"Kaido!"

When Kaido slammed into the ground, Vane didn't give him a moment to breathe. He followed up with a vicious punch to the head, cracking the earth beneath them and driving the Emperor of the Sea deeper into the rubble.

Kaido grunted, dazed, his skull ringing with pain.

"Tch… that actually hurt," he muttered, trying to steady himself. It reminded him of the time he jumped from 10,000 meters and survived. The pain? Almost nostalgic.

Vane cracked his neck, his muscles taut, his shirt already ripped and discarded. His fair skin was dusted with bruises, and while not overly bulky, his lean frame radiated raw strength.

Kaido staggered to his feet, wobbling like a drunk. Blood trickled from a gaping wound in his gut, reopened by the intense blows from earlier.

"God Falls!"

Kaido bellowed again, gathering himself for another strike.

Vane didn't wait. He dashed forward with blinding speed, his fist glowing as he struck Kaido squarely in the stomach. His hand sank deep, meeting blood and resistance.

"Disgusting," Vane grimaced, jerking his arm back, coated in Kaido's internal gore.

Boom!

Kaido was launched again, slamming into a broken cliff face.

"It hurts!" Kaido roared, clutching his midsection. That last hit had done real damage. "Damn brat!"

Vane wiped his hand on the dusty ground, trying to rid himself of the sticky mess. "Should've kept it external…"

He shot forward again, launching another shockwave as his feet left the ground. Before Kaido could fully recover, Vane appeared at his side, spinning into an uppercut that caught him right under the jaw.

"Go take a dip in the sea, Kaido!" Vane shouted. "It might cool your temper!"

Kaido gritted his teeth. That punch nearly cracked them. He tried to reply but was immediately blasted back toward the coast.

The battlefield had long shifted from the ruined mining area to the shoreline of Wano. Kaido's massive body skidded across the rocky terrain, still gripping his kanabo.

But Vane didn't let up.

Another punch followed—this time aimed at Kaido's weapon. The force of the blow resonated through the mace, nearly tearing it from Kaido's grip.

"This is getting annoying," Vane muttered. "You're tough, I'll give you that—but damn, it's like punching a mountain."

Summoning his strength, Vane knocked the kanabo clean out of Kaido's hands, then hammered another punch into his face.

It connected, deeply, but Vane didn't hear the familiar sound of cracking bones.

Kaido's durability was absurd. His body was a fortress. Even from 10,000 meters up, a fall wouldn't kill him. And with healing that fast? He was practically unkillable.

"Have you eaten two Devil Fruits, Kaido?" Vane asked as he tossed him aside again. "It's like you've tried every way to die and just got stronger each time."

Kaido's body flipped midair and came to a sudden halt. He tensed every muscle and landed hard, the ground exploding beneath his feet. His mass, easily several tons, cracked the shore as he glared at Vane.

Vane narrowed his eyes.

Compared to Kaido, his own body was still human. Kaido was something else entirely—a monster with divine resilience.

"You've proven yourself, Vane," Kaido finally said. "You might really be fit to be the next Pirate Emperor."

Kaido touched the gaping wound in his stomach, blood seeping between his fingers. It had been a long time since he'd felt a wound this deep. The last time… was during his duel with Kozuki Oden.

Vane, meanwhile, could sense Kaido's limits nearing. Despite the outward bravado, the Beast King was struggling to stay upright.

A veteran Pirate Emperor losing to a new challenger—it would shake the world.

Vane surged forward again.

"Kaido!"

"You little bastard! This is my territory!"

Kaido lifted his kanabo with both hands. Above him, the sky twisted into a swirling vortex, crackling with purple lightning. At the eye of the storm, a white thunder dragon coiled—a mirror of Kaido's hybrid form.

"Maximized: Thunder Bagua!"

Electricity danced across the mace, crackling with raw energy.

"I'm not that old hag!" Kaido roared, slamming his weapon toward the charging Vane.

"You're saying you didn't fall for Big Mom back in the Rocks days?" Vane taunted. "Back then, she was kind of a bombshell. You two were the power couple from hell."

As he spoke, the crimson aura of the Deaththorn Spear ignited in his hands. The weapon pulsed with brutal energy, arcing forward to meet Kaido's attack.

BOOM!

Two devastating forces collided, the ground erupting in a shockwave that shattered everything in a thirty-meter radius. Kaido and Vane both sank deep into the earth.

The tip of Vane's spear clashed with the kanabo. Though their power seemed evenly matched, Kaido's weapon began to crack.

"Kaido, you might want to upgrade your gear!"

Vane's muscles tensed as he pressed harder.

CRACK!

The mace shattered. Black shards scattered across the battlefield. Kaido froze—his beloved weapon, destroyed. It had been with him most of his life.

But the spear didn't stop. It plunged straight into Kaido's abdomen, piercing through from the navel with devastating force.

"Your belly is seriously built like a tank," Vane muttered, gritting his teeth. He forced the spear in deeper with all his might.

"Grahhhh!" Kaido howled.

Once the spear sank over a meter deep, Vane released it. He didn't need to retrieve it—it would return to him.

Without pause, he leapt skyward.

Double Bone Fist.

Clasping both fists together, Vane dove toward Kaido's chest, smashing down with crushing force.

Kaido's chest collapsed inward. With the wound in his gut still open, the added pressure forced blood to surge—but thankfully, no organs spilled out.

"Ugh," Vane grimaced. "That's just nasty."

BOOM!

Kaido was sent flying like a missile, soaring over a hundred meters before crashing into the shallow sea.

Vane sighed, hovering above the battlefield. "You're way too much work."

Still, he flew toward the coast again. Kaido wasn't someone you let get back up. Not without consequences.

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