Frenchman Shanks

"I don't care. My only family is the Roger Pirates and the people you just saw."

Shanks grinned playfully as he poured more strength into the left arm gripping his sword.

Dawn's mouth twitched. "You really are a filial son."

Borrowing the force, he retreated and vanished from where he stood, reappearing at Shanks's side as Kikoku swept horizontally. The air along the blade's path let out a piercing boom.

As if he had anticipated it, Shanks tapped the ground and vanished in a flash. Dawn's attack missed, and a massive flying slash shot into the sea, carving a hundred-meter trench across the surface. The seawater parted to either side, exposing the dark seabed below before crashing back together several seconds later and sending towering waves skyward.

In the next instant, Shanks appeared behind Dawn and swung Griffon in a horizontal slash.

Dawn frowned. He had intended to use Observation Haki to predict the attack, only to discover that his Observation Haki had failed.

Observation Killing.

Fortunately, his physical abilities were no slouch either. He could react to an attack of this level even without Observation Haki, and he hurriedly raised his blade to block.

Clang!

The two swords collided, and a terrifying blast of air surged outward in every direction. The air shook without end, like relentless crashing waves. The sand beneath their feet was blasted into a shallow crater ten meters wide, fine grains spraying in all directions like a fountain.

Then, both of them simultaneously used the force against each other to pull back their blades before unleashing a storm of slashes at one another.

The blades' paths nearly formed a curtain of light, covering all the space ahead. Sparks flew within it, while the collision of Haki generated black-red arcs of lightning. Crisp clashes rang out