A Fight to the Death! Kuro vs. Akin!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Barely managing to block Kuro's repeated charges, Akin's body gradually accumulated more and more wounds despite the twin Iron Crutches protecting him.

Blood streamed everywhere, as if he were being slowly dismembered.

Kuro's voice continued to drift over from time to time.

"I'll slice off every piece of flesh on your body, one by one, until you bleed dry and die!"

Consumed by rage, Kuro no longer wore his usual gloomy, cold expression. His face was twisted with savagery.

Amid the increasingly bloody scene, he felt an unprecedented thrill, as though his very soul were trembling.

At this moment, all he wanted was to flay the opponent before him alive!

Akin answered with silence. As the attacks came faster and faster, he gradually realized the core flaw in Kuro's technique:

"Your vision is limited, and your hearing is completely drowned out by the sonic booms caused by your high-speed movement."

"At such speed, even you can't control your own body, can you?"

"The claw marks all over the ground and the people fallen around us are the best proof. This is nothing more than an indiscriminate attack."

The more Akin spoke,

the brighter his eyes became:

"You're strong—far stronger than me. But compared to Captain Krieg—no, compared to the weapon he created for slaughter—the difference is like that between creatures from two different dimensions!"

"Kuro!"

"You will definitely lose! We'll be the ones who win!"

As he spoke, Akin swept his Iron Crutch sideways, slamming it head-on into Kuro's Claw Blades. Sparks burst through the air.

"You..."

Claw Blades and Iron Crutch locked together as the two began a contest of strength.

Kuro clearly held the upper hand, pinning Akin down completely, yet the shock in his eyes was beyond words.

"Other than that man, there was actually someone else who could crack Shave?!"

"Yeah."

Akin's lips curled into a savage grin.

"You must be terrified of death, huh? That's why you created a move that sacrifices even your own senses just to completely overwhelm your enemy with speed."

"But fighting has always been about risking your life. How can you win if you don't gamble?"

"Since you can't sense anything, then leave everything... to luck!"

"Your instincts will tell you where the enemy will attack from!"

The next instant,

Kuro vanished into thin air. He drove Shave to its limit, and even the leather shoes on his feet began to melt from the unbearable heat, turning sticky.

Kuro simply kicked them off barefoot, all in pursuit of even greater speed!

Faster!

Faster!

Faster!

So fast it defied imagination, chasing wind and lightning, so fast his opponent did not even have time to think!

Atop Kuro's explosively increasing speed, Shave—which had already been incomprehensibly fast—broke directly into an entirely new dimension.

It was as though a wind carrying death swept through the surroundings. Under that tremendous speed, the Claw Blades on all ten fingers glowed red-hot!

"Then let's gamble and see whether it's your luck or my Shave!"

Kuro's fighting spirit surged higher and higher. While moving at high speed, he hunched his waist and back like a stalking feline, his entire body leaning far forward because that was the only way he could barely maintain his balance.

His five fingers spread slightly, maximizing his killing range.

Kuro's expression grew increasingly vicious, but Akin's face remained perfectly calm.

In the blink of an eye,

Akin's already battered body gained countless new wounds. Blood sprayed everywhere, and his miserable state made those nearby unable to bear looking at him.

"Looks like your luck isn't very good!"

Kuro's ethereal voice rang out through the air again.

"Here!"

Akin's tightly shut eyes suddenly flew open. An indescribable feeling rose within him.

There was no reason, no logic, not even any explanation—but I just know you'll attack from here!

That nearly prophetic instinct made Akin swing his twin Iron Crutches on reflex.

The iron ball at the end of one crutch, carrying enough force to split mountains and shatter stone, struck Kuro squarely in the chest and abdomen.

Boom!

Kuro abruptly halted mid-dash, then flew backward like a cannonball. He smashed through the wall at the edge of the harbor and was buried beneath falling rubble.

"Is it... finally over?!"

Akin panted heavily.

Only now, as the adrenaline faded, did he feel searing pain coming from every inch of skin across his body.

Akin looked toward the distant ruins, his face filled with lingering fear.

Though the battle had been extremely brief, it had been the most perilous fight he had ever experienced.

Kuro was simply too fast—so fast it had surpassed what a human could achieve. If not for the flaw that he could not control this move himself, even ten of Akin would not have been enough for him.

"Looks like this time, luck was on my side!"

With that, Akin turned to leave. Yet at that moment, a harsh sound came from the rubble once more...

Screech!

Five claw marks appeared, slicing apart the boulders pressing down on him. Kuro barely rose to his feet, one arm hanging limply at his side while a burning pain pulsed from his chest.

This body had already reached its limit, but Kuro's gaze toward Akin shone with a blinding light.

"Aren't you curious?"

"Why were you able to sense my attacks as if you could see the future?!"

"At first, I didn't think it was possible to encounter something like this before entering the Grand Line. I've never even experienced it firsthand, but there's no doubt about it!"

"Observation Haki!"

"I finally understand why even that monster Gawain wore that expression whenever he spoke of this ability."

"The advantage gained from reading your opponent's attacks beforehand is just too great!"

"Shihahahahahaha~"

Kuro raised a hand and pushed up his glasses with his palm. His face wore an almost crazed expression; he was clearly excited beyond measure!

"He didn't lie to me! He really didn't lie to me!"

"It's just that the pressure I faced before wasn't great enough to awaken this power that had always been hidden in my body. But now it's different. We... are equals!"

"One arm is fractured. More than six ribs in my chest were broken by that blow, and my internal organs have suffered varying degrees of damage."

"Next... will be a fight to the death. I really might die, but are you ready?"

"Monster!"

Akin sucked in a sharp breath, terror written across his face.

"You still want to fight?"

"Yeah~"

Kuro licked his lips. The fishy sweetness of blood coated his tongue. His badly wounded body took one step after another, swaying with every movement.

Each step left a bloody print on the ground.

Life and death?

He no longer cared.

A peaceful life?

It no longer seemed so important either.

Only now did he finally see his true self clearly—why he had once wanted to abandon the identity of a pirate. There was only one answer!

Boredom!

This mediocre world, this weakest of seas, the East Blue, had left him unable to muster even the slightest interest in drawing his blades.

Even opponents who had once been far stronger than him had not seemed truly unbeatable before his meticulous mind.

Not until he met Gawain. Only in that life-and-death battle with Gawain had he felt that long-lost excitement again, enough to make his soul tremble!

"I really am a hopeless villain, rotten to the core!"

"Only battle, only pain, only bloodshed can bring me even the slightest comfort in this endless life!"

"Shihahahahahaha--!"