Godslayer Strike

When Norse said that, Akainu's whole body tensed.

Hell? Devils?

What evil, sinful thoughts.

It seemed that he, Akainu, had to find a way to deal with the pirate Norse before him. Otherwise, if he allowed this man's ideas to keep growing, they would sooner or later threaten the world's new order.

"Rumble, rumble~~"

Suddenly, the entire Long Ring Long Land beneath their feet began to shake, as though a fault line on the ocean floor had ruptured and affected this island at sea.

But very quickly—

Norse and Akainu both realized that this was not the result of an undersea tectonic fault at all. Rather, Golden Lion Shiki, who was fighting Admiral Kizaru, had suddenly unleashed the Float-Float Fruit's powerful ability, intending to cancel the gravity of the entire Long Ring Long Land.

Furthermore, anyone who activated Observation Haki could see an invisible force that the naked eye could not perceive enveloping the entire island in that instant.

Under that invisible force, the island's gravity was steadily vanishing, and it was about to break free from the sea and rise continuously into the sky.

That was the Float-Float Fruit's ability: gravity cancellation.

Who would have thought that Kizaru and Golden Lion Shiki's battle had become this intense?

Had that monkey Kizaru pushed Golden Lion Shiki to such a point that Shiki intended to perish with him, or did Shiki simply feel too much pressure in dealing with Kizaru and begin preparing a contingency to keep himself alive?

After all, if the entire island rose into the sky and Shiki died, its levitation would disappear and gravity would return. Every innocent life on it would be buried in the sea alongside him.

Of course, for Kizaru and Norse, two flying types, the sky was the freest place of all.

"Shiki really pisses me off!"

Norse did not like being interrupted while he was in the middle of fighting and showing off. But he did not go deal with Golden Lion Shiki, nor did he go deal with that yellow monkey who had driven Golden Lion Shiki to such a state.

Instead, invincible confidence and domineering momentum surged within him. His Demon Back tightened, blood energy soared into the heavens, and every bit of power in his body converged into Norse's right fist at that moment.

Yes, he had a confident, bold, and crazy idea. This was the invincible spirit that only the strong possessed—who could contend with him?

"Demon Back, Godslayer Strike!"

Every muscle in Norse's body swelled with explosive power as he unleashed terrifying blood energy. Standing where he was, he smashed his fist fiercely into the ground beneath his feet.

"Rumbleee!!"

A powerful seismic force instantly erupted from the ground.

At a speed visible to the naked eye, it rapidly spread outward in layer after layer. At the same time, several deep fissures tore forward from beneath Norse's fist, stretching thousands of meters.

Even more shocking and unbelievable was that, although no one knew exactly how terrifying Norse's punch had been, the entire Long Ring Long Land stopped shaking on the spot.

However, through Observation Haki, Akainu saw that the invisible force released by Golden Lion Shiki had dissipated instantly at that very same moment. He did not know whether it was merely a coincidence, but in any case, he found it absolutely unbelievable that a person's physical strength could shake the entire Long Ring Long Land.

Yet at this moment, Norse was extremely confident in his Godslayer Strike. He believed that his power was what had stabilized the shaking of Long Ring Long Land.

Meanwhile, Golden Lion Shiki spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.

"Damn bastard, I'm not done with you."

Golden Lion Shiki, who had fought Norse continuously for six days, was utterly convinced that it was that bastard Norse who had suddenly ruined his plan!

"Eh~?"

Kizaru looked completely baffled.

He was puzzled that Golden Lion Shiki's plan had failed.

Kizaru thought about it. Had Shiki run out of stamina?

That seemed right. After all, that enraged lion had not been in peak physical condition or combat form while fighting him. On top of that, after enduring round after round of his fierce attacks, it was already no easy feat for him to last this long in such a state. How could he possibly cancel all the gravity of Long Ring Long Land? Wasn't that just trying to scare him for fun?

So, the failure and sudden stop were the normal outcome.

Thus, Kizaru grew more valiant as he fought, convinced that Golden Lion Shiki was merely making his final struggle and would ultimately be punished by him.

On the other side—

Both men treated what had just happened as nothing more than an interlude.

Akainu simply did not believe Norse's punching power had become that terrifying, so it was an insignificant interlude to him.

As for Norse, he was filled with invincible confidence. It's only Long Ring Long Land. Even if an entire continent were hit by an earthquake, I could punch it down. I'm confident I could stop the quake and the tectonic shaking.

"I've stopped the island's shaking with one punch. We can continue!" Norse said as he walked toward Akainu step by step.

Akainu had a fierce temperament. He did not believe Norse's boastful words at all; instead, he found Norse to be nothing more than an arrogant fool. Brimming with righteous resolve and fearlessness, he said, "Tch, I will punish you here, pirate Norse!"

At that moment, Akainu's entire body transformed into magma, making him resemble a magma giant. He was already over three meters tall to begin with, and in his magma state, both his height and build increased further.

"Before my strongest power, you'll begin to tremble and fear me!"

Norse had already clenched a fist overflowing with blood energy, preparing to throw a direct punch at Akainu in his magma state.

Norse neither dodged nor evaded. Confident in his invincibility, he was prepared to fear no physical pain whatsoever.

Akainu was also a ruthless man. He likewise had no intention of dodging Norse's punch, focusing only on unleashing a full-powered strike at Norse while disregarding the damage his own body was about to suffer.

Perhaps that was the romance of true men: confidence, invincibility, conviction, and dominance.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The two threw punches at the same time, their Haki surging with overwhelming force.

Norse's fist slammed into Akainu's six-pack abs, leaving a fist-shaped bulge on Akainu's back, as though it were about to punch straight through his body.

Akainu, meanwhile, drove a massive magma fist into Norse's armored shoulder and arm, sending blood and chunks of flesh spraying everywhere.

Neither of them gave even an inch. They stood rooted in place, as steady as mountains.

But in the next moment, it was as if the entire world had frozen.

The Marines in the distance were stunned and terrified, while Hancock and the others behind them covered their mouths in shock.

When had they ever witnessed such a brutal close-quarters battle? They threw punches with everything they had, making no attempt whatsoever to defend themselves. It was practically the most mutually destructive fight in history.

PS: Sorry, everyone. Let me post this first and fix the typos afterward—there really wasn't enough time this round.

Also, thank you all for the votes. And please keep them coming—any kind of support is welcome, especially the one-yuan fan slots. They look pretty nice.