In the sky.
The broken earth and rocks were falling towards the sea, faster and faster.
Similarly, the Golden Lion and Ryan Rowan, caught in the middle of it, were also falling towards the sea at an increasing speed.
Also "accelerating," but for a different reason:
Rowan and the Golden Lion had finished their close-quarters combat and moved on to a more rapid and dangerous blade fight!
His black spear sliced through the Golden Lion's chest, and the Golden Lion's slash hit Rowan's right arm.
Even though the Golden Lion's Armament Haki had been significantly weakened by the severe head injury, it was still present, thus able to harm a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
Both men spat out large amounts of blood at the same time.
This torrent of blood mingled together, falling along with the two men and the surrounding earth and rocks, and was scattered by the air currents stirred up by the two, appearing mottled and chaotic.
And amidst all this, Rowan and the Golden Lion each revealed their weapons.
The Golden Lion, of course, used his two famous swords, adjusting his stance in mid-air, ready to unleash a slash.
In contrast, Rowan reached out his uninjured left hand to the side, touching a large chunk of earth and rock falling nearby.
The Sand-Sand Fruit ability activated, erosion!
In an instant, the chunk of earth and rock turned to sand, becoming a pile of grit.
Rowan clenched his left fist, and from it, he pulled out a sword hilt. Connected to the hilt was a thick, giant sand greatsword.
But Rowan's actions didn't stop there.
He flexed his injured right hand and found that it didn't affect his normal movement, so he reached his right hand towards the earth and rocks on the other side.
After turning them to sand, Rowan pulled out a small, light single-handed sword from the pile this time.
Greatsword held backwards in his left hand, single-handed sword held forwards in his right hand—
Rowan took his stance, ready to fight.
The Golden Lion squinted his eyes.
"Hm? You know swordsmanship too?"
Daring to show his blades in front of me, a master swordsman, I presume Ryan Rowan is quite confident in his own swordsmanship?
The Golden Lion grinned, lifted his leg, and swung his sword at Rowan!
Clang!
Rowan raised the black greatsword in his left hand as a shield, blocking the Golden Lion's slash.
But in that moment, the Golden Lion's expression changed from excitement to disappointment.
Because he clearly felt that Rowan's swordsmanship was only first-class, far from the peak he was at!
While such swordsmanship was enough to establish oneself on the sea, daring to use it against him, a master swordsman, was somewhat looking down on him.
"How dare you look down on me? I'll make you regret it!"
The Golden Lion's right leg exerted force, and his entire body lunged at Rowan once more.
Rowan continued to use his greatsword for defense, but this time the Golden Lion used the Float-Float Fruit's ability, doubling the power of his slash.
Whoosh!
Unprepared, Rowan's black greatsword, which was coated in Armament Haki, was directly cut in two!
Rowan immediately discarded the broken greatsword and instead used the single-handed sword in his right hand to block the Golden Lion's attack.
Clang!
This time, the force of the Golden Lion's slash was finally nullified.
"Tsk ha ha ha, with the next blow I'll break your other sword. Without a weapon, what will you use to fight me?"
The Golden Lion laughed, but the smile on his face quickly faded.
Because he watched as Rowan reached out his left hand again, drawing yet another long, thin greatsword from the nearby earth and rocks.
At that moment, the Golden Lion understood.
Rowan had never really used "swordsmanship" all along, or more accurately—not entirely swordsmanship.
It was a new technique created by combining swordsmanship with his own Sand-Sand Fruit ability!
His already first-class swordsmanship, combined with the frightening development of his Sand-Sand Fruit ability, was enough to push Ryan Rowan to the level of a master swordsman like the Golden Lion in terms of blade combat!
What if the weapon in his hand is knocked away?
What if the weapon in his hand is broken?
If Rowan wanted to, he could "create" them anytime he wanted!
As the Golden Lion realized this, his previous disappointment turned into an even more excited, ferocious grin.
"Tsk ha ha ha ha, come on, Ryan Rowan, let's hack at each other!"
Rowan still didn't speak.
The sand table in his eyes continued to operate at high speed, providing Rowan, who was in a state of unarmored defense, with the most accurate judgments.
Whoosh!
Rowan swung his sword, the long sword heading straight for the Golden Lion's head.
The Golden Lion twisted his body and swung a slash, deflecting Rowan's long sword. However, Rowan attacked with the long sword in his other hand while simultaneously drawing a new weapon from the surrounding debris.
Every time the weapon's specifications were different, yet always the most suitable for the next encounter!
In this way, the Golden Lion was forced to face the weapon that was most disadvantageous to him at that moment with almost every strike.
If his footing was unstable, the Golden Lion would have to deal with a heavy greatsword;
If he put all his strength into it, the Golden Lion would have to find a way to avoid the sharp dagger-like short sword, lest he be counterattacked by Rowan using his own force if he exerted too much;
If he slightly increased the distance, the Golden Lion would have to face Rowan's sweeping black greatsword...
No matter what, the Golden Lion had to resolve the situation that was "most disadvantageous" to him!
If one had to judge, every move Rowan made was too "reasonable."
...
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...
In mid-air, countless cold glints flashed, countless sword energies dispersed, and countless sand weapons flew all around.
Above the sea.
A swordsman from the Flying Pirates looked up at the scene and murmured:
"So beautiful..."
That's right.
For any swordsman on this sea with a certain level of skill, the battle happening in the sky at this moment could be called "beautiful."
Because it was the most perfect combination of swordsmanship and one's own abilities!
...
Rowan swung his sword after sword, and the speed at which his weapons were scrapped to pieces increased.
And the Golden Lion, although gradually falling into a disadvantage, simultaneously had an increasingly obvious smile on his face.
"Tsk ha ha ha ha, Ryan Rowan, you can't win against me by being constrained by reason!"
The Golden Lion had already seen Rowan's flaw.
For example, just now, he had paid the price of a severe injury to drag Rowan from close combat into a blade fight.
Now, he could also pay the price of a second injury and use an "unreasonable" move to find Rowan's weakness and defeat him in one fell swoop!
Thinking of this, the Golden Lion rushed forward, preparing to take a sword strike from Rowan and then counterattack.
But after waiting for a long time, Rowan's attack still didn't land.
The Golden Lion looked up and saw a scene that surprised him.
Rowan had raised his greatsword high, his body stiffly frozen in mid-air.
Even though he could have ended the fight by bringing it down, Rowan didn't do so.
The Golden Lion opened his mouth, surprised, and asked, "Why?"
"Because 'reason' is one of my weapons... one of them."
Rowan curved his lips, smiling as politely as ever, "I can use 'reason,' and I can use 'unreason,' because they are both under my control."
Whoosh!
The greatsword descended!
—— At the most "unreasonable" moment.
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