185 Teach vs. Rediat (3)

Teach has located Rediat's position, but Rediat's purpose in hiding is not to conceal himself, but to attack.

In the shadows, Rediat moved faster and more fluidly, quickly moving behind Teach before Rediat emerging from the shadows.

A powerful claw lashed out at Teach, but Teach raised his arm and blocked the attack with a clang.

Immediately afterwards, Teach's right claw transformed into a fist, and with a powerful punch, he slammed it into the ground, creating a large crater.

The moment Teach's punch landed, Rediat's figure disappeared back into the shadows. However, this was not a misunderstanding. Teach had already noticed that when he punched the shadow, the shadow trembled, indicating that his punch had an effect, but it had to be accompanied by Haki.

Rediat possesses the power of shadows, carrying a Shadow Space within him that allows him to hide and store items.

At the same time, this Shadow Space can move under Rediat's control, moving rapidly across the ground at a speed faster than his original speed.

Furthermore, it can hide in the shadows, in the shadows of other things, whether inanimate or alive.

Teach could already imagine how incredibly difficult such stealth techniques and shadowy speed would become at night.

So far, Rediat has not shown any attack methods belonging to the shadows. It's impossible that it doesn't have them; as a dragon, breath attack is a standard skill.

However, Rediat's method of concealment might be very troublesome for ordinary people, and even impossible to defend against. But for Teach, with Teach superb Observation Haki, he had already located Rediat's position.

Once Rediat is hidden in the shadows, his aura becomes undetectable, Observation Haki ineffective against those Observation Haki.

However, the shadow of Rediat is always different in color from a real shadow, and the color of the shadow changes with the intensity of the light.

Based on this, Teach could easily find Rediat's trail, although it might take more effort.

Such Observation Haki is something that only Teach in the whole world can achieve. Of course, there may be others who can do it, such as Fujitora Issho, a strong commoner who destroyed his own eyes to possess super strong Observation Haki and used his heart to see the world.

However, Rediat cannot remain hidden in the shadows forever. If he wants to launch an attack, he must step out of the shadows at some point. At that time, he will be detected by those powerful individuals, who will then have to launch a surprise attack. However, very few powerful individuals can evade Rediat.

Rediat was well aware that his ability was only useful when moving, hiding, and dodging; he had already overheard some of Teach's thoughts.

Somewhat helplessly, at this moment, they had no choice but to engage in a full-scale battle with Teach.

The shadow on the ground rapidly approached Teach. Upon seeing this, Teach leaped up from the ground. He had already seen it; a light shone deep within Teach's pupils—a vision of the future.

The shadow plunged directly into Teach's shadow, and once that happened, if Rediat attacked from below, Teach would have no way to dodge.

From within the shadows, Rediat's figure burst forth, extending his dragon claws, with liquid-like Shadow Power clinging to Rediat.

This Shadow Power possesses a corrosive effect, which is extremely strange; it can even erode Haki.

However, it still couldn't erode Teach's Haki, because Teach's Haki was Haki than Rediat's.

What followed was a battle of physical prowess. Armament Haki, Observation Haki, Teach's sharp claws, and streamlined muscles expanded in an instant, revealing astonishing power within his body, which radiated heat.

However, compared to others, Rediat's ghostly and phantom-like figure, after utilizing the Shadow Power, made him even more lethal.

This was a head-on confrontation between two monsters. The battlefield at the very center expanded once again, the earth trembled, Teach's Devil Fruit claws, like lightning snakes, danced wildly, scraping against the air and unleashing scorching flames.

Rediat's Shadow Power and Teach's lightning and flames—although Rediat was stronger in terms of raw power, he was suppressed by Teach in terms of destructive force.

He quickly realized that the sharp light on Teach's claws was Sword Intent, granting Teach extremely strong cutting and penetrating power.

"What a monster!" Rediat thought to himself, "A monstrous physique, and a genius who combines swordsmanship with his physical skills."

Without eating Devil Fruit, his physique is only slightly inferior to his strongest form, despite having the boost from Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit.

However, he also understood the unique nature of Teach's physique, his innate inability to sleep, his powerful aptitude and vitality, and Teach's relentless training day and night had created such a young monster.

At this moment, Teach unleashed another claw strike that tore through the air. The cold glint of the Demon Claw, though useless against his scales, had already caused him some injury. The Sword Qi had directly entered his body, and the stinging pain had caused him some trouble.

However, he was not going to back down. He raised his hand to block the claw, but Teach's next punch was already coming, and the target was his head.

Instinctively ducking, he narrowly avoided the punch, then clenched his fist and delivered a powerful blow to Teach's abdomen.

Even though Teach had sensed the punch, he couldn't avoid it. Overwhelmed by his Haki, he took a small step back with his left foot.

At that moment, the punch arrived. The power of the Rediat monster made Teach's body tremble, and his left foot sank deeply into the mud. Teach withstood the punch.

Seizing the opportunity, the fist that Rediat had just dodged slammed down, without much time to gather power, but it was still powerful.

The punch landed hard on Rediat's head, but Rediat's head slammed down, and because his front legs braced him, he didn't fall.

"Ah!" Rediat roared, his body enveloped in Shadow Power, making him unrecognizable. With a sudden lunge, Rediat's head slammed directly into Teach's chest.

Caught off guard, Teach was sent flying backward, crashing into a tree and snapping it in two.

The moment Teach flew off, Rediat instantly transformed into a shadow, rushing towards Teach at an astonishing speed, even matching Teach's initial speed.

Teach's Observation Haki had already detected the impact, but it didn't cause him much damage. He used his legs to stomp on the air, forcibly stabilizing his body in mid-air.

