Clutching the gaping and bloody wound on my chest, I gasped for air while gazing at Linlin, who was in a similar state as me; we were both barely able to stand, and it was taking nearly everything we had to not succumb to our many injuries that would've otherwise killed anyone else several times over. I don't even know how long we've been fighting for; I stopped counting after the fourth day, though if I had to guess, I'd say today was probably the seventh day.
'Maybe the eighth, I don't fucking know, I was too absorbed in fighting Linlin.' Thought Diddy as he slowly raised his bloody hand, summoning Nimbus, causing the extra weight to crack the earth beneath him.
I had about enough strength for one or two last attacks before I'd collapse; all I can hope is that it would be enough to put Linlin down; otherwise, I'm fucked. However, either way, it was still a fantastic battle, even better than the one with Blackbeard; Linlin truly made me use everything I had in my arsenal, except for my Sulong form, of course.
"Heh, an E-Emperor's, g-going to fall t-today." Muttered Diddy weakly in exhaustion as he gazed at Linlin, who took a deep breath before clutching Napoleon, causing him, Prometheus, and Zeus, who were all fused together, to once more surge in strength.
Leaping into the sky, I repeatedly kicked the air, propelling me higher and higher, surpassing the clouds until I reached a point where the air was so thin I couldn't physically go any higher, prompting me to rapidly enlarge Naga-sa before I started to fall. Once my bo-staff hit the ocean floor, I had it absorb even more water while I used this chance to obverse the planet, which looked so beautiful and majestic from way up here.
'The moon looks even more beautiful from here as well.' Mused Diddy lightly as he gazed upwards, eyeing the massive rock floating in the vastness of space.
While I wouldn't mind spending more time appreciating the view from up here, I had an Emperor to defeat, not to mention it was a little cold. Once Naga-sa was filled to the absolute brim, I stood atop it before taking a massive breath, filling my lungs with air, which took a while since the air was thin, before leaping even higher into the sky like a shooting rocket; the higher I went, the lighter and lighter I felt, but, before I could possibly leave the planet's atmosphere, I summoned my bo-staff, causing it to fly through the sky before resting in my hands, immediately halting my advances as the massive amount of weight caused me to rapidly fall.
Narrowing my eyes towards the massive planet I was falling back towards, I spotted a tiny glowing dot, which could only be Linlin, causing me to grin as I began kicking the air, pushing me faster and faster as I neared her. Thanks to how high I had launched myself, Naga-sa and I were set aflame as I reentered the plant's thicker atmosphere, though it didn't so much as harm a strand of my fur because of the haki coating my body.
Despite how fast I was moving through the air, it still took me several seconds before I could actually make out Linlins figure; what I saw was a large, vicious, and masculine figure made of lightning, yet the sheer power radiating off it was stronger than Linlin has ever attacked me with before, causing me to wildly grin.
Slapping the butt of my bo-staff, I caused it to once again rapidly enlarge, though this time, it stopped at a more appropriate size, which was roughly just as wide as Linlin and four times as long; I wanted every part of her to feel the power in this attack.
"HeheHAHAHA!! BEASTLY ANNIHILATION!!" Yelled Diddy ferociously as he eyed Linlin, who responded in kind.
"3,000 LEAGUES OF MISERY!!" Yelled Linlin viciously as she pointed Napoleon towards the rapidly approaching bo-staff, causing Misery, her attack, to wildly screech before lunging towards it with his outstretched hands.
Pushing Naga-sa toward the incoming masculine figure made of lightning and flames, our two attacks collided, resulting in an absolutely massive shockwave that spread for miles while the water surrounding the island receded nearly a hundred meters.
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Linlin's attack was holding Naga-sa above his hands with both of his hands, attempting to stop my attack while I was pushing with everything I had, trying my best to overpower that masculine figure; yet we were stuck at a standstill, our powers too equal to each other to overcome the other. Now, it simply boiled down to who would exhaust themselves first, and while I was confident in my endurance and stamina, I wasn't fighting against normal people; this was an Emperor, a monster in their own right.
