44

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Kaido felt a deep shock in his heart. He hadn't expected Elior's attack to actually make him cough up blood. Not even falling from twenty thousand meters in the sky had ever wounded the strongest creature Kaido, much less made him bleed internally — and yet, here he was, blood dripping from his lips, the aftermath of Elior's fierce assault to his chest.

Elior's strength genuinely impressed Kaido, prompting him to unleash his third form.

Zoan-type Devil Fruit users generally had three forms: their regular human form, their full beast form, and their hybrid form. Rob Lucci from CP9, for example, had shown this during his leopard hybrid form, where his strength was at its peak.

As a Mythical Zoan user, Kaido also possessed a hybrid form — one that combined the monstrous might of his Azure Dragon with his human ferocity.

Now standing before Elior, Kaido's appearance had transformed drastically.

Pitch-black dragon scales now covered nearly his entire body, blending with his originally dark skin. His hands had become razor-sharp dragon claws, his legs thickened into powerful dragon limbs, his horns grew even larger, and a long, heavy dragon tail whipped behind him.

But it wasn't just his appearance that had changed — the aura radiating from Kaido had become terrifyingly oppressive. Just standing there, his mere presence struck fear into the hearts of all who witnessed it. From afar, even Gion couldn't help but feel a chill of worry for Elior. Those watching from Paradise Island were left stunned, their hearts filled with dread.

It was clear to everyone: this Kaido was far stronger than before.

This was Kaido's ultimate form!

"Elior" Kaido rumbled, his voice deep and solemn, "this is my strongest form. I, Kaido, acknowledge you — that's why I'm showing you this."

"I've only ever used this form against Whitebeard and Red-Haired Shanks. You're the third. Consider yourself honored."

Kaido's tone and choice of words had shifted too — no longer calling himself "this great me" or sneering at Elior as a "little brat." Instead, he referred to himself humbly as "I" and called Elior by name — a rare sign of respect from the Emperor.

"The strongest form, huh?"

Elior stared at Kaido, surprised. The change was beyond anything he had imagined. He hadn't expected Kaido to have a transformation like this — one he had only used against legends like Whitebeard and Shanks.

Clearly, Kaido was taking this battle seriously.

Kaido stepped forward — and with just one step, a burst of air exploded beneath his foot. The ice beneath them shattered violently, even more brutally than before, and Kaido's speed suddenly skyrocketed.

He was faster — far faster than before!

He moved so quickly that even afterimages couldn't form — he simply vanished from the naked eye.

"So fast!" Elior's instincts screamed at him. This wasn't the same Kaido he had been fighting before; Kaido had now fully stepped into the realm of monsters.

Elior immediately unleashed his full Observation Haki. With Kaido's terrifying speed, only heightened senses could keep up.

"Behind me!"

BOOM!

Just as Elior turned, a massive wave of scorching heat struck him. Almost by reflex, he stomped his right foot and dodged to the side.

Kaido, now resembling some hellish version of a Pacifista, had unleashed a blast of heat breath from his mouth!

"So this is the hybrid form of a Mythical Zoan... Agile like a human, yet blessed with the beast's power — and still able to use the abilities of the dragon form," Elior analyzed quickly.

Kaido's heat breath tore through the ice sheet, blasting a massive hole into it. Elior rapidly created distance — about twenty meters — as Kaido prepared to sweep another blast toward him.

But Elior was faster.

He slammed his palm to the ground — and instantly, a massive, razor-sharp ice spike erupted from beneath Kaido, aimed directly at his most vulnerable spot.

It struck true — but Kaido's defense was absolute, his dragon scales providing an impenetrable shield. Even so, the impact launched Kaido high into the air, soaring over fifty meters above the battlefield.

Without hesitation, Elior raised his hand — and with a graceful motion reminiscent of a master dancer, conjured a giant ice sphere over a hundred meters in diameter. It appeared above Kaido's head — and in the blink of an eye, it came crashing down toward him.

"Thunder Bagua!" 

With a mighty roar, Kaido gripped his spiked kanabo in both hands, summoning crackling thunder from the heavens. The crowd on Paradise Island gasped in terror — Kaido's monstrous form now resembled a true demon lord from ancient myths.

Kaido's underlings erupted into cheers — the sight of their boss in his ultimate form lit a fire under their morale.

With a deafening explosion, Kaido's Thunder Bagua smashed into the falling ice sphere. Cracks spider-webbed across the ice from the impact point before the entire massive structure shattered and plummeted to the ground in a rain of shards, crushing the surrounding ice fields.

Yet Elior wasn't too surprised — instead, what caught his attention was the fact that Kaido now remained hovering in the sky.

Just like his full dragon form — Kaido's hybrid form allowed him to fly!

Elior could feel it — in this battle, Kaido had unleashed his true monstrous might.