Raising the Stakes

Shiki floated in midair, wearing an utterly comical expression.

His eyes bulged and his mouth hung open like a defeated rooster's, so shocked that the cigar nearly fell from his lips.

It was simply unbelievable.

Beneath Shiki, the power of his slashes ravaged the entire island without restraint. Explosions thundered as everything on the island was destroyed beneath his attacks, melting away like ice and snow.

Yet at the very center of those slashes, where their power was most concentrated,

a force that directly opposed Shiki's attacks quietly emerged.

Around Ye Mu, who had been engulfed by Shiki's pitch-black Lion God, a barrier of air gradually appeared. A closer look revealed that it was formed by Haki clashing relentlessly, each force meeting the other head-on.

"Hey, hey, you've got to be kidding."

As the one fighting him, Shiki naturally sensed exactly what it was.

It was the most powerful technique of Armament Haki, the power known as Internal Destruction.

But this kid clearly hadn't mastered it before. When he fought Sengoku, he had only demonstrated the ability to coat himself in Armament Haki.

And judging by how clumsily Ye Mu was using it now,

"This kid actually learned Armament Haki's Internal Destruction from my slashes!"

Shiki knew that life-or-death battles were the best teachers, but wasn't this kid far too monstrous?

"Our fight to the death has barely begun, and you're already giving me a surprise like this?"

After his initial shock, Shiki roared with sheer excitement.

"Interesting... interesting... Then let me see just how far you can go."

With that, Shiki swung his two swords without pause, sending merciless pitch-black slashes toward Ye Mu at the island's center.

Rumble...

As time passed, Saba Island began to break apart beneath Shiki's relentless slashes and the violent explosions, while surging waves