Using the air, Teach twisted his body, his claws turning into fists, and threw a straight punch backward, his blood and energy surging like a pillar.

However, Rediat saw through Teach's actions and avoided the punch.

A powerful punch struck the air, producing a deafening roar. Immediately afterward, a massive, visible column of air was propelled out by Teach's punch.

With a loud boom, the entire ground was pierced diagonally by this column of air, as if it were about to penetrate the ground.

The next moment, Rediat seized the opportunity and swung a claw at Teach, imbued with the power of shadow.

Teach twisted his body forcefully in mid-air to Rediat's claw attack, and threw a punch.

The clash was fierce, with neither side gaining the upper hand; Teach gave Rediat no chance whatsoever.

They both landed, and the battle began again.

Night fell quickly, and Rediat's abilities were fully displayed, while some clouds gathered in the sky, obscuring the moonlight.

The entire battlefield seemed to have become Rediat's domain, as if he were the master of shadows.

Rediat's attacks became even more unpredictable, Teach's Observation Haki constantly monitored Rediat's movements, not giving him the slightest chance.

In the distance, Rediat was in the Shadow Space, but he could see what was happening outside. Teach was watching his direction warily.

"How about this?" Rediat couldn't help but smile, opening his mouth, "Dragon Breath!"

The Dragon Breath, containing immense Shadow Power, was exhaled directly from Rediat's mouth, shooting out suddenly from the shadows.

It was too late for Teach to dodge. He raised his arms and crossed them in front of him, but the terrifying Dragon Breath instantly enveloped his body.

The black Dragon Breath seemed to pierce through the entire forest; the shadowy Dragon Breath, like a giant energy cannon, had an attack range of up to a kilometer, visible even to the members of the Night Pirates from afar.

Teach's body took the brunt of the Dragon Breath head-on, and the terrifying impact sent him flying hundreds of meters. During this time, under the power of the Dragon Breath, Teach repeatedly used Geppo to change his position within the Dragon Breath. It was difficult, but he succeeded and finally broke free from the Dragon Breath's restraint.

As they quickly moved away from the Dragon Breath, they couldn't help but turn their heads. The Dragon Breath had cleared a path a kilometer long through the entire jungle.

Teach breathed a slight sigh of relief. With his Haki resistance, he wasn't seriously injured, but he was suffering greatly.

The shadows were everywhere, below Teach. Suddenly, a series of Shadow Blade shot out from the shadows, their target Teach.

However, such a thing couldn't cause Teach much harm. Having experienced the Dragon Breath before, Teach had become much more cautious.

At that moment, a claw appeared instantly behind Teach, but Teach had already realized that the shadow was not just a shadow; it contained the shadow, and the shadow could even be a space. So, at night, the entire battlefield became Rediat's domain.

Teach his Future Sight and retaliated with a swift claw strike.

In the darkness, the air suddenly exploded. Although it was night, the huge noise allowed the members of the Night Pirates to pinpoint the location of the battlefield.

"How long will this battle last?" a pirate asked. The battle had been going on from day to night, and it still wasn't over.

"Rediat's abilities have a significant advantage at night. The captain's counterattack should happen during the day. If you ask when it will end, I guess it will take another day or two." Lafitte looked in the direction of the battlefield, his eyes brightening as he observed the movements.

"Isn't this the same as saying nothing at all?" Nelson sighed.

"Luck tells me this battle will end in three days," Baccarat said earnestly, opening her eyes.

"Three days later? Looks like we'll be staying for several more days. But what were you calculating just now? Why are you taking so long?" Wallace asked, looking at Baccarat.

"Yes, something very important." Baccarat nodded. "I was just calculating who won this battle."

As soon as she finished speaking, all eyes turned to her. "You've already figured it out? Didn't you say it wouldn't work?" Nelson asked in surprise, his eyes wide.

"Well, since their luck was about the same, I couldn't tell, so I thought the outcome was evenly matched." Baccarat smiled. "But later I discovered that there was still a difference. Since luck is immeasurable, I spent a little more time on it."

"So what was the final result?"

"Haha! The captain will win by a narrow margin." Baccarat couldn't help but laugh as she said this.

At night, Teach mainly adopted a defensive stance, partly to conserve his energy. Fighting Rediat at night would put him at a significant disadvantage, regardless of the circumstances, and would also be much more taxing on him.

As daylight broke and the sky began to brighten, the shadows on the ground diminished considerably, and the eerie Shadow Space that had allowed Rediat to move freely no longer existed.

The release of power is not as unrestrained as it is at night.

So, it's time for Teach to strike back. Under the cover of night, Rediat is an assassin lurking in the shadows, and now the two are facing off again.

"Demon Claw - Eight-Headed Shadow Armor!"

Teach unleashed his ultimate move, bursting forth with incredible speed in an instant. Eight figures of Teach appeared around Rediat, but each one was a solid entity, merely afterimages created by Teach's incredible speed.

Sharp demonic claws blocked Rediat's escape route. Seeing this, Rediat knew he could only withstand the attack head-on. He emitted a strange Shadow Power, which enveloped Rediat body, creating a second layer of protection.

At the same time, Rediat saw through the secret of this move: absolute speed, shifting his body and changing his position to avoid Teach's two Claw Strike.

Immediately afterwards, six Claw Strike landed on Rediat's body simultaneously, shattering his shadow armor in an instant. Even so, this weakened the power of Teach's attack.

The attack landed on Rediat, splattering blood and leaving eight scratch marks.

The injury wasn't serious. Suddenly, Rediat's expression changed. All the afterimages around him vanished. So where did the real Teach go?