"Interesting..." Shiki grinned, his smile burning with even greater fighting spirit. "But this isn't enough yet!"
The moment his words fell, Conqueror's Haki erupted from within him!
Raiver Sky's eyes narrowed, refusing to yield.
In the next second, two terrifying auras capable of dimming the heavens and earth surged skyward from the two men, like two long-dormant volcanoes erupting simultaneously!
Buzz—
An invisible pressure centered around them transformed into a tangible tidal wave, sweeping across the entire deserted island in an instant!
The sky trembled, wind and clouds swirled violently!
At this moment, both Raiver Sky and Shiki were releasing Conqueror's Haki that had reached the highest echelons.
The two Conqueror's Haki clashed like two furious dragons, wildly tearing and colliding in the air!
Under their full-force confrontation, the domain of pressure continuously expanded, threatening to break beyond the island's boundaries.
After completely enveloping the deserted island, the torrent of Haki showed no signs of stopping, continuing to surge and crush toward the surrounding ocean.
"Wh-what is this...?!"
"Conqueror's Haki... colliding?!"
"Such terrifying Conqueror's Haki... probably only Captain Rocks and those core Officers possess it!"
Exclamations rose one after another from the surrounding pirate ships.
Conqueror's Haki is a mark of the chosen, with perhaps only one in a million able to awaken it.
And to refine it to the level of stirring the celestial phenomena before their eyes was even rarer among those rare few.
Suddenly, massive waves dozens of meters high came crashing toward the nearest ships!
The hulls rocked violently, pirates on the decks stumbling left and right.
Immediately after, an even more terrifying spiritual pressure descended!
Some weaker pirates instantly rolled their eyes back, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Even seasoned pirates felt as if an invisible hand was choking them, struggling to breathe with faces turning red.
The once boiling, noisy crowd fell into dead silence in an instant.
Only the increasingly violent roar of the waves remained, along with the continuous soul-deep reverberations caused by the clashing Conqueror's Haki.
"Gurararara... What a lively spectacle!" Whitebeard laughed heartily.
The next moment, his muscular right arm clenched tightly, a semi-transparent spherical white light enveloping his fist—the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit gathering!
Seeing countless giant waves rushing forth, Whitebeard didn't hesitate, throwing a punch through the air—
Crack!!!
Space fractured with countless spiderweb-like white cracks as a terrifying shockwave slammed into the tidal surge!
Instantly, the unstoppable giant waves disintegrated, shattered into spray that cascaded back onto the churning sea.
The turbulent sea conditions calmed abruptly.
Whitebeard retracted his fist, his burning gaze fixed on the center of the deserted island, full of anticipation:
"Let me see properly... just how big a hole you two can tear in the sky today."
...
On the deserted island.
Golden and dark red rays strikingly split the sky and earth in two.
The left side was dyed twilight by Shiki's golden radiance, while the right was soaked in the blood-night hue of Raiver Sky's dark red.
Two powerful Haki forces were locked in a stalemate, fiercely clashing along their boundary to form an energy barrier that continuously twisted and crackled with black-red lightning and golden sparks.
"Raiver Sky's Conqueror's Haki... has actually reached such a level?!"
On the distant pirate ship, Kaido gritted his teeth, staring incredulously at Raiver Sky's figure.
Although he had awakened Conqueror's Haki as a child, its intensity was far from the world-shaking level displayed by these two before him.
Raiver Sky and Shiki's Conqueror's Haki had clearly reached the pinnacle where they were evenly matched.
Yet, in this deadlock—
Shiki moved first!
Gripping Cherry Ten and Withered Tree, he stepped through the void, the Float-Float Fruit allowing him to tread air as if it were solid ground.
His figure transformed into a streak of light tearing through the night sky, swiftly retreating a hundred meters before launching an extremely condensed slash toward Raiver Sky's direction!
Raiver Sky's eyes sharpened.
Advanced Armament Haki, resembling burning crimson-black flames, instantly enveloped the blade of Black Dragon. Without any flourish, he met the attack head-on with a slash of his own!
"BOOM—!!!"
The two slashes collided precisely in mid-air, annihilating each other and exploding into an expanding chaotic energy surge!
Then their figures began rapidly exchanging blows and clashing.
In the night sky, only two blinding streaks of light could be seen madly flashing and intertwining.
One brilliant as flowing gold, the other profound as congealed dark crimson.
Every collision of their blades released deafening shockwaves, the scattered Sword Qi aftermath further shredding the already devastated island below.
By now, some weaker pirates could no longer follow the battle details with their naked eyes.
They could only see continuously exploding and extinguishing golden-red light spheres in the night sky.
Even pirate officers at the captain level could barely glimpse two rapidly flickering blurry afterimages using their intermediate-level Observation Haki.
Only Rocks himself and officers like Whitebeard could clearly observe the battle situation with their powerful Observation Haki.
Rocks stood at the ship's prow, arms crossed, murmuring to himself:
"Shiki's swordsmanship has reached perfection, and his fusion of Haki with sword moves is masterful."
"And this kid Raiver Sky..."
His gaze focused on the crimson-black figure:
"He's actually imitating during combat, learning, rapidly absorbing all his opponent's strengths and making them his own."
"What an... exciting monster."
Whitebeard stood beside Rocks, laughing heartily at these words, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration:
"Gurarara... It seems Shiki has hit a steel plate this time.
That kid Raiver Sky probably never intended to settle for just a 'draw' from the very beginning."
As they conversed, the battle on the island had reached its white-hot climax.
Shiki suddenly exerted force with both swords, temporarily forcing Raiver Sky back several steps.
"Impressive kid! You've grown stronger again in such short time!"
He shouted deeply, his originally somewhat relaxed expression now completely transformed into grave seriousness.
This confrontation was fundamentally different from their previous sparring sessions.
Back then, both sides held back, stopping when appropriate.
But now, this was an all-out duel, a direct collision of wills and paths!
Raiver Sky smirked coldly: "Shiki, show me everything you've got! If this is all you have...
Perhaps you should consider letting someone else take your vice-captain position."
"As you wish—!"
"Lion's Might Earth Bind—!"
Shiki abruptly plunged his twin swords into the ground, channeling both Sword Qi and Haki deep into the earth!
He had clearly realized that whether it was Haki or swordsmanship, he and Raiver Sky were evenly matched. If they continued fighting like this, it would be difficult to determine a winner in a short time.
Therefore, to secure victory, he had to rely on his Float-Float Fruit ability!
And this time, the "Earth Roll" he unleashed was far greater in scale and power compared to his previous probing attacks!
Rumble—!!!
The ground churned and surged violently like a boiling ocean.
Over a dozen giant lions, each over thirty meters tall and formed from solid rock, rose once again!
They formed a deadly circular formation, firmly trapping Raiver Sky at the center!