"Devil Fruit user?"
Hearing those words suddenly come from Golden Lion Shiki's mouth, Tsugikuni Yoriichi was somewhat bewildered. He had no idea what he had done to give Golden Lion the impression that he was a Devil Fruit user.
However, Yoriichi did not dwell on it, because just as Golden Lion Shiki blocked his attack, he suddenly noticed someone rapidly closing in on him.
A faint distortion inexplicably appeared in the air. From the empty space beside Yoriichi, a dagger suddenly emerged and stabbed straight at his lower abdomen.
"Heh! Here at last!"
Golden Lion Shiki held Yoriichi's long sword at bay with his twin blades. Noticing the sudden attack aimed at Yoriichi, a brilliant smile appeared on his face.
"Hm?!" As the dagger came down swiftly, Yoriichi merely glanced to the side and stomped sharply on the air.
He used Geppo.
Yoriichi shot upward through the air, instantly evading the attack. After opening some distance, he swung his blade backhandedly at that patch of "empty space."
Buzz—
Conqueror's Haki surged forth, and a black blade arc slashed directly at that empty space. At that moment, a miserable scream suddenly rang out from the "void," and a small, thin figure appeared from within that space before plummeting rapidly toward the ground.
"What?!"
Seeing this, Golden Lion Shiki's heart clenched, and he could not help letting out a low cry.
The one who had attacked Yoriichi was the Invisible Man, Horace Dean, the Mist Assassin with a bounty of 420 million Beli, who had eaten the Paramecia Transparent Fruit.
When Horace Dean activated the Transparent Fruit's power, both he and every object he touched could become transparent. Even light could pass straight through them.
Ordinary people simply could not detect Horace Dean's whereabouts. Even Observation Haki had difficulty catching him.
Although