Black halberd shadows intertwined with white fist afterimages as Conqueror's Haki lightning flashed incessantly. Every collision brought an earth-shattering explosion.
The ground was riddled with craters and cracks. What had once been the Flower Capital's square was now scorched earth.
The battle lasted an hour.
Luffy's breathing grew more and more labored, and wounds covered more and more of his body. Conqueror's Coating consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
Yet Lü Bu's breathing remained steady, as though he would never tire.
"That's about enough. Time to end this."
Lü Bu snorted coldly and raised the Sky Piercer high. Black Shadow Power and Conqueror's Haki gathered into a massive black orb at its tip.
"Giratina Shadow Destruction Slash!"
A black slash hundreds of meters long swept out from the Sky Piercer. This strike contained fifty percent of Lü Bu's strength, enough to cleave an island in two.
Luffy's expression changed drastically as he gathered every last bit of his Haki into his fist.
"Gum-Gum: Conqueror's Coating King Kong Gun!"
The enormous fist collided with the black slash.
BOOOOM-!!!!!
This time, Luffy could not block it.
The black slash instantly overwhelmed his fist and struck his body hard.
Luffy screamed in agony and was sent flying again. He crashed heavily to the ground and lost consciousness.
Silence fell over the square.
Nami and the others watched the unconscious Luffy, tears streaming uncontrollably down their faces.
"Luffy..."
Looking at Luffy lying on the ground, Lü Bu shook his head and said with some disappointment, "Looks like this is as far as you go. I thought you could give me a few more surprises."
He raised the Sky Piercer, ready to end the battle.
Just then, something unexpected happened!
Luffy's heart began beating in a strange rhythm.
"Thump... thump... thump..."
The heartbeat grew louder