Minos vs. Lao G

Leaving aside Talon, who was playing a game of whack-a-mole over there and being driven into the sky with no way out and into the ground with no way in by Pica.

Minos focused all his attention on Diamante. Though Diamante was far weaker than Pica, he was still one of Doflamingo's top officers. His combat strength could not be underestimated.

Diamante was the user of the Jozu Fruit. Its power allowed him to turn hard objects into material as pliable as cloth without losing their original strength.

In other words, the clothes he wore and the hat on his head were almost entirely made of tough steel. It was like wearing a thick suit of iron armor all over his body, but with only the burden of cloth armor.

Furthermore, in battle, he could use the Jozu Fruit to shift the materials on his body between hardness and softness, making his fighting style exceptionally bizarre.

"A brat with Three Eyes?" Lao G drew his longsword and spoke with a grin. "You're a swordsman too? Then I can have some fun with you!"

Minos's face turned grave. Without another word, he flashed forward, moving so fast that he nearly left an afterimage behind as he thrust his sword straight at Diamante's eye.

Lao G was greatly startled. He rolled clumsily across the ground and barely avoided the attack, though a bloody gash was still left on his face.

"So fast. I didn't even have time to activate my Devil Fruit power. My Observation Haki didn't sense anything at all—I was completely crushed by this brat's Observation Haki..."

Observation Haki could interfere with itself between opponents. At such times, it depended on whose Observation Haki was more refined and capable of "seeing" farther.

Clearly, with his Evil Eye and Path of Utmost Sincerity granting him foresight, Minos completely overwhelmed Diamante in Observation Haki.

Because of his Devil Fruit power, Diamante had never achieved much in Armament Haki. As a result, once he failed to soften his steel defenses, his body could be injured with ease.

Still, he was a veteran who had fought countless battles. He casually slapped the ground, and the earth immediately fluttered up. He yanked it like a carpet, trying to disrupt Minos's balance.

This was one of Diamante's great finishing moves, Army Flag!

However, Minos's reflexes were incredibly fast. The instant Diamante activated his Devil Fruit power, he vanished in a flash, escaping Army Flag's range. Then, like a shadow, he traced a semicircle and stabbed at the man's throat again.

"Bullfight Cape!" This time, the prepared Diamante finally reacted. He tugged at the enormous cape behind him. Light as a flag and tough as steel, it finally blocked Minos's attack.

"Your Armament Haki is mediocre... It was only just awakened, and you can't even coat your sword with it?"

Seeing that Minos's attack had done no damage to his cape, Diamante finally let out a breath of relief. With a sweep of his cape, the longsword in his hand shot forward with a howl.

"Sword—Snake Sword!" Under the Jozu Fruit's power, the tough, sharp longsword moved like a snake, launching unpredictable and irregular attacks at Minos.

Even Lao G himself could not control this kind of attack, making it even harder for Minos's Observation Haki to read. Frowning, Minos could only rely on his greater speed to retreat.

"Half Moon Funeral!"

Seeing this, Lao G slashed out with his sword. A crescent-shaped Sword Qi swept forth, but such a straightforward attack posed no threat to Minos. He lightly shifted aside and dodged it.

"What a troublesome opponent!" Minos sighed with a frown. To be honest, Lao G did not count as a powerful enemy. Whether it was his Armament Haki or Observation Haki, both were utterly abysmal.

He had developed the Jozu Fruit fairly well, but constrained by the Devil Fruit's innate limitations, even pushing it to the limit would only amount to so much.

The only thing remotely decent about him was his swordsmanship, but even that could not be called especially impressive.

Yet even with such unimpressive swordsmanship combined with a Devil Fruit power that was not particularly strong, Minos had little confidence that he could defeat him.

His own raw strength was not that great either. Aside from his exceptional Observation Haki and speed that surpassed Lao G's by quite a bit, Minos's other abilities were all ordinary.

"No choice. If this keeps up, it'll never end."

Relying on the defense of his steel equipment, Lao G could easily block Minos's swift sword strikes. And relying on his own speed, Minos could avoid Lao G's bizarre attacks. If they kept dragging this out, it would only be a waste of time.

Both of them, without prior agreement, had the idea of winning through surprise. Lao G casually pulled out several party poppers. "Death Stardust!"

The party poppers sprayed countless scraps of paper into the sky. The fluttering paper scraps reverted into sharp thorned iron balls high above, then descended as an impenetrable rain of iron.

"I've covered every possible target. Let's see how you dodge this?!"

Minos lowered his body, sheathed his sword, and held it at his waist with one hand tightly gripping the hilt.

"If I can't dodge, then I won't. We'll settle this in one move!"

"Draw—Slash!"

A bright silver arc flashed through the air, slicing toward Lao G.

Perhaps influenced by a certain cleaver-wielding girl, Minos's swordsmanship in other areas could only be considered conventional. After all, he had trained for only a year.

Only in the art of drawing the sword did Minos's skill greatly exceed his average level of swordsmanship. It was also one of his killing moves.

"How laughable! With an attack like that?" Lao G sneered inwardly. So what if Minos's drawing technique was excellent?

Put simply, sword-drawing techniques were best suited for opening attacks or ambushes. Once both sides had already fought to a fever pitch, their power was greatly reduced.

Even so, Lao G remained fully focused on Minos. Then Minos slightly raised his head, and his Third Eye suddenly emitted an eerie light.

Under the gaze of that strange Third Eye, Lao G felt himself grow faintly dizzy for an instant. When he recovered, he felt a chill in his chest, followed by intense pain!

"Uwaah!" Lao G suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Minos was already standing before him, his longsword returned to its sheath.

"What... happened just now?" Lao G clutched the enormous wound that had nearly gutted him, his eyes still carrying a trace of confusion.

Minos was no villain, so naturally he would not explain that he had just used the Evil Eye to interfere with him. The Evil Eye itself possessed hypnotic power. Hiei could use it to control ordinary humans and some weak Yokai. With Minos's strength, he certainly could not hypnotize Lao G, but making him lose focus for an instant was effortless.

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