Sis

The newly formed Demon King let out a roar, raised his hammer, and swept it at the crew members charging toward him.

For a moment, purple flames scattered everywhere. Although the purple flames conjured by Locke were not as powerful as real flames, that was only because Locke was not strong enough yet. If he grew stronger, the flames he conjured would become even more powerful than real fire.

But that was a matter for the future, so there was no need to mention it now.

The men who had just attacked Locke saw him suddenly swallowed by purple flames. A creature made of fire appeared in his place and swept its hammer at them. They had no time to dodge and were knocked to the ground. And that was not all. As the huge hammer swept past, purple flames engulfed those it struck, instantly setting their clothes ablaze.

The raging flames swallowed them whole, and screams erupted everywhere.

Some of the people who had sensed danger earlier looked at those surrounded by flames and felt a burst of relief. Luckily, they had moved fast enough. Otherwise, they would have ended up just like them.

But before they could celebrate for long, the fire giant raised his hammer again and smashed it toward them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The hammer crashed against the ground again and again. Amid showers of sparks, the people who had just been congratulating themselves scattered and fled.

"Kid! You've successfully angered me!" Sis could no longer stand by and watch. He stepped forward and caught the fire giant's hammer with his bare hands.

"Get up!" Sis exerted force and gave the fire giant a powerful back suplex.

The formerly arrogant Demon King was smashed apart by Sis's throw, turning into sparks that drifted away through the air.

"Damn! He's that strong?" With the Demon King shattered, Locke was revealed inside.

"Kid, you'll pay for your recklessness!" Sis said as he looked at the exposed Locke.

"Oh? Then I'd like to see what price I have to pay." Locke looked at Sis curiously.

"Die!" Sis charged at Locke again.

Phantom: Clone

Locke drew his Tang sword while creating a clone identical to himself, then fearlessly met the charging Sis head-on.

The two quickly began fighting.

As the attacks continued, Locke discovered that every one of his strikes was blocked by his opponent's Haki. He simply could not break through Sis's defense.

If he had not created a clone in advance to occasionally assist him from the side, he might already have been knocked to the ground.

As time passed, Locke's stamina steadily declined, and the frequency of his attacks gradually slowed. During that time, his carelessness allowed Sis to strike him several times, leaving Locke with a few minor injuries.

However, Locke also noticed that Sis was beginning to tire. Under Locke's attacks, Sis was no longer like he had been at the start, defending without concern by relying directly on Haki. He had begun dodging Locke's attacks instead. Though the change was subtle, Locke still noticed it.

But it was useless. At this rate, Locke would definitely be the first to fall. He had to think of something, or he would die here.

Before Locke had much time to think, the five or six men the Demon King had missed began gathering together, ready to attack him at any moment.

Fortunately, the three brothers who had been watching from the side also noticed this.

"Big Brother, what should we do?" Fourth Brother asked his eldest brother again.

"What do you mean, what should we do? Of course we help!" As he spoke, the eldest brother charged straight at those men.

Seeing their eldest brother like this, Third Brother and Fourth Brother followed in his footsteps and charged at them as well.

Another battle broke out. However, the three of them were seriously injured, and they had only given their wounds some basic treatment. They could not use their full strength at all. Still, the men on the other side were no experts either, so the two sides fought back and forth.

After deciding to conserve his strength, Locke slowed his attacks. He dodged his opponent's strikes while thinking about how he could defeat him.

After Sis sent Locke flying once more, he did not follow up with another attack this time. Instead, he said, "Kid, I admire your ability. Work for me from now on!"

Locke said nothing and merely raised his middle finger at him.

Sis did not understand what it meant, but seeing the disdain in Locke's eyes, he knew it was definitely not a friendly gesture. So Sis charged at Locke again.

Phantom: Sword Flash

Watching Sis rush toward him, Locke made no major movement. He merely stood upright and pointed at Sis. Countless phantoms appeared around Sis. They were all extremely illusory, with only the swords in their hands seeming faintly real.

The instant those phantoms appeared, they thrust their swords at Sis.

Sis was startled by the suddenly appearing phantoms and immediately covered his entire body in Haki. But he soon discovered that their attacks were not very strong. Even if he did not defend himself, they would not cause him much harm.

Sis simply gave up defending and charged directly at Locke, who stood there motionlessly.

As he drew close, he threw a straight punch at Locke. But the moment his fist struck, Sis sensed that something was wrong, because he felt that he had hit nothing.

"Not good!" Only then did Sis realize he had been tricked. That Locke had merely been an illusion. The moment he realized this, Sis hurriedly tried to activate his Haki defense.

But it was already too late. The moment Sis rushed in front of that phantom, the Locke hidden among the phantoms had already launched his attack.

With a single sword strike, Locke pierced Sis's shoulder. If Sis had not reacted quickly enough, Locke's sword would not have merely pierced his shoulder—it would have pierced his heart.

After failing to finish him in one strike, Locke withdrew his sword and retreated, revealing himself while maintaining the same stance, his sword pointed at Sis.

"You crafty kid, do you think I'll fall for that again?" After saying that, Sis covered his entire body with Haki and watched the surrounding phantoms, trying to find Locke among them.

After the standoff continued for a while, Sis realized something was wrong. The phantoms attacking around him really were nothing more than phantoms. When he saw the wicked smile on Locke's face across from him, he understood that he had been fooled once again.