Previously, Dawn's Conqueror's Haki had been more calm and unshakable, seeming somewhat restrained compared to other wielders of Conqueror's Haki.
When his Conqueror's Haki resonated against Golden Lion's, Dawn could clearly sense the arrogance and ambition to conquer the world contained within that old lion's Haki.
Although Dawn's Conqueror's Haki was no weaker than his opponent's, it lacked a trace of sharpness by comparison.
It carried a contradiction within it: unwilling to bow his head, yet still maintaining humility. It was more like an attitude of, "If no one offends me, I won't offend them."
But now, some of that composure had faded, replaced by a greater tyranny that truly belonged to an emperor!
He was like a sovereign whose word was law, ruling the world with overwhelming aggression!
Dawn even believed that if he clashed with Golden Lion in Conqueror's Haki again, he would crush him utterly!
This transformation of his Conqueror's Haki had brought a qualitative change. Though subtle, Dawn could genuinely sense that it could be controlled.
Not in the sense of a mental assault, but as though it could be added to an attack like Armament Haki!
That reminded Dawn of many well-founded speculations from his previous life: the highest level of Conqueror's Haki could add damage to attacks, and Red-Hair had relied on this to rise to the rank of one of the Four Emperors!
The theory was reasonable. After all, when Luffy and Katakuri's Conqueror's Haki collided, it not only damaged the ground, but Black Lightning also appeared where their Haki clashed.
And among the Four Emperors, Red-Hair was the only "normal" one.
That "normal" encompassed many things. For example, he did not possess an enormous body, and he was the only one among the Four Emperors who was not a Devil Fruit user.