The Sky Was a Casualty of the Clash Between the Strong

The reef shore Rocks spoke of was not particularly close to Beehive Island, but it was not hard to find.

Following the direction Rocks pointed out, Nereus quickly spotted the reef shore exposed by the receding tide from midair and arrived there ahead of him.

Hovering and flying were vastly different. Though Rocks could remain airborne, it was not true flight, and his speed could not match Nereus's.

On all of Beehive Island, only Shiki, wielder of the Float-Float Fruit, could barely keep up with Nereus's nimble movements in aerial combat.

"I won't hold back, Nereus!"

Rocks, who had followed close behind, had already drawn the long blade hanging at his waist. His terrifying Conqueror's Haki coiled around its sharp edge as though it were tangible.

They called it a contest and a spar, but to outsiders, it looked plainly as though they were trying to kill each other.

An incomparably broad slash, wrapped in overwhelmingly dense Haki, cleaved viciously toward Nereus.

As the slash tore forward at high speed, the surrounding air seemed to be ripped apart by force. Even the calm sea below was split open by the violent aftermath, leaving a massive gash like an abyss.

Faced with such a horrifying attack, Nereus neither dodged nor evaded. He allowed the fierce slash to pass through his body and churn the sea behind him into chaos.

The gruesome wound nearly split Nereus in two, yet Rocks showed no regret. Instead, he looked as though he had long grown used to it.

The next moment, the horrifying wound healed at an astonishing speed, as if nothing had happened.

"Wororororo! That regeneration is still as terrifying as ever. You didn't earn the nickname of undead creature for nothing.

"I've seen the Devil Fruit encyclopedia. Throughout all of history, you're the only one who has developed that fruit to this extent."

The Bat-Bat Fruit, Mythical Model: Vampire—a Devil Fruit from Sleepy Town, and the Devil Fruit of Red Earl Redfield in the game's storyline.

As a Mythical Zoan, its abilities extended beyond enhancing physical attributes. It could drain lifespan and restore youth, but those were only part of its powers.

That terrifying regenerative ability was another part of it.

A Logia's elemental transformation allowed its user to evade attacks by turning their body into an element. If an attack could harm the physical body, however, the wound would still remain.

But Mythical Zoans were different. Nereus's ability was somewhat similar to Marco's Phoenix Fruit. Without Haki, one could not harm his body, and even damage caused by Haki could be healed through his power.

"Xebec, if this is what you meant by wanting to see me go all out, then I'm rather disappointed."

Nereus did not respond to Rocks's praise.

Under the effect of his Fruit power, his hands had become slender, and his nails were sharp as blades.

The wings on his back had grown broader, while the muscles all over his body appeared even more developed and full.

In Redfield's hands, the wings produced by Vampire's hybrid form were membranes connected to both arms.

But for Nereus, they were independent wings. Zoan transformations naturally possessed unique variations and could even be affected by drugs. This change was the result of Nereus's own control over the Fruit.

Nereus had never been in the habit of using weapons. His hands were the weapons he used best.

At that moment, he brought one hand together into a palm. A burst of Conqueror's Haki, in no way inferior to Rocks's and seemingly even more condensed and focused, instantly wrapped around his sharp fingertips.

"Hell Stab."

Nereus's body seemed to transform into an indestructible spear in an instant, shooting fiercely toward Rocks at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Clang!

Faced with Nereus's fierce assault, Rocks reacted swiftly and held his blade horizontally before himself.

With the hard blade covered in Armament Haki and coated in Conqueror's Haki, he firmly blocked Nereus's vicious thrust.

"Don't hit my face, bastard! I don't have your regeneration. What if it leaves a scar?!"

Blocking with a weapon already showed how seriously Rocks was taking him.

For most people who had merely awakened Conqueror's Haki, this power could usually only be used to intimidate others with one's presence or clear out a few weaklings.

However, for top-tier powerhouses like them, who had grasped the advanced applications of Conqueror's Haki and knew how to coat themselves with it, Conqueror's Haki could become both spear and shield.

If an opponent's Haki was not strong enough to contend with it, they could not even break through the invisible defensive barrier formed by Conqueror's Haki.

Even if Rocks simply stood still, enemies lacking sufficient strength could forget about inflicting any meaningful damage on him.

Across this vast sea, there were only a handful of powerhouses capable of this. Nereus and Harald were undoubtedly among the best of them.

"Didn't you block it?"

"True enough. Then next... I'll get serious! Abyssal Curse!"

Before his words had even faded, Rocks sharply twisted his wrist and used a clever force to knock aside Nereus's thrust. Immediately afterward came a heavy downward chop, his blade howling as it slashed forward.

Nereus's body abruptly transformed into a cloud of crimson mist, vanishing from where he stood before reforming some distance away.

He twisted at the waist. Though he wielded no actual weapon, his arm came down like the sharpest blade, slicing fiercely through the air.

"New Moon!"

Boom!

Rocks changed his downward strike midway, turning it into a swift horizontal slash.

Their blade and hand blade did not collide directly. When they were still several feet apart, the immense Haki spilling from their bodies had already begun a violent clash through the air.

The thick clouds in the sky were forcibly torn apart by that invisible force, while the seawater beneath them crazily receded into the distance, forming an enormous depression.

Countless schools of fish swimming in the sea and seabirds flying through the air instantly fell unconscious under the violent collision of those two supreme Conqueror's Hakis, only to be mercilessly hurled far away by the powerful shockwaves that spilled outward.

The reefs beneath their feet crumbled under the impact, splitting with crack after crack. Even on Beehive Island, one could feel that terrifying presence.

At Nereus's camp, his subordinates looked toward the sea with no concern in their eyes, only admiration.

"Has Boss gotten stronger again?"

"Isn't that obvious? That's exactly why he's our leader!"

Meanwhile, the boy from the tavern who had wanted to witness the bearing of the strong had just reached the shore. The torn sky seemed to be telling him what true strength was.