An elbow and a knee collided, and a powerful shockwave kicked up the ground.
The two sides pulled apart.
"What did you do to me?"
Axos checked himself. Nothing was missing.
That only made him more uneasy.
His sense of dread grew worse by the moment.
"Be careful from now on!"
Baccarat held a cloudlike mass in her right hand. It writhed and twisted in a constant struggle, but little by little, it was absorbed into her slender fingers.
It was Axos's luck for the day.
She had stolen it from him.
Baccarat gave him a playful wink with her right eye.
She was stunning and charming, yet mischievous, without the slightest hint of contradiction.
Axos's face darkened. His legs compressed into springs, then launched him forward. His right arm compressed as well, covered in Armament Haki. Whatever the problem was, all he had to do was take this woman out.
Faced with Axos charging at her, Baccarat remained calm.
She held a dagger in her hand, smiling as she waited.
Almost without warning, a bolt of dry lightning struck down from the star-speckled sky, hitting Axos squarely.
Under normal circumstances, a little lightning like that wouldn't affect him at all.
But it had come out of nowhere.
With a metallic clang, Axos was forced to halt his charge. His right foot hit the ground, but somehow, there was a hole there, and his foot landed right in it.
If he'd been an ordinary person, his right foot would have broken, and he'd have fallen flat on his face.
Fortunately, Axos was a Spring-Spring Fruit user, with springs all over his body.
So his right foot was fine. Even as he fell face-first, he reacted quickly, bracing himself with one hand and forcing himself out of that disadvantageous position, turning