Setting Sun Blade (Fake)

Luo Ya swayed, forcing himself to stand back up.

"Is this your limit, kid? Stop struggling in vain. From the moment you killed that innocent child, your fate was sealed."

Pingqi Ichiro deserved to die, but his young daughter was innocent. If Luo Ya had only killed the guards and Pingqi Ichiro, Matt would not have fought to this extent.

However, when Matt arrived at Pingqi Ichiro's home and saw the charred black remains of his daughter, he had already passed a death sentence on the killer in his heart.

Luo Ya struggled to open his struck left eye. His vision was blurred and stained with blood.

He gasped for air, too exhausted to refute Matt's moralizing.

Sheathing Scorching Cloud, Luo Ya crouched slightly.

A standard draw-strike is usually performed by stepping forward with the right foot. Among the swordsmanship techniques Maynard taught Luo Ya was this unique draw-strike: stepping forward with the left foot and shifting one's entire center of gravity into the moment of the draw to increase both power and speed. This technique had one more secret.

If the first strike was successfully blocked or dodged, the immense force of the swing would create a powerful air current, involuntarily pulling the enemy in to be struck in the neck by a second blow.

According to Maynard, in all his years of adventuring, only one person had ever successfully countered this draw-strike.

Luo Ya stepped forward with his left foot. "Fire Burning City Walls!" The moment he drew his blade, a massive amount of flame erupted, only to be instantly compressed into the edge of Scorching Cloud, turning the orange blade a dull, dark red.

"Six Styles Secret Technique: Six King Gun!" Matt roared, channeling all his strength. His Armament Haki, concentrated into a pitch-black, gleaming fist, slammed toward Luo Ya.

The power of this punch was like a collapsing mountain. The incredible force collided with the dark red blade of Scorching Cloud with a deafening sonic boom.

Unlike before, there was no thunderous roar this time.

The two passed each other. Luo Ya collapsed, bracing himself with both hands as he spat out a mouthful of dark red blood.

Matt stood with his back to Luo Ya, a line of fire igniting across his body from his right shoulder to his left flank.

Squelch. Matt's body, split in two, erupted into a raging inferno, thick black smoke rising alongside the scent of roasting meat.

Hearing the sound, Luo Ya could no longer hold on; his vision went black as he fell forward.

Thump!

Maynard caught Luo Ya just before he hit the ground.

"Unexpectedly capable, yet you leave a mess for this old man to clean up."

Maynard grumbled and scratched his head, hoisting Luo Ya over his shoulder before walking away.

The next morning.

"Cough, cough."

Luo Ya opened his eyes, coughing.

"Old man, you showed up right on time. Next time, why don't you just wait until I'm dead to collect my corpse!"

Luo Ya roared, his teeth baring like a shark's.

Maynard puffed on his cigarette. "Your first mission was unexpectedly perfect, kid. Not a single survivor from the target's family, plus a bonus head: the Navy Rear Admiral, Black Fist Matt."

He tossed a wanted poster to Luo Ya. In the photo, Luo Ya was sheathing his sword with a crazed grin on his face, the background filled with a burning manor and figures struggling in the distance.

"Bounty: 100 million Berries! 'Fire Ghost' Luo Ya. Whoever came up with such a trash nickname, I'll cut them down if I ever find out."

Luo Ya complained while holding the poster.

"It's rare for someone to get a 100 million Berry bounty on their first poster, kid. Do you even know who that Marine you killed was?" Maynard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Navy Rear Admiral, Black Fist Matt. He made a name for himself in the New World and only came back to the West Blue to pad his resume. He was bound to return to Marine Headquarters as a Vice Admiral soon, but he ended up capsizing in a gutter. Tsk, tsk." Maynard's tone was mocking, as if he felt a strange pity for the man.

"So he was a Rear Admiral. I thought any Marine officer could cover their whole body in Armament Haki. Still, it's his honor to die by my hand. Do you even know what it means to be the world's greatest swordsman?" Tactical lean back.

"But that technique you used to finish the draw-strike was interesting. The blade turned dark red, cutting through Armament Haki like a hot knife through butter?" Maynard inquired.

"Haha, I call it the Setting Sun Blade. I realized that 'Fire Burning City Walls' is great for clearing fodder, but it's not very effective against someone with real skill. So, I conceived of compressing the flames of 'Fire Burning City Walls' entirely onto the blade, keeping them contained without releasing them. The intensely compressed flames bring the blade's temperature to at least three thousand degrees! Combined with Scorching Cloud's heat-enhancing sharpness, killing a little 'Black Fist' was a piece of cake!" Luo Ya's mouth curled up to his ears. If there were any Earthlings present, they would surely have knelt and shouted, "Greetings, Dragon King."

"You just got lucky this time, kid! Matt's Armament Haki was on the verge of reaching the hardening stage. You think a 'world's greatest swordsman' who doesn't even know Armament Haki can win just by relying on a sword?" Maynard smacked the back of Luo Ya's head.

Luo Ya scratched his head. "Haki is so mysterious. Does it even have levels?"

Cough, cough. Maynard cleared his throat and said sternly, "You aren't far from awakening Haki yourself. It's time I told you the specifics, so you don't go around thinking you're invincible. Haki is divided into three types: Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki."