—Armament Haki: Full-Body Hardening!
Whoosh!
Under Sherlock's astonished gaze, Rear Admiral Alan's petite body suddenly stopped its attribute transformation, and her entire form turned pitch-black, as if she had been doused in a layer of black paint.
—Shave!
After using Armament Haki to block the elemental bullets of a certain four-eyes, Rear Admiral Alan returned to normal and shifted over a dozen meters in an instant, looking as if she had teleported. She dispelled the Haki enveloping her body, her gaze fixed on Sherlock, burning with anger and humiliation.
"To teach a rookie like you a lesson, I was actually forced to use Armament Haki?! This is... this is such a failure!!!"
The more Alan thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. Initially, she had only wanted to test the Sorcerer's strength on a whim, but this loli Rear Admiral never expected that she would suffer a hidden setback at the hands of a rookie who had just entered the Grand Line—even forcing her to resort to Haki!
What a supreme humiliation! Absolute humiliation!
This absolute menace, who was lawless even back at Marine Headquarters, had never suffered such a grievance. Gritting her pearly-white teeth, she vanished from the spot once more.
When she reappeared, she was directly behind Sherlock.
—Finger Pistol!
Her fair, delicate index finger thrust forward violently, tearing through the air with a piercing screech. In her fury, Rear Admiral Alan didn't hold back in the slightest. Judging by the Sorcerer's previous performance, there was absolutely no way he could dodge it in time.
Furthermore, due to the hilarious height difference between the two, the placement of Rear Admiral Alan's Finger Pistol was rather... "awkward." It targeted a spot roughly twenty centimeters directly below Sherlock's lower back...
In an instant, an unprecedented sense of crisis flooded Sherlock's heart, and a primal terror he had never felt before echoed from the depths of his soul!
Spurred and pressured by this sheer terror, Sherlock's eyes suddenly went blank, and an image he had seen back in Skypiea inexplicably flashed across his mind.
The moonlight was thick, and the lake reflected the full moon in the sky like a mirror. A gentle breeze blew past, causing the moon in the water to ripple along with the shimmering lake, only to return to tranquility moments later.
Tell me: Is the moon in the sky definitively [real]? Is the moon in the water definitively [an illusion]?
What exactly is the dividing line between reality and illusion?
Mirror Flower, Water Moon—an illusory reality.
Just like his epiphany back in Skypiea, Sherlock seemed to grasp something once again, and the sensation was even stronger than before. He couldn't describe it, but his bodily instincts had already moved ahead of his consciousness to adapt to that feeling.
Time seemed to grind to a halt, the air grew incredibly thick, and the world in the Sorcerer's eyes suddenly became blurred and surreal...
(Shoot! I got a bit too carried away.)
Just as Alan's Finger Pistol was about to strike the Sorcerer, this expired loli finally realized what kind of messed-up thing she was doing! She frantically tried to pull back her strength, but it was already too late.
(I'm screwed! I'm screwed! I'm totally screwed! If Silver Hair finds out I just violated her precious little brother's rear, will that obsessive brocon completely lose her mind?!)
With that terrifying thought, Alan's fair, delicate finger passed right through the Sorcerer's body without any resistance, skewering Sherlock cleanly.
Yes, without any resistance whatsoever.
"Huh???" Her body still frozen in a thrusting posture, Rear Admiral Alan looked completely bewildered.
"..." Sherlock looked down at the small, fair hand protruding from his abdomen, his expression exceedingly bizarre.
"Is this another one of your illusions? No, this is definitely you!" Rear Admiral Alan tried to touch Sherlock's body, but it was like grasping at thin air; she couldn't make contact with his physical form at all.
The sensation was very similar to the illusions the Sorcerer had left behind before, but Alan's Observation Haki clearly perceived that the glasses-wearing fellow right in front of her was the Sorcerer's actual body!
(This feeling...)
Sherlock tried to move his body slightly and didn't feel any discomfort. The only difference was that his current physical state felt rather strange.
It was a feeling hard to put into words. If he had to describe it, it would be: half-solid, half-mirror image.
(Sherlock, the side effects of Yinsangmona are not that simple. Your body must have undergone some kind of special change. If you feel any discomfort, you must tell me right away!)
(Hehe, how interesting. The fact that you could come here proves that you are no longer completely [solid], but an existence oscillating between reality and illusion!)
Recalling what the little reindeer and the Sorcerer in the mirror had said to him back then, a wave of realization washed over Sherlock.
If Materializing Mirror Images was converting the [illusory] into the [real], then this newly acquired ability of the Sorcerer was exactly the opposite: converting the [real] into the [illusory].
"Interesting. You are way too interesting, Sherlock."
Confronted with such a supernatural phenomenon, the twin-tailed loli completely threw her previous displeasure out the window. She circled the phased-out Sorcerer a few times, her amber right eye brimming with intense curiosity.
"You couldn't have been scared straight into [Elementalization] by my strike just now, could you?" Alan sized Sherlock up from head to toe. The way he lacked a tangible entity was practically identical to a Logia's Elementalization!
"And exactly what kind of bizarre Devil Fruit did you eat anyway? Aren't you a Paramecia type? How could you possibly elementalize?"
At this point, Alan's gaze drifted upward, locking onto Sherlock's hair, which looked as though it had been streaked with highlights. A glimmer of understanding flashed through the eternal loli Rear Admiral's right eye.
(Sarsalian Silver... True, if he's a Sarsalian, it's only normal to develop a Devil Fruit ability to such an extent.)
Blinking, Rear Admiral Alan extended her right hand and activated Armament Haki. Her originally fair little hand instantly turned pitch-black. Then, this girl delivered a forceful slap right to the Sorcerer's rear.
Smack!
The sound was crisp and clear. It seemed that Armament Haki could still capture the Sorcerer while he was phased out.
"..." Sherlock's expression froze instantly, though it was hard to tell if it was from shock or pain.
"Hmph~ Consider that revenge."
Having calmed down, Alan dispelled her Haki. Pulling a cigar from her coat, she cautioned Sherlock, "While I don't know the exact principle behind this elementalization of yours, I advise you not to rely on it too much."
"Those idiots who think they're invincible just because they ate a Logia Devil Fruit only end up getting toyed with in the New World."
Sherlock cast a peculiar look at this expired loli who was currently puffing away on a cigar. Although he knew full well that her actual age definitely didn't match her appearance, being lectured by a cute little loli in the tone of an elder instructing a junior felt entirely surreal.
"Yes, thank you for the warning." Sherlock bowed slightly, performing an elegant salute, and then with a thought, deactivated his phased state.
In an instant, the world spun around him, and a wave of intense nausea flooded Sherlock's chest. If the glasses-wearer didn't possess incredible willpower and treat maintaining elegance at all times as one of his core life creeds, he likely wouldn't have been able to stop himself from vomiting on the spot.
Seeing the Sorcerer's face turn as pale as a sheet, Alan shook her head and said, "It looks like the side effects of this ability are quite severe. After all, you didn't eat a Logia."
"But with an ability that practically mimics elementalization, you won't face too many major threats in the first half of the Grand Line—provided you don't actively seek out death."
Saying this, Alan tossed away the burnt-out cigar and flashed a cute smile at the Sorcerer.
"This way, your sister should be able to set her mind at ease, too."
Sherlock, who was currently forcing down his nausea, had a sudden change of expression upon hearing this. He quickly looked up, only to find to his astonishment that the petite figure with the mismatched black-and-white twin-tails had completely vanished without a trace.
Leaving behind only a cigar that was still trailing blue smoke and a ground covered in the remnants of their battle, proving she had been there.
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze