One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 544 - Dragon Slayer

Luffy slipped out of his awakening. He wasn't in the best shape when he finally attained it, and awakening was quite the drain on one's stamina. Not everyone had the benefit of nigh endless energy like Cherry.

In fact, it seems to be an even greater drain on his stamina than the other awakenings Cherry had seen. It was probably because of the heart song, which drew out the full extent of the devil fruit's power.

Cherry could just substitute her stamina with pure vital energy, but that wasn't an option for him.

Cherry hadn't changed her view that Luffy wasn't suitable for cultivation. If anything, time had only confirmed that fact for her as she grew to understand him better. Luffy didn't want to live forever, he just wanted to be free.

Cultivators in the Myriad Realms often looked down upon mortals who thought in such ways, but Cherry had never agreed with that sentiment. In a way, cultivators were a cursed people, forever doomed to chase greater and greater heights. They wished to escape the chains of fate, and in doing so they forged new chains with which to bind themselves.

"Hm," Cherry hummed. "I'll have to bring this up to Chopper. Some kind of hyper calorie supplement, maybe?"

That should work, she thought. Luffy had some crazy digestive efficiency and a powerful metabolism to boot. They could use that.

Luffy managed to draw up the last dregs from his body to awaken again. Cherry had no idea where he kept it all, because it definitely didn't go straight to his thighs.

"I never thought I'd use this, Straw Hat," Kaido said. "Devil fruits are not the way to conquer the seas, Haki is! Roger did not have a devil fruit, and the world was forced to bow to him!"

A light began to shine over the roof. It was still long before dawn, so this was certainly not a natural occurrence.

The clouds in the sky were no longer dark things lingering in the starry sky above, but rather like flaming masses. They were the same color as the flame clouds used by Kaido to navigate the air, only much larger.

"It's my shame that I needed this to beat you, so be proud," Kaido said.

The flame clouds rumbled and changed shape. They condensed down into long, lithe forms whose light grew more intense with each passing second. Details emerged and revealed them to be dragons, dozens of them.

"Each one contains the full power of my breath. Let's see how you fare," Kaido huffed, clearly having a lot taken out of him with that move.

***RRROOOAAARRR!!!***

"Wuh-oh!" Luffy exclaimed.

Luffy twisted up an arm much like he does for his rifle punch, only he made his fist into the shape of a big drill head. Then he let it loose and plunged it directly into the roof below him and dug deep.

The fire dragons descended upon him. He was already too far committed to dodge out of the way of their desperate charge.

The heat grew with every meter closer they got until even the goofy smile on Luffy's face slipped away into a pained grimace.

At the last second before they were upon him, a spring of water burst forth from the hole he dug into the castle.

"Hahaha, I knew if I started digging I'd find water!" Luffy laughed to himself.

"Mere water cannot-" Kaido stopped talking as he watched in horrified fascination as mere water did indeed douse his fire dragons. In fact, it was insanely effective against them!

"This doesn't make sense..." Kaido muttered.

"You really put your haki into the water. That's just crazy," Cherry commented, enlightening him.

It really was crazy. If Jinbe were here to see it, he'd probably pinch himself to wake up from this odd dream, because it surely couldn't be anything else.

This was reality, however. Kaido was just going to have to accept that.

Cherry was fascinated, though. Haki was stubborn enough as it was to apply to a solid object, let alone a liquid. She could only attribute this to Luffy's awakening, but perhaps she could achieve something similar with her own.

Luffy seemed to be done playing games with Kaido now. He wanted to have that all out attack showdown as they did before, only this time without the interloper.

Luffy bounded into the air and blew his arm up to epic proportions. Kaido responded in kind by wreathing himself in an enormous flaming dragon.

The flames around Onigashima winked out of existence and Cherry triggered her sword for Zeus to catch the island.

"I guess it's Luffy's win," Cherry slapped her knees and stood up.

"You're sure?" Ace asked. He trusted Luffy, but this had been a long ass fight and an even longer ass day.

"Kaido's running on fumes, Luffy's got a bit more in the tank," Cherry said. "I should probably move the island out of the way. Be right back."

Cherry vanished and a few seconds later the island lurched to the side, leaving the two combatants in the air behind.

This proved to be a wise choice as when Luffy and Kaido finally collided, the latter was quickly overwhelmed and driven down out of the sky and into the earth below. There was no telling just how deep he was buried, but it was certain that he would have pierced through Onigashima like a spear through hot butter.

That last attack left Luffy with nothing left, though. His awakening slowly receded as he plummeted from the sky.

Fortunately, a figure swooped in and caught him. Cabernet gently held him in her arms as she flew back towards Onigashima.

The island was slowly allowed to settle into a small valley that didn't have any wildlife living in it. Sadly such a thing was a common sight in the country, despite how convenient it was at the moment.

"All taken care of," Cherry sighed. "All that's left to do is the clean up."

"It feels strange," Ace said.

"Indeed," Robin agreed. "I never imagined what Luffy would become when I first met him. Or that infamous figures like Kaido and Big Mom would just disappear in a single night."

Cabernet landed near them. Luffy didn't look like he was as injured as he was. He simply looked like he was peacefully sleeping. It was a far cry from the sorry sight he was right before his awakening.

"Boop," Cherry booped his nose, giving him just enough vital energy to let him have his well earned rest.