with Luffy leading the charge while Mael helped him, creating blazing hot destruction wherever he went. While luffy wasn't the strongest one here, far from it, everyone seemed to be following him; he had some kind of aura that attracted people to his side.
'The signs of a conqueror?' Mused Diddy with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Luffy, watching as he charged right for the execution platform without stopping.
Anyways, shifting my focus somewhere else, I spotted Trenza and Janet on the outskirts of the war fighting against marines together, and while they weren't killing strong opponents and mainly dealing with cannon fodder, they were killing them efficiently. Especially Trenza, there seemed to be something slightly different about her; the way she was mercilessly killing all of them without batting an eye wasn't exactly like her. I mean, given her previous line of work, she wouldn't shy away from killing someone, but…
'…It's just different somehow, I don't know quite how to put it.' Thought Diddy lightly as he eyed Trenza, who was killing small groups every few seconds, creating a large pile of bodies in her path that exceeded one hundred.
Shaking my head, I glanced at Grand and Scar, who were both in the middle of the war and were fighting their hearts out with their backs against each other; they were both exhausted, but even so, they weren't slowing down. Grand would violently pummel anyone who approached him with his overwhelming raw strength and boxing technique, while Scar would use the six rokushiki techniques he'd mastered to swiftly eliminate any marines that happened to get too close.
Despite their rather terrible situation, as enemies on all sides surrounded them, they were both smiling, seemingly enjoying the thrill of the battle.
Licking my lips while eyeing Scar, I turned to look at Sebas and Freyja, and well, while Freyja was getting one-sidedly dominated by Hancock, Sebas seemed to be having a walk in the park compared to her. I wouldn't actually quite say that; he wasn't directly fighting someone like Freyja was, but I could feel his mind was spread throughout the entire battlefield; he was trying to affect thousands of people at the same time, which seemed to be greatly straining him, though his effects weren't for naught, as he was affecting people in the middle of a battle, mainly marines.
'Well, so long as he's actually doing something.' Mused Diddy lightly as he eyed Sebas before looking behind at the execution platform, observing the three admirals, only to suddenly stop in the air while hovering in place.
"Where the hell is Akainu?" Muttered Diddy with a deep frown as he intently eyed Kizaru and Aokiji, only to see an empty seat in the middle of them.
Spreading my observation haki as far as I could, enveloping the entire battlefield, frozen bay, plaza, and execution platform, I searched for Akainu through the tens of thousands of different people, yet I couldn't locate him, causing me to click my tongue.
'Either he left the battlefield, which isn't possible, or he's somehow able to conceal himself from my haki, which is more believable, yet that would also mean he's bypassed my senses.' Thought Diddy with a scowl as he scanned the battlefield, utilizing his senses to their maximum potential, yet, in the end, he returned empty handed, causing him to scoff.
While this was both good and bad, there wasn't much I could do right now if I weren't able to locate Akainu, so I just decided to give up and continue with my original plan of fighting Whitebeard; however, just when I went to turn around, one of the many ships in the distance was blasted into smithereens by several beams. I wasn't the only one who noticed that, as nearly everyone on Whitebeard's side heard the explosion, they all looked at the burning ship before shifting their focus to the cause of the ship's destruction, only for us to see several identical people emerge from behind while firing beams at the ships.
"What the? Isn't that the Kuma Warlord of the Sea? I could've sworn I had just seen him." Muttered Diddy as he tilted his head in confusion while eying the numerous identical Kuma's before shrugging his shoulders.
Taking a little detour, I headed towards the Kuma's, who actually turned out to be robots as I could sense no life from their bodies, causing me to raise an eyebrow at this world's weird level of technology. Dodging the numerous beams heading for me, I speedily arrived before a robotic Kuma and stabbed my haki-clad hand right through his chest, grabbing his heart or power source before crushing it, causing it to explode within my hand while enveloping the two of us.
Dashing out of the smoke cloud, I sliced the head of a Kuma off before grabbing it and throwing it towards another just as it was about to shoot me, only for me to swing Naga-sa at its head, crushing it into smithereens. I was about to destroy another one, but I was suddenly blasted from behind, flinging me into another robot, which I crushed beneath my feet after using geppo and soru as I launched towards the person who had attacked me.
"Eh? Are you a Man?" Asked Diddy with a raised eyebrow as he slammed Naga-sa atop the marines's head, only for it to be stopped without ever touching him.
Getting no response, I pointed my foot at the dude's crotch before launching a bolt of lightning, causing his eyes to widen before he angrily blasted me away, causing me to laugh while dodging several beams.
"Hehe, so you are a man!?" Exclaimed Diddy with an amused expression as he kicked the air before lunging back toward the Marine.