CHAPTER 27 - Donquixote Doflamingo
The clash broke off, leaving Zoro wide open.
"Bullet String!" Doflamingo let off a small barrage.
Zoro dodged the shots, releasing a Flying-Blade attack with his ending somersault.
"360 Pound Phoenix!" he bellowed, swinging his Shusui mid-air.
Doflamingo leaped off the ground to dodge the counterattack. He overlooked Zoro from above.
To everyone's surprise, the former hovered above with no effort. Doflamingo stretched his right leg displaying a shine of a thin string stretching from his heels to the length of his legs. He fell down the next moment, spinning in towards Zoro.
"Fretsaw!" Doflamingo slammed his leg-made-string-saw. Zoro had blocked the attack with Shusui having to imbue it with his Armament Haki. He felt the force from the lethal attack.
"Pentachromatic String!" Doflamingo swung his right arm drawing in his five-coloured strings, capable of nasty damage.
"Damn!" Zoro blocked the blow, but was weakened from his guard blocking the Fretsaw whilst at it. The Chromatic string attack broke his defence, throwing him off and away with great force. Shinobu and the others observed in shock. She knew Zoro was an amazing combatant. But it was the first time she had seen Zoro being thrown off his stance despite having his guard up.
"Flower Breathing, Fifth Form…" Kanae couldn't wait for Doflamingo to gain a chance to attack again. The latter observed back with indifference.
"Peonies of Futility!" Nine consecutive slashes merged into a single attack aiming for Doflamingo's heart.
"Feisty!" the man grinned, taking the hit.
Kanae was surprised to observe Doflamingo take the attack straight-on, to be blocked by his Armament Haki concentrated around the area of impact.
Meanwhile, Shinobu and Kanao had followed Kanae's pre-emptive attack strategising on their skills.
"36 Pound Phoenix!" yelled Shinobu, releasing a Flying Blade much to Doflamingo's surprise. The latter had to dodge knowing the technique belonged to Zoro, and might have been capable of similar strength.
Shinobu grinned realising her bait had worked. Unlike Zoro's strength, her Pound Phoenix had been released much weaker than her previous attempts. That was because of her thin blade, which had drawn out a much weaker pressure compared to her former attempts with Zoro's Kitetsu.
Doflamingo was enraged having to dodge a dud attack, glaring back towards Shinobu. But he hadn't forgotten about Kanae, who was ready to attack a second time.
"Pentachromatic String!" he hurled his right arm at great force. Unexpected to his rage, he found his opponent leaping high, dodging the blow. His Observation Haki alarmed to focus his eyes in front of him away from Kanae giving signals that another attack was incoming.
Kanao moved behind Doflamingo, away from Shinobu's direction.
"Annoying brat." remarked Doflamingo, aiming his right-hand index finger.
"Bullet String!"
Kanao dodged the string shots at her distance but knew she had to close in to deal melee damage against Doflamingo with her blade. Unlike Zoro or Shinobu, she couldn't perform a mid-ranged attack like a Flying Blade. She decided to go with her single plan. Doflamingo winced the moment Kanao delved towards him. She managed to dodge the initial Bullet String; Doflamingo forced to increase his rate of attack.
"Sixth Form…" Kanao grasped her Nichirin blade with both her hands. She placed herself a few metres, distanced away from Doflamingo. Bullet shots began to pierce through her torso and legs, spraying blood around. She made the leap at her enemy having closed in the needed distance.
"Whirling Peach!" She swirled through the last string shots dodging them, swinging onto Doflamingo with great torque. The latter tried to block the attack with his right arm imbued with Armament Haki. The black coating around his arm failed to spread the whole way, as Doflamingo lost concentration.
"Caprice…" Shinobu breezed through Doflamingo from behind performing her Butterfly Dance with stealth and grace.
Kanao slashed through Doflamingo's torso, as the pirate lowered his arm knowing better avoid the slash than his limb being chopped off. His knees trembled thanks to Shinobu's attack that was imbued with poison toxins, weakening his nervous system.
"Damn." Doflamingo growled. Whilst his angst, he had almost forgotten that there was another who had eyes set on his defeat. He aimed his unaffected and working right arm above his head.
"Fulbright!" he hollered, releasing a set of five-impaling strings that jetted towards the zenith. Kanae was taken by surprise.
"Second Form…" she breathed in the short moment, swirling her Nichirin-blade to protect herself from Doflamingo's attack. One of the five strings broke through Kanae's defending blades, deflecting her from her former aerial position. And yet, she continued to fall towards the enemy. Doflamingo realised his arms were giving away falling to the ground thanks to Shinobu's toxin, making him incapable of shooting his Bullet Strings.
