One Piece: Path to Power

Chapter 97: [97] Storming the Base (IV)

[2150 words]

The release on Fanfiction.net is officially caught up as well. 

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Basara cursed under his breath, both at the resilience of his adversary and his taunts.

His impatience translated into a powerful attack.

The Admiral and his colossus raised both arms into the sky, willing all earth to bend at his whim.

Whether it was from the ruins of the previous exchange or his twin swords, they all warped into liquid and collected into a mass of earth high up above.

It was 400 meters initially and it only grew bigger.

From 400 to 600 to a 1000-meter wide mountain (0.62 miles)! The shadow from such a behemoth crept its way to the edges of G-2, bringing about an apocalyptic sight.

"You crazy marine," Damien muttered at the future he had foreseen. "Are you trying to bury the island; what about your soldiers?"

The reply was cold and ruthless, "I would never doom my troops to death without purpose; your death outweighs their lives and a true Marine would know that deep down. Such is the damning reality that you pirates have forced them into!"

.

"Wailing Sky!"

.

And the mountain dropped.

A landmass, one kilometer wide of pure rocks, falling from nearly 900 meters above would easily sink G-2.

The noise generated alone from the descent was terrifying. It was born from the displaced air that leaked from the sides of the ball-shaped satellite, slicing past the atmosphere to give birth to howling winds.

At its height, the attack would reach up to a speed of 480 kilometers per hour (~300 mph), taking around 13.5 seconds to reach ground level.

'As easy as it is to jump into the sea for my own safety,' the pirate thought, 'who made me such a kind Division Commander who protects his people…'

A dark future flashed by the Sin Incarnate's eye, furthering his resolve to alter it.

*Fwooo* An ominous gust blew about as the molten-red cracks of the Empyrean form began to seethe in a crimson mist. Sparks began to ignite as the Sin Incarnate mobilized huge amounts of power and Haki.

Within moments, a huge ball of energy formed behind the famed pirate, growing bigger by the second.

From a meter in diameter to ten, and then doubling to twenty.

"Red Sun."

However, that was not everything.

As the helios ball floated gently in the sky, another sight to behold appeared.

A dull growl resounded on the ruined island, a beast awakening from slumber. Thick black wings spanning tens of meters, extending from the back of a dragon.

"Eat your fill."

Damien's casual words took the beast's attention as it did what came to its mind: opening its maw.

A vortex formed from the air being sucked into the dragon's mouth, slowly pulling the ball of imminent destruction.

*Vwoooo* The air whistled, shrieking even. 

Molten heat exploded all around as great amounts of energy converged around the mouth of the dragon. It dripped out from the sharp teeth, melting the floor beneath itself—lava.

"One last thing…" Damien gazed at the weapon in his hand and gave it a mental order.

Ryushi, as if it were sentient, understood the assignment and began to warp shapes.

The blade broke apart into metal shards, the wooden handling following suit. Going from a unique pincer-edged weapon to a full-blown war hammer!

.

"Crusher Configuration."

.

[Image (in Discord)]

Damien leapt off the ground, Ryushi in hand.

Meanwhile, the Dragon fired a blast of breath that resembled fluid magma, streaming out as a thick river of pure energy, raging and shredding through space and upon the ascending pirate.

Damien, in his Empyrean Form, was able to become one with his ability, his body converging with the draconic attack, fueling it all to his mighty weapon.

Seeing that the mountain was now within meters away, Damien slammed his seething weapon forward, driving the hammer at the meteor-like as if to ring a bell.

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"Extinction Order!"

.

The attacks crashed together, sending shivers down the island's core.

Ryushi rang the mountain like a gong, sending huge amounts of energy through its core, covering every inch of it.

BOOOM!

The explosion was so mind-numbingly loud that Sea Kings sleeping many kilometers below were thrown into disorder as arcs of pure energy rained down all over the island.

It was an apocalyptic sight as the descending mountain started to rumble in stress as the Supreme Blade raged forth, slowly but surely pushing through.

