Water Buffalo Atmos bared his white teeth, his eyes filled with bloodthirsty excitement.
At first, he froze, as if he had not understood what Zaraki said.
Then his rough face twisted with rage, veins bulging one after another across his forehead and neck.
"Fight?"
Atmos repeated the word in a low voice, each syllable forced out from between clenched teeth.
"You, a Marine brat? Do you even know who you're talking to?"
Before his words had fully faded, a burst of Haki surged from his body and shot into the sky, pressing down so heavily that the deck beneath his feet creaked.
The pirates behind him changed expression under that pressure, instinctively taking half a step back. In their eyes, their commander had not been this angry in a long time.
Atmos spread his mouth into a savage grin.
The two massive blades in his hands slowly turned, producing a tooth-grating scrape.
"Fine! Since you're looking to die, I'll grant your wish!"
His voice boomed like thunder, making the waves churn.
"Listen well, Marine! If you can take one slash from me head-on and still stay standing, I'll consider taking you to see Pops! But if you die, then go keep the Sea Kings company in hell!"
His voice was still echoing in the sea wind when Atmos moved.
Boom!
With a tremendous crash, the deck beneath his feet instantly collapsed into a pit.
His massive body shot forward like a cannonball, crossing dozens of meters of sea with a shriek that tore through the air as he charged straight at Zaraki.
"Damn it!" Yamakaji's expression changed drastically, and he roared, "Zaraki! Dodge!"
Gion's pupils also shrank sharply. She did not even have time to draw her sword. All she could do was watch that black shadow smash toward Zaraki.
He was too fast. This was not speed an ordinary officer could react to.
The surrounding Marine soldiers fell into chaos.
Under that crushing pressure, they stumbled backward, rolling and crawling as they tried to escape the center of impact.
However, Zaraki did not move.
He simply stood there quietly, not even raising the hand resting on his sword hilt. He only tilted his head slightly, his dark eyes reflecting Atmos's flushed, furious face.
The next moment, the attack arrived.
"Water Buffalo Horn Thrust!"
Atmos roared in midair, gripping both massive blades with both hands and bringing them down in a crossed slash, striking Zaraki head-on.
Boom!
A thunderous impact instantly drowned out the sound of the waves and wind. A white shockwave exploded outward with Zaraki at its center, spreading in a ring.
The warship's deck groaned under the terrifying force.
In the area swept by the impact, the planks shattered layer by layer, sending wooden splinters flying into the air.
The violent blast even pushed the surrounding seawater several meters outward, creating a temporary depression in the sea.
Yamakaji and Gion were forced back again and again by the fierce wind. Only after exerting all their strength did they steady themselves, their faces filled with shock and uncertainty.
Smoke, dust, and sea spray filled the air.
Everyone stared fixedly at the center of the storm.
Gradually, the haze dispersed.
Atmos had landed on the deck, still holding the posture of having chopped downward with both blades.
The wooden planks beneath his feet had been crushed into powder.
And at the point where his blades had struck, a figure still stood perfectly upright.
Unmoving.
Zaraki's black hair had been swept back by the wind, revealing his smooth forehead.
The Justice cloak on his back had been cut open with two huge gashes, but his body had not even been left with a faint white mark.
Atmos's expression stiffened little by little, finally turning completely blank.
'How was that possible?'
He knew exactly how powerful that slash had been. Even a small mountain could have been split open by it!
Inside Zaraki's body, his bones gave off a faint tremor.
That blow had indeed been heavy.
The instant the two giant blades struck him, he felt a sting pierce through his steel-like muscles and reach his bones directly.
It had only flashed by for an instant, but the other man's slash had reached the level where this body of his could actually "feel" it.
In the deathly silence left behind by that shock, Zaraki slowly raised his head and rolled his slightly numb neck.
He casually poured the remaining half-bottle of rum into his mouth, then lifted the empty bottle in front of his eyes.
Crack... crack.
Under everyone's stunned gazes, the hard glass bottle groaned under the slow tightening of his fingers.
Cracks spread across it, and finally, with a dull pop, it shattered into glittering fragments that slipped through his fingers.
Only after doing that did he seem to have finally prepared himself.
His right hand gripped the hilt at his waist.
His gaze barely changed, and he released neither killing intent nor Conqueror's Haki, yet the moment his fingers settled around that hilt, a pure thirst for battle leaked from his body, making his entire presence suddenly dangerous.
Excitement flickered in those dark eyes.
The next instant, he moved.
