Clang!
A piercing ring of steel rang out. Brilliant blade light seemed to illuminate the air itself, dazzling everyone for an instant.
Killer swung the scythes in his hands down hard.
Clang!
But in the next instant, his weapons were stopped dead in midair. Even his body froze in place.
"You still need more practice."
"With strength like that, you can't even keep hold of your blades."
River grinned as he spoke.
As his words fell, he gave the sword in his hand a slight shake. An immense, overwhelming force instantly surged toward Killer, hammering into his hands.
"What?!"
Killer's pupils contracted. The terrifying force spread through him, making his arms tremble, and the scythes flew from his hands against his will.
Before he could even react, his body was hurled high into the air. Only after crashing through tree after tree did he realize what had happened.
"Killer!!!"
Eustass Kid's expression changed drastically.
He had never expected the powerful Killer to be sent flying after a single clash, utterly unable to resist.
As he stared at the man before him, his gaze grew extremely grave, even nervous.
Perhaps he had seriously underestimated his opponent's strength.
His eyes flickered as he spotted his crewmate Heat running around to River's flank. Heat opened his enormous mouth and exhaled fiercely.
Whoosh!
Scorching flames erupted in an instant, rolling toward River in waves to engulf him.
"You're an interesting zombie."
River turned his head as the flames reached him.
The sword in his hand trembled, and he swung it in a simple, unassuming slash.
Humm!
The slash cleaved the air, unleashing a terrifying attack that extinguished the incoming flames in an instant.
Then it hurtled straight toward Heat.
"Dodge, Heat!!"
Kid roared. Charging forward, he had already reached the space above River. He