Pirates: I Became a Legend by Seeing Proficiency

Rayleigh let out a soft sigh.

"Looks like I'll have to show you what I've really got!"

A black-and-red gleam flashed in Rayleigh's eyes. His Conqueror's Haki flared and vanished, and black-and-red lightning swiftly wrapped around the sword in his hand.

Then he slashed fiercely behind him.

"Divine Departure!"

Roger's ultimate move appeared once more, this time in Rayleigh's hands.

Long River and Thunderclap faltered. The slash they should have pierced with ease held them at a standstill.

Sword Intent was a manifestation of the will of heaven and earth. Conqueror's Haki was also a kind of will, but unlike Sword Intent, it came from an individual.

Still, both involved will. Conqueror's Haki would not scatter the instant it met Sword Intent.

Understanding dawned in Rayleigh's eyes. Dongze had not explained exactly what Sword Intent was, but their fight had gradually given him an idea.

As far as he knew, aside from the ultimate moves of awakened Devil Fruit users, only attacks infused with Conqueror's Haki possessed such destructive power.

Now that he had seen it, his guess seemed close to the mark.

But then he remembered Dongze telling him there were no fewer than six kinds of the stuff, and a shiver ran through him.

Dongze's gaze sharpened at Rayleigh's dazzling slash.

"Divine Departure?"

The Dark King Rayleigh really is in a league of his own.

Watching Long River and Thunderclap remain locked in the struggle, Dongze reached out and tapped the air before him. Two tiny, invisible swords sank into the void.

Then he lightly patted the sword case, and Forgotten Dust leaped into his hand.

The old man knocked Cold River away with two more Divine Departure slashes, then rapidly closed in on Dongze himself.

Dongze frowned. By now, he could see the weakness of his Peerless Sword Case.

It had power and speed to spare, but against a group of experts who could infuse their attacks with Conqueror's Haki, its swords could easily be defeated one by one.

If the old man known as the Dark King had heard that thought, he might have wept.

A group?

You've got some nerve. I could count the people who've mastered that technique on two hands, and every one of them is a famous figure on the seas.

How much free time do you think they have to gang up on you, kid?

"Divine Departure!"

Another dazzling slash came at him.

Dongze saw Rayleigh's confident smile and curved his lips.

"Take out the leader first? Too bad I'm no paper tiger who can only play with flying swords!"

Dongze held his sword in his right hand and swept the index and middle fingers of his left along Forgotten Dust's blade. Ryuo-level Armament Haki swiftly coated it.

The force of his sword surged in the next instant. Sword Intent swept through the void, turning it black and white.

This time, it was no illusion. His Sword Intent had reached into the world around him, creating a landscape of ink and wash. Black clouds hung overhead, and drops of inky rain stained the snow-white earth.

It was the opening stance of Hundred-Pace Flying Sword.

But this time, Sword Intent had awakened within the move, making its power difficult to imagine. Dongze, at least, had never used it against anyone before.

"Rayleigh, have you ever heard of being made to stand still?"

Rayleigh froze. What was that supposed to mean? In the next instant, Dongze drove the sword case into the solid ice, and Forgotten Dust tore through the air. Dongze curled his right hand as if gripping something, and man and sword transformed into an Azure Dragon.

"Hundred-Pace Flying Sword!"

An Unexpected Arrival, Rayleigh's Ultimate Speed

"Sister! This is bad! Look over there!"

"What is it, Sandersonia?"

On a peculiar ship pulled by two enormous sea snakes, a group of scantily clad women erupted into an uproar at the sight of an island of ice that had suddenly appeared in the Calm Belt.

A tall, imposing green-haired woman with a forked tongue strode straight through the crowd to report to the woman seated amidships in an embroidered red outfit.

The green-haired woman was rather hard on the eyes, but the seated woman was breathtaking.

Her slightly broad forehead was smooth, her eyes long and fine, with a touch of coolness in their almond shape. She had a high bridge, a delicate nose, and soft lips without a single crease. Beneath long lashes, her dark pupils were clear and bright, brimming with intelligence.

Her long black hair was styled in a hime cut. She had deep-blue eyes, a pair of golden snake earrings, and beauty beyond compare.

They were the Kuja, returning from an expedition.

Everyone knew the Calm Belt belonged to sea beasts and Sea Kings. No wind ever blew there, making it forbidden waters for pirates. Usually, there was not a soul in sight, yet today an island of ice had appeared out of nowhere.

Boa Hancock bit her lower lip as she looked at it. The Calm Belt had always been the natural barrier separating Amazon Lily from the outside world, protecting the isolated nation.

Of course, the sudden appearance of an island made her anxious.

"What in the world is going on?"

As the women puzzled over it, the aftermath of a blow tore across the sky and struck like a towering wave, rocking their pirate ship violently.

"Ah!"

Hancock's expression changed sharply. She sent her Observation Haki surging toward the distance.

As her senses pushed farther in, her face grew darker. They reached nearly twenty kilometers toward the island's center, yet all she could perceive was an endless expanse of white. Terrifying shockwaves swept toward her one after another, almost seeming to tear through the Observation Haki she had extended.

"That's impossible!"

Fear flashed deep in Hancock's eyes.

