Hello, I hope you're all well. I'm letting you know that I'll stop uploading one chapter per day and start uploading based on each word written. The minimum I want to write for the fic will be between 4,000 and 5,000 words; I won't upload anything less.
This way, I won't have as much pressure to have certain chapters ready, and I'll be able to spend more time thinking about how to write them, as well as being able to revise them. College also didn't leave me time to write the fics, which forced me to write little or, in some cases, nothing at all, so this will prevent all that.
This will be the case starting with the next chapter, so don't wait for the next one as usual, as it won't be uploaded in two days; it could be in three or more, depending on my progress. Well, without further ado, enjoy the fic.
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The tension was palpable in my body; I was fighting one of the strongest beings in the world, and I didn't know how well this would all turn out. But there was another, even more intense emotion: the thrill of fighting, of fighting without reserve, unleashing my entire being to survive rather than win.
I saw Whitebeard rushing at me with his naginata; I gripped my sword tightly and used my Haki. I couldn't hold back, or he might even accidentally kill me, so I'd have to fight as if my life depended on it—and it might, depending on this man's mood.
Calming my mind, I prepared my hands to get a better grip on my sword and imbued the Fusion Sword with Haki so this madman wouldn't break it like the other one.
We were barely standing face-to-face; our weapons clashed. We had a contest of strength, which I lost almost automatically.
I rose into the air, but Whitebeard slashed me vertically from above. I was only able to block the attack, which slammed me into the ground, destroying everything. I felt a crack in my back, and I think I hit something, but I have no idea what; it feels like something is out of alignment in my body.
I couldn't do much more, as a wild Whitebeard appeared with a ring in his hand and attacked me. Everything in front of me was destroyed, even the spot where I was standing. It wasn't a direct hit, but the vibrations caused by using the fruit are abominable.
It wasn't as if my entire body began to move frantically and uncontrollably, tearing muscles, shifting organs back and forth, like bones slowly breaking—a horrible sensation. I can't imagine facing that attack head-on.
Whitebeard didn't stand still; extending his spear back and enveloping it with Haki, he launched an energy attack in my direction. The attack filled me with a sense of panic, so the best option was to dodge it.
The attack slashed through everything in its path, regardless of the object or being it passed.
Whitebeard: "Come on, are you going to be dodging the whole time?"
Dante: "Are you satisfied with everything I've endured so far?"
Whitebeard: "No," he said tersely.
Dante: "Anyway, I might never get the chance to do this again in my life," I said mentally as I imbued my sword with Haki again, ready to attack.
Whitebeard: "You've been quite slow, brat," he said, lunging at me again.
*Elsewhere on the island*
Pov Third-person
Somewhere on the island, four people are seen running at full speed; the terror on their faces is indescribable.
Isis: "It's the end of the world. A crater will open up and eat us alive."
Sulli: "It must be Whitebeard's Devil Fruit; from what I've heard, it has the power to destroy the world, and I see that wasn't an exaggeration."
Arthur: "I don't think I'll be able to fight…" He couldn't continue as he fell, stumbling over a rise that appeared out of nowhere due to the island's tectonic shifting. The worst part was that no one turned to look at him; everyone was still running.
Trini was very busy and focused, watching Dante and Whitebeard struggle while dodging the island's crevices, making it impossible to know where you'd end up if you fell.
Isis: "I just hope Hun is okay."
Elsewhere on the island.
Hun: [Danger! Danger! Danger!] echoed in the minds of the prisoners, locked in the cages Arthur had built.
Hun watched over the prisoners while Dante and the others confronted the Whitebeard Pirates. Spreading his wings as if he wanted to escape, he unconsciously used his Sibalo no Mi out of fear and transmitted his thoughts to the pirates, but he never left, as his task was to watch over them and warn the others if any of them escaped.
Pirate 1: "This is the end; we're going to die here."
Pirate 2: "SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!"
Pirate 3: "Mommy, where's my mommy?"
The prisoners' wails could be heard, knowing their day had probably come. And Hun's screams in their minds didn't help.
*Back with Whitebeard and Dante.*
Dante's POV.
I couldn't even win a duel of power between our weapons by a second; for Whitebeard, a small body movement was enough to launch me into the air.
