Chapter 538: Clash of Titans on the Battlefield

“Since they’re already here, the rest of you can get out of my sight.”

“Mochi Prison!”

Seeing two of the Five Elders racing toward him, Katakuri grabbed his trident and stabbed the ground.

In an instant the ground turned to mochi. Thick mochi spikes coated in Armament Haki shot up forming cages that split the group apart. More spikes erupted, striking down hordes of vice admirals and pseudo-admiral level fighters.

“Damn it, stop!”

“Pirate, don’t get cocky!”

Borg and Derlin shouted as they ran, but Katakuri paid them no mind, swinging his trident faster.

He didn’t just stand back either. As the two closed in, he personally finished off the struggling pseudo-admirals.

The remaining dozen or so admiral-level fighters broke out of the prison and hid behind the two Five Elders.

“Didn’t expect two of the Five Elders to show up at once.”

“My blood’s boiling.”

These past years, Katakuri’s only truly strong opponent had been Marco. No one else. The Four Emperors themselves hardly ever showed up to fight them in person.

Every time he fought Marco, he held back. He couldn’t risk killing him. But those days were over.

Now, he could finally unleash his full power without fear, even if it meant killing one of the Five Elders.

His tone was fired up and so was he—muscles bulging, visible even to the naked eye.

“Frog in a well. Let me show you just how far you are from the world’s strongest!”

Borg charged alone, his body morphing into a half-beast form. He was a Devil Fruit user—Ox Demon form.

The Ox Demon is a monstrous creature from Japanese folklore, famed for its overwhelming strength and iron-hard skin.

As Saint Borg transformed, he gained not only massive strength but an almost unbeatable defense.

Code-named Saturn, he symbolized stability and fortitude. Borg embodied that essence in every battle—an unbreakable fortress, striking fear in his foes.

He dropped low, hands and feet turning to thick, powerful limbs. Two more claws sprouted from his abdomen, making him look almost spider-like.

A plume of flames burst from his head, cloaked in a shroud of black substance.

“A Mythical Zoan?”

“Mochi Bullet Burst!”

Without another word, Katakuri went on the attack, swinging his arm. Bullets of mochi formed midair, wrapped in Armament Haki, and flew straight at Borg.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

But Borg’s defense was the real deal. The bullets hit but only rang off his body with metallic clangs, leaving him unharmed. Suddenly, the gap closed. He pounced high into the air, all six claws aimed right at Katakuri.

Every claw-tip crackled with Armament Haki, coming down with the weight of a mountain.

“Raw muscle isn’t what wins a battle.”

“Sweeping Strike!”

Katakuri spun his trident in a blur. As the attack descended, he leapt up and swung in a wide arc.

Clang!

The trident and claws collided, sending a shockwave rippling outward. Both fighters were knocked backward.

Katakuri had barely landed when his legs sank right into quicksand.

Derlin had unleashed his Sandworm Fruit power, letting him control sand—taking the form of a sandworm, tunneling with ease, or shaping vicious sandstorms and towering sand walls.

“Petty tricks. Show off somewhere else.”

“Domain Expansion!”

Katakuri unleashed his Devil Fruit ability, turning all the surrounding sand back into mochi and lifting himself out.

“Devil Fruit Awakening?”

Derlin wasn’t just any controller. The man before him could even turn his sand into mochi.

It only extended a few dozen meters, but it proved he’d awakened his Devil Fruit. No way could he rip control from Derlin’s sand otherwise.

But a question hit him fast: Every Devil Fruit supposedly contains a devil. If he’s awakened the fruit, why hasn’t he been affected?

It wasn’t just what Im told them; they’d run experiments of their own. With animals, awakening sometimes triggered the inner devil.

If you could withstand it, your power would skyrocket—you’d master the fruit and stand at the top. Fail, and you’d become a mindless puppet, not even using half the fruit’s power, getting shipped off to Impel Down to be a guard.

But what they didn’t know: the devil inside the fruit only takes over if the host is weak-willed or powerless.

If an ordinary person eats a Devil Fruit, there’s no chance they’d survive awakening.

But if someone is already a powerhouse through sheer determination and talent, then eating a Devil Fruit just enhances them even more.

So it doesn’t affect top-tier hosts much. Sometimes, the devil inside won’t even appear—just lying in wait for the next user.

“Let’s do it together. Don’t let this brat look down on us.”

Derlin’s tricks might not faze Katakuri, but Borg was another story. His whole body was like iron—Katakuri couldn’t so much as crack that shell. Every inch was as tough as steel, forcing a brutal stalemate.

Borg slashed again and again with six claws. Katakuri matched each blow with an impenetrable trident defense, but a few always slipped in.

Those hits landed hard, doing serious damage.

If not for the Titan Bloodline Gene Serum he’d taken, his body would have suffered irreparable injury by now.

Even so, the fact that he could stall the Five Elders single-handedly spoke volumes about Katakuri’s strength.

“How can this be? A mere brat, standing against both Borg and Derlin!”

Even Marcus, standing further back, couldn’t believe it. The power of Karl’s Pirate Crew had soared to terrifying new heights.

And this was just one of Karl’s sons. Karl himself hadn’t even stepped in, and neither had Charlotte Linlin or Ledfield.

The anxiety gnawed at him. If they couldn’t take down Karl right away, the war would drag the World Government down. Victory? That was just a pipe dream.

“Brrr brrr!”

“Master Im, there’s been some trouble on the Plaza… Yes… Understood…”

A short exchange later, Marcus hung up the Transponder Snail.

He looked back at the battlefield and conjured a fireball in his palm, launching it without warning.

Boom!

The massive fireball exploded, splitting the three apart.

Borg and Derlin sensed Marcus’s attack first. Unsure what it meant, they stopped fighting.

Katakuri, on the other hand, thought Borg was attacking and rushed forward with his trident. He’d only made it two steps before suddenly looking up.

“What is that?”