The ground within a ten-meter radius exploded. After leaving a smoky crater behind, Chaos vanished from where he stood. Ox charged out at the same time. From high above, the two looked like streaks of light as they crossed a hundred meters in the blink of an eye, colliding with enough force to shake the earth.
Chaos's hands were covered in jet-black Armament Haki. Steam billowed around Ox, whose body was also coated in Armament Haki.
Their elbows slammed together as they faced each other at point-blank range.
Almost at the same moment, Chaos and Ox swung their left fists. The air around them seemed to surge, and a shock wave erupted as their hair whipped wildly. Patches of ground all around them buckled and flew up.
Their punches were like missiles colliding. The shattered crater beneath their feet kept expanding.
"Finger Gun!"
"Finger Gun!"
Their Armament Haki-coated fingers met. Both were flung apart, then shot skyward and collided in midair a moment later. Ripples surged around them. The thick red trees couldn't withstand the force; they snapped and toppled all around.
"This is getting more and more interesting."
Their jet-black knees collided. Chaos laughed wildly.
His eyes, so arrogant they seemed to look down on the world, were filled with excitement and mockery.
Ox, by contrast, was unusually serious, his face full of tension.
This Gild Tesoro could use the Six Powers!
Bang! Bang!
Rumble!
The two vanished from the sky and reappeared twenty meters above the ground. Their elbows collided, and they shot along the ground, setting off explosions and billowing smoke everywhere they went. When they came into view again, Chaos had landed an uppercut on Ox's chin. Ox's head snapped back, and he spat blood.
But Chaos had also taken a left hook. His body lurched to the left, and he spat blood as a crater, more than fifty meters across, spiderwebbed beneath him.
Time seemed to slow the battle.
Chaos braced his left hand against the ground, his body tilted as both legs fired out like cannonballs.
Ox reacted quickly, too. He drove an elbow down while leaning back and swinging his right leg, kicking up a mass of dirt and rubble toward Chaos's chest.
Facing that counterattack, Chaos could only block with his right hand.
The impact erupted with tremendous force. Chaos was sent flying, tumbling along the ground and carving out a huge furrow. He planted both hands in succession and flipped backward, then drove his feet into the earth to bleed off the force.
Ox shot into the sky. As blood droplets scattered around him, he used Geppo to steady himself.
One high, one low, they faced each other. Chaos wore a manic grin, spat the blood in his mouth to the side, then stepped forward and bent slightly. The ground shook and shattered beneath him as he launched himself straight at Ox.
"Tempest Kick."
Ox swiftly kicked twice, sending out crescent-shaped Slash attacks more than twenty meters long. They crossed into an X, one ahead of the other, and dived forward. At the same time, Ox vanished from the sky.
The air around them exploded. Chaos shifted aside again and again to dodge, but Ox appeared right then, bringing down a powerful kick.
Chaos seemed to have anticipated it. He vanished a step ahead of time and reappeared behind Ox, sweeping out with a kick of his own.
But it missed.
His kick struck only Ox's afterimage.
The air behind him boomed. Chaos's lips curled into an arrogant smile.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Afterimages followed one another across the sky. Every attack struck only the other's afterimage. Their Observation Haki and Shave were pushed to the limit: predicting each other's moves, dodging in advance, and counterattacking in an instant.
This silent contest was the most thrilling and dangerous of all.
"What incredible speed!"
"I can't keep up at all."
"So this is a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral?"
"The Golden Emperor's close-combat skills are incredible!"
Everyone watching looked up at the explosions constantly appearing in the sky. Most could only catch a glimpse of the vanishing afterimages. Only the more powerful pirates could make out a few details.
"The Golden Emperor's so arrogant. He's not using his powers at all—he's fighting Ox with just physical skills. Does he think he can beat him that way?"
Many pirates looked up at Goddess of the Heavens. Dragon Horn Jax's death had made it clear to them that she wasn't just a decoration.
"I admit the Golden Emperor's powerful, but there's no way he can beat Ox in hand-to-hand combat. The Six Powers are famous throughout the Navy, and Ox isn't an ordinary Marine Vice Admiral."
"That's not necessarily true. Didn't you see that the Golden Emperor can use the Six Powers, too?"
"That's what makes this so terrifying."
The pirates' exclamations and speculation didn't affect the battle.
Whoosh!
Rumble!
At that moment, thirty meters in the air, Chaos clasped his hands together and slammed them down. Jax raised both arms to block above his head, but a massive explosion sent him plummeting straight down. A small mushroom cloud rose as violent winds swept up dirt and rubble in a vast, churning wave.
Chaos panted in midair, then kicked twice in succession, releasing Tempest Kicks that sliced through the dust cloud obscuring the sky. Ox stood in the crater, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Steam swirled around him as he stared coldly at Chaos.
Meteorite Hits Earth. Another ring-shaped shock wave burst out.
Afterimages collided in a dazzling blur. Every strike was as powerful as a missile exploding.
"Pfft!"
Chaos shot away, snapping one red tree after another before crashing down at an angle in the town and tumbling onward. A whole swath of buildings exploded and became ruins.
Screams and cries of pain rang out all around.
Ox chased him into the thick smoke, but in the next instant, a huge hand seized his ankle. His balance was thrown off, and he was lifted into the air, then slammed into the ground, sending out a shock wave that swept away the dust around them.
Even though Ox had hurriedly covered his head with both arms and coated them in Armament Haki, he still couldn't help spitting blood.
Bang! Bang!
Chaos's mouth was bloody as he sneered, gripping Ox's ankle and smashing him against the ground again and again. The broken walls and rubble all around them flew through the air like bullets.
Ox's face was covered in blood. He could no longer worry about defending himself, so he twisted his body and swept his right leg toward Chaos's head.
At the crucial moment, Chaos dodged, but that gave Ox an opening.
"Rokushiki Secret Art: Finger Gun Barrage."
Ox's face twisted with fury. He clasped his hands together, coating them in Armament Haki. The veins and tendons bulging along his hands writhed like little snakes, and all ten fingers gleamed like spearpoints, cold and sharp.
Chaos didn't panic. He even looked contemptuous.
His chest swelled, then quickly turned to gold. Armament Haki spread over it, forming a black-and-gold surface. At the same time, he used Iron Body, layering his defenses with Armament Haki, Goldenization, and Iron Body.
He was confident he could withstand Ox's attack.
He clenched his right fist and swung at Ox, too.
"Iron Body."
Ox didn't change his attack in response to Chaos's counter. He used Iron Body and Armament Haki to defend himself as well.
They were going to meet force with force. It would come down to whose defense was stronger and whose attack hit harder!
Bang!
The impact rang out like the clash of heavy metal. Both attacks struck their targets at the same time. Chaos showed the slightest hint of pain, but Ox's whole face twisted.
He jerked his head aside and spat blood in a spray, shooting away like a streak of light with a sonic boom.
Chaos gritted his teeth, his feet sunk deep into the earth. He held his black-and-gold chest firm and endured the blow.
The difference in their defenses was clear. Ox had only Iron Body and Armament Haki, while Chaos had Iron Body, Armament Haki, and Goldenization.
Whoosh!
A fan-shaped shock wave burst out behind him. Chaos shot after Ox and caught up, driving a kick deep into his abdomen. He spun swiftly into a roundhouse kick, then, before Ox could fly off, grabbed him by the hair and smashed a knee into his face. The sound of cracking bones rang out again and again. Chaos then flipped upside down and brought one leg down on him.
The ground caved in for hundreds of meters, and huge shock waves continued to spread.
But Chaos's barrage of attacks had only just begun...
Before you continue