The minutes passed by as Linlin and I struggled with everything we had; I could feel my arms go numb from the amount of strain I was putting on them while Linlin's face was slowly turning pale, though even so, she wasn't quite about to collapse just yet. It wasn't until half an hour passed the point at which where I could feel my strength begin to wane while everything was simply a blurry mess except for Linlin; only then did she finally collapse to one knee, causing me to grin as I saw my chance and took it.
Gathering all of my remaining strength and then some, I kicked the air above me, surged my haki through Naga-sa, and pushed against the masculine figure, causing him to give away as I finally smashed right through him, dissipating his body while my bo-staff headed right for the wide-eyed Linlin.
The instant Naga-sa smashed into Linlin, a massive explosion resounded throughout the entire island, causing it to tremble violently as it began to crumble and sink into the ocean while I continuously pushed my bo-staff deeper and deeper into the earth until I landed on the crumbling island.
Dropping Naga-sa, I fell to both my knees as I gasped for breath, taking a moment of respite as I grinned at emerging victorious against my second Emperor of the Sea.
"Hehehe, t-that, t-t-took e-everything, a-and then s-s-some." Said Diddy slowly as he glanced at his trembling, bloody, and injured body.
Despite winning that exchange, I couldn't embrace the sweet whispering words that sleep was feeding into my ear and reluctantly stood back up; I needed to make sure Linlin had been defeated before I could sleep.
Grabbing Naga-sa, I expelled all of the water from its body, causing it to surge outward as it covered the sinking island, and when it finally finished, only then did I lift it up and holster it onto my back as I jumped down the deep hole, since, I had exhausted my haki during that last exchange. Landing on something both hard and soft, I snapped my fingers, causing a spark of electricity to flow through the sky as I gazed at the unconscious Linlin.
Feeling a wave of relief wash over me, I quickly grabbed Linlins body and leaped into the air, just in time to escape as the island sunk into the ocean, never to be seen again; however, I didn't have the chance to look backward as I headed back to Whole Cake Island, hoping to get there before I collapsed.
After a minute or so, which felt like hours, of flying through the sky, I finally arrived at Whole Cake Island, and it looked terrible; it wasn't nearly as bad as the nonexistent Island Linlin and I fought on, but it wasn't too far behind.
At the beach was a grievously injured Pandemonium lying on their sides while Pereospero was unconscious in front of them, and not too far off was Janet, who had not only defeated Brulee but several other prominent members of the Big Mom Pirates, and she wasn't in a better condition than Pandemonium. Not too far forward, I saw Chala leaning against a tree while her opponent, Daifuku, was frozen in a block of ice; as for Trenza, she was leaning against Compote, who was littered with bullet holes, and just like Pandemonium and Janet, they were both very injured.
Towards the left of them, Grand was lying on the ground with a faint smile while Oven was planted into the ground face first, with only his legs visible. Regarding my Apocalyptic Commanders, they, too, had all emerged victorious against their opponents, who all equally gave them a lot of trouble given their exhaustion and wounds, with Freyja being the only one who was in perfect condition.
Feeling myself about to fall unconscious, I dropped Linlin towards the ground in front of Janet while landing atop her body; I didn't even need to say anything to her as she stood up and took a picture of me.
"Heh, another win for the Frenzy Pirates." Muttered Janet lightly with a smirk as she looked at the picture of Diddy standing atop Linlin, only to hear a thud, snapping her out of her train of thought.
"Eh, Captain, are you okay?" Asked Janet in concern as she approached Diddy and rubbed his unconscious body, only for Freyja to land beside him.
"He's fine, just tired; having fought for nearly eight days straight will do that to someone, even him. He'll probably be asleep for a long time, though I suggest you and Trenza prepare a massive feast for him unless you want to watch him gorge on people. He'll do that." Remarked Freyja lightly as she glanced at Janet before reaching down and grabbing Diddy's tail, dragging him towards Pandemonium.