At this moment, Sakazuki was truly irritated.
From the start of the battle until now, aside from that strange power that had been somewhat troublesome at the beginning, Eric had not caused Sakazuki any real trouble.
During the Marineford War, Sakazuki had been able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Whitebeard. Even in his younger years, he was still a monster among monsters.
And Eric...
Although he possessed incredible talent in swordsmanship and had reached the level of a Great Swordsman before the age of twenty, compared to a born monster like Sakazuki, he still fell short. Even if Eric continued to grow in the future, he might not necessarily have a chance to surpass him.
Yet even so, when Ye Mu arranged the opponents, he had still assigned Sakazuki to Eric.
The reason was simple. Opponents were not merely about pitting the strong against the strong. The most suitable opponent was what Ye Mu needed most.
The three Logia Devil Fruits possessed by the Marines were each capable of changing the entire course of the battle, and the same was true for the Sky Pirate Crew.
Just as the Marines wanted to use the three Admirals to restrain the Sky Pirate Crew, Ye Mu had the same intention.
Thus, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit versus the Glint-Glint Fruit, and the Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Nue Form—which could control flames—versus the Ice-Ice Fruit were the most suitable matchups.
Otherwise, if either of those abilities broke free of control and moved freely across the battlefield, they would be extremely troublesome.
That was why Eric versus Sakazuki had ultimately been decided upon.
To be honest, it was exceedingly dangerous. Sakazuki's Magma-Magma Fruit possessed terrifying destructive power. So long as he broke through Eric's Haki defenses and landed even one hit, Eric would suffer dreadful