The sky seemed torn in two by two distinctly different, terrifying forces.
On one side stood a colossal lion's head, grotesque and fearsome, formed from several floating islands forcibly fused together. Within its gaping maw, a terrifying power gathered that made one's heart quake.
The Fuwa Fuwa no Mi's awakening!
Under normal circumstances, Shiki could free any non-living object he touched from gravity. But when developed to its absolute limit, even the formless, intangible air itself could, to a degree, be manipulated and shaped.
For Paramecia-type Devil Fruits, awakening typically meant influencing the surrounding terrain. The Fuwa Fuwa no Mi altered the very existence of everything, including the air, compressing it together. This was the path most Paramecia awakenings took.
He vaguely recalled that some young upstart from the Roger Pirates had an awakening similar to his who knew if they'd copied him.
But—
"Your awakening doesn't look anything like ours Paramecia types. You just changed your form that's not going to withstand this attack."
Shiki hovered beneath the lion's head, baring his teeth in a grin. "Don't let this rare fight end in a disappointing way for me."
He had given everything he had!
His golden hair seemed even wilder against the blood seeing through his kimono. His eyes burned with an unnatural crimson—the consequence of overextending his stamina and Haki.
"Old man, your era is over."
In Nika Form, surrounded by white flame clouds, Luffy was now wreathed in crackling lightning that seemed almost tangible. The white steam clouds and black-red Haoshoku Haki intertwined into a violent vortex, leaving Luffy shrouded in an illusory torrent. Through it, a pair of crimson eyes could faintly be seen.
"I'll knock you back to reality!"
"Jihahaha! You're still far off, brat!"
A torrent of black-red Haoshoku Haki cascaded down from Luffy's massive form like a waterfall.
The sky itself seemed split like a scene from hell. Two demons faced each other across the void. Their mere presence, the sheer pressure they radiated, was enough to suffocate any living thing beneath that sky—a dominance that transcended ordinary life itself.
In truth, most people couldn't even look directly at a battle of this level, let alone intervene.
Some distance away, the Thousand Sunny was engaged in fierce combat with the remnants of Shiki's aerial fleet.
Zoro had just cleaved through an enemy ship that tried to ram them when the shockwave from the two colossal forces clashing in the distance slammed into him. He grunted, driving Wado Ichimonji deep into the deck to steady himself, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"So this is the level of a Yonko fight?"
It wasn't quite that, but it was close.
Zoro stared at the hellish scene in the sky ahead, his gaze locked on the center of the battle. "Even though we're not that close, some people are already passing out."
As he said, many of Shiki's subordinates seemed unaccustomed to their captain unleashing his Haoshoku Haki this fiercely. Those of lesser strength were succumbing to the crossfire of Haoshoku pressure, their eyes rolling back as they fell unconscious, their ships plummeting from the sky along with them.
And this was merely the residual energy naturally radiating from the two fighters' standoff.
"Is 'legendary pirate' supposed to be this ridiculously strong?!"
Usopp clung to the mast, his face pale as he shouted. He felt like his heart was about to burst from his chest.
At the center of the battlefield, the two invisible torrents of Haki clashed once more as the fighters' gazes met. They collided with a thunderous impact, entangled for an instant, then violently rebounded—clearing a small patch of the previously overcast sky before it was swallowed again by the gathering energy clouds.
"Old man, you're going to die at this rate."
Luffy, still in Nika Form, grinning.
Blood seeped from Shiki's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, yet he fought on through sheer willpower.
If that will give out, it felt like he wouldn't be able to continue.
After fighting this long, his stamina and injuries were both severe. Shiki had eaten the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, not some Mythical Zoan Fuwa Fuwa no Mi: Sky Dragon Form.
His recovery couldn't compare to Luffy's.
That said—
Letting him unleash his full-powered attack would be idiotic.
Luffy took a deep breath, bending his knees slightly. The Haoshoku Haki radiating from him sent another ring of shattered rock flying from the already cracked island floor beneath him. The moment he launched himself forward like a cannonball, a deeper, larger crater exploded in his wake, sending up a cloud of debris. His form, trailing thunderous sonic booms, flashed directly before Shiki.
"Jihahaha! Not so fast, you little brat! Why else wouldn't you wait for me to finish gathering my power?"
The crimson points in Shiki's pupils blurred into a streak of light. The instant Luffy moved, his Kenbunshoku had already predicted it. His body twisted away preemptively, the twin blades Kareki and Oto carving lethal arcs as streaks of crimson light trailed from the corners of his eyes. He brought them down in a vicious cross-slash toward Luffy's trajectory.
"Zanpō!"
"Who in their right mind would wait for you to finish charging a big attack?!"
Luffy laughed despite himself. "You think I'm stupid?!"
That colossal lion's head, formed from fused islands, contained a force so terrifying it made even his heart race. Naturally, he had to stop Shiki before it fully unleashed.
That was why, after entering Gear Fifth, he had been pressing Shiki relentlessly in close combat—using his speed and Nika Form's bizarre abilities to deny him the chance to fully direct that destructive energy.
Shiki, relying on his Kenbunshoku's future sight and the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi's mobility, was barely managing to evade Luffy's onslaught.
Gomu Gomu no Mogura Gun!
The remaining large stretch of island beneath their feet, now transformed by the Nika Fruit's power into living rubber, suddenly launched a fist crackling with black-red lightning from underground like a spike, slamming toward Shiki.
Bam!
Catching Shiki mid-evasion, it struck his abdomen solidly.
Shiki grunted, more blood spilling from his lips. But he used the force to propel himself backward as if weightless, instantly returning to a position directly before the colossal lion's head. He spread his arms wide, laughing maniacally:
"Too late, you brat! Do you see that future now?!"
The brief exchange had lasted mere seconds.
But those seconds had been enough for Shiki to complete the final energy accumulation for his awakened technique—Lion's Majesty: Realm of Emptiness.
Within the massive lion's head, the sphere of destructive energy had expanded to its limit, radiating waves that warped space itself.
"That's one scary big thing."
Luffy's enormous white face still wore a smile, but his gaze had grown serious.
He drew a deep breath. His already massive form expanded further, becoming a colossal presence. The white steam flames thickened around him, dense lightning crackling across his body.
Gomu Gomu no Giant!
***
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