Wouldn't It Be Better to Simply Become a Legend?

The sound rang out across heaven and earth.

Then a brilliant light pierced the heavens, shooting out as far as the eye could see.

After the light faded, a pale purple-black slash instantly severed the golden slash and swept toward Golden Lion without losing any of its power.

Watching that enormous pale purple-black slash, Golden Lion couldn't help thinking of his old nemesis, Roger.

He had often used the same kind of slash himself in the past.

This was Conqueror's Haki Coating, something only those who had pushed their Conqueror's Haki to its limits could achieve!

He didn't know how this brat had managed it, but there was no

doubt that Kuta could already be called one of the sea's strongest fighters.

As far as he knew, only Roger, Whitebeard, and his former self had been capable of it.

As for Charlotte Linlin and Kaido, those two certainly hadn't been able to do it twenty years ago.

He shook his head and stared arrogantly at Kuta. "You're really something, brat, pulling off a slash like that."

"But do you think that's enough to beat me?"

Then he burst out laughing. "Jihahahaha! Who the hell do you think I am? I'm Golden Lion Shiki!"

He wouldn't retreat, nor could he.

Facing the incoming slash, he pulled both swords off his legs and took them in his hands.

"Brat, today I'll show you a slash from the true pinnacle of this world."

Then he swung both hands rapidly, sending two enormous golden slashes toward the pale purple-black slash.

"Slash Wave!"

Clearly, with his swords in his hands, his strength rose to another level.

Clang—!

The pale purple-black slash and the golden slashes locked together briefly before shooting into the sky.

With a bang, they easily sliced an island overhead in half, then vanished into the distant sky without losing their momentum.

The severed island tilted to either side, and countless enormous beasts fell from it.

Ignoring the beasts above, Kuta charged straight at Golden Lion.

Clang—!

Seeing Kuta close in, Golden Lion merely raised his hand slightly and caught the vicious sword strike.

He stared at Kuta right before him, his face twisted viciously and his eyes blazing with murderous intent.

"Brat, from now on, you'll know fear—and the true gap between us."

Kuta curled his lip as he stared at Golden Lion and sneered. "Old man, I have enough stamina to fight like this for days. What about you? How long can you last?"

Veins bulged on Golden Lion's forehead. "Don't get so cocky, brat! Who the hell do you think I am?"

He shoved Kuta back with a forceful sword strike and flew backward, stopping just in front of the falling island.

He sent the two famous swords flying back onto his legs, then looked down at Kuta.

Raising his right hand behind him, he took control of the island at his back and hurled it down at Kuta.

"Today, I'll let you experience the power I used to dominate the seas!"

"Lion's Might: Earth Roll!"

The two halves of the island behind him instantly transformed into two unimaginably huge lion heads, which unleashed an earthshaking roar at Kuta.

Following Golden Lion's gesture, they hurtled toward Kuta.

Kuta casually unleashed two sword slashes, easily cutting the lion heads apart.

"Hm?"

He was just about to charge at Golden Lion again.

But the lion heads instantly closed back up as though nothing had happened and continued charging at him.

Wouldn't It Be Better to Just Remain a Legend?

He watched the charging lion heads.

Kuta really had no answer for them. Slashes were fucking useless against these things, and he didn't know any hand-to-hand fighting techniques.

He had no idea how King Luffy had beaten a Golden Lion like this.

Neither his Observation Haki nor his Armament Haki was weak.

There might have been less of it, but the quality was high!

Even like this, he wasn't someone Luffy could take on!

Especially when this guy held his swords in his hands—then he was one of the very best Great Swordsmen on the seas.

Kuta shook his head and said calmly to Golden Lion, "I originally wanted to duel you with swordsmanship. Since you're so eager to die, I'll oblige."

A mocking look appeared in Golden Lion's eyes.

"What, do you have some heaven-defying Devil Fruit ability?"

A flicker of madness flashed through Kuta's eyes. He had made up his mind: he wouldn't kill this guy until he had squeezed every last bit of value out of him.

There were far too few people on the seas who could let him fight to his heart's content.

Kuta pressed his palms together, his inner edgelord erupting. "How many floors must a bag of rice be carried up? A bag of rice must be carried up two floors..."

"Pseudo: Shinra Tensei!"

Boom—!

The two lion heads slammed together with Kuta caught between them.