How refreshing the air is, especially when you see a fist coming at you at full speed.
Using my sword, I managed to deflect the blow and move away from the direction I was headed. What was the difference between hitting Whitebeard's fist and hitting the hardest object in the world? Well, I don't think there is; I'll leave it at that.
Whitebeard never stopped using Haki; he seems to want to kill me, or at least, leave me in a wheelchair.
I launched three consecutive energy attacks in his direction, only for him to block them all. I can't help but feel frustrated by all of this. I don't know when I'll be able to finish this fight, nor can I escape; I'd leave the others in these guys' sights. I can only keep fighting until the end.
Using Geppo and all the speed I could muster, I launched myself at him. Whitebeard launched a horizontal slash, only to dodge it.
Now at a good distance, it was my turn to attack, using the same movement, but he managed to block with the hilt of the naginata. But my attack didn't end there.
Drawing one of the Fusion Sword's blades, I attempted to stab Whitebeard in the chest, specifically in his lung. He was still guarding my initial attack, so I couldn't block it with a weapon, but he did something I'd never seen before.
With one hand, he released the naginata and snapped his fingers with his fruit, creating a wave of vibrations. Not as strong as before, but enough to stop me and knock me off balance.
With that movement, he was completely out of my reach, so Whitebeard took advantage and slammed the air in front of me with his fruit, destroying the sky, sea, and earth in a split second.
If the vibrations were horrendous when I was far away, they feel terrible now. I felt some of my bones shatter, my muscles stretch until they snapped, and my organs rearrange themselves and collide; I felt my brain moving from side to side. I flew back, but I couldn't recover immediately.
I fell quite far from where I was. I tried to move, but it felt like I was being burned. Blood was running from my mouth and nose, as the worst of the damage I suffered was more internal than external. There were several bruises forming on different parts of my body, but I got up regardless.
Whitebeard: "You impress me, brat. Not everyone can take my blows this well, especially at your age."
Dante: "Thanks." I don't know what you mean. It must be because my brain was mush, which made it hard to think clearly, but it sounded like a compliment. And I think he realized it.
Whitebeard: "Rest well; let's continue. I'm not bored with you yet."
At that moment, I felt an overwhelming aura pressing in on me. It was his Conqueror's Haki, so I could only respond in kind.
Whitebeard won our Haki duel, but not by much; I don't know if it was because of my Haki or because he held back.
Whitebeard launched an energy attack again, but I didn't have enough strength to dodge it in time, so I had to block it.
The attack sent him flying a great distance, only to stop against a wall of earth and explode.
From the rubble and dust, Dante can be seen, now bleeding from the head and with a deep cut on his chest.
I had suspected it, but this confirms it: Whitebeard was fighting with the intention of killing him; he hadn't planned to fight that way, but now he would—he would fight with the intention of killing Whitebeard.
With all the pain in his body, he launched himself using soru and, with a great leap, tried to slash Whitebeard with a vertical attack.
He blocked it with his weapon; the force was enough to bury his legs in the ground.
Whitebeard: "This is what I was going for, brat; keep going!" He shouted at me with an emotion I didn't know where it came from.
In the air, we began to fight using our weapons so that I would fall in front of him.
Whitebeard launched another vertical attack, but I was already prepared.
Removing a blade from the Fusion Sword in my right hand, I deflected the attack to my right, narrowly missing him. I had the Fusion Sword in my right hand; leaving it on my left side, I performed a 180-degree slash in the direction of Whitebeard's face.
Constantly using Haki, both in my hands and with the swords, I attacked Whitebeard with all my might; I even unleashed a bit of Conqueror's Haki. Only for Whitebeard to use his hand to use Haki.
Blood began to flow from Whitebeard's hand; if I hadn't blocked it, it would have wound his face. He must have seen that I was damaging his face, or else he would never have blocked the attack like that.
Whitebeard didn't stay still; suddenly, he kicked me, knocking the wind out of me.
Already in midair, I saw a fist hurtling toward me at full speed; I had as much Haki as a Devil Fruit.
I could only use all the strength I had left on Hardening Haki. I gritted my teeth, tensed my body, and closed my eyes, and...
