Huajao's Armament Haki

The massive force of over a thousand men quickly closed in, sealing off the courtyard so tightly that not even water could pass through. From afar, Capone Bege saw them as a dark swarm of ants.

"These are the elite of the Eight Treasures Navy. They're not as easy to deal with as Buffett's Mafia. Perfect—I'll get to see exactly how you tore through the defenses I set up in such a short time!"

Huajao frowned deeply, his lips parting slightly as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he held himself back.

Though he was unwilling to admit it, he knew full well that he was no match for that man. Fighting without being able to meet his opponent's eyes would only put him in constant danger. If he still refused Langya's goodwill at a time like this, that would not be stubbornness—it would be suicide.

Huajao took a deep breath, and the power hidden within him burst forth. A jet-black sheen crept over the Naginata in his hand, making it resemble iron armor glinting with a cold light beneath the sun.

"Armament Haki?" Apophis spoke indifferently. Though he was somewhat surprised that his opponent possessed Armament Haki, that was all. If his opponent had Observation Haki, this battle might have been worth watching. But Armament Haki?

An attack coated in Armament Haki was certainly powerful, but it still had to hit him first. As for its defensive properties, if Huajao thought his meager Armament Haki could block the Seven Star Sword's attacks, he would soon get a taste of Langya's suffering.

"You know about Armament Haki? Looks like you're not as ignorant as the others in Paradise." As Huajao spoke, he swung his Naginata down, its fierce force howling through the air.

Apophis raised his sword and held it horizontally before him, directly blocking the heavy blow. No matter how much Huajao increased his strength, he remained immovable, like a reef standing firm amid the sea.

The demon sword and Naginata crossed in an X in midair, locked in a stalemate. Huajao simply abandoned the idea of overpowering him with brute force. His right leg shot out, sweeping through the air like the leg of a compass.

"Cone Nail · Martial Toe!"

His right leg, wrapped in a black metallic sheen, swept horizontally, sending ripples through the air. Those were shockwaves unleashed by Hasshoken.

As though he had foreseen his opponent's actions long ago, Apophis sprang backward into the air the instant Huajao raised his right leg. He swung his sword backhandedly, and his strength, amplified to its limit, suddenly crashed down upon the Naginata's blade.

Huajao, already unsteady from standing on one leg, could no longer hold on. Like a nail hammered into the ground, his entire body sank into the earth.

Apophis fell from the air, his sword tip aimed directly at Huajao's brow, as though he intended to split him in two from above.

With his lower body unable to pull free from the ground in time, Huajao could only meet the attack head-on. Veins bulged across his arms as incomparable strength drove the Naginata upward in a fierce slash.

The dark green sword tip collided violently with the black blade. It was as if thunder had exploded beside their ears, rupturing the eardrums of nearby pirates and causing blood to seep from their features.

Then Apophis was sent flying by the residual force, while Huajao was blasted completely underground. The shockwave from their clash erupted at the same time.

Boom!

The ground exploded, dust filling the sky as shattered stones flew everywhere.

The fragments, shooting as fast as bullets, inflicted severe casualties on the gathered pirates before they could even organize an effective offensive.

"Move away from the center of the battlefield immediately! Fire from a distance!"

Countless bullets poured down like rain, making even Apophis, who had been preparing to press the attack, feel somewhat troubled.

Under the perception of Observation Haki, ordinary gunfire could not even touch the hem of his clothes. But if the firepower became too dense, then even if he could sense every bullet's trajectory, there would not be enough room for him to dodge.

"Even ants become annoying in large numbers. Looks like I should clear the field first!"

As Apophis's indifferent voice fell, he appeared within the pirates' ranks as though he had teleported. Crimson slashes capable of cutting steel descended upon them, turning the surrounding area into a slaughterhouse within moments.

"Damn it, he's too fast! Without the boss holding him back, we can't even aim at him!"

"I'll pull the pin on a grenade and take him down with me!"

"Don't be afraid! There are thousands of us here! We can wear him down eventually!"

Amid the chaotic battlefield, no one noticed that the blood flowing across the ground was converging toward Apophis. Like a vortex devouring flesh and blood, it poured into his body, while scarlet blood mist began to seep from the Seven Star Sword's eerie, sinister patterns.

Under the cover of the scarlet blood mist, the violence and brutality lurking within every pirate's heart were magnified without limit.

"Why are you looking down your nose at me? Are you looking down on me? I'll kill you!"

"Don't kill me, don't come closer... Ah! I told you not to kill me, so why are you still coming over? I'll stab you to death! Stab you to death! Stab you to death!"

Every pirate raised a butcher's blade at the people beside them. Savage smiles and twisted terror filled the scene as the gates of hell opened here.

"How could this happen? How could this happen?" Huajao burst from the rubble, staring at everything before him in disbelief. Only a few seconds had passed, so why had the outside world changed so completely? "Apophis, what did you do to them?"

"Doing it myself would be too troublesome." Perhaps pleased by the blood, Apophis calmly explained the reason to him.

Of course, that explanation only made Huajao even more enraged.

"Bastard, stop it!" Huajao wrapped the shockwaves of Hasshoken and the power of Armament Haki around his right fist. Even the surrounding space rippled with waves. "Hasshoken Secret Technique, Cone Dragon · Cone Nail!"

"Now this is getting a little interesting. Crimson · Crescent." Apophis raised the Seven Star Sword and pointed it at him. The drifting blood mist continuously gathered around the blade, forming a blood-red coating along its edge. It looked incomparably sinister and sent chills through the heart.

A right fist gleaming with black metallic luster collided violently with a Long Sword whose dark green flames were reflected amid crimson blood mist.

The explosive force traveled through the sword and right hand into their bodies, then passed into the ground beneath their feet.

The earth, already cracked and shattered, collapsed completely. More than half of it seemed to evaporate into nothingness, while the ground that had suddenly sunk several meters became harder than iron—it was the result of the soil being compressed to its limit by terrifying force.

The roaring blast wave swept outward like a gale, lifting the scattered dirt into the air and sending down a fresh, natural rain of mud.

Their stalemate did not last long. Huajao, unable to sustain his strength, was violently flung away, bouncing and falling across the ground like a ball.

At last, he crashed heavily onto the ground, sending dust soaring into the sky.