Ghost Sword Underworld Guidance

"Whirlwind Slash!"

The burly colonel had yet to land. He stretched out the twin swords in his hands and spun into the air. In an instant, a massive crescent-shaped slash came crashing down toward the deck.

Watching the incoming attack with a calm expression, Bai Ina unhurriedly drew Black Blade Dawn. His legs bent and coiled before he sprang forward with a sudden burst of strength...

Bang—

The air rippled faintly. Bai Ina's blade met the circular slash in an instant, and with a sharp crack, the attack shattered into countless fragments without holding out for even a moment.

The instant the slash broke apart, a pitch-black blade of energy shot skyward from Black Blade Dawn and struck the burly colonel. His expression changed as the attack hit. An immense force surged from his hands gripping the swords through his entire body, and he was driven back several meters as if struck by a heavy hammer. Only then did he manage an awkward somersault and land.

"Good. This is interesting. I'm Sa Kaiyang. What's your name?" Sa Kaiyang flexed his numb fingers, a savage grin still on his face, but his eyes were now filled with wariness.

Bai Ina merely glanced at him and held Dawn out before his chest, making no move to answer.

Sa Kaiyang frowned at this and tightened his grip on his swords. "Then I'll question you thoroughly after I catch you!"

Sa Kaiyang strode toward Bai Ina. As he drew closer, he stamped hard on the ground and shot forward, his twin swords striking at Bai Ina from an extremely tricky angle.

"Two-Sword Style: Tiger Hunt!"

Feeling the terrifying force of the blades about to reach him, Bai Ina's expression turned grave. The next moment, he used his remarkable flexibility to twist his body aside and retreat quickly, dodging Sa Kaiyang's slash.

In the very next instant, Bai Ina's terrifying flexibility let him shift his feet at an extremely odd angle. He appeared strangely at Sa Kaiyang's left side. Strength surged through his body as he raised Dawn in his right hand. A translucent, pitch-black sheen spread across the blade, emanating a chill as gloomy as the depths of the underworld. He swung it fiercely at Sa Kaiyang's neck.

"Iai Slash: Elegy of the Soul!"

The strange attack made Sa Kaiyang raise an eyebrow. His expression turned grave, but he wasn't too startled. He turned his right-hand sword upward while holding the left-hand sword horizontally behind it, forming a cross.

"Two-Sword Style: Ten Directions World."

"Clang!" The black sword clashed with the crossed swords, sending sparks flying. A tremendous force burst from the point of impact, hurling away every Marine and Revolutionary Army fighter battling nearby.

The Marines and Revolutionary Army fighters both twitched at the sight. After exchanging glances with their respective opponents, they continued fighting as they retreated, moving away from the two combatants...

The icy chill and sheer physical force made Sa Kaiyang shudder instinctively. The force transmitted through his crossed swords drove him back several steps before he finally managed to absorb it completely.

Compared with Sa Kaiyang's repeated retreats, Bai Ina looked far more composed. He took only a small half-step back before steadying himself.

"What a strong little guy!" Sa Kaiyang said, his gaze tinged with surprise as he shook his aching hand. A heavy pressure rose around him. Then he closed his eyes, and an aura Bai Ina had seen before began to emanate from him.

Little guy?

Bai Ina's face darkened beneath his mask. But when he sensed the aura coming from Sa Kaiyang, his expression grew serious. He had encountered this aura before. Though it was much weaker than the one he had once experienced, there was no doubt—it was Armament Haki.

Having suffered greatly against Armament Haki in the past, Bai Ina didn't dare underestimate it. His body tensed instinctively, and an icy chill spread around him.

The fighters on both sides of the deck shivered instinctively. They glanced at the two in the middle of the deck, their faces full of apprehension. In the end, they stopped fighting and withdrew to opposite sides. After moving far away from the battlefield, they came to a halt...

They had realized that fighting near these two monsters was even more dangerous than fighting each other. The outcome would ultimately be decided by the two of them, so there was no point in continuing their own battle. They were better off staying far away to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Bai Ina fixed Sa Kaiyang with a dark stare. A growing tension crept into his heart, especially when he suddenly sensed the energy around them surging more and more violently. The tension showed plainly on his face.

"This is my strongest technique. Let's see if you can take it." Sa Kaiyang spoke coldly and abruptly raised his twin swords. A faint layer of Armament Haki appeared over them.

"Two-Sword Style: Elysium!"

As Sa Kaiyang's shout rang out, the air began to ripple. He shot forward, visible waves forming around him, as if his fierce force were tearing the surrounding air apart.

Bai Ina's expression turned utterly grave. His physical strength surged, then poured entirely into Black Blade Dawn in his hands. As the power flooded into it, the blade's sinister chill grew colder and colder. Dark, ghostly energy appeared across its surface, forming clusters of black mist that resembled skulls and swirled along the blade.

"Great Shock: Ghost Sword Underworld Guidance!"

The moment his low shout fell, Dawn, now a dull gray, swept through the air with an extreme chill and slashed horizontally at Sa Kaiyang as he charged toward him.

From a distance, the space along the black blade's path seemed to twist, as if the skull-like black mist on its surface were gnawing at it.

Like a black hole, the slash arrived in a flash. The watching Marines and Revolutionary Army fighters had no time to see what happened when the two collided. A thunderous boom suddenly exploded across the warship.

BOOM!

As the thunderous sound faded, shattered pieces of the deck sprayed into the air where the two had clashed. A figure abruptly flew backward through the debris, his feet digging hard into the deck.

After retreating more than ten meters, he crashed heavily into the cabin. It burst apart with a roar, and only then did the figure finally come to a stop. He staggered and fell to the ground. When everyone saw him, the Marines all sucked in a breath. The figure who had been sent flying so miserably was none other than Marine Colonel Sa Kaiyang!

The Marines stared at Sa Kaiyang, whose face was deathly pale and whose mouth was streaked with blood, and swallowed hard. Then, along with the Revolutionary Army on the opposite side, they turned their eyes toward the spot where the debris had burst outward. Cracks spread from it and only gradually stopped after extending several meters. At their center, the deck had a massive hole more than a meter wide.

Bai Ina stood at the edge of the hole, breathing unevenly, his face slightly pale...