Basara was controlling the mountain to continue its fall but the landmass itself was breaking apart!

*Crack* 

*Rumble!*

Large cracks visible from afar were seen as they extended all over, from the very bottom to the peak of the mountain as it shook uncontrollably.

BOOOOOM!

The mass of earth exploded into a display of rocky fireworks as they slowly turned into red patterned rocks, dusting away as every piece was obliterated.

*Pop!*

The air exploded under Damien's feet as he continued to climb, soon reaching the level of the colossus, greedy for the open window of attack.

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"Vanquisher Configuration."

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Damien returned to the original form of Ryushi, going from the heavy Warhammer back to the more concentrated attack range, much to Basara's anger.

The colossus, as if responding, reeled back a punch.

*Fwwwm* Haki ran down the entire arm as Basara shot it forth with enough power to sink the island! 

The punch connected with a thunderous boom, only to take on the full brunt of a Supreme Grade Blade. Cracks spread across its length from the Emission Haki hidden in the attack.

Basara groaned in pain, losing the connection to the colossus' right arm which fell apart into dust and debris.

.

Damien soared through the skies, this time pointing his trusty weapon at the colossus' heart.

The feeling of going against someone this powerful after so long had blossomed in a powerful drive in Damien's spirit, wanting to do nothing more than to turn it to dust.

*Crackle*

Sparks of black lightning rained around the youth as his eyes seethed in fury, his mind raging on as the weapon in his grasp responded.

Even the clear weather was starting to warp as black clouds rolled in, bathing the ruined island with darkness.

Ryushi greedily absorbed the new power as the blades were dripping with energy and the body of the weapon was shaking in impatience, ready to strike!

"!!!" Basara saw the change in atmosphere and immediately responded, comprehending the threat of the incoming attack.

His remaining left arm was dyed black with pristine Haki, fueling itself further with the nearby ruins.

Thick black spikes were soon erected from the knuckles, all the while spears of earth materialized, spinning in orbit to the readied fist.

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"Trembling Earth Sovereignty!"

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An arm the width of a mountain coated in impressive Haki raged on to clash with a small dot in the sky.

Damien met the attack with one of his own.

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"Armageddon!"

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Ryushi crashed upon the eclipsing mountainous punch as currents of Haki shot into the arm and raged all over.

BOOOOM!

One strand of Haki focused on destroying things from within while the other aimed to weaken and tear apart the enemy's will.

"Auugh!" Basara groaned.

The attack itself was something he could hold up to but the buzzing sensation of having his own will being eaten away was rather unpleasant.

Moments passed and the battle shifted into the pirate's favour.

The entire colossus arm cracked into pieces, its orbiting shards were long blown away. It was not long before the entire limb exploded.

This allowed Damien to unleash one final burst of Haki to land a clean hit at the giant earth construct's core.

*Purrup*

The strands of Haki in tandem with the destructive nature of the Pulverizing Fruit left quite the impact, all of which was transferred to the Mountainous Admiral.

BOOM!

Basara's colossus took a few steps back before falling to its knees. Cracks continued to spread throughout its mass, forcing great stress onto its master.

.

Damien, who finally lost his momentum, was forced to the ground as well.

Bits of armour began to fall off his body, losing control of his Empyrean form.

Damien reached to his mouth, covering the blood being spat out from his lungs—indicative of flowing Haki!

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<

[Basara]

[Age: 47]

[Height: 9' 8"] (2.84 m)

[Devil Fruit: Mountain-Mountain Fruit (Grandmastery (II))

[Fruit Rating: 6.5 Stars]

[Skills: Mastery of the Six Powers, Mastery of Life Return, Indomitable Spirit]

[Haki: Intermediate Mastery of Observation Haki, Advanced Mastery of Armament Haki]

[Strength: Middle Tier Yonko] 

>=-=----[]---<>---[]---=-=<

"As expected, he does own Emission Haki, not only that, his strength is on a level above mine…" 

Damien hummed, "Which means, that alone shouldn't be enough to take him down."

