The Greatest Disgrace in Marine History-Chapter 218 - 120: Victory in Endurance

The hilt of Enma was cold as ice in Darren's grasp—as if, the very moment he touched it, he had seized a shard of frozen crystal.

Though he knew it was merely an illusion, a wave of eerie, otherworldly wails and ghostly howls suddenly rang out through the empty air around him.

The temperature dropped sharply, plunging as if to freezing point. Under the scorching sun, frigid winds howled.

Darren stared intently at the demonic blade in his hand.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds...

No reaction?

He raised an eyebrow.

But at the very moment that thought crossed his mind—

An uncanny, irresistible suction surged from the blade of Enma.

"Shit!"

Darren's pupils contracted sharply. He even swore under his breath.

To his horror, he realized that the Armament Haki in his body was flooding out, utterly beyond his control.

Without any conscious direction, the arm gripping the sword became entirely enshrouded in a stern, obsidian black—fully cloaked in Haki.

And that wasn't the end of it.

For the moment his arm was covered, Enma gave off a shrill hum—like a blood-starved shark catching scent of its prey—and began to draw in Darren's Haki with terrifying intensity.

Black-red flames, baleful and unnatural, coiled up the length of the blade. Darren's arm muscles pulsed rhythmically, as though something was feeding from within.

"This sword... something's wrong with it!"

He could feel his Armament Haki being drained away by Enma, like a tide sucked into the depths. His expression darkened.

Of all his physical attributes, his proficiency in Armament Haki was the weakest—just over thirty points. Enough to count as proficient use, no more.

After all, it had only been two or three months since he entered the training camp and began systematic Haki cultivation.

In his previous clash with Kozuki Oden, it was his lack of Haki strength that had made him wary of Oden's slashes.

To speak frankly, Darren's current Haki wasn't even on par with Zoro's when he first acquired Enma in the Wano arc.

At this rate of absorption, Enma could suck him dry in less than ten seconds.

Right now, to Darren's eyes, the sword in his grip—wreathed in Haki and blazing with black-red flame—had become a ravenous beast.

It was sinking its fangs into his arm, drawing the very lifeblood from his body!

Five seconds passed.

Darren's face began to pale.

Eight seconds passed.

His right arm's muscle and skin visibly shriveled, the flesh drying up like brittle tinder.

"Mr. Darren—what's happening to you?!"

"Let go! Drop the sword!!"

Toki stared in horror at the grotesque transformation overtaking his body, unable to hold back a cry.

"Let go?"

Cold sweat beaded Darren's forehead as he glared at Enma with unblinking eyes.

But a sudden madness flared in his gaze, and a twisted, provocative smile curled his lips.

"You want my Haki so badly? Fine. I'll feed you 'til you burst!!"

With a sharp breath, Darren shouted aloud.

A sudden transformation surged through his body. His withered right arm swelled with renewed vigor, a healthy sheen gleaming beneath the sweat.

But his frame had noticeably thinned. His cheekbones jutted out, sharp and pronounced.

Life Return!

A hidden art of the Rokushiki, used only by those who had mastered all six forms—granting perfect control over every fiber of the body.

Like Devil Fruit powers, the energy behind both Armament Haki and techniques flowed from stamina.

And Darren, who had forged his physique to monstrous levels, had stamina in abundance.

True, his Haki wasn't yet as fierce as a top-tier warrior's...

But he possessed the strongest body—and the deepest reservoir of endurance!

To put it bluntly—

His Armament Haki might lack brute force, but supported by his monstrous stamina... it was endless.

"I want to see if you can drain me dry!!"

The madness in Darren's eyes burned brighter and wilder.

That was the kind of man he was. A madman who never accepted defeat.

You punched him? He'd take your life.

It was that very tenacity—that vicious, unyielding fire—that let him survive hellish training others would've collapsed under. That let him kill enemies others couldn't even face.

And now, man and blade were locked in fierce contest.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty...

As time wore on,

The ghostly aura blazing from Enma thickened. Its screeching wails shifted—from shrill, to indignant, to helpless... and finally, to something almost euphoric.

The blade itself seemed to burn, turning blood-red. The ghostly aura flared up like a towering torch.

Meanwhile—

Darren's flesh continued to shrink. His bones jutted out sharply, his features like those of a man who hadn't seen water in ten days.

His skin turned deathly pale, his lips cracked and dry. He looked utterly spent.

But his eyes—those eyes—burned brighter than ever, lit with a crazed fire deep within their hollow sockets.

Forty seconds.

Fifty seconds.

Time ticked on. But to Darren, those scant seconds stretched like a lifetime in hell—pure torment.

Until finally—

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz!

The blade in his hands began to tremble violently, as if reaching some final threshold.

But this tremor was different—no longer resistance or rage.

It was a tremble born of climax. Of a dam about to burst.

Black-purple flames surged high upon the raised blade, ghostlight blazing with abandon.

"So you've finally hit your limit!"

Darren's eyes flashed with unprecedented brilliance as he slashed down—hard.

Though he'd fought countless sword masters, he himself had never studied swordsmanship. He didn't know a single technique.

This cut was pure instinct—guided by Enma itself.

To Toki's eyes, the motion looked awkward and clumsy, like a child swinging a stick in play.

But that careless slash—

Silenced the world.

Something unseen seemed to split the air.

Toki's eyes widened in disbelief.

Then—

Shhhhk!!

BOOM!!

A towering pillar of seawater—over a hundred meters high—split to either side and shot into the sky.

A colossal trench tore outward from Darren's feet, stretching to the edge of sight, so deep the brown seabed faintly showed.

The sea... had split.

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To be continued...