Facing Rayleigh's slash, El unhurriedly drew the sword at his waist, wrapped it in a layer of Armament Haki, and easily blocked Rayleigh's attack.
Unlike the previous powerful collision that erupted and destroyed objects inside the bar, this time a violet shockwave directly demolished the decades-old establishment. Then, two afterimages swept out of the collapsing bar.
"Don't be nervous, senior..."
Looking at Rayleigh, who held his sword in one hand while examining Shakky's injuries with the other, El smiled and comforted him. "If I wanted to kill her, you wouldn't have had any chance to rescue her at all."
"Boy, you actually beat a woman!" Rayleigh stared hard at El, then slowly placed the pale-faced Shakky on the ground and destroyed the Seastone handcuffs on her wrists using Internal Destruction with his Armament Haki.
Looking at Rayleigh's eyes behind his glasses, El saw them filled with anger and powerful killing intent.
No matter who it was—if someone close to them was hurt, anyone would show unprecedented, powerful killing intent. Especially women; they were a man's biggest reverse scale. If anyone touched it, they would bring a man's wrath upon themselves.
El attacking Shakky had undoubtedly touched Rayleigh's reverse scale, causing him to unleash killing intent far exceeding that which he'd felt when Hatchan was killed.
"We're enemies, aren't we?"
El looked at Rayleigh's expression and continued. "Your friend occupied my companion's hometown and killed her adoptive mother, so we killed your friend for revenge. Then you sought revenge for him. If I hadn't been strong enough at that time, I might have been killed by you a few months ago."
"So, why didn't I kill her? Was it because she's a woman? No—it's because you didn't stop me from leaving a few months ago. This is repayment for that."
These words truly came from his heart. After being reborn, his outlook on life had already changed. What kind of person he had been in his previous life—he, now about to turn fourteen in this world—had long been forgotten. In this life, he was someone who repaid kindness with kindness and revenge on those who wronged him.
If the hatred between him and Rayleigh didn't exist because of Hatchan, then he would have happily befriended this senior, and the way he obtained the information he wanted would have been much gentler.
However, he had killed Rayleigh's friend and savior, so the other party harbored thoughts of killing him. That being the case, El would naturally be indifferent toward Shakky.
If it hadn't been for Rayleigh's killing intent toward him disappearing at the last moment—and Rayleigh not stopping him from rescuing Robin and Perona—El wouldn't have just knocked out Shakky with a punch; he would have slashed her with his sword.
Hearing El's method of repayment, Rayleigh's face showed a hint of anger. Then he raised his sword-wielding hand and slashed toward El, creating a hundred-meter-long flying slash.
When El easily blocked the incoming flying slash and deflected it up into the air, it turned into blooming greenish-blue fireworks that shattered all bubbles within several miles. Rayleigh, who had been opposite him, had already disappeared with Shakky. However, in less than ten seconds, he returned at tremendous speed and slashed at El again, his sword coated in dark red lightning.
In response, El was equally unwilling to be outdone. He coated his sword with high-level Armament Haki and Conqueror's coating to meet Rayleigh's blade.
Then, a powerful explosion several times stronger than the flying slash detonated, resounding throughout the entire No. 13 island—even on surrounding islands, everyone could hear the loud blast.
The invisible substance reappeared, separating El's and Rayleigh's swords a few inches apart while generating incomparable fluctuations from the collision of Conqueror's coating. After a few moments, it burst forth with a fierce shockwave.
The shockwave formed by the collision of Conqueror's coating spread like an expanding whirlpool. In the blink of an eye, it covered the entire No. 13 island.
The ground swept by the shockwave kept emitting loud cracking sounds. Before this shockwave—surpassing that of a few months ago—the surrounding ground within several miles, with El and Rayleigh at the center, cracked loudly. Then pieces of land either stuck out or sank down, presenting an image of inconsistency.
At the same time, the clear sky suddenly turned black. After a few seconds, the cloud layer in the middle sank down, forming a huge, incomparable hole.
A few months later, the change in the sky reappeared over Sabaody Archipelago once again.
Such a sight instantly shocked the newcomers who had arrived at Sabaody for the first time, and also made those who were leaving even more determined to depart immediately.
This time, the change in the sky was far more exaggerated than a few months ago.
Not only could people on all 79 islands of Sabaody Archipelago see it, but even Navy Headquarters next to Sabaody could fully observe the massive transformation in the sky.
"The change in the sky is so terrifying..." In the Fleet Admiral's office, Kizaru, sitting on the windowsill with a nail clipper in hand, couldn't help but purse his lips and remark. "From Sabaody Archipelago to Marineford—how much Conqueror's Haki will that consume? There wouldn't be two powerful people having a life-or-death battle on Sabaody Archipelago, would there?"
"It's those two again." Sengoku also stood by the window, looking at the change in the sky and replying in a deep voice. "World Destroyer El and Dark King Silvers Rayleigh—the two representatives from the previous and current eras. What kind of grudge do they have that a life-or-death battle between master swordsmen has broken out on Sabaody Archipelago?"
"Oh?" Kizaru, with his legs crossed, asked with interest. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, do you know the identities of those two people on Sabaody Archipelago?"
Sengoku nodded and replied while gazing at the sky. "A few months ago, the incident involving the World's Worst Devil Fruit Users was investigated by the Navy and CP agents. The person who created the change in the sky at that time was World Destroyer El and Dark King Silvers Rayleigh, who had retired for many years."
"Two days ago, on a certain island in the New World, traces of the Pegasus appeared. They didn't fly directly over the top of the Red Line to return to Sabaody Archipelago—they returned via Fishman Island."
"If nothing goes wrong, the Flying Pirates have now returned to Sabaody Archipelago."
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