The future in his eyes confirmed the theory.

Boom!

Under the kneeling Colossus exited a bloodied figure.

The Admiral walked out from the broken titan, his arm was a mess, and the bone was surely broken, leaving his breathing erratic.

"You've begun to grasp the ability to add your own 'will' to an attack, much like the other Level One Threats," he commented.

Magically enough, the Admiral was able to pop his arm back into place and piece together any loose bone fragments, all while boasting a stoic gaze locked onto his young enemy.

"Life Return, you know it well," Damien added.

.

Basara looked around and saw his ruined colossus, ruined coat, and ruined base.

"I originally saw you as an arrogant spawn of a forgotten devil, rushing through the seas with Rocks' banner."

He glared at the pirate once again, continuing his monologue, "The Sin Incarnate. A pirate with no reason to exist apart from wreaking havoc and upsetting the order of our world."

His eyes then sharpened with obvious threat, "As an Admiral of the Navy Headquarters, I acknowledge you as a threat with the potential to rival the likes of the other Titans. With 'Justice' emblazoned on my back, I will annihilate you here!"

His resounding words came with the rumbling of the shaken island.

The very earth Damien stood on began to tremble, moving at the discretion of the Admiral.

G-2, or what remained of it, also shook as its very own shape began to warp.

Corpses that littered the base also transformed, turning into bits of rocks.

A small island used for storage near G-2 was also ripped off its roots, terraforming into pure earth to be used by the Admiral.

"..."

Damien sighed at the sight of the reawakened colossus, one that left a huge shadow in its wake.

However, it suddenly changed ever further, turning into something far beyond its predecessor.

*Purrup* It sounded like molten hell churning about.

A red flash burned past Damien's eyes, showing him the imminent future.

He looked up at the menacing sight and dryly spoke, "Admirals are the greatest weapons of the Navy for a reason, I underestimated him."

.

It stood five hundred meters high (0.31 mi).

The titan was bulkier than the previous, though its body was carved with literal mountains protruding over its entire body, almost like armour.

A volcano bubbling with lava ran up from its chest and to its neck, atop which the head, and therefore Basara, rested.

A giant droplet of seething lava fell to the floor near Damien, melting it into a blaze. All the while lava lakes began to appear throughout G-2, credit to Basara's power.

The pirate was left with a wry smile at the bubbling hell, "How could I forget, volcanoes are a type of mountain too…"

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"Molten Earth Colossus!"

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[Colossus Image (in Discord)]

Basara gazed down from the towering titan, his eyes locked onto the pirate. "You young pirates all have the same weakness: the inability to last extended battles."

"It's been a quarter of a day; your stamina is waning, your Haki is bottoming and your fruit ability is surely dried up. Tell me, Sin Incarnate, how long do you think you can last?"

Damien could not find any words to argue; the Admiral was not wrong.

It had been a good six hours since they began fighting, his greatest weakness had begun to act up.

[A/N: Don't question anime timing.]

However, there was a silver lining.

The Sin Incarnate's red eyes traced the behemoth before him, reaching where he assumed Basara was. "You're right, I won't last long enough to take you down. But I never said I was alone."

*Rumble* A chain of dull thuds broke any further conversation, upsetting a cloud of dust to hide the uninvited guests.

One by one, their identities cleared up, much to Basara's chagrin.

They were the Fodder of the Fourth Division: Majin, Pablo, Nomu and Kaen; the escaped guinea pigs: Kaido and Arai; and lastly, Damien's right-hand man: Indra.

"Negligible allies," the Admiral spat out.

"That's the problem with us pirates," Damien shrugged with a mischievous grin, standing at the front of the pirate side, "we just never know when to give up."

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

The volcano part is entirely new to Basara's powers compared to the original one. How would you rate the Mountain-Mountain Fruit now that you've seen more of its usage?

The custom Super Rookie giveaway is still live (3 winners): https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q