Strength of a Near-Emperor and an Emperor's Right-Hand Man!

Playing with fire before Roa!

You really don't take me seriously at all!

But never mind—custom dictates we exchange greetings first!

As Kaido spewed blazing flames, jet-black fur began growing wildly over Roa's body, and broad black wings spread open.

A fierce tiger over fifteen meters long stood upon the earth.

"ROAR!!"

Completely different from his past sound waves, the sonic force was forcibly condensed into a single ripple, like a comet piercing the sky as it shot straight upward.

The sound wave collided with the pillar of fire in the next instant.

The sky ruptured, and the terrifying explosion seemed to rob everything of sound.

The powerful shockwave even overturned and sent the carriages on the ground flying.

"What?"

Kaido was rather surprised.

That sound wave was mixed with Conqueror's Haki!

A technique like Linlin's strange screech?

"Dylan," Roa said as he flapped his wings and rose into the air, "take everyone farther away. Don't get caught up in this."

"Lord Roa!" Bullet said urgently. "Please allow me to fight at your side!"

"Interrupting a little reunion between old friends would be far too tactless, Bullet," Roa said with a smile. "Next time, for sure."

His broad wings beat, and he shot straight into the sky. "Come on, Big Brother Kaido. Don't destroy this simple country. Come up here."

"Hmph!"

Kaido's enormous body swam through the air, his four claws clutching clouds as he gave chase.

Even as he pursued, his attacks did not stop.

"Bad Wind!"

The azure dragon's body coiled, and enormous wind blades swept toward Roa one after another.

Roa glanced back slightly as patterns spread across the great horn atop his head.

"Whoosh!!"

A fierce gale rose, sending wave after wave of wind blades to meet them!

But they were larger, more numerous, and fiercer!

Gale against gale, blade against blade.

Amid roaring thunder, the sharp winds nearly tore the sky apart.

After piercing through Kaido's wind blades, even more wind blades slashed toward Kaido.

"Ah, it seems that even with similar abilities, I'm still stronger," Roa said with great interest.

"Thunder!"

The azure dragon said nothing, only roared.

His roar transformed into lightning, blasting apart the wind blades in midair.

"That's even more childish, Big Brother Kaido. Thunder!"

Roa issued his command.

The sky obeyed. Dark clouds gathered in an instant, and then thick bolts of lightning fell like a torrential downpour.

Big Brother Kaido's little bit of lightning was instantly drowned beneath the rain of thunder, while his massive body had nowhere to hide within it and was immediately engulfed by lightning.

"Arghhh!!"

Even with Big Brother Kaido's tough hide and powerful Haki, this barrage of lightning still blasted cries of pain from him.

"I'm really being underestimated," Roa said somewhat helplessly. "Big Brother Kaido, could you stop using your feeble abilities to challenge me, a true natural disaster?"

"Heat Breath!!"

The pitch-black azure dragon suddenly burst out from the thunderstorm, flames surging from his wide-open mouth.

"I told you, don't do that."

Luo Ya's eyes widened.

The flames in Big Brother Kaido's mouth instantly exploded, savage fire howling outward until it enveloped the entire Azure Dragon.

It looked as though he had helped him activate some kind of Fire Dragon Mode.

"You brat!!"

Burned again until he howled in pain, Kaido gritted his teeth and roared.

Both of them created elemental attacks, but Kaido unleashed attacks like natural disasters, while what Luo Ya created was the natural disaster itself!

Could this brat's ability really be stronger than the Azure Dragon Fruit?

What a joke!

The enormous Azure Dragon body instantly contracted. The flames were pierced through in the next instant, and a black iron club, trailing black lightning, tore across the sky.

"Thunder—"

Luo Ya instantly shifted forms as well, becoming a beastman. With a beat of his wings, he shot forward too. His beloved blade, Tiger Soul, swung from his waist still sheathed, likewise coated in a layer of black Haki.

"Bagua!"

(The AI missed one image. Other than the wings and blade feeling a little off, it was pretty much like this.)

Boom!

The iron club and the scabbard collided in an instant.

A violent gale swept across sky and earth. As the powerful Haki clashed, black lightning crackled without end.

Luo Ya was blasted backward like a cannonball. "What incredible Haki! With the same move, I really can't win!"

"Hmph!"

Kaido stood atop flame clouds. Even high in the sky, he moved as fast as thunder.

"The gap in Haki is still far too great."

