Barolric watched the three charging figures of Jianjiro, Zefa, and Kuzan. He sneered, his body flashing with a red glow, and three clones appeared.
These three clones, at the Brigadier General level, were not enough to kill Zefa and the other two, but they could hold them off for a while.
He would use this time to dig out Benedict's heart and eat it.
With this thought, Barolric moved.
*Puchi!*
His palm pierced Benedict's body and grasped his heart.
The heart was ripped out, beating strongly, with a clear audible sound.
Barolric was shocked again, but after the shock, he was immensely excited.
In his frenzy, Barolric devoured Benedict's heart like a glutton, taking huge bites.
This scene terrified everyone.
Especially the soldiers on the Xuanwu Navy's side, their eyes widened, filled with rage.
Their supreme god, their spiritual pillar, the marshal they were loyal to, was killed?
"Delicious!"
"So delicious."
"This power, it's so stimulating."
Barolric's voice echoed, and his body underwent another transformation.
His red hair grew longer, and his body, which was once sixteen or seventeen years old, began to grow, like a strong man of twenty-five or twenty-six.
*Boom!*
Conqueror's Haki erupted from Barolric, sweeping outwards.
*Thump! Thump!*
Waves of powerful Conqueror's Haki continuously exploded and grew. Soldiers below the Rear Admiral level were dazed and dizzy, ultimately collapsing in large numbers.
Jianjiro, Zefa, Kuzan, and the others were also amazed.
Barolric was skilled in Observation Haki and proficient in Armament Haki, but he lacked Conqueror's Haki.
However, after absorbing Benedict's blood and eating Benedict's heart, he had awakened Conqueror's Haki, and its level was very high.
"Hahahaha!"
"I am invincible!"
Barolric soared into the sky, his dark red wings unfurling, stretching four meters long, immense.
Furthermore, the bones of these massive wings were like golden steel bars, flashing with a flowing light.
The edges of the wings were sharp.
Evolving again, his Devil Fruit fully awakened, Barolric's power reached an unprecedented terrifying level.
Top-tier Haki, powerful stamina and vitality, healing abilities, and an overwhelming torrent of energy, coupled with the terror of his Devil Fruit's repeated awakenings.
Barolric was supremely confident. Kaido, Big Mom, Whitebeard, Steel-Bone Kong – in his eyes, they were mere dust.
With a beat of his wings, Barolric transformed into a blur, diving from above to instantly appear before Kuzan.
Kuzan sensed immense danger and elementalized to escape.
Icebergs emerged, only to be shattered like after being struck by sharp swords by the sweep of his wings, instantly falling apart.
Barolric flew through the air and appeared before Zefa again.
Zefa's gaze was deep. He roared, his entire body covered in Armament Haki, and he unleashed a punch upwards.
*Whoosh!*
Barolric's speed was extreme. Zefa's punch grazed him, missing its mark.
"Ultimate Secret Technique: Musou Tensei."
Jianjiro struck a pose, his spirit and energy at their peak. His gaze fixed on Barolric's swiftly moving body as he suddenly attacked.
A continuous barrage of punches, like a shower of pear blossom needles, enveloped Barolric's massive body.
Space itself was on the verge of collapse as Barolric endured unimaginable attacks.
Blood splattered, his body contorted, wings broken, even his skull was battered and bounced, half of his face gone.
At this moment, Barolric looked like a torn piece of paper, floating in the air, shattered and broken.
*Boom!*
Jianjiro delivered his final punch, sending Barolric flying into the sky.
However, the scene of his body exploding and dying did not occur as Jianjiro had imagined.
As Barolric, who was rapidly flying into the sky, flashed with red light, he curled himself into a ball.
The red light exploded, and Barolric reappeared before everyone, completely unharmed.
"This is the power!"
"The power of immortality!"
"You cannot kill me!"
"Jehahahaha!"
Hovering in the air, Barolric laughed maniacally with excitement.
The pain he had just experienced was unimaginable.
But compared to being in such a surely fatal state and then reviving instantly with just a thought, Barolric was incredibly thrilled.
Zefa, Kuzan, and Jianjiro looked at Barolric suspended in the air, utterly astonished.
To withstand such an attack, be so grievously wounded, and not die, to instantly recover to peak condition – Barolric had grown to such a degree.
"Benedict!"
Zefa's expression darkened as he looked at the motionless Benedict.
Not long ago, Benedict had given him a Senzu Bean, which possessed the same ability.
*Boom!*
Benedict, who should have been dead, erupted with powerful energy, capturing everyone's attention.
Benedict stretched his neck, touched his perfectly intact chest, felt his strong heartbeat, and a smile appeared on his face. He said, "Ah, I was careless."
"I died just like that, unintentionally."
Hearing Benedict's words, everyone fell silent for a moment.
Barolric, in particular, was aghast.
He had just drained Benedict's blood and eaten Benedict's heart to gain his current power.
Barolric was absolutely certain that Benedict was dead.
Because after he had taken out Benedict's heart, Benedict's aura had rapidly faded.
The reason he hadn't destroyed Benedict, who was still standing, was merely a reward for Benedict contributing such delicious blood and heart.
"Why are you not dead?" Barolric refused to believe it. In that state, what else could Benedict have eaten?
He even disbelieved that Benedict had so many resurrection drugs.
"Dead?"
"Possessing an immortal body, would the Grim Reaper dare to claim me?"
Benedict chuckled at Barolric's frantic cries.
"Impossible!"
"Were you subjected to the Ope Ope no Mi?"
Barolric refused to accept this reality.
He too was searching for the Ope Ope no Mi, desiring someone to use that ultimate power for him.
But he was disappointed.
Now, he was enraged.
Zefa and Kuzan were also shocked by Benedict's words.
Their brief silence and lack of extreme astonishment was because they had eaten Senzu Beans and assumed Benedict had instantly revived by eating one.
But now, hearing Benedict's words, he hadn't eaten anything.
Instead, he truly possessed an immortal body.
"Heh!"
"Barolric, my blood, my heart, was it very delicious?"
"That feeling of being dominated by power, did it make you feel invincible?"
Barolric stared at Benedict with a grim expression. What kind of talk was this?
I gained this strength by my own ability, sucking your blood and eating your heart, yet you speak as if you pitied me and let me eat?
"Shut up!"
"I am an invincible existence now."
"Whether you truly possess an immortal body or not, if you revive once, I will kill you once, until you can no longer revive, dare not revive."
"Die for me!"