Battle Island;
'What is it like to fight Kaido?'
That was a question in the minds of many people.
How would you fight someone who had an extremely destructive offense, an impenetrable defense, and an almost unkillable body?
Hard! It would be a tough battle, and Liam was proving it.
Despite being injured by Luffy's previous attack, neither his defenses nor his offenses got weaker.
Seeing this, Liam didn't lose his courage. He knew Kaido was a different beast.
This could be seen from Kuzan and Garp's fight. Garp was fighting half of the Blackbeard Pirates on his own, including Kuzan.
During that fight, the only time Kuzan was able to damage Garp was when he used his fists instead of elemental attacks.
With his Conqueror and Armament, Garp was easily capable of destroying Kuzan's ice attacks.
So, while the ten-day fight between Kuzan and Sakazuki might sound amazing, that's only because of their devil fruits.
If they were to fight someone like Garp, Whitebeard, or Kaido, the battle wouldn't last that long.
Haki attacks caused more damage than devil fruits, but it would be even greater when combined. This was also proven by Whitebeard during Marineford.
That was weak, sickly, and old Whitebeard.
Despite that, he was able to destroy the Marineford, shatter it in half. The power of his Devil Fruit combined with Haki allowed him to fight three admirals one after another.
When Kizaru fought Luffy, he barely managed to stick until Luffy started using Gear Fifth.
The reason was simple. In Gear Fifth, every strike from Luffy would be infused with Conqueror Haki.
Unless he didn't use Haki at all. That's why Luffy was able to put down Kizaru so quickly. Although Kizaru was not fighting at his best.
Of course, Luffy himself wasn't fighting at his best.
If Kaido's best is when he fights with alcohol, then Luffy's best is when he fights with determination.
Not every fight required his determination. This was pretty much true because when he saw Doctor Vegapunk die, he put away his playful mood and fought all five elders.
So, when Liam was fighting against Kaido, he didn't think he could cause much damage from the start.
[Galaxy Divide]
Infusing his Haki into his sword, Liam swung it with all of his strength. The dark red energy moved out of his sword edge and went straight toward Kaido.
In his Hybrid Form, Kaido swung his mace. The purple lightning emerged from his mace as he struck forward.
A powerful blast of energy burst out of his mace like a laser beam and moved toward the sword energy.
[Vajra Arrow]
Two energies collided in the middle, creating a powerful shockwave. As these energies tried pushing each other, the shockwave destroyed the black ground underneath and cleared the dust.
Boom!
When their energies were unable to push each other, they smashed into each other, resulting in a powerful explosion.
The explosion resulted in nothing. Neither side suffered any damage.
But it was clear that Kaido was having an easier time than Liam.
Every attack with Haki consumed his Haki. Unlike Kaido, who had been fighting for five decades, Liam had only started fighting four months ago.
If it wasn't for his Devil Fruit granting him stamina and the physical attributes of dead people, he wouldn't even be able to accomplish this.
"Wororo! Boy, you are good. Unlike your captain, your Haki is much more refined, but it's lacking. It's seriously lacking."
Kaido laughed and dashed in front of Liam like a flash of light. Liam's Observation Haki was able to predict it, but his mind wasn't able to react.
By the time he reacted, Kaido was already in front of him with his mace swinging powerfully.
[Roaring Thunder Eight Trigrams]
Bang!
The mace smashed on his face. Liam was able to cover his face with Armament Haki on time, but even so, his face was destroyed by that attack.
The blood started leaking, and the skin started turning black. The heat of the lightning was seriously affecting him.
But Liam didn't back down. No, instead, he clutched the hilt of his sword tightly and swung it with all of his strength.
The veins on his hands were bulging. The Armament Haki and Conqueror Haki were utilized to their maximum power.
And the next moment, the sword struck Kaido's chest. He didn't even have the time to react, even if he had wanted to.
Maybe even Kaido forgot that swords were much deadlier than a mace. Even if his mace was covered in spikes.
