The Old Era's World's Greatest Swordsman

The crisscrossing cross-shaped slashes collided violently in midair with the blade aura Dawn unleashed from Kikoku.

A heaven-shaking explosion rang out from deep within the floating Vermeyo Island. The entire island shuddered violently. Then, its underside burst apart with a boom, and the rock strata across several hundred meters completely collapsed under the clash of the two terrifying forces, rumbling as they fell into the sea of clouds below.

Amid the billowing dust, Golden Lion's pupils suddenly contracted. A faint golden thread, almost imperceptible, broke through the blockade of the cross-shaped slash and shot toward him.

"Impossible!? I actually lost the upper hand in swordsmanship!?"

Golden Lion's face was filled with disbelief. After a brief moment of shock, he did not dare slack off in the slightest. He hurriedly enveloped his entire body in dense Armament Haki without holding anything back, erecting a sturdy barrier around himself.

The next instant, with a soft "rip," the dense barrier covering his body was torn apart by that golden thread as easily as paper.

Blood burst from his chest in an instant, forming a glaring wound. His steps faltered, and he nearly fell.

Before he could steady himself, a blast of air suddenly exploded before him. Dawn appeared in front of him as if teleporting, driving forward with an utterly unremarkable knee strike.

Overwhelming force slammed into him. Golden Lion's body bent like a shrimp, and carried by that tyrannical impact, he shot upward like a rocket, flying out of the crater and returning to the air.

Dawn crouched with both legs bent, the tendons in his calves tightening and compressing before suddenly releasing. As the ground beneath his feet collapsed violently, his body launched like an arrow loosed from a bow. In an instant, he rose to the same height as his