In One Piece, Watching Roger's Execution at the Start

Clang!

The sword coated in Armament Haki collided with Atlas's fist once more.

"Terrifying! Not even a scratch!"

Rayleigh studied Atlas, who showed no opening at all. No matter how strong someone's Armament Haki was, spreading it over the entire body would increase the area it protected but weaken its defense at any single point.

Yet this Marine seemed to defy that rule. There were only two explanations: either her Armament Haki was stronger than she had shown, or... she had a terrifying amount of Haki!

"Blast Fist: Impact!"

Explosive flames sprang up around Atlas's fist. She drew it back, then drove it straight toward Rayleigh's face with tremendous force!

Bang! Bang!

Rayleigh raised his sword across his body, Armament Haki coating the blade!

The two impacts rang out almost together. The tremendous force numbed Rayleigh's hand and sent him stumbling backward!

"Projected Armament Haki?"

Before her fist had even reached his sword, a blood-red burst of Armament Haki had struck him head-on. It caught Rayleigh off guard despite his ready guard.

"What a monstrous young woman. It seems this old man will have to get serious."

Rayleigh steadied himself and gave a rueful smile. Their brief exchange had already given him a rough measure of the young Marine's strength.

Without exaggeration, Atlas was the most outstanding young person he had ever met. No one else came close!

He had thought Shanks was exceptional for his age, but compared with this Marine, even Shanks seemed to fall a little short.

At that thought, Rayleigh's expression turned serious. He gripped his sword with both hands. A two-handed grip gave him more power and an advantage in direct attacks and defense. He was truly taking Atlas seriously now.

"Razor: Explosion!"

Atlas struck first. She shifted direction repeatedly in midair, the speed and agility Kami-e Mushin gave her bringing her within reach of Rayleigh in an instant!

Clang!

Using her momentum, Atlas whipped her leg into a sideways kick against Rayleigh's blade. Their Armament Haki met with a metallic shriek!

"Worthy of the Dark King..."

Atlas watched the thin line of blood on her shin vanish. Rayleigh was frightening when he got serious. He had cut straight through her Armament Haki defense. The wound was minor, but it put her on guard.

"Flying Finger Pistol: Explosion!"

A dense, unbroken barrage of explosive rays shot from Atlas's hand toward Rayleigh like a meteor shower!

Sizzle!

Rayleigh dodged the explosive flames with his powerful Observation Haki, but his scorched hair and beard and tattered clothes showed how close they had come.

The CP0 agent aboard the warship could faintly sense the battle in the distance, but he did not dare go watch alone. Atlas might seize the chance to kill him and blame it on pirates. The World Government would never pursue the matter.

"Marine, move the ship closer. I want to see how the battle is going."

The CP0 agent in the black-and-white mask gave the order to a Marine nearby.

To his embarrassment, the Marines ignored him completely. They showed him, a CP0 agent, no respect at all!

"What a miserable assignment..."

He grumbled under his breath. He had suffered one slight after another since boarding this ship.

Damn it!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. The masked CP0 agent dropped onto the deck and stopped caring how Atlas's fight was going.

Atlas, of course, knew nothing of the CP0 agent's grievances. She watched Rayleigh with a grave expression, every muscle taut and both fists ready.

"Iron Fist: Shatter!"

The muscles in Atlas's arms swelled, and a storm of punches engulfed Rayleigh. Strangely, almost none of them struck him. Instead, they hit the air around him.

"Hm?"

Seeing this, Rayleigh abruptly stopped dodging.

"Future Sight?"

Future Sight was powerful, but the future changed constantly. Atlas had seen only one possible outcome, not something certain to happen.

Atlas had never expected Future Sight to suppress Rayleigh. As the Pirate King's right-hand man, he had fought far more battles than she had. His experience and ability to adapt surpassed hers.

"Iaijutsu: Lightning Cutter!"

Sandai Kitetsu flashed from its sheath at her hip. Cold light gleamed, and a blood-red slash hurtled straight at Rayleigh, leaving him nowhere to dodge!

"What..."

Too fast!

Rayleigh could not see a way to evade it. In the blink of an eye, the blood-red slash filled his vision!

Rayleigh suddenly raised his sword. Armament Haki wound around it, and black-and-red lightning danced along the blade. An overwhelming presence radiated from the sword, seeming to warp the air around it!

Conqueror's Haki! Infusion!

Whoosh!

Atlas's slash vanished in an instant. A slash more than twice its size swept onward toward her!

The flying slash seemed to split the sea in two as it traveled. Its terrifying edge and the crushing presence unique to Conqueror's Haki bore down on Atlas!

Pfft!

Atlas spat a mouthful of blood. The blow tore through the Armament Haki on her chest and opened a massive wound from top to bottom. Blood poured from the exposed flesh. Her mind went blank for less than a thousandth of a second, then the Horse Talisman's healing power erased the wound completely!

