On the vast central stage of the Sky Theater.
Tesoro stood clad in Golden Armor from head to toe, dressed like a Golden Saint.
The golden armored boots on his feet "slid" over the golden floor, moving so fast they left afterimages as he attacked Shining.
-Golden Burst!
Haki coiled around Tesoro's Golden Gauntlets. The instant he punched, a superheated jet of liquid gold pierced the air, producing an effect like an exploding artillery shell.
"Pff-!?"
Shining dodged the jet with movement bordering on teleportation and appeared at his side. He raised a leg and delivered a crescent-shaped roundhouse kick, lightning sweeping out in a brilliant fan.
Tesoro was kicked flying, then sank into the "soft" gold, which absorbed part of the impact.
His two-color Haki was roughly on par with a Shichibukai's. In an ordinary fight, he would not have been completely helpless.
But his absolute disadvantage in speed meant Tesoro only "sensed" the blows when they struck, barely managing to concentrate his Armament Haki where he needed to defend.
"...Cough-cough, cough-"
Tesoro emerged from the golden "cushion," flowing gold helping him straighten up. Against a monster like Shining, gold was useless for attack or defense. It could only provide support.
Only fists coated in Armament Haki could just barely make Shining choose to dodge.
Yet no sooner had Tesoro steadied himself than Shining raised a hand. A succession of rapidly flashing currents blazed azure, their light reflecting off the golden floor in strange halos.
-Blue Starters!
Brief, high-speed discharges melted all the gold around Tesoro.
But "molten gold" was still gold. It could not hurt him.
The current he could not channel away through the gold in time still shocked him, however. The Armament Haki covering his entire body was gradually worn down.
"-!"
Tesoro used the gold