Immortal Points the Way

Rubick dodged several times, and Arlong never even touched the hem of his clothes. The buildings around them, however, were smashed to pieces by Arlong's repeated charges.

"Human, is dodging all you can do?"

Faced with Arlong's fury, Rubick shot back, "Enjoy it while you can. These are the last moments of your life."

Rubick steadied his breathing, then put on the goggles hanging around his neck.

They were modified wind goggles with the lenses blacked out in ink. Once Rubick put them on, he couldn't see a thing.

That was right. Rubick intended to use Arlong as a sparring partner.

"Hey, don't say I never gave you a chance. I can't see now, so if you want to run, do it while you can!"

"I choose to kill you instead, you arrogant human!"

Arlong roared. Rubick heightened his guard and focused his senses, but his ears told him Arlong wasn't coming at him.

Arlong had gone into a nearby building to fetch his weapon.

Hachi said to Chew, "He can't see now. Should we take him out?"

Chew said nothing. He simply spat at Rubick. As a kissing gourami Fish-Man, he could naturally fire droplets of water with more destructive force than a human gun.

The droplet whistled toward Rubick, who dodged with a slight tilt of his head. Chew had aimed for his forehead, making it fairly easy to evade.

"Chew, cover me!"

Hachi charged Rubick with his swords, while Chew cooperated by spitting several water arrows.

The stream of water arrows covered a wider area, forcing Rubick to move his feet and dodge. By then Hachi had closed in, his six arms swinging swords at Rubick from every direction in wave after wave.

Sensing the blades bearing down on him, Rubick dodged for his life. Their chilling edge left him no attention to spare for anything else.

Meanwhile, Chew ran to the pool and gulped down a mouthful of water. His cheeks bulging, he waited patiently for Rubick to leave an opening.

After attacking for a while, Hachi realized Rubick had dodged every strike. He changed tactics, letting all six arms go limp and supple, like a real octopus's.

Six-Sword Style: Scabbard-Foot Strange Sword.

Octopuses were soft-bodied creatures, and Hachi, as an octopus Fish-Man, shared that trait. His movements usually made him look as though he had joints like a human, but his arms were all muscle, without a single bone.

This technique exploited the flexibility of his arms to attack.

It worked remarkably well. With Hachi's six arms, everything around him was within striking range except Hachi himself. And because his arms had no bones, his swords whipped out as though tied to ropes. Rubick suddenly couldn't read the paths of their swings or the directions of the attacks.

Swish, swish!

Rubick immediately took two slashes. Fortunately, he used Iron Body at the critical moment, reducing the damage to a minimum.

"So you can be beaten after all! Take this—Six-Sword Round Dance!"

Hachi suddenly leaped above Rubick. His six arms spun clockwise, making him look like a fan with blades for fins as he sliced down at Rubick from above.

A direct hit would dice an ordinary person to bits.

"Don't think you can escape!"

Chew seized the moment to spit a water blast the size of a basketball at Rubick.

"Soru!"

Rubick sensed Chew's ranged attack. He was particularly wary of a Fish-Man who could spit seawater. The moment he heard Hachi leap overhead, he had already decided to dodge.

He wasn't Zoro; he wasn't about to stand there and trade ultimate moves with Hachi. Two successive uses of Soru brought Rubick right beside Chew.

"Immortal Points the Way!"

Using the speed of Soru, Rubick launched Immortal Points the Way. He pressed two fingers together like a sword and thrust with explosive force, punching straight through Chew's abdomen.

Chew flew backward with a wail, smashed through a wall, and landed beside Kuroobi. But Fish-Men were exceptionally hardy. For now, he had only passed out from blood loss.

Hachi's ultimate move had struck nothing. He brought the tips of his six swords together in front of him, preparing another. Just then, Arlong returned, carrying a serrated weapon.

Arlong himself stood 2.6 meters tall, and the oddly shaped blade was two meters long. This was his weapon, the great saw-sword Kiribachi.

"Boss, Chew's been knocked out."

Arlong glanced at Chew, saw the large bloodstain on his abdomen, and quickly looked away. He had no time to worry about whether the other Fish-Men lived or died. If he couldn't defeat Rubick, they might all be killed.

"What do we do?"

Arlong looked around and suddenly had an idea. "Brothers, make some noise! Throw him off!"

At Arlong's order, the Fish-Men around them began shouting. Hachi even used his mouth like an instrument to disrupt Rubick.

The racket interfered with Rubick's judgment. He finally understood why Sun Wukong had been so annoyed by a crowd of lesser demons during his battle against the three rhinoceros spirits that he'd simply withdrawn.

"Damn it!"

Rubick tore off the goggles. "If you're so eager to die, I'll oblige."

Arlong stared, dumbfounded. You can't just break the rules like that!

"Soru!"

Rubick closed in on Arlong at high speed. Arlong's decent combat instincts kicked in, and he swiftly swung Kiribachi in front of him.

Because of Arlong's height, Rubick only had to crouch slightly to avoid the swing. He followed with a Rising Dragon Fist that sent Arlong flying.

Another Soru brought Rubick beside Arlong. Suspended in midair, Arlong could barely put up a defense before Rubick kicked him higher. The kick sent him six or seven meters up, and Rubick pursued with Geppo.

"Damn it!"

Arlong began to tremble. He had figured out Rubick's background: he was an elite marine who could use that strange martial art!

Rubick offered no explanation. Instead, he used a series of Geppo steps to drive Arlong higher. When they were more than twenty meters up, Rubick grinned and shouted, "Arlong, it's over!"

"Gum-Gum: Inner Twist!"

Rubick stretched out both arms and wrapped them around Arlong, then began twisting himself furiously. Arlong watched in terror as Rubick twisted around him, his arms already wound tight like braided rope.

After dozens of turns, Rubick reached his limit. He now looked like a huge piece of tightly wound bubble gum.