Splash!
The sword tore through his skin, creating a large wound on his chest.
The power behind his strike also forced Kaido away, giving Liam a chance to pull down his sword.
That strike didn't just cost him his face. It also costs a lot of stamina. Because he had to stop himself from losing consciousness and continuing to attack.
"You traded blows with me? Injuries for injuries?"
Kaido didn't care about the wound on his chest. Even though it was quite deep, his recovery was quite astonishing.
It had already started to heal. He was more stunned by Liam's decision. The fact that Liam decided to counterattack at that moment meant he could've deflected or at least partially dodged the attack.
He was sure that Liam couldn't dodge his attack, but without proper speed, it was possible to partially dodge the attack. He just didn't expect Liam to trade injuries.
With him? Kaido of the Beast, the Immortal Creature of this world. Someone who couldn't be killed.
Just when he was in a state of disbelief, Kaido's eyes narrowed as he noticed something.
The black and red lightning around Liam was getting thicker. If it was as thick as a kid's arm before, then it was now as thick as a middle-aged man's arm.
Sensing this, Kaido laughed.
"Worororo! So, this is how you want to play. Do you think Conqueror Haki can be improved through determination alone?"
"You are wrong, boy. Your determination might have caused your Conqueror Haki to increase, but it isn't enough."
"Your courage isn't enough. Your determination isn't enough. Your strength is not enough. You are not enough, boy."
Kaido roared and rushed forward. He clenched his mace and smashed it towards Liam.
The speed at which he moved was almost faster than the speed of light. If Liam was a normal person, if he was in a normal world, time would've moved backward.
But this wasn't a normal world. Here, the speed of light wasn't something that could change the fundamental laws of nature.
Here, Liam could sense his arrival with Observation Haki and see into the future.
He moved. Liam's hand clutched the sword once again as he stepped forward with his left leg.
He grabbed the hilt of his sword with both his hands tightly as he swung his sword.
As he swung his sword, black lightning emerged around his sword. At this moment, Kaido appeared in front of him and smashed his mace forward.
[Conquered Three Worlds, Attracting Hell]
[Killing the God]
Their weapons moved toward each other, creating a powerful energy collision in the middle. Their weapons didn't even touch each other.
But the ground beneath them was shaking apart. The earth was torn, and the sky was cleared.
The sword was covered with strange flames. It wasn't emitting flames like usual; instead, it was extremely concentrated on its edge.
The flame made his sword so hot that it was melting Kaido's Haki as it proceeded to move forward.
At this moment, Liam took a step forward with his right leg. His figure looked tiny compared to Kaido's, but his steps didn't stop.
"My courage isn't enough?"
Bang!
Liam's sword pierced through Kaido's Conqueror and moved forward.
"Who said that?"
Bang!
His sword reached Kaido's mace and struck. The heat in his sword started piercing through Kaido's weapon.
Seeing this, Kaido was stunned. He even had a thought to retreat, but how could someone like him admit defeat?
"Boy!"
Kaido roared. His Conqueror Haki exploded in the face of his enemy.
"My determination isn't enough?"
"WHO SAID THAT?"
Liam roared, too. His Conqueror Haki matches Kaido in terms of quality. At this moment, two powerful blasts of lightning shot out of two individuals.
Kaido's Conqueror Haki was purple, while Liam's was red. When their Conqueror collided, the sky itself darkened.
The island began to shake, and the sea level began to rise.
"My strength isn't enough?"
At this moment, Liam no longer had that ferocious look. Instead, it was as calm as water in a glass.
He slightly twisted his wrists as his sword tore through Kaido's mace and slashed his chest.
Sssss! Splash!
"Argh!"
For the first time in several years, Kaido screamed. Someone who had been killed, tortured, and experimented on wouldn't scream so easily.
But Liam's sword was so hot that it was boiling his blood.
Thud!
With the wound on his chest, Kaido fell to his knees.