A Desperate Gamble

"Crow King!"

White Snow cried out in panic, but the ground remained still, with no sign of Crow King emerging from below.

"After being poisoned by me, you still think you can survive?" Magellan sneered. The black uniform on his body had been shredded miserably by Ye Qiong's handiwork, and his internal injuries had only added to the rage in his gut.

"Hmph!"

A cold gleam flashed in White Snow's silver eyes. Hell Black Flame wildly covered her massive wolf body, raising the surrounding temperature without stop until even the air seemed to distort from the heat.

"You can go to hell with him!" Magellan's venom boiled as he prepared to charge forward.

Bang!

The ground exploded with a thunderous crash, sending broken stones flying everywhere as a gigantic black pangolin drilled out from beneath the earth.

"Fuck, that scared the hell out of me."

Crow King shook off the rubble covering his body. Layers upon layers of powerful Armament Haki had protected him, saving his life.

"You're actually not dead..."

Several thick black veins bulged on Magellan's forehead. Then, in a furious rage, he charged at Crow King with boiling venom.

Screech!

The longsword in Ye Qiong's hand clashed against Borsalino's Ama no Murakumo. Brilliant light burst forth, and invisible shockwaves rippled outward.

Borsalino pressed down with force. Lasers erupted from the Ama no Murakumo in his hand, forcing Ye Qiong's exhausted body to retreat again and again.

"Radiation!"

Borsalino held his sword in his right hand while lasers shot from the fingers of his free left hand. Ye Qiong hurriedly raised Space: Barrier, but the spatial wall was easily shattered. A golden laser struck Ye Qiong in the chest and passed straight through his body from behind.

"Cough, cough..."

Ye Qiong coughed violently several times. Though he had avoided his vital points in time, his internal organs had still been injured. Blood continuously spilled from his mouth with every breath and cough.

His condition was terrible now. He could not hold on much longer.

"Black Night Nights!"

Ye Qiong swung his sword. Black sword light burst from the ink-dark blade, splitting from one into two, then two into four, slashing forward with sharp sounds of tearing air.

Borsalino swung the enormous Ama no Murakumo, smashing apart all four crescent-shaped sword lights one by one.

He stepped into the air, raised Ama no Murakumo over his head, and brought it down. Golden light flashed brilliantly, carrying an edge sharp enough to cut through everything.

"Dimensional Sky Slash!"

Ye Qiong gritted his teeth, squeezing his body's strength dry again and again. His spatial cutting ability covered the blade, a milky-white glow gathering at its edge before transforming into a crescent blade of light that flew through the air.

Borsalino's Ama no Murakumo came down and crossed the crescent light, yet it failed to shatter Dimensional Sky Slash. Instead, a crack was cut into the light sword's blade, splitting it in two.

"You cut through my Ama no Murakumo?"

Borsalino glanced at him with mild surprise, but he did not care. His light ability gathered, rapidly repairing the light sword until it was soon restored to normal.

Ye Qiong stared fixedly at Borsalino, breathing heavily as blood continued to seep from the corners of his mouth. He knew that in his current state, defeating Borsalino was nothing more than a fantasy.

But if he gave up now, everything would truly have been for nothing.

"That's all you have, huh? Want to surrender?" Borsalino smacked his lips. "Looks like there's no need to call Sakazuki over after all!"

Borsalino's casual remark made Ye Qiong's heart tremble violently. A deep sense of helplessness and pressure surged through him. Was Sakazuki about to arrive too?

"I can't wait any longer!"

Ye Qiong's eyes shone like stars, blazing with sharp light. If Sakazuki truly arrived, they would have no way to resist.

He had to give it everything he had! He had to fight for a free tomorrow!

"R!"

Ye Qiong spread out space, enveloping the battlefield. The obstructing repulsive force caused Borsalino's body to slow involuntarily.

"Oh, you're finally getting serious?"

Borsalino's eyes lit up slightly. Yet he himself had never been serious. His slender body transformed into a golden laser as he shot toward Ye Qiong at extreme speed.

"R Tensei!"

Ye Qiong abruptly expanded a circular space of infinite repulsion. Borsalino's elemental body was inevitably pushed away by the invisible force and sent flying.

Borsalino flew backward at high speed. While suspended in the air, a longsword spun in a circle, cutting down at his uncontrollable body as though guided by an unseen hand.

Borsalino promptly transformed his body into elements. The longsword sliced through golden light, then spun back like a boomerang into Ye Qiong's hand.

Step!

Borsalino kicked against the air and stopped midair. A clean wound had been cut across his arm, blood flowing steadily from it.