Luo Ya finally steadied himself and faced reality.

He had only mastered Armament Haki hardening not long ago. How could he possibly confront Big Brother Kaido head-on, a man who had even mastered Conqueror's Haki infusion?

That last clash had made his arm feel like it was about to break.

Fortunately, his strength was sufficient and his body tough enough. Otherwise, he probably would not have escaped that blow unscathed.

Since that was the case, he drew his blade.

The crimson blade left its sheath, and even the air seemed to be dyed red.

The entire blade became wet in an instant, red liquid dripping from its edge.

"Third World Descent · Pulling into Hell!"

The iron club fell like heavenly thunder.

"Emperor Sword · Breaking Blade!"

Luo Ya gripped the sword with both hands and slashed upward.

The instant he swung, the ominous crimson glow on the blade surged explosively. At that moment, it seemed as though he was not wielding a blade, but a roaring flamethrower.

Boom!

Black and scarlet each claimed half the sky.

The next instant, the two colors mixed into a chaotic sphere, followed by an explosion that shook the heavens.

Luo Ya fell downward.

But he did not forget to swing his blade. "Lion's Might · Thousand Cut Valley!!"

Each swing sent a massive crimson slash over a hundred meters long soaring into the sky. These slashes were utterly different from ordinary Flying Slashes, so viscous they seemed to be blood given form.

"Kundali · Dragon Flourishing Army!"

The iron club moved as swiftly as a storm, shattering Luo Ya's slashes one after another in midair.

"What's with that sword?"

Big Brother Kaido roared as he rode the flame clouds in pursuit of Luo Ya. "Is that the sword you took from God Valley?"

"Pretty good, right? Its name is Tiger Soul!"

Luo Ya ran his left hand across the crimson blade, and Tiger Soul's body instantly bloomed with scarlet light. "Next is an original move!"

Red currents rapidly spread. In the blink of an eye, Luo Ya held an illusory crimson greatsword dozens of meters long in his hand.

The truth proved that the claim that Tiger Soul could evolve infinitely was nonsense. It had its limits too.

Over the past six years, Luo Ya had long since trained Tiger Soul to its maximum level.

After evolving to its limit, Tiger Soul naturally became sharper and could amplify Luo Ya's slashes and Flying Slashes to a far greater extent. Especially after Luo Ya comprehended the realm of cutting steel and became a true master swordsman, that amplification became even more astonishing.

But the greatest change was that Tiger Soul could release a special red energy. Luo Ya called it blood qi, a genuine power similar to Haki!

"Worororororo! You brat have actually become this strong!!"

Big Brother Kaido laughed instead of getting angry. "Roaring Thunder Eight Trigrams!!"

Lord Roa swung his forty-meter greatsword. "Tiger Devour!"

Boom!!

Crimson and black clashed across the sky once more.

Even from quite a distance away, Dylan, watching from below, still felt the gale slam into his face, nearly blowing him away!

"Lord Roa!"

Dylan's eyes burned.

As expected of the man he had chosen to follow—he could already fight Kaido to this extent!

Roa continued falling, crashing into the ground with a thunderous impact and blasting out a crater dozens of meters wide.

Meanwhile, high in the sky, Big Brother Kaido was flying upward as well, several fairly deep wounds visible on his body.

"So sharp?"

Feeling the pain coursing through his body, Kaido's expression turned even more serious.

Even the scattered slashes were enough to leave wounds on him!

That sword!!

"Hiss! That hurts like hell!"

Roa beat his wings and shot into the sky. "Not even my captain has ever beaten me up like this!!"

His right arm was twisted—it was definitely broken.

Even with Tiger Soul, he was still far from enough.

And Big Brother Kaido probably had not even used his full strength yet.

Even at twenty-seven, Big Brother Kaido was terrifyingly strong.

Though he was still far from Uncle Shiki and the others' level, he had already far surpassed anything ordinary people could imagine.

Mm, roughly mid-tier quasi-Emperor strength! He probably wasn't much different from Yamato at twenty-eight in the original story.

As for me, without Tiger Soul, I should be at the upper end of Disaster-level strength. With my beloved blade, reaching the middle tier of Emperor Commander should not be a problem.

Of course, that only referred to head-on melee combat.

Roa casually snapped his right arm back into place, then took a deep breath.

Rolling black mist surged toward him, and his injuries began rapidly healing in an instant.

"Big Brother Kaido, prepare to witness a true natural disaster!"