Rona felt as though she had been deceived.
It was no secret among the Navy's higher-ups that White Wolf Magnus did not possess Conqueror's Haki. After all, they crossed paths from time to time, and they had practically figured out everything about Magnus, down to his underwear.
Yet after five years apart, she was suddenly told that Magnus actually had Conqueror's Haki!?
"Puhahaha! Even a little girl like you has Conqueror's Haki, so what's so strange about an old man like me having it?"
The sword wound Rona had carved into the giant wolf Magnus had transformed into was already scabbing over. With the Zoan Fruit that possessed the greatest recovery speed—one of the Mythical Zoans, no less—and freed from the debuffs of old age, that terrifying healing ability was now fully on display.
Tough enough to take a beating, and quick to recover.
That was the power of a Zoan Fruit!
Compared to bizarre Paramecia Fruits or Logia Fruits that turned their users into natural phenomena, only the power of Zoan Fruits was best suited for physical combatants.
"Hmph, I suppose so."
Unexpectedly, the red-haired female Marine did not dwell on the matter. She had long since discarded her white coat of justice, tying her blazing red hair into a ponytail behind her.
"If even you, someone who doesn't give the World Government a second thought, lacked Conqueror's Haki, then I really couldn't imagine who else would be qualified to possess it."
Rona smiled. Learning that Magnus possessed Conqueror's Haki seemed, instead, to be something that made her happy.
"So, old man, don't die. Just like before."
"Do your best to survive."
"Then run away!"
At that moment, though Rona stood right in front of him, Magnus felt as if she had vanished.
The next second.
Whoosh------
A blade flash so fast it reached the absolute limit. The crimson streak shot forward like a venomous snake springing up to bite its enemy. Even with Magnus's reaction speed, he could only see a red gleam flash before his eyes.
His Observation Haki had seen it.
But his body could not react in time.
Sshk--
A wound deep enough to expose bone slashed from his left shoulder all the way to his waist. Had he not shifted his body at the critical moment—
That strike might have taken his head.
The aura around Rona had changed.
If she had previously fought with the sole intention of capturing Magnus, then now, she had completely regarded him as an opponent on her own level.
The same level.
Whoever held back would die!
Had Magnus already reached the level of an Emperor?
Magnus did not know.
But he knew that his strategy of stalling for time to wear Rona down could not succeed.
That was right, his speed was faster than Rona's.
But Rona did not need to catch up to his speed. She only needed her blade to catch up to Magnus.
So what if he could interfere with Observation Haki?
As long as an attack was launched, it would leave a trail. And as long as it left a trail, it could be pursued.
That was Observation Haki.
The mind's eye of a swordsman!
Rona's meaning was clear.
Either fight her with everything he had, or tuck his tail between his legs and flee in disgrace!
"You little brat, you've gotten good!"
The giant wolf on all fours began to rise onto two legs, shifting into an upright form. Though his face still bore the features of a white wolf, Magnus had completely changed out of his beast form.
He had returned to his human-beast form.
The long blade in his mouth fell back into his hand, and Magnus's eyes brimmed with murderous intent.
If she wanted a fight, then he would fight!
Even Rona, a swordswoman without Devil Fruit powers, dared to face him head-on. How could he, a man who had eaten a Mythical Zoan, possibly retreat?
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
Black-red lightning rapidly climbed upward as their Conqueror's Haki clashed once more.
At first, Magnus's had seemed somewhat weak.
But at this very moment, Magnus's Conqueror's Haki was no weaker than Rona's, despite her being a Fleet Admiral.
The strength of Conqueror's Haki depended on the user's own spirit.
It was not some empty vanity built over decades of dominating the seas.
It was—
Strength!
Two long blades collided in the frost-covered forest. Moon-white blade light intertwined with crimson blade light, erupting with earth-shattering roars.
Countless branches and leaves were sliced apart by frost, shredded by blade light.
The terrifying shockwaves had even reached the villages at the edge.
Thus, without speaking, the two charged deeper into the forest.
"What, worried you'll hurt those companions of yours?"
"Hahaha, they're still too immature. They need a long time yet before they can grow stronger—"
Magnus let out a low roar, pouring his Haki and Fruit powers into the attack with all his might. A slash stretching several kilometers cleaved the entire area where they stood in two.
A corner of Elbaf's Sun Realm was sliced away. Freezing frost covered the severed surface as Magnus and Rona fell from the sky at the same time, yet their battle did not cease atop the collapsing earth and stone.
The giants watching from afar had long since been stunned speechless.
Giants themselves possessed immensely powerful combat strength, and the combat techniques only giant elites could master were likewise capable of changing the landscape.
But this was the first time they had seen someone forcibly collapse a corner of the Sun Realm like Magnus and Rona had.
They had to remember that this was a branch of the Adam Tree, the toughest tree in the world!
This was also Rocks's first time witnessing a battle between the sea's foremost powerhouses. In a battle scene like a natural disaster, someone with his strength would not even be able to stir up a single ripple if he entered.
In all of Elbaf, those qualified to interfere in this battle—
There were only—
"Your Majesty!"
"King Harald!"
"My apologies, Your Majesty. Prince Hajrudin, he..."
Harald waved his hand, stopping the giant subordinate from continuing.
He was worried about Hajrudin being taken.
But what weighed on him even more heavily was the appearance of a Fleet Admiral.
The World Government.
Had they finally decided to make their move against them?
"Your Majesty?"
Seeing the old giant Yaruru look toward him, Harald shook his head with a grave expression.
He knew what Yaruru wanted to say.
If he acted, then with the two of them joining forces, they could certainly drive that Fleet Admiral away.
But he did not dare gamble.
He did not know whether that Fleet Admiral had come solely for Magnus, or whether she had acted on the World Government's orders and had long set her sights on Elbaf.
Elbaf was powerful.
But only Harald knew that if the World Government got serious, Elbaf would be nothing more than a slightly larger ant.
If he did not act, that was one thing.
But if he did, he would become an enemy of the Navy, an enemy of the World Government!
"Harald!"
Magnus's voice carried over from the battle.
"Don't interfere. She is my prey, the opponent I must face!"
In less than an hour, Magnus was already covered in blood. Yet although he had fallen into a disadvantage against Rona, his eyes—once somewhat clouded by age—were growing brighter and brighter.
Magnus and Rona fell from the sky at the same time, dropping from Elbaf's Sun Realm into the Underworld, but Magnus's movements did not pause in the slightest.
"I'm a Great Pirate, Magnus the Great Pirate!"
Wounded countless times, knocked down countless times, yet rising back to his feet countless times.
Until this moment.
Magnus's blade was finally just a fraction faster than Rona's.
"Don't lump me together with those brats who've only just set sail!"
The long blades rang out.
Blood scattered from Rona's body.
Thanks to "WithLightAndDust666" for the 700 reward, and thanks to "CourtHangsMusic" for the 500 reward.
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