Everything went black.
POV Third-person
Whitebeard punched Dante directly, using Haki and his Devil Fruit.
Everything in front of Whitebeard was completely destroyed, including Dante. The entire island's terrain was completely destroyed, the sea opened up and slowly entered the island, and the few clouds in the sky completely cleared.
Any flat or similar area was completely annihilated. The ground split open, revealing a bit of the magma that rose to the surface; tree roots were destroyed, and mountains were destroyed. They could no longer be called mountains; the closest thing to them would be hills.
And amidst all the destruction, there was Dante. His entire body was covered in blood, and his eyes were blank, a sign of losing consciousness. He could barely breathe; several veins were destroyed, bones were broken, and organs were nearly destroyed. In other words, if he stayed there without help, he would die no matter what.
Whitebeard, seeing all the destruction he had caused and Dante's current condition, turned around to go to his crew, leaving him there.
In the fight between Whitebeard and Dante, the undisputed winner was Whitebeard, only receiving a wound to his hand from Dante.
It should be noted that Whitebeard fought at 80% of his strength, as he didn't use any advanced Haki techniques, but regarding his raw strength and Devil Fruit, he didn't hold back.
The rest of Whitebeard's crew was on the ship, trying to keep it from entering the island along with the sea that was trying to swallow it up.
Trini and the others were escaping the tsunami that was surging on the island, while Hun remained where they left her, along with the prisoners who are still here, as some were able to escape from the cell, only to be swallowed by the earth or submerged in the sea or something similar. Others left here, cell and all, as the tremors shook the place, causing them to shift, leaving them in a better position on the island or worse, since if the cell was swallowed by the sea or the land, they wouldn't be able to escape, no matter what happened.
And so the day went: for some it was a great day, for others it was ordinary, and for the people on the island, it was no different than hell.
*Moment of transition*
Dante's POV.
I saw an entire country destroyed; in front of me stood my father, Ares. With his sword, he razed the entire country that wasn't able to accept a small thing he asked for.
This is a memory from the past, when I remembered how devilish the celestial dragons could be. The reason I want to leave and not be part of all this.
I always remembered Ares as a grumpy man, a man resentful of the past and his colleagues around him. He always sought to be the best, something he couldn't achieve; that position was taken from him by someone else, Figarland Garling.
And if I were asked to kill a celestial dragon without any penalty, I wouldn't choose Imu. Instead, the first person who would come to mind is my father, Ares, only to be followed by Ramses.
Speaking of family, I don't hold a grudge against the rest. Well, maybe I do resent Anna for Sabaody, but it's not that much compared to the previous two. But one thing I always wanted to know is who my mother was. I never met her; from what I knew, she was a noblewoman of great beauty, whom my father abused and took Mary Goise. And I met a tragic end, like most slaves, being murdered by Alex's mother, just so he'd stop paying attention to my mother and set his sights on her.
I don't regret anything in my life; if there was one thing to regret, it would be that.
Suddenly, I felt my body being slowly crushed. At that moment, I opened my eyes; I was in a bed, bandaged from top to bottom.
I looked next to Hun; she managed to sense my movements because she felt me.
Hun: [The master woke up, woke up], I heard in my mind, only for her to fly out of my room.
I kept thinking about the last thing I remember: how Whitebeard destroyed me and I received a punch from him.
In the background, the sound of people running toward us could be heard. Trini, Arthur, Sulli, Isis, and Marco appeared from the door.
Isis: "Dante, it's good that you're awake; I thought for a moment we almost lost you," she said, almost crying. I kept looking at her, shifting my gaze to Marco, since I didn't know why he was here.
Marco: "You're lucky Sulli and I were able to treat you in time, or you might not have been able to survive without any serious repercussions from all the damage you sustained. And just so you know, we're currently at Moby Dick, so don't freak out here, okay?"
Arthur: "It's a good thing you're waking up. You've been in a coma for a week."
Sulli: "For a moment, I thought you'd never wake up."
Trini just stood there silently, staring, not knowing what she was thinking.
My whole brain, still damaged surely, was trying to think about everything they were telling me, and above all, WHY ARE WE IN MOBY DICK!!!