"Marine brat, you may be adapting quickly, but..." Rayleigh's golden pupils suddenly contracted.
"Young man, don't get too cocky!" With that, he drove off the ground and charged at Gern again like a streak of lightning!
His sword sliced through the air, Armament Haki coiling around its length. The pitch-black blade flashed like the Grim Reaper's scythe, heading straight for Gern's throat!
But-"What kind of young man isn't cocky?" Laughing wildly, Gern plunged the Black Blade: Eight Desolations into the ground.
The instant its tip pierced the reef rock, a terrifying vibration pulse erupted like a tsunami!
"Heavenquake: Earthsong!"
RUMBLE!!! The entire reef island shook violently. The ground rolled like waves, countless cracks spreading frantically outward from Gern!
The rock beneath Rayleigh's feet collapsed instantly, and the powerful shock wave stopped his charge dead.
He had no choice but to leap, lightly tapping his toes against the flying rubble to adjust his position in midair.
"Trying to force some distance between us with vibrations?" Rayleigh's gaze sharpened.
He was about to close in again when he saw a cold smile curl Gern's lips.
"I've had no enemies along my path, only teachers!
"They taught me lesson after lesson, shattered my innocence, killed my childishness, broke my body...
"They made me understand that without failure and humiliation, you can never forge a mature person.
"I've never had some grand moment of enlightenment. All any battle has ever given me is... mistakes at every step, lessons at every step!!"
Gern wrenched the Black Blade: Eight Desolations out of the ground and flicked it, eight pure-white spheres suddenly forming around him!
The surface of each sphere was covered in spiderweb cracks.
Inside them, compressed vibration energy powerful enough to tear space apart gave off a piercing hum as they floated in the air.