Light. Unlimited Blade Works (Ticket)

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

Multiple blades of sword energy burst forth from Sakura Ten and Withered Wood, seemingly tearing through space as they reached Norse in an instant.

Norse's expression was incomparably solemn. Facing the blade enhancement granted by Golden Lion Shiki's Conqueror's Haki, he did not underestimate it in the slightest.

He knew that Great Lion Thousand-Slice Valley was already a vastly enhanced version of a flying slash. Its destructive power was naturally even greater, and it absolutely could not be taken lightly.

But Norse would not fear his opponent's swordsmanship because of that.

"Light Unlimited Blade Works!"

Norse swept his hand downward, his bearing overwhelmingly domineering!

Above his head, within the blazing great sun, some silent explosive reaction suddenly occurred.

In the very first instant, countless sparks erupted outward like fireworks shooting into the sky. When they exploded across the air, they were breathtakingly beautiful and dazzlingly brilliant.

"Hmph!"

Golden Lion Shiki snorted upon seeing this, thinking it was merely another one of his opponent's flashy displays.

But in the next moment, Shiki's eyelids twitched wildly, and he even felt his scalp tingle and his heart pound uncontrollably.

Under the illumination of the great sun and the replenishment of light energy, the dazzling sparks transformed into flaming swords of light, every single blade pointed toward Shiki.

"Boom boom boom boom!!"

Countless swords of light, moving at the speed of light, descended upon Golden Lion Shiki across a vast area in an instant.

Even Great Lion Thousand-Slice Valley, which Golden Lion had launched just moments before, was struck by the onslaught of ten thousand swords.

Before long, several light blades were shattered by the descending swords of light. Yet the aftershock of their collision was not to be underestimated either, blasting apart the nearby cloud layer and leaving a gap thousands of meters wide.

As for Golden Lion Shiki himself, he could no longer remain calm.

He immediately coated his entire body in Armament Haki, not even overlooking the ship's wheel embedded in his head.

"Flying Slash!"

"Thousand-Slice Valley!"

"Flying Slash!"

Golden Lion activated an absolute defense. Combining the powers of Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki, he continuously wielded Sakura Ten and Withered Wood beneath his feet, unleashing layer upon layer of sword energy and sword techniques.

There were flying light blades, crescent slashes, cross slashes, cherry blossom light, Withered Wood shadows, and more, appearing one after another without end.

Who knew how long it lasted before this round of Light Unlimited Blade Works finally came to an end. Yet this clash between the two had changed the environment and atmosphere ten thousand meters above the ground.

A layer of dark clouds spanning thousands of miles covered the cloud layer at an altitude of ten thousand meters. The thick clouds seemed to roar and surge, with countless bolts of lightning raging within them.

The massive dark cloud layer that had suddenly gathered above even dimmed the sunlight from Norse's great sun below.

"Jiehahahaha!!"

Golden Lion Shiki let out a strange laugh. At some point, he had already lit a large cigar and was smoking it. "To fight me to this extent, brat, you really are arrogant!"

"To this extent? Hehe~~ I'd say our battle has only just begun."

Norse replied calmly.

Still, he was rather shocked by Shiki's strength. Could it be because of Conqueror's Haki?

Even Zephyr would probably be at a disadvantage because of it. Though Zephyr's physical skills were powerful, he lacked the power of Conqueror's Haki and thus could not achieve an all-around boost to his abilities in battle. That was very likely the case.

"Jiehahahaha... But this time, you're definitely dead!"

Shiki exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, laughing madly like a complete villain. "This great sun of yours doesn't seem as radiant as before. Sure enough, you're just an inexperienced little brat, nothing to fear. How will you deal with my attack descending from above?"

"An attack descending from above? Are you planning to use this thousand-mile-wide layer of dark clouds to replace the power of darkness and completely devour my great sun?" Norse said calmly, making no move to stop Shiki as he suddenly flew upward.

"Jiehahahaha... You know what I'm about to do, yet you're still this calm? Don't tell me your legs have already gone soft from fear?" Shiki sneered, convinced that this move would certainly kill his opponent.

"Hmph! You think far too highly of yourself! I said I'd trample you beneath my feet and make you sing 'Conquered.' How could I possibly fear you?" Norse snorted disdainfully.

In truth, he was looking forward to fighting a great pirate like Golden Lion Shiki. His opponent's adaptability and cunning fighting style could help him quickly make up for his lack of combat experience.

"Don't fucking talk too soon! I've seen plenty of trash like you—just calves who won't shed tears until they see the coffin!" Shiki snarled angrily.

In the next moment, he slapped his palm toward the thunder-ravaged dark clouds. An invisible force seemed to envelop the cloud layer spanning thousands of miles in an instant.

"Lion's Majesty: Imperial Palace Cloud Roll!"

Shiki unleashed another ultimate move.

Using the power of the Float-Float Fruit, he controlled the cloud layer spanning thousands of miles, transforming it into thunderclouds shaped like a lion's head and launching a descending lion-head attack at Norse below.

"Brat, this time you can really go die! That cloud-lion head is filled with raging lightning. Can you withstand it? Jiehahahaha!"

After repeatedly using such powerful moves, Shiki was already drenched in sweat, yet he still looked utterly crazed.

"I see."

"So that's why the lightning in the cloud layer didn't strike you. Turns out you've got a lightning-proof ship's wheel stuck in that bald head of yours. Hehehe, that decoration on your head really is unique—but it makes you look like a stupid old rooster!"

Norse mockingly said, "No wonder you can't figure out my power. That ship's wheel must have scrambled your brain!"

"Bastard!"

Shiki flew into a rage upon hearing that.

His overwhelmingly powerful Conqueror's Haki erupted once more, sweeping through and crushing everything around him.

Sonia and Gorud, far away on the ship at the edge, both felt their hearts tremble. They could not help but marvel that he truly was a great pirate who had spanned an era.

"Roaaar!!"

As Golden Lion Shiki unleashed Lion's Majesty: Imperial Palace Cloud Roll, a gigantic, ferocious lion head formed from dark clouds opened its thunder-ravaged maw and surged downward to swallow Norse. It gave the terrifying impression that the sky itself was collapsing, blackness spreading everywhere.

"Watch closely as I completely destroy your ambitions, Golden Lion Shiki!"

Norse stood sharp and fearless.

The great sun suddenly returned to his body, and scorching heat and endless light burst directly from him.

Then, his hands began absorbing and gathering the sun's flare power from his body. Before long, a fireball covered in black flares spun in his palms, releasing terrifying energy fluctuations that severely warped even the surrounding space.

The next moment, even the air around his face began to burn.

"Sun-Burst Art!"

Using Solar Gravity, Norse lifted it upward. The fireball shot straight toward the cloud lion head that stretched across a thousand miles.

At the same time, it was a ticking bomb on the verge of exploding. Norse had not contained the flare reaction on its surface, so the instant it was affected by any outside force, it would immediately self-detonate.

"BOOM!!!"

The cloud lion head swallowed Norse's Sun-Burst Art in a single bite, but the art's surface flares were stimulated by the external lightning and instantly exploded.

A gigantic mushroom cloud rose ten thousand meters in the sky. The shockwaves it released swept outward in an instant, even churning the entire thick cloud layer below. Winds and clouds surged like the changing of an age.

For a time, however, the sky ten thousand meters above was plunged into silence and extinction, as though the evolution of the universe itself were playing out.

No one knew how long passed.

Then, high-temperature rain suddenly began to fall from the sky ten thousand meters above, while hazy water vapor shrouded the entire stretch of air above and below.

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