Rear Admiral Black Fist

Walking down the empty road with a cigarette in his mouth, Luo Ya thought about a lot of things.

He felt no discomfort at all from killing someone for the first time. In fact, seeing the others cut in half and burned to charcoal had even stirred a strange excitement in him.

Looks like dying so many times in the Soul Space really did affect me. The Stickmen seem pretty hostile.

"Hey! You brat up ahead! If we let you walk away just like that, what would become of the Navy's reputation?"

A musclebound giant at least two and a half meters tall stood before him. His Navy uniform looked ready to burst at any moment, and the cloak emblazoned with the word "Justice" billowed in the wind.

"The Navy protects trash like this? What a bizarrely fast response. But this is perfect—I wasn't done yet!"

With that, Luo Ya sent an orange-yellow slash of flame hurtling toward the Marine before him.

The muscleman snorted, not even bothering to dodge.

He planted his foot hard, cracking the ground beneath him and sending out an invisible wave of air.

Then his entire body was covered in black Armament Haki as he leaped into the air and charged straight at the attack.

He was clearly a classic close-combat specialist who believed in meeting force with force.

"Ha!"

The muscleman bellowed and punched the slash without any fancy moves.

"Boom!"

His overwhelming strength erupted. The flaming slash paused for an instant before breaking apart and scattering in every direction.

"A Mera Mera no Mi user?" Before the muscleman could finish speaking, a torrent of flames surged out from where the slash had shattered and descended upon him.

"Bang!"

The next moment, the muscleman was knocked out of the air by the remaining force of the slash and slammed into the ground.

But he was a master who had focused on physical conditioning. His body was powerful, and his vitality astonishing. After only a brief pause, he pushed himself back up.

He looked a little disheveled. The flames had burned his clothes into scattered scraps, but his body was unharmed beneath the protection of his Armament Haki.

"Kid, my name's Matt. Are you a Devil Fruit User, or a swordsman who's mastered the intent of flame? You're a rare new face in the West Blue."

"My name's Luo Ya. Could you not announce your abilities in the middle of a fight?" Before Luo Ya had finished speaking, a fierce punch came hurtling toward him.

Matt tapped his feet and used Soru, almost appearing out of nowhere in front of Luo Ya. The Armament Haki coating his fist gleamed black.

By the time Luo Ya reacted, the fist was already right in front of him. He gripped the hilt and swung his blade!

Support Slash! This time, Luo Ya concentrated its power into the blade without releasing it. An orange-yellow glow shone along the edge of Scorching Cloud.

"Rumble!"

The orange-yellow blade collided with the Black Fist.

The battlefield rang like thunder as invisible waves of air kicked up layer upon layer of dust.

"Pfft!"

Matt's expression shifted, and he involuntarily stepped back. Luo Ya, meanwhile, spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying.

The clash had clearly decided who was stronger.

Luo Ya had plenty of advantages, but he had only been training for five or six months. His physical abilities were certainly not weak.

But compared with Matt, a master of close combat who had honed his skills to their absolute peak, he was still far behind.

"Kid, you actually hurt me and broke through my Armament Haki? You haven't mastered Haki yet, have you? A swordsman's killing power really is second to none."

Matt raised his right fist. A charred wound stretched across its knuckles, and blood dripped steadily from it.

After shaking the blood from his right hand, Matt pushed off and charged straight at Luo Ya. When one punch failed, he followed with another, then a series of elbows and knees, attacking like a raging storm.

Every punch and kick carried unbelievable weight, with the power to split mountains and shatter stone.

His powerful blows tore through the air, kicking up flying sand and rolling stones.

Luo Ya struggled to keep up. One moment of carelessness, and Matt's knee slammed into him and sent him flying.

"Pfft!"

Luo Ya spat out a large mouthful of dark-red blood.

"Ha! Now that's a fight! Then let's begin round two!"

"All Things in the Universe, Turn to Ashes." As Luo Ya murmured the words, Scorching Cloud's hilt turned deep purple. Orange flames wrapped around the long blade, flickering between light and shadow.

Luo Ya gripped the sword with both hands. With a bang, he pushed off and charged at Matt.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

The two launched into a fierce close-quarters fight. Matt blocked Luo Ya's rain of attacks with his fists, each impact producing a dull thud.

Even with Armament Haki coating his fists, Matt's knuckles were left looking gruesome, the bones showing through.

The power of Ryujin Jakka added to Scorching Cloud was far more than just one plus one equaling two. Luo Ya had no idea what kind of material could withstand Ryujin Jakka's heat. After all, the flames of Ryujin Jakka's Shikai reached 1,500 degrees, while Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit could only reach around 1,200 degrees at most.

Sizzle! In the middle of their fierce exchange, Luo Ya found an opening and slashed Matt across the chest. The smell of flesh scorched by flames drifted through the air.

Bang! Matt seized his chance and landed a heavy punch around Luo Ya's eye. Luo Ya's vision went black, and he dropped to one knee, clutching his eye with one hand and bracing himself on his sword with the other to keep from falling.

"Damn, that hurts, kid. The heat of your flame sword intent is ridiculous. Tsk!" Matt hissed as he tried to ease the pain of the burn.

Because Ryujin Jakka's heat was so extreme, even a nonfatal wound could be cauterized and stop bleeding. The downside was that it hurt like hell.

Anyone who's ever been burned knows that even getting singed by a lighter hurts like crazy, and a lighter only reaches a few dozen degrees.

Luo Ya clutched his left eye, feeling the world spin around him. Waves of nausea washed over him.

"Blergh!" He vomited a large mouthful of blood, along with bits of food.

After throwing up, Luo Ya felt a little better and drew in deep breaths.

I feel like I could pass out at any moment. That punch to the eye did a lot of damage, and I'm having trouble breathing. I've probably broken a rib—every breath brings a sharp pain.

I have to use that move. Everything comes down to this one strike.