Staring at the two incoming lion heads, Kouta found himself at a loss. These things couldn't be cut down, they weren't that kind of threat. And he wasn't a martial artist.
He really didn't understand how Luffy had managed to defeat this kind of Shiki.
Observation Haki, Armament Haki, both were top-notch.
Though the quantity might be lacking, the quality was absurdly high.
Even like this, Luffy shouldn't have been able to beat him.
Especially when this guy switched to wielding swords with his hands, he instantly became one of the top swordsmen on the seas.
Kouta shook his head and spoke calmly to Shiki. "I wanted to duel you properly with swordsmanship, but since you're so desperate to die, I'll grant your wish."
Shiki sneered mockingly at him.
"What, do you have some god-tier Devil Fruit ability up your sleeve?"
A flicker of madness passed through Kouta's eyes. He had already made up his mind. Unless he completely squeezed out every bit of use from this old man, he wasn't going to kill him.
There were far too few opponents on the seas who could give him such an exhilarating fight.
Clasping his hands together, his chūnibyō soul erupted.
"One sack of rice to shoulder a few floors, one sack of rice to shoulder two floors..."
"Pseudo: Shinra Tensei!"
…
BOOM!
The two giant lion heads slammed into the center where Kouta stood.
Under Shiki's control, they compressed into a sphere, sealing Kouta inside.
Staring at the orb, sensing the surging power forming within, Shiki didn't say another word.
He simply swung his right hand down hard.
The orb immediately accelerated, smashing toward the sea below.
"Whatever ability you've got, go drown in the sea and struggle all you want!"
But just then, the fast-descending orb stopped in midair. Then, with a sharp swell,
BOOM!
it exploded.
Among the countless shards of stone, Kouta stood perfectly unharmed.
"Told you, it's useless."
Shiki grinned arrogantly, laughing at Kouta. "Jihahahaha! Kid, your ability's worthless too!"
His eyes gleamed savagely, and with a hard clench of his right hand.
The flying stone fragments suddenly stopped in midair, then reversed course, shooting straight back at Kouta at an even faster speed.
Kouta glanced at the incoming debris and twitched the corner of his mouth.
Once again, he couldn't help but sigh.
"How the hell did Luffy beat this guy?!"
He unfolded his domain, and the moment the debris entered it, the chunks began shrinking rapidly.
In no time, all the stones were sucked into what resembled a black hole surrounding Kouta, vanishing into the spatial field.
Within his domain, the fragments reassembled into a perfect sphere, hovering quietly by his side.
It hadn't actually shrunk, the space had expanded, making the orb appear smaller from the outside.
This time, Shiki was genuinely surprised.
As soon as the rocks entered Kouta's domain, he felt his control vanish, and now the whole thing looked tiny.
He burst into wild laughter. "Jihahahaha! Interesting, interesting—truly fascinating! A monster like you exists on the Grand Line?! Jihahahaha…"
Kouta ignored Shiki's sudden psychotic laughter.
His figure vanished in an instant, reappearing above Shiki. With his right hand, he flicked the orb down like a marble.
At first, the orb moved slowly. Then, within the domain, it began picking up speed, trailing a fiery red tail behind it. As it plummeted, it also started to swell in size.
"Old man, try this! Meteor Bomb, Thousandfold Compression!"
The moment Kouta appeared above him, Shiki sensed it.
"So fast?!"
"No, not speed. That was teleportation."
For the first time, shock appeared on Shiki's face as he stared at Kouta.
At the highest level of combat, raw speed was no longer decisive. What mattered was reaction time—who could act first, who could read better.
After all, masters of Observation Haki could often predict enemy moves in advance. Victory came down to the sharpest nerves.
But teleportation? That wasn't something even the quickest mind could counter.
Shiki kicked upward, sending out two massive slashes to intercept the orb, which by now had swelled back to the size of a floating island.
SPLASH!!
The orb split into four like a watermelon, crashing into the sea below.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
Chunks of stone rained down like meteors, smashing into the ocean and triggering towering tidal waves that surged outward.
Within moments, Proceus Island was swallowed whole.
Kouta glanced at the fleet on the horizon. Judging by the distance, they were safe, so he withdrew his gaze.
The fleet had long since pulled away. Onboard, the crew could no longer see either Kouta or Shiki in the sky.
Only the relentless clash of blades echoing from the clouds told them how fierce the battle remained.
Just then, a deafening roar came from behind them.
Everyone turned to look and saw a colossal wall of water—like a white fortress—racing toward them.
They all wished they had wings to flee this cursed sea.
"Faster, faster, move faster!"
The villagers shouted in panic.
Even from this distance, they felt no sense of safety.
"This is terrifying. These two… they're not even human, are they?"
To their minds, even the gods probably weren't capable of this kind of destruction.
Meanwhile, Kouta appeared behind Shiki in a flash and swung his blade without hesitation.
He was determined to stay close in this fight, close combat helped solidify his Haki far more quickly.
Clang!
A red gleam flashed in Shiki's eyes. He reacted just in time, raising his leg to block Kouta's blade.
But Kouta didn't give him even a second to regain space. He kept up the pressure, rapidly slashing with Zankū.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!!!
"You bastard, are you really using me as a sharpening stone?!"
Shiki roared in anger, eyes blazing.
With a flick of his thoughts, the floating islands above began to move.
Except for the central, largest island, the others all flew toward their location.
BOOM BOOM!!!
The islands crashed together beneath them, merging into a massive platform.
While retreating mid-fight, Shiki guided Kouta onto the island.
He couldn't fully utilize his Devil Fruit abilities in midair.
Once grounded, he pressed his hands together.
"Lion Might: Earth Coil!"
The earth surged, and countless lion heads charged at Kouta.
Shiki kicked hard, sending Kouta flying.
Using the recoil, he backed off swiftly.
Then, he spun his feet once more
"Lion: Thousand-Cut Valley!"
A hailstorm of slashes flew at Kouta.
Kouta scanned the area and released a violent burst of aura from his body.
He turned and glared arrogantly at Shiki, eyes blazing with the intensity of a predator. Then he shouted:
"Old man, I told you, it's useless!"
************************
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