One Piece: Alucard the Immortal-Chapter 496 - 495: Ten Years Since We Last Met, Dragon
"Aim for the vitals..."
Dragon’s gaze locked onto Jormungandr’s neck, his mind made up.
Even if the creature possessed a regenerative factor similar to Alucard’s, a snake was still a snake. If its vitals were struck with enough force, it wouldn’t be able to recover instantly.
Hiss—
Jormungandr had already used its impossibly long body to encircle Dragon, its head looming at the very top. It flicked its tongue, and a jet of venom erupted from its gullet.
Dragon shifted into his Hybrid Form, retaining certain draconic features while his four limbs returned to a more humanoid structure, though his palms remained lethal dragon claws. Seeing the venom rain down like a torrential storm, he took a gamble; he plunged his claws like daggers into Jormungandr’s massive frame, using the serpent’s own back as solid ground to dodge.
Using the monster’s own body to evade its attacks proved far more effective than the aerial mobility of his full beast form.
Hiss—
Jormungandr twisted its massive head, shifting its gaze to its own outer flank where Dragon was currently hanging, his claws hooked deep into its flesh.
"GRAAAH!"
Jormungandr bared its fangs and lunged at him.
"Bite your own body then!"
Dragon hooked his other claw into the scales, exerting maximum strength to pull himself around like a shield, forcing the mid-strike Jormungandr to abort its attack to avoid self-injury.
"Now!"
Seizing the moment of the serpent’s hesitation, Dragon flipped through the air. His foot-claws dug into the serpent’s hide like spiked cleats as he sprinted vertically along the body, charging straight for the neck.
"There it is!"
After a hundred-meter sprint, Dragon leapt into the air. He was positioned right behind the serpent’s skull, seemingly a perfect chance to strike the head, but Dragon’s target lay elsewhere.
"Dragon’s Charge!"
Dragon flung his arms wide, his limbs erupting with deep emerald energy. He slammed his palms together, launching the aura forward. In mid-flight, the energy took the shape of a winged dragon, roaring as it collided directly with the vital point.
Dragon’s hunch was correct. While striking the vitals wasn’t enough to kill Jormungandr outright, it was the second time in this battle that the creature’s face twisted in genuine agony.
Just as Dragon had launched the attack, Jormungandr had tried to whip its head around to swallow him, but the revolutionary was one step faster.
The fangs were only meters away from the crown of Dragon’s head when the vital point took the heavy blow. The serpent’s attack seized up, and its gargantuan body began to plummet toward the sea.
"Not enough. I need one more heavy blow!"
Jormungandr was falling, but Dragon didn’t rush to retreat. He had to deliver one final, crushing impact before the serpent hit the water to ensure the beast wouldn’t be able to follow him during his escape.
In the final seconds before Jormungandr hit the waves, Dragon reverted to his full Divine Dragon form, surged toward the vitals, and instantly snapped back into his Hybrid Form. He pressed his claws together like a blade and spun violently, becoming a jade-green cyclone of gale-force blades.
"Hurricane: Storm Dragon!" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
The tornado-like technique shredded Jormungandr’s hide, drawing blood. The force was enough to easily carve through a Sea King, yet it still wasn’t enough to kill the serpent.
Dragon’s rotation gradually slowed. Though he hadn’t pierced through the beast, surely an injury of this magnitude would stop it from giving chase for a while?
Dragon turned, preparing to shift back into his full beast form to fly away. He panted heavily, muttering, "Haa... haa... Thank goodness Alucard didn’t follow me. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?"
Suddenly, a hand rested on Dragon’s back. His heart felt as if it had been struck by a massive sledgehammer.
Dragon spun around, only for a fist to slam hard into his eye, sending him flying across Jormungandr’s back.
Loli A gradually emerged from the very wound Dragon had just inflicted. The red silken threads of blood clinging to her slowly slid off her body. Strangely, despite emerging from a pool of gore, not a single drop of blood stained her pure white fur-lined coat.
"Yo, Dragon. It’s been ten years."
She stepped completely free from the serpent’s body. The giant snake, which should have been incapacitated by the strike to its vitals, suddenly righted itself. Its wounds healed at an impossible speed as it twisted its frame to provide a steady path for her.
"What... do you mean?" Dragon rasped, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to stand.
"Have you forgotten? Ten years ago, the hostage liberation incident you orchestrated at Mariejois... you completely ruined my plans."
She walked across the serpent’s back, closing the distance between them.
When Dragon had first seen her face back in the Ilisia Kingdom, he hadn’t made the connection. But hearing her words now, the memories of that past event came flooding back.
Back then, he was being pursued by Sengoku, who was an Admiral at the time. This girl had intruded upon the battlefield and clashed with Kuzan (the former Vice Admiral and now Admiral Aokiji). At barely ten years old, she had suppressed an elite Marine like Kuzan, a sight that had shocked every witness. But the battle had ended inconclusively, and she had vanished for nearly a decade.
Yet here she was, appearing again, without having aged a single day. She looked exactly the same as she did ten years ago.
"I... I did hear Ivankov’s report. He said you appeared at Mariejois for some reason during the period you were missing..." Dragon struggled to his feet. "What is going on here?"
"Well, it’s just a game. A child’s game."
She tilted her head and smirked. "It was the same ten years ago, and it’s the same now. It’s all just a game of ’house’."
"I know your identity, your goals, and your background perfectly. I only wanted to play this game, so I let you walk this far."
Hearing her insulting words, Dragon’s expression turned fierce. He spread his wings to flee, but with a flick of her finger, Jormungandr bucked its body violently. Dragon stumbled, nearly falling into the sea. By the time he regained his balance, Jormungandr was already blocking his path like a mountain range.
By now, she had walked up behind Dragon. She raised a small fist. "Now, let’s continue! You brat!"
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