In these seas, the ability to wield Haki marked the clearest line between the strong and the weak.
Armament Haki could dramatically enhance both defense and offense, and more importantly, it provided the only means besides Seastone to counter Logia-type Devil Fruit users.
Observation Haki, meanwhile, granted heightened sensory perception—allowing the user to anticipate movements and detect threats with terrifying accuracy.
In the North Blue, Darren's strength made him undeniably "invincible."
But out here—in the vast, boundless world beyond—without Haki, even his refined Devil Fruit mastery and monstrous physical conditioning meant little in the face of a living legend like Byrnndi World.
Even if his body had already surpassed the limits of normal humanity, in this moment, Darren was still lacking something crucial.
He staggered upright from the ground, hunched like a coiled predator ready to pounce. Pain screamed through his arms, but his eyes were burning with an intensity that refused to fade.
Smoke churned from the distance—
And from within it, a heavy black boot stepped forward.
Darren's gaze rose.
Byrnndi World emerged from the smoke cloud, his hulking frame battered and scorched.
His skin was marked with burns. Even his full-body Armament Haki couldn't fully shield him from the North Blue fleet's relentless bombardment.
"Marine brat… do you feel it now? The gap between us!!"
World's eyes glinted with fury. His breathing was rough, his voice twisted with hatred.
He had never known rage like this.
He was Byrnndi World—The World Destroyer.
A pirate who had once stood shoulder to shoulder with Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger.
And now—now he was losing, in some backwater trap… in the North Blue!?
Absurd. Insulting. Unacceptable.
"Don't think this is over. Even if that bastard Sengoku is on his way, I've still got time to kill you and escape."
"Then come and try," Darren sneered, lips curled into a defiant grin. "But you're running out of time."
"You little punk—!!"
BOOM!!
The earth collapsed beneath them, snowbanks exploding upward from the sheer shockwave.
World vanished.
Too fast for the naked eye to follow.
"Mo Mo: Fiftyfold Speed!"
Time seemed to still.
Darren's mind entered a state of razor-sharp focus. Blue arcs of electricity danced across his fingers.
An invisible magnetic field pulsed from his body, expanding outward—enveloping everything within a hundred-meter radius.
Even the falling snowflakes seemed to slow in the air.
Inside his head, every trace of bioelectric magnetic fluctuation—every heartbeat and breath within the field—lit up in his mind like stars.
Suddenly—
A faint glimmer of blue flashed across his eyes.
Got you.
Above.
Just as that thought formed, a sharp whomp split the air above him.
A boot clad in jet-black Armament Haki plummeted from the sky like a steel war axe.
Darren rolled aside—barely. The boot scraped past his head and crashed into the earth.
KRAK!!
BOOM!!
A deafening impact shattered the ground. Snow and dirt surged into the sky like a raging dragon.
A hundred-meter-long fissure tore across the island, splitting trees and earth alike as it spread through the forest.
Debris soared.
World's pupils contracted.
He dodged again?
He predicted it—again?
That first time wasn't luck.
While World reeled in disbelief, Darren was already closing in.
They were similar in size. And now, they were face to face.
Darren reached forward—slamming his palm into World's face with a feral grin.
"Let's test your durability."
CRACK!!
BOOM!!
He drove World's head into the ground.
A crater dozens of meters wide erupted beneath them, spiderwebbed with fractures.
Wind tore violently at the bloodstained white cape on Darren's back. He stood tall—fierce, wild, unyielding.
"Was that supposed to hurt me?"
World sneered from within the pit. His entire body gleamed with hardened Armament Haki.
He grabbed Darren's arm—and whipped him sideways like a ragdoll.
THUD!!
Darren hit the ground hard. Blood sprayed from his mouth, but the grin on his face only widened.
He flipped up, pivoting midair—and lashed out with a spinning kick toward World's throat.
WHAM!!
Air cracked from the blow. World staggered, vision swimming. Even with Haki armor, Darren's raw strength was monstrous.
Rage flared.
World lunged with a step and slammed his fist into Darren's gut—
CRACK!!
And Darren's leg, already in motion, smashed into his nose at the exact same moment.
They traded blows.
Each strike burst blood into the air.
Fist against fist. Flesh against flesh.
Rokushiki footwork, brute force, and sheer will.
The snow around them swirled in chaos as the two warriors tore into each other.
It was brutal.
"You damn lunatic!!"
World bellowed, shaken. The Marine brat's face was drenched in blood—but he just wouldn't fall.
He hadn't even unlocked Haki…
And yet he was still standing—still matching him blow for blow, with nothing but strange sensory abilities and a body forged like iron.
"HAHAHAHA!! Come on!! Let's go!!"
Blood sprayed as Darren was launched backward again, face streaked red. But he was still laughing.
Laughing like a madman.
This… this was the peak of his life.
To clash against a monster like Byrnndi World—
To walk the tightrope between life and death, one heartbeat away from being crushed…
This was ecstasy.
Every punch. Every torn tendon.
The sting of blood in his mouth and nose.
All of it stirred something primal inside him.
Like a lover's whisper in the dark, it called to him—
That addiction to combat.
That desire.
That feeling of being truly, vividly alive.
Pushing the limit.
A fire raged in Darren's chest. A question that burned with reckless hunger.
How far could he go?
Without Haki—
Without the power that defined the greats—
How long could he fight a pirate of Byrnndi World's caliber?
Even a minute longer…
No, even one second more—
Would be enough.
Enough to break his limits.
---
— To be continued...