Arceus's Pirate Journey

Chapter 778: Chapter 777: The Liberated Demon

Looking at the Devil Fruit in Queen’s hand, Zeraora didn’t bother guessing the result. Instead, he recalled something else.

”How come I remember... during the swap battle before, someone reported that a Devil Fruit was missing among the spoils, and we never figured out where it went. Could it be... you took it for experiments?”

”Cough, cough, don’t mind that detail. Anyway, the power of this move is immense. If this island weren’t already ruined, I wouldn’t want to use it either.”

Looking at the devastated plantation, Queen’s heart was filled with mixed emotions. Sakazuki’s Meteor Volcano had caused severe damage to the island, and the subsequent lightning worsened the erosion of it. Now the island’s surface was full of pits.

Forget about growing bananas; you could practically soak in a hot spring here.

”Use it if you have to, why hesitate?”

”Using this to unleash the Gift of Nature is different from the ordinary one. It consumes a lot of stamina, and hitting the target is a bit challenging. You have to find a way to restrict him somehow, use that, I’m worried about troublesome ability users, that’s why I prepared it for you.

Just stab him once, and the paralysis will be enough.”

With that said, Queen began to enter the state of launching the move. By this time, Zeraora’s lightning had also finished, and what Sakazuki saw was Queen holding a Devil Fruit and starting to become emaciated.

Releasing a skill requires consuming one’s own stamina. A Devil Fruit is not a Berry, but the power of Arceus allowed Tropius and the Brachiosaurus Fruit to combine, ultimately developing this new usage, at a great cost.

The energy he accumulated is almost all devoted to unleashing this move.

Seeing Queen prepare for a new move, Zeraora didn’t speak much. He pulled out that ordinary dagger. Seastone weapons are indeed a nemesis to ability users but can only be used for surprise attacks.

Once the opponent is on guard, it’s challenging to be effective again.

A person strong enough has a higher tolerance. Seastone may prevent them from using abilities temporarily or weaken them, but it won’t directly paralyze them.

Even Charlotte Linlin was tied like a dumpling with high-purity Seastone chains and didn’t collapse directly. If Seastone were truly a divine tool, the ordinary soldiers should have carried more Seastone during the Marineford War and aimed them at Whitebeard.

Its biggest standout performance was when Onigumo used Seastone handcuffs to catch Marco off guard.

In the previous battle, Zeraora hadn’t used that dagger, and Sakazuki was unaware of it. However, in a new round of battle, he felt a lethal crisis.

Originally, Zeraora aimed for his heart. Noticing something strange, Sakazuki chose not to use Armament Defense but to evade rapidly. However, he was slower, and Zeraora’s dagger still pierced his shoulder.

Then he quickly flashed backward. The insertion of the Seastone dagger caused Sakazuki’s body to tremble suddenly, but he gritted his teeth and pulled out the dagger.

For it to stay in the opponent’s body for a long time, Zeraora would have to hold on, but doing so would cost him his agility, and he couldn’t face Sakazuki head-on.

Even though this period of fatigue could cause significant damage, it wouldn’t be fatal. If captured because of it, the subsequent battle would instead fall into disadvantage.

...

A purple glow enveloped the nearly melted fruit and shot towards Sakazuki, and Zeraora returned to a safe distance.

Seeing the move completed, Zeraora was convinced that Queen’s claim that he looked charming when slim was nonsense, or perhaps it was because he was now too skinny.

”Does this move consume that much?”

”It’s okay, just eat two good meals, Magma Bastard! Feel my wrath!”

Though his tone seemed slightly weak, there was still a hint of pride in his voice. However, after his words dropped, only a rather ordinary explosion occurred under Sakazuki’s feet, with less power than a regular cannonball.

”Are you kidding me?”

Watching Queen’s thunderous but ultimately unimpressive move, Zeraora didn’t know how to judge him, but Queen was very composed.

”Don’t rush; this thing requires a little preparation. Now it’s about ready.”

Bang!

Out of nowhere, a giant scorpion over twenty meters in size appeared near Sakazuki and swung its pincers at him without a word.

Zoan-type·Bug-Bug Fruit·Scorpion Form, that’s the type of the fruit Queen used, and the effect of his Gift of Nature can be understood as a release.

So far, he has only experimented with Zoan-type fruits because they are unique. The Zoan-types harbor the consciousness of a beast, and Queen just released that consciousness.

This is also why his stamina was nearly depleted. The fruit’s action needs a vessel, and the user’s stamina becomes the best option. The Gift of Nature released by the Zoan-type Devil Fruit is equivalent to gaining an additional awakened Zoan-type ability user.

The giant scorpion seemed to lock Sakazuki as an enemy, swinging its pincers at him. Sakazuki didn’t take this large beast’s attack seriously, but at the next moment, his body failed to elementalize successfully.

”What on earth is this....”

While confused, Zeraora asked a similar question.

”I don’t know either, but Devil Fruits harbor demons, and my actions are equivalent to releasing the demon within that fruit. A demon against a demon, it’s reasonable they don’t play by our rules.”

That’s the answer Queen gave, and it’s also why the scorpion could attack Sakazuki’s true form.

”This move has three parts. The first is locking on, where the person I hit becomes the target. Now it’s the second stage, where the inhabiting demon deals with its own enemies. Unfortunately, this move is too exhausting and too expensive.”

Since discovering this move, Queen only tried it once because it’s one-time use. Each use consumes a Devil Fruit, which can’t reproduce, and will randomly respawn somewhere in The Sea, equivalent to a one-billion Belly cannonball.

Moreover, activating it requires considerable stamina consumption, draining him dry every time.

”Alright, it’s about time we leave and let that guy worry about it himself.”

”I don’t think this thing’s battle power can last very long.”

Even though the scorpion could attack Sakazuki’s true form, it only fought on beast instincts without any remarkable achievements.

”It doesn’t have to last long. Didn’t I tell you? This thing has three stages. When it expends all the energy sustaining it, this thing will explode.”