Damn it!

I used a basic skill, and you answered with your ultimate move?

Atlas spat out the blood left in her mouth, grumbling in frustration.

"Oh? Even her healing is beyond monstrous."

Rayleigh was startled to see the wound he had inflicted close in an instant. He almost wondered whether she had eaten some healing-related Devil Fruit.

There were people in this world with physiques called monstrous, but none could recover instantly like Atlas. Not even Kaido in the New World could do that!

Rip! "Old man, so you're playing for keeps?"

Atlas bristled. Aside from Kaido, no one had put her in such a sorry state. She tore off her ruined shirt, baring her muscular upper body, and brought Sandai Kitetsu before her.

"One Sword Style Secret Art: Twenty Instants in a Finger Snap, Twenty Thoughts in an Instant, Ninety Moments in a Thought, Nine Million Lives and Deaths in a Moment!"

"Hm?"

For an instant, Rayleigh felt as though time around him had stopped. A chill ran down his spine.

"Thousand Slashes in an Instant!"

Atlas's figure seemed to skip across space, shifting from in front of Rayleigh to behind him!

Slash! Slash! Clang! Clang!

Countless impacts of blade against flesh sounded, mingled with the shriek of steel against steel.

"With swordsmanship like that, you deserve the title of a great swordsman!"

Rayleigh was no Marco. Most of the slashes had landed, but his mastery of Haki kept them from doing serious harm. Only narrow cuts remained, slowly healing. Otherwise, he would hardly have been in the mood to judge Atlas's swordsmanship.

"Thanks for the compliment! It doesn't do me much good, though!"

Whoosh!

Atlas appeared behind Rayleigh like a ghost, Sandai Kitetsu already coated in Haki and following his every move.

A cold gleam cut from the upper right toward Rayleigh's lower left!

Gyaku Kesagiri!

If the strike landed cleanly, it would carve a huge gash from Rayleigh's shoulder to his waist. But Rayleigh was not about to stand there and take it.

Clang!

A sword appeared across Sandai Kitetsu's path!

Without even turning his body, Rayleigh twisted his sword arm around and blocked Atlas's Gyaku Kesagiri from the opposite direction!

But that posture gave him little strength. He felt the back of the blade strike him, and the force sent him stumbling, nearly pitching headfirst into the sea.

Bang!

Atlas would not let the opening pass. The muscles in her right leg swelled, and she kicked at Rayleigh's waist with a sharp rush of air!

"You show no respect for your elders!"

Rayleigh used the force of the kick to pull away. He rubbed his side with a helpless look, as though asking whether Atlas had ever heard of respecting the elderly.

"Sorry, but an old man like you should already be in the ground!"

Atlas gave no ground.

"Hey, old man. Could you teach me how to infuse Conqueror's Haki?"

Rayleigh stared at Atlas. One moment she had wished him into a coffin; the next, she was asking him to teach her. He laughed in disbelief.

"Sure. Leave the Marines and become a pirate."

"Oh. Never mind, then..."

"Hey, young Marine. How about you let me go?"

Rayleigh sounded her out.

It was not that he could not leave. But if this Marine pursued him, it would be a real headache. He had seen how formidable her Observation Haki was.

"Sure. Stand still and let me cut you once."

Atlas had not forgotten the slash Rayleigh had landed on her. It had nearly reached the bone. Without the Horse Talisman, she would probably still be lying on the ground groaning.

"That puts this old man in a difficult position. I simply can't... do that!"

Before he had finished speaking, Rayleigh vanished from Atlas's sight.

A red glint flashed in Atlas's eyes, and a confident smile touched her lips. "Hey! Don't underestimate my Observation Haki, old man!"

"Young Marine, don't put too much faith in your Observation Haki."

His voice came from behind Atlas. She showed no surprise, turning quickly and thrusting Sandai Kitetsu forward, ready for him!

Clang!

They locked blades, sparks spraying from where sword met sword.

"Not bad. You haven't lost your strength."

Atlas grinned fiercely at Rayleigh.

"Thanks for the compliment. This old man isn't so feeble that he can't teach you a lesson."

Clang!

Neither gained the advantage in their contest of strength. As if by agreement, they each stepped back, turned, and swung again!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

They exchanged several more blows. Atlas held her own in both Haki and strength, though Rayleigh had a slight edge.

"You can't trample the tender shoots of the new era!"

Rayleigh's expression grew stern, his gaze sharper. Now he looked more like Dark King Rayleigh, the Pirate King's right-hand man, than a smiling retiree.

He let the point of his sword drop. Armament Haki coated the blade, and Conqueror's Haki slowly wound around it. Black-and-red lightning leaped along the steel as immense pressure filled the air.