"Crimson Hanagoromo!" Kanae yelled, swinging her blade at full force.
The blade slashed through the target's torso. Doflamingo observed his blood gushing out like a fountain. He fell to his knees weakening every second as Shinobu's toxin coursed through his veins.
Desperate and worsened was his situation. Despite that, he made a frantic laugh from his ordeal.
"Hahahaha… Those were some neat tricks you have pulled. I couldn't help myself but be amused to play with you all." he said.
Shinobu remembered the intimidation she had felt from Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki, a power found in a single individual within a million others. A power that described the person having the potential to be king.
"Those are your last words?" Kanae stepped in, displaying her Nichirin blade.
"Go on, do your worst!" Doflamingo bellowed, yet smiling without fear.
Without further ado, Kanae took the initiative to strike the final blow through the man's neck, just like decapitating a Demon from regenerating. The Nichirin blade fell from above, as Doflamingo laid out his neck to be cut down. The metal clanged.
"Satisfied?" Doflamingo asked with a grin. Kanae was surprised to find her blade broken in two, as the smaller part swung away from the recoil.
"No!" Kanao discovered the black coating around Doflamingo's neck.
"But how? I thought one can't use Armament Haki once weakened." Shinobu believed.
"Who do you think I am?" Doflamingo growled.
"Get away from him."
Everyone turned to find Zoro out of the woods, holding all three of his blades.
"Pirate Hunter Zoro." Doflamingo mentioned, "I heard you defeated Pica in an Armament Haki showdown."
Doflamingo's wounds began to stitch up, much to everyone's surprise stopping his bleeding.
"Your little friends have given me quite the surprising act." he said, slowly being able to move his feet despite being poisoned.
"Your nerve toxin is terrifying, girl." Doflamingo glared at Shinobu, "But despite your best effort, I knew where you'd hit me." He displayed the multiple wounds on his chest that Shinobu was able to inflict with her Butterfly Dance: Caprice technique.
"Too bad. I was toying with you ladies, you see."
"But the poison…" Shinobu wondered.
"Observation Haki." Kanao gasped, realising that Doflamingo had known where Shinobu would have hit him.
"I see now." Kanae realised, "It is his Devil Fruit power. Gecko Moria talked of his powers while I was at sea. The String-String fruit has more abilities than one would imagine."
"He redirected the poison with his strings?' Shinobu asked, thinking the terrifying truth.
"Right on the money." Doflamingo bellowed.
"You guys, step back right now!" Zoro ordered.
But his words sounded in vain.
"Now, now, Pirate Hunter Zoro. You think this is all an easy game?" Doflamingo was getting better at standing up to his feet.
"I can't move." Shinobu muttered, trying to move her muscles.
He observed the terrified look on the young ladies, "You girls were caught the moment you dared to attack me."
"What's going on?" Kanao looked at Doflamingo.
"I like to call it Parasite String." Doflamingo said, moving his fingers around, "Just like a spider's trap."
Zoro recognised the technique, the very same which had caused a major uproar back in Dressrosa. He remembered Doflamingo controlling the population of the island.
The Demon Slayers were coerced to move along with Doflamingo's moving fingers. The sisters turned around towards Zoro.
"I'd let you all do the honours of killing each other." Doflamingo made a menacing laugh.
"Zoro!" Shinobu bellowed, "Don't you surrender!"
Kanae remembered Zoro's cede at the first encounter with Basil Hawkins. Shinobu knew that Zoro might back down from a fight should it involve risking allies or innocent people.
"He shall soon spill his beans of Law's whereabouts." Doflamingo chortled.
The pirate couldn't wait to unleash his contempt and cruelty.
The Demon Slayers made a dash ahead against their will running towards their ally. Their blades clashed against Zoro in three different directions.
"Just don't! You have to promise me!" Shinobu bellowed upon Zoro's face.
The latter flinched in reluctance having to fight his allies.
"Sister's right." Kanao mentioned swinging her blade, "We Demon Slayers live to fight and die fighting Demons. It's our job to risk our lives. So, please don't give in the fight in regard for our lives, Zoro-san."
"Don't refer me a Demon!" Zoro chided, deflecting Kanao's sword attack with his Kitetsu.
Zoro, though reluctant had to break through the Demon Slayers to fight Doflamingo.
But Doflamingo was no man of mercy.