The mere aftershocks were enough to tear through her Observation Haki. She could hardly imagine how powerful the two fighters were.

Suddenly, a black-and-red slash cut through the thick ice and entered the range of her Observation Haki.

The Haki within it made her legs go weak, and she dropped back onto her pet snake.

Her pupils shrank to pinpoints.

"Conqueror's Haki," she murmured.

She had sensed Conqueror's Haki in a slash. It felt like a dream, and its strength surpassed anything she had encountered in her life.

Though she possessed Conqueror's Haki herself, she had never even heard of infusing an attack with it.

"Sister!"

Seeing Hancock's reaction, Marigold and Sandersonia rushed over and looked at her with concern.

After a long moment, Boa Hancock spoke. "Powerful fighters are clashing out there. They're beyond us."

As she said it, a thought struck her. Why would the two have chosen such a godforsaken place?

Her expression shifted. She no longer cared how the ice island had formed.

"Go, now!" she urged. "They chose this place because they don't want anyone to know about their fight. Leave before they notice us!"

Hancock's grave expression startled everyone. Ever since they had set sail, she had carried herself like a proud queen, looking down on all beneath her with absolute confidence.

Yet a glimpse of the distant battle had drained the color from her face.

She had barely finished speaking when a vast ink-wash painting spread across the sky and swallowed their entire party in the blink of an eye.

The black-and-white world carried a chilling will to kill that made their skin crawl. Some of the weaker Amazon warriors even collapsed to the deck.

Inky rain soaked the pale earth. Amid the black clouds and falling drops, they seemed to see a young man open his eyes.

A glint of cold light in his gaze became a blade of murderous intent that drove straight into their hearts. They wanted nothing more than to turn and flee.

But their feet might as well have taken root. They could not move a single step.

At the heart of the battle, Rayleigh had it even worse.

Hundred-Pace Flying Sword already locked onto its target through sheer force of presence. Even before its Sword Intent awakened, that hold had been absurdly strong. Now, drawn tight by the sword's rising momentum, it felt like the weight of heaven and earth itself. Rayleigh was at a loss.

So that was what Dongze had meant by making him stand still. At first, he had wondered.

Knowing did him no good. The flying sword was almost upon him.

Just then, Conqueror's Haki erupted at the glacier's edge.

The sword's hold wavered for a fraction of a second. A light flashed deep in Rayleigh's eyes, and delight spread across his face.

He did not know who had released that Conqueror's Haki, but it had finally given him a chance to breathe within that crushing vortex.

He was a legend of the seas. In the next instant, his own deep, overwhelming Conqueror's Haki surged forth, unrivaled and unyielding. Like a colossal pillar stirring a pool of spring water, it disrupted the force that had seized the world around him.

Regret flickered through Dongze's eyes as Rayleigh broke free.

The killing stroke of Hundred-Pace Flying Sword had failed to reveal its full power.

Dongze sensed the disturbance at the far end of the glacier and gave a cold laugh. "If you want to take the hit for the Dark King, then this sword strike is yours!"

The vast ink-wash painting covered fifty li. With Dongze's movement, its gathered force became Vertical Sword Intent. Cold light flashed along Forgotten Dust, and he unleashed the final horizontal slash of Hundred-Pace Flying Sword with savage force.

A colossal blade of sword energy, a thousand meters across, swept toward the glacier's edge.

In battle, fifty li was about the limit of Dongze's Observation Haki, so he did not know who had arrived. Rayleigh was different. His mastery of Observation Haki exceeded Dongze's, and fifty li was not his limit.

He had seen who it was.

"That little girl..."

At the sight of Dongze's final slash, Rayleigh's face filled with bitterness.

"Payback sure comes fast!"

Rayleigh's figure flickered, then vanished from where he stood. The three flying swords that followed stabbed into empty air.

"What...?"

Even Dongze was stunned by Rayleigh's speed.

He had been nowhere near that fast before. Now he was almost beyond the limits of Dongze's Observation Haki.

You've got to be kidding me.

Dongze watched the figure moving so fast it was almost a streak within his Observation Haki, shook his head, and stopped attacking.

"Rayleigh..." he said, a wealth of feeling in his voice.

Rayleigh's Rescue, the Kuja's Narrow Escape

The Calm Belt.

On the island of ice, a streak of sword energy raced unhindered.

It erupted like thunder, flashed like lightning, and swept forward with unstoppable force.

The thick ice split like tofu beneath the angled strike, opening a deep chasm whose bottom could not be seen.

The sword energy sped toward the island's edge.

The world fell silent. Only the sound of the sword energy whipping up the cold wind remained, keening like a lament.

A figure flashed after it and was gone.

Moving at a speed beyond anything most people could imagine—an absurd speed—he charged forward in pursuit of the sword energy.

From time to time, a low boom sounded beneath his feet.

It was the sound of air bursting under the force of his movement.

Rayleigh was racing to intercept the strike.

Dongze sheathed his flying swords and gazed toward the place where the earlier disturbance had begun.

He was curious now. Judging by Rayleigh's actions, the newcomer was someone he knew, and knew well. Otherwise, having finally escaped, Rayleigh would hardly have rushed to take another beating.

Dongze pushed his Observation Haki to its limit. This time, he finally saw who had caused the commotion.

The sight caught him by surprise.