Chapter 683: Super-Speed Regeneration
Just like many who had fought Kizaru found themselves too slow, Arest now faced Ian with the same feeling. In his Super Saiyan state, Ian's supersonic movement, though not quite matching Kizaru's light-speed flash, left Arest unable to react in time.
No, perhaps he *did* react, but he simply couldn't keep up with that speed. Ian's first slash met no defense from Arest, cutting directly into his shoulder.
The blade sliced into muscle, blood spraying instantly. Arest's pristine white robe was stained a deep red across a large area. However, since they were fighting mid-air, the force of Ian's downward slash sent Arest plummeting to the ground like a meteor, preventing the blade from completely severing his arm.
Even so, the wounded Arest crashed into the earth like a falling star, drawing a straight line through the air before slamming heavily into the ground.
Ian immediately extended his left hand, fingers spread, aiming at the spot where Arest had landed.
With a soft *whoosh*, a ball of light shot from Ian's palm, hurtling straight toward Arest below.
"Damn it!" Arest, after hitting the ground, quickly tried to staunch the bleeding from his shoulder wound. Since he could control others' blood, he could naturally control his own. The cut area instantly coagulated, sealing the damaged wound.
But as he looked up, he saw a glowing sphere descending directly toward his head.
Gritting his teeth, Arest had no choice but to roll aside, abandoning his position.
*Boom!* The moment the light sphere struck the ground, it exploded. A small ball of light unleashed power comparable to a large bomb. A flash of fire erupted, and the shockwave swept across the entire area.
This was a ki blast derived from Trunks' card—highly compressed psychic energy released for a powerful attack. It was a technique Arest had never seen. Countless gravel and debris, mixed with the blast wave, pelted Arest. Though he wasn't caught in the explosion, as he got up, he saw Ian relentlessly firing more of these explosive spheres from his palm. Five or six spheres descended almost simultaneously, sealing off all possible escape routes.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Explosions followed one after another. Even the onlookers standing at a distance felt the ground tremble. Dust and smoke from the blasts forced them to raise their arms to shield themselves.
When the smoke cleared, everyone saw Arest, now quite disheveled, standing within the blast zone. His once-pristine robe was riddled with holes.
But he wasn't seriously injured. A shield of red and black had protected him.
This was a shield Arest had created from another blood sphere, using platelets to harden the blood into a solid plate, then coating it with Armament Haki for top-tier defense.
Arest looked up, searching for Ian to counterattack, but suddenly realized Ian was no longer in the air. Sensing danger, he instinctively raised his blood shield in front of him.
The next instant, Ian appeared before Arest, thrusting his blade straight at the shield.
*Crack!* The blade, wreathed in black flames, pierced through the shield. The intense heat of the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword instantly incinerated the blood shield, turning it into a cloud of black ash.
The shield bought Arest a moment. As it shattered, his entire body flushed red, and he erupted with unprecedented speed, darting past Ian.
In his hand, he had somehow formed another blood dagger, slashing at Ian's throat.
Ian raised an arm to block at his throat. The black blade of the dagger clashed against Ian's black-coated wrist, sparking.
The attack failed. Arest's blood wings behind him transformed into countless black spikes, like a porcupine, stabbing at Ian from all directions.
"Blood Thorns!"
Faced with this assault, Ian had to coat his entire body in Armament Haki for defense. This naturally reduced his defensive strength, allowing Arest to break through and leave numerous bloody, shallow wounds on Ian.
Seeing he had wounded Ian again, Arest rejoiced. He opened his palm and activated his ability.
A wave of intense dizziness hit Ian. His blood pressure plummeted instantly, causing him to stumble, on the verge of collapsing.
Arest was about to pounce, but at that moment, a strong sense of danger washed over him. Just as Ian seemed about to faint, he extended a hand and fired a Black Dragon Wave!
The surging, immense heat and the writhing Black Dragon Wave shot toward Arest, halting his advance and forcing him to retreat hastily.
Arest's entire body was now flushed red, a result of oxygenating the blood in his body. This ability acted like an adrenaline shot, temporarily making him stronger. Even his speed increased. As he retreated, he stayed ahead of the Black Dragon Wave. The wave opened its massive maw, trying to devour him, but couldn't catch up. Arest led it on a wild chase.
