Dressrosa Kingdom, West Blue coast.
Under the watchful moon, over two thousand pirates and Royal Army soldiers were locked in chaotic battle, the clash of swords, gunshots, and war cries filling the air. Amidst the clamorous battlefield, two areas had been cleared, becoming the focal points of fierce combat: one was the clash between Kyros and the one-eyed dinosaur-man, Nock, and the other was the deadly duel between Sephiroth and the Storm Swordsman Viktor.
Because his enemy was blind in one eye, Kyros gained the upper hand almost immediately after they began fighting, cornering Nock with a flurry of attacks. As for Sephiroth's side, he had fallen into a war of attrition, facing a relentless opponent.
Whoosh! The silver-haired youth raised his revolver and fired two consecutive shots. The curving bullets, at an incredibly difficult angle, shot towards Viktor, attempting to catch him off guard.
However... The opponent merely swung the sword in his hand casually, and a Busoshoku Haki-infused wind blade sliced the bullets in two, cutting them in half and deflecting them from their original trajectory—an incredible display of control.
"You really are a troublesome person!" Sephiroth sighed softly, feeling a bit frustrated.
"You too!" The mustached man sneered, and once again swung his twin blades to unleash a series of wind blade attacks, covering a wide surrounding area, utterly disregarding anyone in their path.
This time, Sephiroth did not use a Flying Slash to block and neutralize them. He immediately used Soru and appeared from a distance, completely avoiding the attack.
"Ah!" "Ah!" "Why, Captain Viktor..."
Intense cries of pain sounded, followed by mournful screams. Amidst the pirate crowd, wherever these wind blades passed, blood splattered, limbs were severed, and many were killed or wounded... A true display of friendly fire!
"Hmph!" The mustached man snorted coldly. He didn't care at all about the lives of his subordinates and continued to launch devastating attacks at Sephiroth with wind blades, ignoring the chaos he himself caused.
"Damn it! I'm going to puke!" The silver-haired youth cursed softly, and with a swing of his Butcher's Blade, a fiery red Flying Slash tore through the air, scattering the approaching wind blades, cleaving through Viktor's attack.
Roar! He let out a low, beast-like roar from his mouth, using Vampire Transformation, and his body rapidly swelled, his muscles bulging. In a flash, his height increased from two meters to three meters, and his entire body was filled with explosive muscles, showcasing raw power.
After Sephiroth poured his will into various parts of his body, his physique began to shrink and become denser, yet his power was compressed. His height changed from three meters to two and a half meters, and his muscles appeared to shrink, becoming more streamlined. However, the decrease in raw power was exchanged for a significant increase in speed and body coordination—an efficient transformation! This was an advanced technique of the Six Powers he had just mastered a month ago, precisely so he could use a certain move!
"Are you doing a magic trick? Getting bigger one moment, then shrinking..." Viktor spoke, mocking him. After a few exchanges, he too felt extremely annoyed at being unable to harm his opponent. Sephiroth's combat experience was truly extensive. After fighting for so long, he hadn't even scratched a single hair on his opponent!
"That's right! I'll perform a magic trick for you, so you can be happy before you die... Now... it's time for you to move on!" As he spoke, Sephiroth charged forward, raising the Butcher's Blade in his right hand behind him, in a somewhat strange swinging posture, a gesture for a finishing blow.
"Arrogant! It's not decided who will die yet..." Viktor crossed his twin blades in front of his chest, and dark Busoshoku Haki wrapped around the blades, forming a solid shield. After fighting for so long, it was time for him to use his ultimate technique!
Wind Lance! As he swung both swords with both hands simultaneously, two massive, overlapping wind blades, spinning at high speed, accompanied by the whistle of the wind, flew out from the blades. Even the ground was ploughed into a massive ravine by the spinning giant blades—a devastating, destructive attack.
However...
"Duan Kong Zan Long!"
Roar! Accompanied by the roar of a dragon, Sephiroth's figure flickered, and the Butcher's Blade in his hand danced at high speed. Lines of crimson sword energy burst from the blade, then condensed into a menacing, blood-colored dragon head phantom.
Boom! The giant, high-speed spinning wind blades were instantly torn apart, transforming into fierce gusts of wind that caused everyone around to stumble, some even falling directly to the ground.
