Absalom's body had undergone Doctor Hogback's enhancements, granting him an elephant's toughness, a bear's strength, and a lion's swiftness.
Yet even so, before the enraged Garen, he was as insignificant as an ant.
Absalom pushed his beast-like body to its limits, yet he could only barely maneuver around Garen using the ship's narrow, complicated terrain.
"Trying to play ring-around-the-pillar with me?"
Garen merely sneered and drove the flames of Justice Rage on his greatsword to their peak:
"Slash!"
Garen's unique flaming sword aura swelled to its limit in that instant. The razor-sharp slash, over a dozen meters wide, instantly swallowed every obstacle rising above the deck.
The masts, cabins, and sails were all engulfed in a sea of fire, then instantly erased by the extreme heat, turning into piles of charred remains in moments.
Moria's zombie soldiers were naturally afraid of fire. Before Garen's incomparably scorching golden holy flames, they were as fragile as paper, reduced to black ash at the slightest touch.
The deck, which had still contained a few obstacles, was swept flat by Garen's sword, becoming an open stretch of ground with an unobstructed view.
Absalom's tearful, terrified expression appeared vividly before Garen.
"W-why are you chasing me?"
Garen narrowed his cold eyes, somehow glaring with a sharpness reminiscent of Hawkeye Mihawk.
"Why?"
"Because of your lecherous nature alone, you deserve to die!"
"I, I..."
Absalom's face flushed red, but he could not force out another word.
He truly was no decent person. He had basically used the Suke Suke no Mi solely as a tool to peep on women bathing.
His hidden nature had been seen through at a glance by this unfamiliar knight, leaving Absalom faintly flustered.
And the undisguised, overwhelming killing intent in Garen's eyes sent chills down Absalom's spine.
The two remained locked