The fierce heat radiated through the air. Even the distant onlookers felt their hair singeing and instinctively retreated far away.
When the Black Dragon Wave finally dissipated, everyone saw the scene: the ground was a mess, covered in winding trenches like earthworms had crawled through—the result of the wave's incineration. On the affected ground were the soul creatures created by Big Mom, but under the rampaging Black Dragon Wave, they didn't even make a sound before turning into black charcoal. The surviving soul creatures trembled at the sight.
As for Arest, he was in bad shape. His robe had been completely burned away by the intense heat. Naked, his entire body reeked of burnt flesh. He had been closest to the Black Dragon Wave. Despite Armament Haki protecting him, all his body hair was singed off. If not for his perpetual baldness, he'd have a head full of black dust.
Naked, Arest's skin was bright red all over, steam rising from his body. He panted heavily, his limbs trembling. This was not only from the Black Dragon Wave but also from the strain of high-oxygen blood in his system. Faster blood flow and higher oxygen content gave him enhanced physical abilities, but they also ravaged his body.
He gasped for air, looking up at Ian's position, only to find Ian standing there completely unharmed again. The wounds from Arest's Blood Thorns had vanished!
"Damn it! What kind of healing ability is that?" Arest cursed inwardly. His Blood-Blood Fruit ability was usually a deadly counter to most blood-bearing creatures. With his control over blood, he could make wounds bleed endlessly. Even Logia users weren't necessarily a match once injured.
But against Ian, his ability had failed. This significantly impacted Arest's combat effectiveness.
When a Devil Fruit ability couldn't dominate an opponent, it meant Arest could only fight a grueling battle.
Only Ian understood the nature of this healing. He hadn't even used Orihime Inoue's Twin Heaven Return Shield card. This incredible healing came from his newly acquired native five-star red card: Ulquiorra Cifer's ability.
Super-Speed Regeneration!
For a normal person, even a shallow wound with minimal bleeding would take at least a day to heal from clotting to recovery. But under Super-Speed Regeneration, the wounds Arest inflicted on Ian healed completely in just a few seconds!
Moreover, this Super-Speed Regeneration was a passive ability in Ulquiorra's card. When equipped, Ian gained a passive recovery effect.
Even if Arest could control the clotting function of blood platelets, Ian's regeneration operated at the cellular level, making Arest's interference futile.
If a normal person found their Devil Fruit ability severely diminished against an enemy, they'd consider retreating. But Arest was no normal person. The stronger Ian appeared, the more fanatical Arest became about killing him.
"More! I need more!"
The blood Arest had previously drawn was depleted during his fight with Ian. To continue fighting, he needed more blood.
Gritting his teeth, Arest let out a wild roar. The next second, the wounds of those supplying him blood suddenly split open and expanded!
The wounds, which had been bleeding like threads, now gushed blood as thick as chopsticks, flowing rapidly toward Arest.
This was serious. The human body has a threshold for blood loss. Once too much is lost, side effects appear immediately.
*Thud!* A small, thin member of the Big Mom Pirates collapsed to the ground, unconscious from excessive blood loss.
Not just him, several others fell. Everyone realized what was happening, panicking as they tried to cover their wounds to stop the blood from flowing out.
But it was futile. Hands couldn't stop the wounds. Blood still seeped through their fingers, continuously draining away. Unless medical ointment could instantly seal the wounds, no one could stop the bleeding now.
More and more people collapsed, startling the uninjured bystanders into helplessness.
At that moment, Vito of the Fire Tank Pirates stumbled, grabbing a nearby companion for support.
"Vito, are you okay!?" the companion called out in alarm, then noticed a stream of blood as thick as a chopstick connected to Vito's calf. He realized Vito had also fallen victim to Arest's ability at some point, but hadn't said anything, gritting his teeth to endure.
The companion quickly laid Vito down, pressing on the wound while calling for their boss, Capone Bege. Amid the chaos of tending to Vito, no one noticed the bomb remote control in Vito's pocket roll out and land on the grass nearby...