"Invincible? You really dare to boast." Hearing El name his state as invincible, Rayleigh involuntarily snorted.
Even in the previous era, Roger, Garp, and Redfield—who were not Devil Fruit users—did not dare to call themselves that.
"Senior, you still have stamina. If you want to escape, you still have a chance." El didn't justify himself but grinned instead. Being able to grasp Conqueror's coating and Future Vision was thanks to these two battles with him, so he reminded him kindly.
"You... are no longer my opponent." Then, as soon as he finished speaking, El rushed toward Rayleigh with Shusui in hand.
"Little brat, if you can do it, then come!" Rayleigh clearly didn't believe El's words. Seeing him charge forward, he also dashed ahead to meet him with his sword.
It didn't take long for El's words to prove true. After both swords, wrapped in high-level Armament Haki, clashed and produced a loud metallic ring, another shockwave from the Armament Haki swept in all directions for the third time.
However, the sound of metal collision had barely echoed when it was followed by the sound of flesh being cut. The sword clash ended as Rayleigh leaped back, distancing himself from El once again.
Looking at the three holes that had appeared in his clothes in just one second of sword collision, Rayleigh's frown deepened once more. He realized that the kid before him had truly entered a new level of strength. Even more concerning was that he still couldn't identify the reason for El's ascent to this new level.
Not long ago, this kid, despite his Future Vision, had been at an absolute disadvantage. But after blocking his sword, he seemed like a different person. Even when Rayleigh went all out and pushed his Future Vision to its limits, he remained at a disadvantage. So what kind of method had El used to bypass his defense and offense to wound him?
Just as in the manga when Luffy entered Devil Fruit awakening and his demeanor changed in Kaido's perception, El's new ability—combining mind reading, Future Vision, and Life Return—did not resemble Future Vision in Rayleigh's eyes.
If Shiki were still alive, he would also think this ability was nothing like Redfield's mind reading. At the same time, this wasn't merely a combination of mind reading and Future Vision. Rather, it was a profound technique never before seen, exclusive to El.
"Senior, you can still be distracted at this moment?" Because of his deep thoughts, Rayleigh had temporarily failed to maintain absolute calm, making his Observation Haki somewhat unstable.
Just as Rayleigh examined the holes in his clothes, a sudden sense of danger surged in his heart. Then El's figure appeared directly before him, slashing with his sword coated in high-level Armament Haki.
This sword slash—if faced head-on by Moriah or Shiki with a steering wheel lodged in his head—would instantly cut their bodies in half.
Due to the instability of his Observation Haki, Rayleigh failed to react in time, and his body was cut by the Black Sword, Shusui. However, facing approaching danger, he subconsciously used high-level Armament Haki for defense.
The next second, Rayleigh was blasted backward, turning into an afterimage while vomiting a mouthful of blood mid-air—just like El had done when struck by his Divine Departure months ago.
At this moment, Rayleigh felt his internal organs surging, some damaged to the point of bleeding.
He had been slashed from the front, though he avoided being split in two. However, because of the internal destruction contained in high-level Armament Haki, it bypassed his defense and damaged his organs.
"Senior, if you wanted to escape, it's already too late!" After slashing Rayleigh, El seized the opportunity to press his advantage, chasing the afterimage that had flown backward.
The corner of El's mouth rose slightly, as if his mind reading had found something interesting. Sure enough, the next moment, a massive dark red flying slash greeted him, charging directly at him.
The height and width of the flying slash were enormous. Since he was chasing Rayleigh's figure, he had no chance to avoid it.
In response, El used his Devil Fruit ability to fly at low altitude, held his sword with both hands, coated it with Armament and Conqueror's Haki, and continued charging head-on into the huge dark red flying slash to cut through it.
A loud sound once again resounded across the entire Island 13 and the surrounding islands. When the Black Sword, Shusui, was still more than ten centimeters from the dark red flying slash, it was blocked by a layer of invisible substance.
The shockwave sweeping the entire island surged outward once more, while the change in the sky that had just returned to normal reappeared, spanning from Sabaody Archipelago to neighboring Marineford.
After more than ten seconds, El's expression darkened slightly. He had originally wanted to deflect this dark red flying slash into the air like the previous one. However, he failed—with his current strength, it wasn't possible at this level.
If he truly wanted to deflect this dark red flying slash, he would need to expend at least twice as much Haki as it contained. Such an outcome wasn't worth it for El.
If he waited until the energy of the dark red flying slash was exhausted, it would take at least a few more minutes.
Those few minutes would be enough time for Rayleigh to leave Sabaody Archipelago and find a place to recover from his injuries. Therefore, El chose to consume more Haki to alter the trajectory of this dark red flying slash. He increased the Haki output on his sword and deflected it, sending it charging in a certain direction.
When this over-100-meter-tall flying slash flew out of Island 13 and continued through three more islands, it cut through all trees and buildings in its path before exploding into a violent shockwave.
This shockwave contained terrifying amounts of Armament and Observation Haki. All objects within its range were mercilessly shattered, forming a huge crater spanning several miles.
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