His movement carried neither warning nor flourish.
One moment, he was standing where he had been, and the next, his figure vanished from everyone's sight.
"What?"
Water Buffalo Atmos's pupils contracted sharply. His beast-like instinct made every hair on his body stand on end. Without time to think, he crossed the two huge blades in front of his chest.
Clang!
A piercing clash of metal exploded.
A shockwave burst outward from where the blades met, sweeping across the deck in a violent ring and clearing away every loose object and fragment.
But that was only the beginning.
In Atmos's eyes, now filled with horror, an incomprehensible force, pure to the extreme, surged through that katana like a raging tide.
His blocking posture lasted less than the blink of an eye.
"Guh!"
A muffled grunt escaped Atmos's throat.
His burly body was like something struck head-on by a giant beast, and he was sent flying backward uncontrollably.
Boom!
Atmos tore through the air like a cannonball, crossed the dozens of meters of sea, and smashed hard into the main mast of his own pirate ship.
That mast, made from enormous timber, let out a miserable groan under the impact.
It split down the middle and collapsed with a thunderous crash, raising a cloud of dust.
Time seemed to freeze.
The sea, which had been noisy a moment earlier, instantly fell into dead silence.
Yamakaji, Gion, the Marine soldiers, and even the pirates aboard the Whitebeard division ship all stood as if petrified, staring blankly at the broken mast.
Zaraki's figure reappeared on the warship's deck.
He maintained a one-handed slashing posture, and there was not even a trace of blood on his blade.
He slowly lowered the sword, casual as if he had merely swatted away a fly.
"C-Commander?"
A pirate on the other ship called out in a trembling voice, breaking the suffocating silence.
"Impossible! How could Commander Atmos be..."
"He was careless, right? Yes! The commander must have been careless!"
"That Marine brat attacked by surprise!"
The pirates refused to believe what they had just seen.
Their commander, the Thirteenth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, had been sent flying in a single exchange?
"Cough... cough!"
Amid the murmurs, Atmos braced himself against the deck and struggled to his feet.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his chest rising and falling violently.
That strike had not only numbed both of his arms, but its savage force had also passed straight through his blades and shaken his internal organs.
He forced down the blood surging in his throat and raised his head, staring fixedly at Zaraki in the distance.
The contempt in his eyes was gone.
In its place was solemnity, and a fierce battle intent that had been stirred awake.
He took heavy steps and returned to the deck of the Marine warship.
"Brat..."
Atmos's voice had become hoarse and low.
"I take back what I said. You really do have the right to fight me."
He slammed the hilts of his two massive blades heavily against the deck.
"The earlier agreement is void. Now we'll play something simpler."
He grinned, revealing teeth stained with blood.
His smile carried a warrior's fanaticism.
"No tricks, no fancy moves. We stand right here and compare pure strength. Within three strikes, if you can make me take even one step back, I'll personally take you to see Pops. How about it?"
This was the pride he held as a commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
The corner of Zaraki's mouth curved upward.
This kind of pure collision was exactly what he wanted.
"Good."
He only said one word.
"Raaaaagh!"
Atmos wasted no more words. With a thunderous shout, the muscles across his body bulged, and the veins on his arms coiled like fierce dragons.
He poured every ounce of strength into both arms, and the two huge blades came down again with a shriek that tore through the atmosphere.
This time, Zaraki did not swing back.
He gripped his sword with both hands, lowered his body slightly, and raised the blade horizontally above his head in a standard receiving stance.
Another earth-shaking impact erupted.
This time, neither of them retreated.
Their blades bit tightly against each other. The deck beneath their feet could no longer withstand the terrifying force.
With the two of them at the center, it shattered inch by inch, collapsing outward in a spreading ring.
A deadlock.
Terrifying power wrestled wildly at the point where the blades met, stirring up wave after wave of white air.
Atmos's face turned dark red. He used every bit of his strength, trying to crush the enemy before him.
Yet that katana steadily blocked everything he threw at it.
'Something was wrong.'
Suddenly, Atmos's expression changed.
He could feel it.
The power coming from the other man's blade was not weakening.
Instead, it was steadily increasing, little by little.
Creak—
That was the groan of the planks beneath his feet.
And the warning of his bones under enormous pressure.
Under Atmos's disbelieving gaze, his feet slid backward across the shattered deck, beyond his control.
Half a step.
Only half a step.
But to him, it was like a bolt of lightning crashing down on his heart.
In a contest of pure strength... he had lost.
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