Under Golden Lion's control, they wrapped into a sphere, sealing Kuta inside.

He stared at the sphere, sensing the power gathering within, and wasted no words.

He swung his right hand down hard.

The sphere immediately accelerated toward the sea below.

"Whatever your ability is, go struggle in the sea!"

Just then, the rapidly falling sphere suddenly stopped in midair, then expanded violently and burst apart with a bang.

Amid the rubble filling the sky, Kuta stood completely unharmed.

"I told you that wouldn't work!"

Golden Lion stared at Kuta and laughed with unbridled arrogance. "Jihahahaha! Brat, that ability of yours isn't much use either!"

As he spoke, a vicious gleam appeared in his eyes, and he clenched his right fist hard.

The rubble flying out in every direction suddenly stopped in midair, then shot back toward Kuta at the center even faster.

Watching the rocks surround him again, Kuta's mouth twitched.

Once again, he exclaimed,

"How the hell did Luffy beat this thing?"

He expanded his domain, and the incoming rocks rapidly shrank the moment they entered it.

In the end, the space around Kuta seemed like a black hole, sucking all the rubble into his Space Domain.

Then, inside his domain, the rubble reassembled into a sphere that hovered beside him.

It hadn't shrunk; the space had expanded. The sphere was still its original size, but from outside, it looked as though it had become smaller.

Now Golden Lion was a little surprised.

The moment the rocks entered Kuta's domain, he felt himself lose control of them, and now they had become so small.

Staring at Kuta, he suddenly burst out laughing. "Jihahahaha! Interesting, interesting, truly interesting! To think a monster like you has appeared on the seas! Jihahahaha..."

Kuta paid no attention to why Golden Lion had suddenly started laughing like a lunatic.

He abruptly vanished from where he stood and teleported above Golden Lion. With his right hand, he flicked the sphere down at Golden Lion as though shooting a steel marble.

At first, the sphere appeared to move slowly. Then it picked up speed, trailing a fiery red streak through his domain, and as it continued falling, its size rapidly swelled.

"Old bastard, try my Ten-Million-Fold Meteor Bullet!"

Golden Lion sensed Kuta the instant he teleported above his head.

So fast?

No, that's not speed. It's teleportation.

For the first time, shock appeared on his face as he stared at Kuta.

Although speed alone no longer decided victory between top-tier fighters, the finer points still came down to their reaction times.

After all, top-tier fighters had powerful Observation Haki and could generally anticipate their opponents' moves. In the end, it came down to who reacted faster.

Of course, that only applied when the difference in speed wasn't too great.

If the opponent was too fast, then no matter how quick your reactions were, you couldn't truly match teleportation.

He flicked his toes upward, sending two enormous slashes flying toward Kuta.

They collided with the sphere just as it emerged from the domain and returned to the size of an island.

Shhk—!!

Like a watermelon, the sphere was instantly sliced into four pieces that plunged toward the sea.

Rumble!!!

The chunks of rock smashed into the sea like meteorites, raising towering waves that surged wildly into the distance.

In an instant, they completely submerged Prothius Island.

Kuta glanced at the fleet on the horizon. Judging by the distance, it should be fine, so he looked away.

The fleet had now

traveled very far away, and those aboard could no longer see Kuta and Golden Lion in the sky at all.

Only the constant clang of blades from the horizon clearly told them how fierce the battle was.

Just then, an earthshaking roar suddenly came from behind them.

Everyone hurriedly looked back, only to see a towering wave on the horizon, like a white city wall, rushing toward them.

It made them wish they could sprout wings and fly away from this terrifying stretch of sea.

"Quick, go faster!"

The villagers aboard the ships hurriedly shouted.

Although they were already very far away, they didn't feel the slightest bit safe.

"This is terrifying! Those two aren't even human, are they?"

As far as they could comprehend, even a god could only be this powerful!

Kuta stared at Golden Lion, then instantly appeared behind him and swung his sword.

He was determined to fight Golden Lion at close range today, because that would quickly refine his Haki.

Clang—!

A red gleam flashed in Golden Lion's eyes. Though he moved second, his foot rose in time to block Kuta's blade.

Kuta gave Golden Lion no chance to put any distance between them, rapidly swinging Zankū at him.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!!!

"You bastard, are you really treating me like a whetstone?"

Golden Lion glared at Kuta, his face full of fury.