El understood better than anyone how terrifying the Float-Float Fruit truly was.
As the number-one manipulation-type Paramecia, its power was disgustingly unreasonable.
If there were no inanimate objects around Shiki, his threat level would drop sharply.
But if everything around him was an object he had already touchedâ
then everything would become his weapon.
The ground beneath his feet.
The islands around him.
Even the air filled with debris.
Fighting Shiki inside his own base camp meant only one thing:
He must not be allowed to freely use his Devil Fruit.
Otherwise, this entire archipelago would turn into a weapon aimed directly at El.
That was whyâ
The moment Shiki underestimated him and was caught off guard during their first exchange, El seized the opportunity without hesitation.
He would never give Shiki time to adjust.
Faced with El's advanced Armament Haki, even if Shiki wanted to manipulate nearby terrain into a defensive shield, he simply didn't have enough time.
All he could doâ
was slash wildly with his prosthetic sword-legs, trying to form a Flying Slash (Tobu Zangeki) to block the incoming attack.
BOOM!
The Flying Slash hadn't even finished formingâ
before it was instantly devoured by a far more terrifying strike.
The Black Sword, Shusui, completely coated in pitch-black Armament Haki and wrapped in a dark-purple aura, unleashed a Flying Slash unlike anything a normal master swordsman could produce.
This was a slash that fused:
Shura-type Conqueror's Haki
Advanced Armament Haki
and El's monstrous physique
It wasn't just cutting power.
It was domination.
Shiki, who had already lost both legs and had no free weapons in hand, didn't even have time to swing his second prosthetic blade.
The dark-purple Flying Slash was already right in front of his face.
Even with the Float-Float Fruit, he couldn't escape the attack range in time.
PFFFTâ!
Shiki was struck head-on.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
The Armament Haki embedded within the slash penetrated his body, ravaging his internal organs as the raging airflow dragged him violently downward, compounding the damage.
Before the slash could completely dissolve into countless wind bladesâ
Shiki forcibly endured the pain and seized control of the Flying Slash itself, hurling it upward with brute will.
At that exact momentâ
A voice thundered into his ears.
"Spear of ElbafâHakoku Sovereignty!"
The name.
A name he hadn't heard in decades.
A name burned into his memories.
When Shiki looked up againâ
El had somehow already appeared along the trajectory of the Flying Slash, his body positioned perfectly.
One hand gripped the hilt of Shusui.
The other steadied the scabbard.
A classic unsheathing stance.
In the next instantâ
El drew.
A white beam of light erupted forth.
Hakoku Sovereignty roared across the sky.
The beam was so fast that Shiki had no chance to escape the dark-purple Flying Slash ahead of himâ
and was struck squarely from behind.
Shiki, who could no longer properly use any of the three types of Haki, was forced to take El's third consecutive blow head-on.
Dark-purple Flying Slash in front.
Hakoku Sovereignty behind.
Caught between the twoâ
PFFFT!
Shiki spat blood again.
The internal damage escalated from injury to severe trauma.
In his primeâ
these attacks would have been nothing more than greetings between monsters.
Any user capable of wielding all three types of Haki stood at the absolute peak of existence.
Just like Kaidoâ
who could use advanced Armament, future-sight Observation, and coat himself in Conqueror's Haki.
As Kaido's predecessors, the four legends of the previous era were no different.
If Shiki could still freely use Hakiâ
El's combo would have been resolved effortlessly.
But nowâ
Shiki was like Gecko Moria.
He knew how to use Haki.
Yet he could no longer grasp that invisible feeling.
Every attempt sent searing pain through his skullâ
the steering wheel lodged in his head a cruel reminder of his battle with Roger.
The fact that he had survived at all was already a miracle.
A fallen tigerâ
will be bullied by dogs.
Shiki's era had ended.
And the one pulling him from his throneâ
was the representative of the new era.
With his ability to read intent and thoughts, El could already sense Shiki's next move.
Which meantâ
he could strike first.
And turn a fleeting advantage into a decisive victory.
"Spear of ElbafâHakoku Sovereignty!"
El vanished into an afterimage.
He ascended into the sky, repositioning himself behind the dark-purple Flying Slash once more.
Just as the translucent white beam began to overwhelm itâ
El slashed again.
"Hakoku Sovereignty!"
Before Shiki could regain balanceâ
another beam descended from a different angle.
"Hakoku Sovereignty!"
Again.
And again.
It was like the Twilight Combo.
Just as Might Guy had once overwhelmed Uchiha Madara with an unrelenting barrageâ
El now did the same.
Hakoku Sovereignty was different from Flying Slashes.
It had terrifying destructive powerâ
yet lacked physical substance.
Which meantâ
even the Float-Float Fruit, capable of manipulating blizzards and terrain, could not seize control of it.
Otherwise, Shiki would be able to control snowflakes, wind, and even air itselfâ
which was absurd beyond reason.
Shiki was now completely submerged.
Pinned in place.
His body continuously destroyed within the overlapping beams.
Unable to move.
Unable to counter.
Cracks began to form around the steering wheel embedded in his skull.
Blood slowly seeped out, staining his golden hair.
At this momentâ
El resembled Might Guy.
And the longer the fight dragged onâ
the more terrifying he became.
After three years of retreatâ
the consumption of Hakoku Sovereignty was no longer a burden to him.
His physique had advanced too far.
To prevent Shiki from recoveringâ
To prevent him from using dimensional-scale attacksâ
El continued.
Again.
And again.
Until Shiki lost consciousnessâ
or until El could no longer swing.
No one would have imaginedâ
that a duel between two master swordsmen would evolve into this.
What began as an exchange of Flying Slashesâ
had turned into the systematic destruction of a legend.
And Shikiâ
was losing.
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