That earth-shattering strike stunned countless onlookers. Even the thunderous exchange of cannon fire between the ships at sea ceased for a moment, such was the awe-inspiring power of the blow. Had the trajectory been slightly lower, it could have rerouted the river itself, flooding the entire island.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Zephyr leaped through the air, small sonic booms erupting beneath his feet as he traversed the sky. He muttered to himself, "A terrifying strike. If a normal man were hit by that, his body would be torn to shreds by the distorted gravitational waves!"
Schwing—
Issho traced two arcs in the air with his cane sword. Suddenly, the ground beneath him fractured, and a massive slab of bedrock tore free from the earth, lifting him into the sky.
Zephyr shot a lingering look at Issho before turning to sprint across the air toward the opposite bank. Issho followed silently behind him.
Both men knew that if they continued their duel here, their subordinates would suffer catastrophic casualties from the collateral damage. By unspoken agreement, they shifted the battlefield, seeking an open wasteland to resume their combat, a move that signaled the fight was about to enter an even more violent and white-hot phase.
…
The Oasis Town – End of the River Channel.
This was a den for pirates, arms dealers, and mobsters. Daily bloodshed was the norm here, and the inhabitants were long desensitized to violence.
But today was different. First came the rhythmic, distant thunder of heavy artillery from the river mouth, and not long after, they watched in horror as a meteorite streaked down from the heavens and slammed into the island.
Though they didn't feel the direct impact of the first stone, they knew something was wrong. The incessant roar of cannons signaled a war of significant scale. Representatives from the town's various factions quickly dispatched scouts to investigate.
However, shortly after these scouts left the town, another massive explosion rocked the entire river channel, making the ground heave as if the island itself were detonating.
Panic set in. The outlaws rushed to the riverbanks.
"The ships in the channel... that's the Chris Pirates' flag!"
"The ones at sea are Marines! Have the Chris Pirates declared war on the Navy?"
"Look! Up on the slope! There are Marines fighting up there!"
The gathered criminals and dealers buzzed with frantic speculation.
"Wait, the terrain is wrong," one pirate noted, squinting at the horizon. "There used to be two high slopes flanking the river... why is there only one left?"
"He's right... the slope is gone!"
"What happened?"
"Look at all that rubble on the bank... and that sound earlier... did the entire hill explode?!"
"What kind of monsters are we dealing with? Is it the Marines or the Chris Pirates?"
The crowd stood aghast, staring at the far bank with newfound terror.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of deafening impacts and tremors suddenly shook them from behind. They spun around to see a desolate mountain a kilometer away crumbling. Massive boulders tumbled down its face as a pillar of dust surged into the sky.
Weeeng—
A haunting, high-pitched shriek tore through the air from above. The crowd looked up once more to see a streak of fire descending. Another massive meteorite was plummeting toward the desolate mountain.
"A-Another meteorite!"
"What the hell is going on today? Two in a row?"
"Hey... you don't think an Ability User is summoning these, do you?!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Who could possibly summon stars from the sky?"
The onlookers turned pale, their legs turning to jelly, terrified that the stone might change course and crush their town.
KABOOM—!!!
The flaming meteorite slammed into the peak of the desolate mountain a kilometer away. An ear-splitting roar followed as the shockwave swept across the land. The wind howled with such ferocity that fist-sized stones were swept into the air like leaves.
The several-hundred-meter-high mountain seemed to be driven into the earth, losing a significant portion of its height instantly. Dozens of wide fissures snaked from the summit to the base, and thick dust shrouded half the mountain like a heavy fog.
On the Desolate Mountain…
"Fujitora! Take this! Hardening: Great Boulder!!!"
Zephyr roared from within the shroud of dust. His muscles bulged as he hoisted a rock six meters high. An imperceptible shimmer of light rippled across the stone's surface.
With an explosive burst of strength, he hurled the massive rock. It shrieked through the air for dozens of meters, hurtling toward Issho in mid-air.
Shing—
Floating on a slab of rock, Issho unsheathed his blade and traced two arcs in the air. He frowned slightly. "That strange Fruit ability of yours is truly a nuisance. I never expected that you, a man who once despised Ability Users, would become one yourself."
BOOM—!
The gravitational field in front of him intensified. The whistling boulder halted abruptly in mid-air before plummeting straight down, carving a deep crater into the earth.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Zephyr ran through the air, closing the distance rapidly. He grumbled back, "As troublesome as my ability is, it doesn't hold a candle to yours, Issho!"
Issho manipulated his stone platform to rise higher, attempting to maintain distance.
"But fate is a curious thing," Zephyr continued loudly as he pursued him through the sky. "I never imagined I would leave the Navy I spent my life serving, let alone become the very thing I hated most, a pirate!"
"Is it fate? Or something else...?"
Issho shook his head with a sigh. His cane sword glowed with a purple hue as he swung it downward, unleashing a torrent of gravitational energy.
"Gravity Blade: Fierce Tiger!!!"
"That move again!"
Zephyr's heart skipped a beat. He kicked off the air, shifting his body violently to the right, narrowly dodging the purple torrent.
The gravitational energy spun through the air like a miniature typhoon, letting out a mournful howl as it distorted both space and the ground below.
RUMBLE—!
The ground at the point of impact detonated, sending shards of rock flying and leaving a massive, fifty-meter crater at the summit. It looked as if a giant had taken a bite out of the mountain.
"Shigan: Cannon Fist!!!"
Simultaneously, Zephyr let out a low shout. He threw a punch into the empty air.
The air itself seemed to explode, releasing a visible wave of translucent white pressure. It shot toward Fujitora Issho like a physical cannonball.
BOOM—!
Issho tilted his head to listen and hurriedly raised his blade to block. A massive boom echoed as a shockwave rippled out. The sheer force of the impact knocked Issho off his floating rock, sending him plummeting toward the ground.
"Hahaha! Die!"
Zephyr lunged after him, thrusting his index fingers toward Issho's body in a frenzied barrage. His hands became a blur of countless afterimages.
"Shigan: Mad Raid!!!"
———————
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