Of course, battles between Admiral-level powerhouses were difficult to settle quickly unless someone used the Dark-Dark Fruit ability like Rocks, or knocked a Devil Fruit user straight into the sea.
Even though Shiki was considerably stronger than his opponent, the armored female knight merely brushed the dirt off herself before charging back into battle with him.
Seeing that the female knight was largely unharmed, Shiki clicked his tongue and grew serious again.
"Come to think of it, I haven't been sitting idle this past year. I learned something good from my brother!"
"Life Return: Golden Lion Descends!"
With Shiki's roar, a golden aura erupted around him, and the phantom of a golden lion seemed to appear behind his back.
As the Division Commander stationed closest to Lind, and a close friend of his, Golden Lion had gotten plenty out of Lind lately.
Although he couldn't learn any confidential secrets, it was easy enough to get his hands on Oran Island's Life Return techniques and some of the good stuff sold to outsiders. Shiki hadn't held back at all.
Shiki welcomed anything that could improve his strength. A fair chunk of Lind's enormous fortune had come from him.
With Golden Lion Descends, Shiki instantly became the brightest star on the battlefield apart from Rocks. He overwhelmed the female knight opposite him, putting her in mortal danger several times.
The World Government had no choice but to spare an Admiral Candidate-level fighter to help relieve the pressure on her.
Watching Golden Lion shine, Kaido and Kozuki Oden felt a flicker of envy. Naturally, they were both very fond of this miraculous technique from Oran Island.
Unfortunately, they had no foundation in the Six Powers and couldn't even use ordinary Life Return. Learning its ultimate technique in a short time was simply impossible.