"A cutting ability?"

Borsalino looked at the wound, then turned a strange gaze toward Ye Qiong.

Aside from Armament Haki, only certain special Devil Fruit abilities could injure his elemental body.

Ye Qiong's face was pale. The intense drain on his strength made his chest rise and fall unevenly. Sweat mixed with blood, and his wounds stung from the salt.

Yet his expression remained calm as he continued maintaining the circular space.

"Tsk, tsk. Your persistence really is frightening."

Borsalino shook his head. His body turned into golden light, and with a single Light Kick, he shattered the Space: Barrier Ye Qiong had formed. Then he gathered light and kicked at Ye Qiong.

His exhausted body seemed to have dropped several levels in responsiveness. He did not even have time to teleport before a Light Kick sent him flying. His body smashed into the ground, cracking it apart and scattering stone fragments in every direction.

"Brother Ye!"

Crow King cried out from the other battlefield, but he and White Snow were fighting Magellan together and could not break away to help.

"Cough, cough..."

Ye Qiong was covered in blood, his clothes long since reduced to a miserable state. He struggled up from the rubble as blood continued to spill uncontrollably from his mouth.

"Still struggling? With your strength, you've already done enough to reach this point."

Borsalino walked forward, gathering dazzling golden light in his hand.

"You don't understand what I'm fighting for!"

Ye Qiong's gaze was unwavering as his spatial ability continued to spread.

"We were never the same kind of people."

Borsalino smacked his lips indifferently, raised his hand, and fired a merciless laser through Ye Qiong's chest.

Ye Qiong's eyes widened in pain. He dropped directly to one knee, both hands supporting his body as it nearly collapsed.

Blood gushed from the hole in his chest like a spring, dyeing the plant tattoo there a bewitching crimson.

"Disciple!"

Night Emperor's heart clenched. He wanted to rush forward and save him, but Ye Qiong waved a hand, stopping him in his tracks.

"No matter what, I have to leave this place..."

Ye Qiong's conviction was as firm as iron.

"If I stop here, then I'll truly have nothing left!"

Little by little, he painfully forced his heavily injured body upright. The plant tattoo on his chest came alive with vitality, supporting him as he straightened his back.

"How ridiculous..."

Even Borsalino could not help but be moved. If it were possible, he truly wanted to see what kind of storm this young man would stir up on the seas.

Unfortunately, based on their positions alone, he could never allow such a dangerous prisoner as Ye Qiong to leave this place.

"I'll remember you..."

Borsalino raised his hand. Golden light gathered, its radiance shooting outward with a sharp, oppressive aura.

"It's not over yet."

Ye Qiong suddenly grinned. His clean white teeth were stained with blood, making him look somewhat ferocious and leaving Borsalino confused.

Then Ye Qiong abruptly brought his hands together.

"Space Restraint!"

Invisible space suddenly enveloped Borsalino, generating a repulsive force that hindered his movements.

"This move again? You clearly know it's useless against me..." Borsalino stopped halfway through his sentence.

The repulsive force around him was actually stacking layer upon layer, making it difficult for him to move.

"Cough, cough."

Ye Qiong coughed up blood, but his hands remained pressed together. A faint smile appeared on his face as he said, "I created more than one R just now!"

The times he had directly endured Borsalino's light attacks were only because he had been using all his spatial ability to create multiple R.

In Ye Qiong's eyes, three R surrounded Borsalino before merging together and solidifying.

Very soon, the faint glow of a circular spatial barrier emerged, firmly imprisoning Borsalino within it.

"Multiple R!"

Ye Qiong struggled to maintain the circular space, preventing Borsalino from transforming into elements and escaping.

This was the trump card he had prepared from the start.

One R was too fragile, so he would use Multiple R to rapidly strengthen and stabilize the space!

The spatial wall gradually took on an ink-black sheen. Borsalino frowned, sensing something wrong. His body transformed into golden light and continuously slammed into the inner walls of the space.

"Don't even think about breaking free!"

Ye Qiong pressed down on the circular space with all his might, causing its walls to stabilize into a dark ink color.

"Yasakani no Magatama!"

The circular space, now stabilized to a deep black, shook violently, almost shattered from within by Borsalino.

Blood sprayed from Ye Qiong's body, and his steadfast eyes nearly took on a crazed gleam.

"The next time we meet, I won't be this pathetic..."

"R · Spatial Exile!!!"

He pressed down with all his strength. The ink-black circular space before him broke through the void, plunged into the pitch-black turbulence of space, and disappeared completely from where it had been.