In the sky.
Aiden did not know that Gion already understood his plan.
Right now, his situation was bad.
His last move was a clever trick to push Shiki back, but the impact was too strong. The skin between his thumb and index finger split open. Blood ran down the handle of his sword.
"Interesting."
Shiki looked at Aiden. He wanted to kill him even more now. "That last hit felt like it came from a great swordsman. I didn't expect a kid like you to be this good with a sword."
"However..."
Shiki slowly raised his right leg. His famous sword, Oto, pointed straight at Aiden. "A technique is just a trick. Against real power, all tricks are useless!"
Zzz—snap!
Suddenly, black and red lightning came out of Shiki's body.
It wrapped around the swords on his legs immediately!
The sky changed color. The dark clouds above turned red. A heavy pressure, much stronger than before, pushed down from the sky.
Aiden's face changed.
Conqueror's Haki infusion!
This was the real level of an Emperor. It was the unfair advantage of the monsters from the old era!
"Kid, can you do this too?"
Shiki smiled meanly, and his body disappeared.
When he appeared again, he was right in front of Aiden. He swung his leg down with force. His sword Kogarashi, covered in black and red lightning, created a massive shockwave that looked like a giant, roaring lion. It was a move designed to crush everything in its path!
Aiden could not move out of the way!
This attack was not just hitting his body. It was attacking his mind and spirit!
Aiden shouted. The lightning inside his body exploded. At the same time, he used his Armament Haki to the limit to cover his blade and raised it to block the heavy blow.
Their swords hit each other with a loud sound!
For a second, the world was silent. Then, a huge wave of black, red, and blue energy exploded from the point where their blades touched!
Merveille Island below looked like a disaster hit it.
Mountains fell over. The ground split open. Many giant trees were pulled out of the ground and turned into dust. The scary animals were now terrified. They hid in their caves like scared birds, shaking and staying quiet.
This was a battle between monsters. Everything else looked tiny.
In the middle of the explosion, Aiden felt a danger he had never felt before.
Shiki's power was like a heavy hammer hitting Aiden's sword over and over.
Crack—crack—
Aiden heard a breaking sound.
His eyes grew wide.
The sword in his hand, the one he used to defeat many pirates... in the end, it was just normal metal.
It could handle Aiden's lightning and Haki, but it could not survive the direct pressure of an Emperor's power. A crack spread across the blade very fast.
"Break!!!"
Shiki shouted, and his strength exploded again!
Ping—!!!!
The sound of metal breaking rang through the sky.
Gion watched, shocked, as the sword in Aiden's hand broke into many pieces!
Since there was no blade to stop him, Shiki's leg hit Aiden's arms very hard!
Boom!!
Aiden was sent flying down like a falling star!
Thud!!!
He crashed into a mountain on Merveille Island!
The ground shook. Dust filled the air, and a deep hole appeared in the side of the mountain.
"Aiden!!" Gion shouted. She wanted to run to him.
"Don't come over!"
Aiden's voice sounded rough from inside the dust.
Gion stopped.
High in the air, Shiki did not follow him. He floated there and caught a broken piece of Aiden's sword. He squeezed it, and it turned into dust.
"What a pity."
Shiki shook his head. He was mocking Aiden. "Your Haki is good, and your fruit is the best. But your limit is too low."
"It's not just because you were using a piece of trash metal."
Shiki pointed at his own head. His voice was very loud. "It's because of who you are! A nobody working for the Marines under the Celestial Dragons!"
"On this sea, a true king never follows someone else! As long as you take orders from those fools in Mary Geoise..."
"Without the will to stand above everyone, you will never have Conqueror's Haki!"
In the ruins of the mountain, the wind blew the dust away.
Aiden slowly stood up from the rocks.
His shirt was gone. You could see his upper body. There was some blood on his mouth, but he did not wipe it. He looked at the broken handle in his hand.
"You're right."
Aiden threw the handle away. It made a metallic sound when it hit the ground.
Then he looked up at Shiki. He didn't look angry. Instead, he had a wild, dangerous smile. "Without Conqueror's Haki, a normal sword is too weak."
"Since I don't have a good sword..."
Aiden slowly raised both hands.
He pointed them at the metal inside the mountain walls, the broken pieces of the islands nearby, and the shards of his old sword.
Zzzzt—zzzt—
Scary blue electricity gathered in his hands. The air around him twisted.
"Then I'll make one myself!"
Boom!
The high-voltage electricity went into the metal pieces. Because of the heat, the metal turned red and soft.
Aiden moved his hands like he was shaping clay. Using magnetism, the hot metal was pulled together and fused.
"This is..." Shiki looked closely.
Aiden ignored him. He slapped his hands together!
Sizzle—!!!!
Using the electricity and magnetism, the hot metal began to spin and stretch. The dirty parts of the metal were burned away. Only the cleanest part stayed.
In just a few seconds, the light disappeared.
A strange, long sword with a scary shape floated in front of Aiden. The whole blade was bright red. It had no guard. The blade was long and thin, and golden lightning patterns moved on it.
Aiden grabbed the hot handle.
Zzz—!!
The heat turned the sweat on his hand into steam, but he did not feel pain. He smiled and put his Haki into it to keep the sword's shape.
Whoosh—
Aiden swung the sword. The air twisted from the heat.
He looked up at Shiki and got ready to jump.
Boom!
He turned into red lightning and flew into the sky again!
In an instant, he was right in front of Shiki. The red sword in his hand came down with a force that looked like it could split the world!
To Be Continued
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