Under Viktor's horrified gaze, Sephiroth, along with the dragon head phantom, raced towards him with unmatched speed, preventing him from dodging. He could only hastily raise his twin blades to parry, covering the front of his body with Busoshoku Haki to the best of his ability—a desperate last defense.
The next moment. Sephiroth's figure flickered, and he appeared behind Viktor, while the two swords in his hands, with a "Bang!" sound, shattered into iron fragments, falling to the ground one by one—Sephiroth's attack was too powerful.
At this moment, on the front of Viktor's body, from top to bottom, there were dozens of wounds, big and small, of varying depths, covering his entire body. The wounds looked gruesome and horrific, and without exception, all were gushing blood, a tragic sight. His lips moved, and with his last breath, he said with great difficulty: "You... monster...!"
Thud! After speaking, the man fell heavily to the ground, and bright red blood quickly formed a pool, marking the end of his life.
"Hmph!" Sephiroth let out a long breath. He shook his right hand, which felt numb and sore. It took several seconds for the piercing pain in his muscles to completely subside—a necessary sacrifice. The move he had just used was a technique he could only perform when he reached the peak condition of his Devil Fruit, swordsmanship, Haki, and speed—a testament to his power.
Ever since he encountered the Supa Supa no Mi user, he had constantly been thinking... How could he increase the upper limit of his Busoshoku Haki output when the power of his Busoshoku Haki wasn't enough to cause effective damage to enemies using advanced Busoshoku Haki techniques?
Sephiroth had studied for a long time before developing this move: Duan Kong Zan Long! With the aid of the Butcher's Blade, his sword energy slash had reached the level of a Great Swordsman. Even against someone with high defense, he could still inflict damage—a breakthrough.
What if he used the Doa Doa no Mi to distort space, so he could add another slash behind the slash he just swung? Furthermore, if his own movement speed was fast enough and he swung his sword enough times, then when the sword energy attack hit the target, it would accumulate and explode in an extremely short time!
Being able to unleash this move depended entirely on the Doa Doa no Mi, as well as the continuous compression of the time it took for him to swing his sword thirteen thousand times during his daily basic training, making his attack speed faster and faster... Now, he could already shorten the time it took him to swing his sword to just over an hour!
Earlier, if the giant wind blade hadn't consumed most of his sword energy, coupled with the protection from Busoshoku Haki, Viktor's body would have been torn to shreds and turned into a pile of minced meat.
Hmm!?... Once I can use Duan Kong Zan Long in normal conditions, I'll research whether I can stack that sword energy into one to increase the momentary output limit... If this Duan Kong Zan Long move were performed with two swords, the difficulty would be significantly reduced. It's a shame, after getting used to the Butcher's Blade, I no longer care about ordinary famous swords! If I'm going to use one, I'll use the best. I should ask Gildo Tesoro to keep an eye out for any Supreme Grade Swords on the market. If there aren't any, I'll ask him to help me find the whereabouts of Gecko Moria. Getting the black blade Supreme Grade Sword Shusui to use wouldn't be bad either... Sephiroth thought to himself, his ambition burning.
As he and Viktor determined the victor, the morale of the pirates engaged in battle plummeted, while the Royal Army cheered and launched a fiercer assault against the enemy, turning the tide.
Kyros had pressed the dinosaur-man for most of the time, but his opponent was thick-skinned and tough. His sword slashes only caused superficial wounds. However, Nock lost his will to fight after seeing Viktor killed by Sephiroth—a devastating blow to his morale.
Having lost one eye, he already struggled just to face Kyros. If Sephiroth, who could wound him in just two moves, was added, he would essentially be in a dead end. Therefore, after getting away from Kyros, Nock immediately howled: "Kids, let's retreat now!"
Having said that, he instead flicked his tail and ran without looking back, sprinting desperately, abandoning his men. Pirates were originally an unorganized rabble, who only relied on greedy desire to survive in battle. They completely lacked quality and discipline and had no intention of fighting to the death. Go with the flow when it's beneficial, surrender when it's not. Now, one leader was dead, and the other had fled. Instantly, a swarm of people turned and ran like stray dogs. Those who couldn't escape simply knelt and surrendered!
Sephiroth, with the idea of rooting out evil completely, wanted to pursue and kill the other leader.
However... After the intense battle, when he finally had free time to check the images sent back by the bats, he couldn't help but exclaim: "This is bad!"
Enjoying the story? You can read 7 chapters in advance on p@treon/Rzzzy!