Benedict became enraged, and declared Barholomew doomed, because after expending a great deal of strength and stamina, he was indiscriminately draining blood from the soldiers on the battlefield.
Among them were soldiers of the Xuanwu Navy.
After continuously absorbing blood, Barholomew's entire being seemed much younger, even stronger. His aura had also become significantly more potent.
Barholomew, his mouth smeared with blood, stared at Benedict and chuckled, "The battlefield is vast. As long as there is blood, no matter how severe my injuries, I will be fully revived."
"I was careless just now. This time, I won't let you succeed."
Sharp nails visibly grew, radiating a chilling glint.
In the next instant, Barholomew transformed into a streak of crimson light, circling Benedict and flying rapidly.
He struck suddenly, appearing behind Benedict with a wicked grin, his sharp claws lunging towards the back of Benedict's head.
At that very moment, Benedict made his move, reaching back.
He grabbed Barholomew's hand, executed a hip throw, and slammed him down.
However, Barholomew flapped his wings, and just as he was about to hit the ground, he soared up again.
"Blood Kill!"
A dense, bloody aura permeated the air. Barholomew, radiating red light, confronted Benedict directly, his claws raking towards his heart.
Benedict dodged, sidestepping the attack. Fist energy flashed around his right fist.
Boom!
Barholomew's cheek was struck by a punch. A cracking sound echoed, and Barholomew was sent flying once more.
"Ahhhhh!"
Sent flying again, and with a blow to the face, Barholomew violently shook his head. His disfigured cheek returned to normal. He roared in fury, charging at Benedict once more.
Barholomew refused to believe it.
He couldn't accept that the gap between him and Benedict was so vast.
With a claw strike, he accurately aimed for Benedict's neck.
Benedict raised his hand to block, and another claw descended towards his eyes.
Benedict's hand shot out, delivering a kick.
Barholomew, with nowhere to evade, was directly hit in the abdomen and sent flying backward.
"Impossible!"
"I clearly predicted your next move."
"Why?"
Barholomew possessed innate Kenbunshoku Haki, and his mastery in this area was exceptionally high, reaching the point where he could easily read others' thoughts and memories.
Naturally, he was also capable of predicting the future.
This had always been Barholomew's pride, and his talent that made him almost invincible on the battlefield.
The victory against Garp the Steel Bone years ago, aside from his formidable strength and swordsmanship, owed a great deal to this Kenbunshoku Haki.
As for his capture back then, it was due to exhaustion, and Garp had simply reaped the benefits.
"Why?"
"As a strong individual, if you lose, you lose. What's with all the 'whys'?"
"In the face of the gap between us, what does it matter even if you foresaw the future?"
"You're not the only one who can foresee the future."
Benedict, listening to Barholomew's words, said disdainfully, "Kenbunshoku Haki, and even more advanced abilities, you must have heard of them, right?"
Benedict's awakened Kenbunshoku Haki skill not only predicted the future but also possessed "Kenbun Killer."
When Kenbunshoku Haki is trained to its peak, most possess the overpowered ability to predict the future.
But above that, there is an even rarer ability, Kenbun Killer, a skill specifically designed to counter future prediction, allowing one to conceal their presence, thereby preventing prediction.
This was why Barholomew, despite claiming to have predicted Benedict's move, actually hadn't.
With his Kenbunshoku Haki rendered almost useless and his physical combat inferior to Benedict's, swordsmanship had no room to be employed.
After all, Benedict wouldn't give him the chance to draw his sword again.
Barholomew was somewhat shocked by Benedict's words but would not surrender so easily.
Barholomew transformed into a red light and resumed his onslaught.
However, unlike his previous blood-draining, this time Barholomew took a person's heart with each strike, devouring them greedily.
The scene was particularly gruesome.
"You're testing my limits."
Benedict pursued him, landing a punch on Barholomew's head, intending to smash him into the sea.
But this time, Barholomew instantly dispersed into numerous small bats and fled.
Benedict's punch killed some of the bats, but it didn't significantly harm Barholomew.
Having transformed into bats, Barholomew now had many clones. Some were draining blood, others were consuming hearts.
Simultaneously, the strength of each clone could be felt increasing.
"Barholomew, stop this at once." Zephyr exclaimed in exasperation, unable to bear seeing his soldiers and students hunted by Barholomew like this. He charged forward, attacking Barholomew's clones.
"Zephyr, do you wish to die?"
"This is the condition the Gorosei set for inviting me to join the Shichibukai – the freedom to kill arbitrarily on the battlefield."
"Do you dare defy orders and obstruct me?"
Before Barholomew's clone could finish speaking, he was sent flying by an enraged Zephyr's punch.
Despite this, Barholomew's clone, though hit by Zephyr's furious punch, did not die. Instead, it swiftly lunged towards a nearby individual, grabbed their neck, and began to drain their blood.
"Zephyr, if you make another move, even if the Gorosei arrive, I will drain your blood and feast on your heart."
Two of Barholomew's clones, seeing Zephyr advancing towards them, spoke in unison with fury, "Zephyr, if you make another move, even if the Gorosei arrive, I will drain your blood and feast on your heart."
Benedict was too strong. This forced him to accumulate more blood and consume more hearts to gain greater power.
With enough power, he was confident he could kill Benedict.
After his clones were repeatedly and instantly killed by Benedict's attacks, the other clones reacted.
They realized they must not target the Xuanwu Navy soldiers.
Therefore, the World Government and the Marines became Barholomew's targets.
He was also displeased by Zephyr's intervention.
With sufficient blood, he could become stronger and kill Benedict.
"You absolute trash!"
Zephyr was already deeply dissatisfied with the Gorosei creating the Shichibukai.
Now, to recruit Barholomew, they had agreed to such an unreasonable condition.
This was unacceptable to Zephyr.
"You seek death!"
Seeing Zephyr's relentless pursuit, Barholomew's main body surged forward, unleashing his fury upon Zephyr.
It seemed as if he was trying to reclaim the humiliation Benedict had inflicted upon him by taking it out on Zephyr.
In just a moment, Zephyr was subjected to a barrage of attacks from Barholomew, sustaining several wounds with blood splattering.
Barholomew grabbed Zephyr by the neck, lifting him. With his left hand retracted, he made a motion to thrust, his sharp nails radiating a chilling glint. His red eyes burned with malevolence, his blood-stained mouth twisted into a monstrous grin as he declared, "Zephyr, this is the consequence of you disturbing my feast."
"Your heart is mine."
"Hahahaha!"