"Bullet String!" Doflamingo let off his barrage of lethal string bullets.
Zoro knew he could have blocked the shots, but was shocked to realise the shots instead aimed for his allies.
"360 Pound Phoenix!" Zoro roared. The strong gust flew in with great speed. Doflamingo leaped high to dodge the Flying-blade predicting with his Observation Haki. To his surprise, the attack made an unexpected swing upwards hitting him head-on.
"That was a cheeky move." Doflamingo condemned.
Zoro couldn't stop the bullets aimed at the Demon Slayers. His concern for his friends made him turn behind, only to be stabbed with three Nichirin blades. Zoro gasped. Terror displayed on Kanae and Kanao's faces, seeing Doflamingo moving his repulsive fingers.
Zoro observed tears down Shinobu's eyes, "Please forgive us." she sobbed.
Doflamingo hovered overlooking his enemies, as Zoro was fazed, facing the Demon Slayers that had stabbed him.
"Fulbright!" Doflamingo dropped his five-stringed attack intended to impale.
Zoro though weakened, turned around blocking the attack with his Shusui. Despite his attempt, two of the strings pierced through his defence. He coughed out blood from his mouth. Despite the impaling, he managed to keep his Wado Ichimonji gripped between his teeth.
"Tenacious, I see." Doflamingo remarked, landing back on the ground.
"Zoro…" Kanae muttered, desperate and worried over the man's health situation. She and her sisters tried their hardest to restrain their blades from hurting him more.
Doflamingo observed their scenario, pulling his fingers. The Nichirin swords pierced deeper through Zoro's flesh much to his torment, and the sisters' mental agony.
"Please make it stop!" Kanao yelled.
Doflamingo enjoyed the suffering, enjoying every moment of blood spilt by the Pirate Hunter.
"Law, Straw Hat, Fujitora, Rosinante, God Usopp, Riku… Bastards that shouldn't have made the mistake of going against me. I'll soon end the ones that yet breathe." he declared.
Zoro looked back upon the terrified sisters.
"D… don't leave your swords." he muttered. He looked back upon Doflamingo.
"I'll give you one last chance, Pirate Hunter. Where is Law?" His face turned furious turning his devious grin into a furious wince, describing the hatred and impatience that carried with his demand.
Zoro removed his bandana from his coat, "Law is a vital part of the Alliance. He played a major role in your defeat at Dressrosa. And you have been crushed once by Luffy.". He tied the cloth around his head, "Do you see a pattern here?"
"Huh?" Doflamingo was growing furious.
"You have no power to make demands, Doflamingo!" Zoro declared.
Wrath was the answer on both ends. Doflamingo directed both his arms aiming all his fingers in front of him.
Doflamingo released a terrifying barrage of Bullet String. He shot most of his string bullets aiming for the Demon Slayer sisters knowing well that they were incapable of Armament Haki.
Kanao, Shinobu, and Kanae knew there was no surviving an onslaught of that intensity. They grasped hard onto their sword grips like Zoro had said, closing their eyes to face demise.
The relentless Bullet String attack ceased after a bombardment of almost ten seconds. Doflamingo's hands smoked from the heat developed from the effort. He put down his arms hoping to take a breather, only to be stopped by the deception seen from his eyes.
There he was Roronoa Zoro bloodied and standing, but it wasn't the Pirate Hunter that surprised him. The Demon Slayers stood unscathed and had been liberated from Doflamingo's Parasite String.
Shinobu couldn't believe that they were alive and breathing, and never crossing her mind to survive unscathed, at that. Amidst the deadly attack that they had gone through, she discovered the truth the moment she saw her Nichirin blade. The same went for Kanae and Kanao. The whole of their blades was coated black; the coating extended to their arms, further covering up their side of the bodies which were exposed to Doflamingo's lethal barrage.
Doflamingo was shocked to discover Zoro's inconceivable deployment of Armament Haki onto three human bodies, let alone Imbuement into a single living being, something he had believed impossible.
Zoro knew he had to gamble knowing and having only succeeded in applying Armament Haki onto his swords (or a non-living object), contrary to testing it out on humans. The sisters found the black coating fade away, retracting through the blades back towards Zoro's body.
The Pirate Hunter heaved from the successful attempt. The Bullet String barrage did do a number on him, but he was relieved to have saved the others from harm.
In the entirety of that extreme battle, for the first time, Doflamingo began to feel afraid of Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter.
"Looks like you have failed to kill." Zoro mocked.
TO BE CONTINUED...