Chapter 1184: I'm Going to Eat You, Kuro!
Chapter 1184: I'm Going to Eat You, Kuro!
A howling whirlwind swirled around Charlotte·Big Mom, with Napoleon perched on her shoulder. Her tongue lolled out grotesquely, and her other hand hung limp, surrounded by scattered bursts of white fire. Clad in traditional Wano Country attire, she resembled a legendary ghost story given life.
"Kuro", she intoned, her voice echoing unnaturally. An eerie smile stretched across her face as she raised Napoleon, declaring, "Napoleon, I'll give you a delicious soul!"
Napoleon remained silent, his blade's face twisting into a distorted expression.
"Hahahaha! Mamamama!" Charlotte·Big Mom suddenly cackled, her voice turning chillingly unearthly. The air Homies around her joined in, creating a rhythmic chorus like a ghostly choir.
"Who am I?" she asked.
"The great mother!" her children's voices answered in unison, the air Homies forming a spectral choir through the Soul Passage.
Charlotte·Big Mom's grin turned even more gruesome. She extended her left hand and clenched her fist. "Then offer your souls to your great mother!"
"Yes!!" The air Homies shrieked with glee, transforming into white fire that concentrated toward her hand.
"Not enough!" Charlotte·Big Mom frowned at the Soul Flame in her palm. With a violent pull, she shouted, "More souls!"
Behind her, those of her children still capable of independent movement erupted with fresh Soul Surges. Her hand shot out again, wrenching their souls into even greater torrents of white fire.
"Mother." Perospero's voice trembled with obvious weakness, his face visibly gaunt. After losing a year's worth of lifespan earlier, this latest extraction had stolen at least three more years.
If that had been the end of it, the four years remaining would have been manageable. But Perospero knew this wouldn't stop here. As her eldest son, he hadn't seen this side of her in ages - yet the memories remained fresh.
Back then, amidst endless white fire, she'd stood just like this, surrounded by collapsing figures - both enemies and allies. Many of his siblings had been unable to endure this soul-draining madness, perishing here.
Though the loss of his siblings to Golden Lion's blade had already pained Perospero to the core, he'd remained composed, devising strategies in Totto Land to contain his mother during Hunger Madness. With everyone else unable to defeat Golden Lion anyway, surrendering them had been the only option.
Now, those who remained were elite family members - the foundation of their power. If they died not to Golden Lion's sword but to their mother's soul-siphoning, it would be an unspeakable tragedy!
The strength of a soul determined its potency. These individuals, whom Kuro had dubbed "Great Pirates", possessed formidable strength, hence extracting three years of lifespan. An ordinary person wouldn't survive enough to concentrate even a single burst of Soul Flame.
But could this level of Soul Flame defeat Golden Lion? Mother had already sustained injuries from her prolonged battle against the two Super Novas.
Their losses had already been too great, and now Kaido had fallen too.
Perospero blurted out, "Mother, let's retreat! Even if you can endure, we have no strength left. We -"
"Shut UP!!"
Before he could finish, Charlotte·Big Mom's fist shot out.
Boom! Chaotic air erupted into massive bursts of white fire, summoning new air Homies that temporarily broke through Kuro's Awakening domain. The wind Homies surrounding Perospero and other Charlotte·Big Mom children vanished, sending them plummeting downward.
"Mom, Mother!!" Perospero screamed in terror as he fell into the bottomless abyss.
Kuro's eyebrows furrowed, his first thought that the old woman was saving her children. But quickly, that idea vanished completely.
Charlotte·Big Mom's condition was terribly wrong. Her mouth stretched into an unnatural angle, drool visibly dripping, while her massive body wasted away at a visible speed.
This condition... Hunger Madness?
Kuro realized the old woman had been fighting for days, likely barely fed by those two brats. Known for her picky eating habits, an episode of Hunger Madness now couldn't be good.
"Damn it", Kuro cursed. "Why does your madness have to hit now?!"
This wasn't some weakening illness - it would make her stronger and crazier!
"Come, eat!"
Flames poured from Charlotte·Big Mom's giant hand into Napoleon, intensifying the white fire bursting from the blade.
"Eat! Eat!"
With remaining white fire on her fist, flames erupted from her hair as Prometheus emerged. The Hera that had been circling her left arm and the Anemii encasing her body all burst forth. These Homies' conditions had changed too - no longer speaking, their faces twisted with hunger as they devoured the white fire.
Screeee!
After Hera finished eating, it let out a piercing cry. Thunderclouds spread anew, transforming into lightning that encased Charlotte·Big Mom's entire body, the left hand radiating even stronger lightning aura.
Prometheus returned to her head, transforming her normal flames into Soul Flames that burned white. The Anemii became a vortex of malevolent white winds swirling around the giant witch.
Napoleon's blade now pulsed with blue veins like a muscle, white fire and white lightning surging along its length with crackling sounds. White fire and lightning now coiled along the blade in a terrifying conjoin.
"I'm so hungry, Kuro!" Charlotte·Big Mom's tongue lolled while white fire burned in her eyes, greed shining within. "I'm going to eat you!!"
Boom! As her words rang out, she raised the blade, propelled by malevolent winds at extreme speed toward Kuro.
Had this old woman fully restored her abilities within his domain?
Kuro's sharp eyes noticed the wind Homies around her were different now. No matter how he activated his domain, the Homies remained unaffected. Those chaotic air currents couldn't influence this wind anymore - they'd become a unified whole, consuming similar wind energy.
"Mamamama!!"
With a shrieking laugh that sent shockwaves through the air, Charlotte·Big Mom lunged forward, blade raised high for a downward strike.
Whoosh!
As the blade began its descent, Kuro vanished from his spot, reappearing behind Charlotte·Big Mom.
When it came to speed, especially within his domain, how could he possibly lose to an old woman?
The Yokai Blade glowed golden as Kuro slashed downward toward Charlotte·Big Mom's head.
"Ultimate Mystic Art!"
Chi!
The strike was blocked by a thick arm.
Charlotte·Big Mom didn't even turn her head, merely shifting her body sideways to block with her left forearm. The Yokai Blade bit into her skin and muscle, creating a thin wound that bled, before Charlotte·Big Mom finally turned her head. Her grin stretched grotesquely toward Kuro.
(End of Chapter)
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