Logot's pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the fully unleashed Black Blade: Eight Desolations in Gern's hand.
The dark red cracks along the blade and the hum of high-frequency vibrations tearing through the air made his eardrums ache.
"That's a fine blade..." Logot murmured.
Not every weapon could withstand having a Devil Fruit ability channeled through it, and the one in Gern's hand was clearly exceptional.
"Captain! Is that... a Devil Fruit ability?!" The Blood Spear Pirates finally caught on, swallowed hard, and shouted.
"A Paramecia..." Logot's expression grew savage. "No wonder you dared come alone.
"But... why does that ability look a little familiar?"
"Captain Logot..."
"What are you afraid of?!" Hearing his men's cries, Logot whipped his cape aside, making the rank insignia clink sharply.
"I've seen plenty of ability users on the Grand Line!"
Before he had finished speaking, Logot lunged forward.
The Blood Beak spear struck like a venomous snake, its barbed tip tearing through the air straight toward Gern's throat!
"Die, you little Marine brat!"
Gern remained where he stood, without so much as lifting an eyelid.
With a hum, the spear pierced his body, but it was like stabbing a phantom. Not a single drop of blood spilled.
"What?!" Logot's eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at his failed attack.
The instant the spear tip touched him, Gern's body dissolved into countless vibrating particles, then reassembled a moment later.
"Just as I thought. You took me for a Paramecia," Gern's voice came from behind him.
Logot spun around and saw that Gern had somehow appeared three paces behind him, the vibrating sphere of light in his hand shining ever brighter.
"No wonder you fled back from the Grand Line," Gern said with undisguised scorn.
At Gern's taunt, Logot's face instantly darkened, and he let out an enraged roar.
The Blood Beak spear broke apart and reassembled into two short spears, their tips glowing an eerie red.
"Don't underestimate me, brat!" He crossed his spears and rushed at Gern like a phantom.
"Twin Beaks Pierce the Heart!"
Gern still did not move. He merely raised his hand slightly, and Vibration Particles flowed around his arm like water.
"Quake Wall."
Boom! Logot's twin spears slammed into the invisible barrier before Gern. Vibrational waves erupted, and the blast sent every nearby pirate flying!
The ground cracked and rubble scattered, but not even the hem of Gern's clothes stirred.
Before long, cold sweat beaded on Logot's forehead, and his hands began trembling from his frantic attacks against the barrier formed by Vibration Particles.
He decisively leaped backward to put some distance between them, his expression shifting uneasily.
"Fuck, a damned Logia..." Logot's voice twisted with shock, then rose into a furious roar.
"That's why I hate you bastards blessed by fate more than anything!"
With that, Logot stomped down, shattering the ground beneath his feet.
The Blood Beak spear spun in his hand, its barbed tip taking on a jet-black metallic sheen!
"You lucky bastards think you're something special just because you ate a fruit!" Logot's eyes were bloodshot.
"I've seen too many guys like you on the Grand Line... and they all ended up dying like stray dogs!"
Gern ignored his roaring and abruptly vanished.
"Tremor Flash: Glide Rail!"
A transparent track of Vibration Particles appeared in the air, and Gern shot along it as though launched by an invisible force, closing on Logot in an instant.
At the same time, he raised the Black Blade: Eight Desolations high. Vibrational waves gathered along it into a visible white blade of light, which he brought down toward Logot's head!
Before the blade even reached him, the terrifying vibrations tore through the ground, shattering the harbor's paving stones layer by layer like brittle crackers.
Yet Logot grinned savagely. Without dodging, he coated the Blood Beak spear in Armament Haki and drove it upward to meet the strike head-on!
Clang! Amid the explosive ring of colliding metal, dazzling sparks burst from where the black blade met the spear.
This guy's strong! Logot was visibly taken aback by Gern's immense strength.
What surprised Gern, however, was that Logot's Armament Haki actually withstood the impact of the vibrational waves. The recoil even numbed the web of his hand!
"Hey, Marine brat, your combat experience is pretty lousy!" He spat and spun the Blood Beak spear in his hand.
Armament Haki wound around its tip like black mist, and the glossy black barbs gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
Gern did not answer. He merely raised the black blade, Eight Desolations. Its body trembled, and high-frequency vibrating particles danced along its edge like electrical arcs.
"Tremor Break." The blade swept down!
The air tore apart in an instant as an enormous slash carrying oscillating waves erupted in a fan-shaped arc.
The ground split and buildings shattered in its path. Even space itself seemed to crack under the vibrations!
Logot grinned savagely and, rather than dodge, thrust his spear forward like a venomous snake!
"Blood Banquet Thrust: Piercing the Sea!"
The spear tip, reinforced with Armament Haki Hardening, collided head-on with the vibrating slash.
BOOM!!!
The blast erupted, knocking Logot back several steps. The web of his hand split open, and blood dripped down his wrist.
At the same time, a thin line of blood slowly appeared across Gern's chest-a wound left by the grazing tip of Blood Beak!
His body, which should have turned into its elemental form, had actually been cut!
"Armament Haki?" Gern stepped half a pace back, surprise flashing in his eyes.
"Ha... hahaha!" Seeing Gern's stunned expression, Logot suddenly burst into wild laughter, his eyes gleaming with manic excitement.
"You don't even fucking know Armament Haki?!"
Gern lowered his head to glance at the wound on his chest, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.
Seeing this, Logot laughed even more brazenly. He drove his spear into the ground and lifted his chin arrogantly.
"Didn't see that coming, did you, brat?! I'm a man who's fought real monsters on the Grand Line!
"Haki-that's the true proof of strength!"
Seizing on the fact that Gern could not use Haki, Logot suddenly charged. His spear thrust out like a torrential downpour, every strike wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki.
"Blood Banquet: Thousand Spears!"
Gern swung his blade rapidly to block, the Black Blade: Eight Desolations throwing off an unbroken shower of sparks as it clashed with the spear.
But as the fight went on, Logot soon noticed something else was wrong. The Marine before him seemed to lack more than just combat experience.
At first, when Gern drew his blade, Logot had assumed he was at least pursuing the path of a master swordsman. But judging by what he felt now...
Gern's swordsmanship had no structure whatsoever. He relied entirely on his fruit ability and the strength of his black blade to hack away.
And every swing depended on Vibration Particles to amplify its power through brute force, rather than a master swordsman's refined technique.
Before you continue