Battlefield in the Calm Belt / Roger Makes His Move

After his shock faded, Roger laughed heartily.

Then he bent both knees and took an odd stance, like the opening position in Western fencing. He shifted from holding his sword in one hand to gripping it with both.

An overwhelming force surged skyward. Even the Conqueror's Haki around him was affected, its intensity suddenly rising as if oil had been poured on a fire.

The space around him began to tremble faintly.

The next moment, Roger's face flushed, and veins bulged on his forehead.

But then he suddenly smiled, confidence appearing on his face.

"Yo!"

His figure abruptly blurred.

Dongze frowned, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.

Staring at the spot where Roger had vanished, he muttered to himself, The Divine Realm? No... something's off about this feeling.

He did not hesitate. His Observation Haki swept outward in an instant.

A figure flickered in and out of the range of his perception.

That absurd speed reminded him of his earlier fight with Rayleigh. Back then, his Observation Haki had barely managed to catch sight of the old man.

Come to think of it, that speed had been just like this.

"Extreme: Divine Departure!"

A roar rang out, and a slashing attack swept diagonally toward him from midair.

It seemed no different from the earlier Divine Departure, but Dongze's expression shifted slightly. The reason was simple: this slash was far too fast.

It moved so quickly that it escaped the grasp of Observation Haki, matching the speed at which his perfected Sword Intent erupted.

It was like Shuihan Sword Intent: almost the instant its sound faded, everything within a thousand meters would freeze. The delay was practically nonexistent.

And now, this slash imbued with Conqueror's Haki Coating had reached that same speed.

Dongze instinctively raised his arms. By then, both