CRACK!
Black Blade Yoru clashed with Star Abyss, and a surge of immense power exploded at the point of impact.
The force fractured outward, arcs of lightning crackling where the blades met.
Overhead, muffled thunder rumbled. As if guided by some unseen hand, the arcs grew stronger and climbed toward the sky.
CRACK!
A bolt of lightning streaked across the heavens, striking the arching energy directly. The powerful current surged toward both fighters.
Yet neither flinched. Eyes locked, sword intent flashed within their gazes. The lightning froze midair—shattered to nothing by their overwhelming aura.
Weiss knew this head-on clash was going nowhere. With a flick of his wrist, he twisted his blade into a rising thrust aimed straight at Hawkeye's heart.
Red killing intent, black domineering force, and glimmering arcs of lightning surrounded the strike—it was a blow meant to end it all.
But Hawkeye reacted in an instant. His black blade whipped across his chest to block, the sheer pressure of his presence sweeping across the land.
CLANG!
Weiss's thrust struck the flat of the blade. Ripples burst outward from the impact. Shattered leaves swirled in the gust—but he could advance no further.
Seeing the opening, Hawkeye twisted his sword and surged forward. Armament Haki coursed along the blade, moving with a trajectory so fast and erratic it was nearly invisible. The tip shot toward Weiss's face.
In a duel between swordsmen, even a spar could turn deadly. If you can't block a strike, you have no right to be in the fight.
Weiss's Observation Haki screamed in his mind. He stomped the ground hard—BOOM—and retreated nearly a hundred meters, barely dodging the lethal blow.
But Hawkeye hadn't held back. A sword light tore from the black blade, cleaving through the air—and a distant mountain peak split in two with a thunderous crash.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The mountain crumbled. Half of it shattered, tumbling down as countless beasts fled in terror—only to be buried beneath the falling debris.
Weiss watched the devastation, cold sweat down his spine. That would've been my head if not for my Observation Haki.
"You were distracted."
A brilliant white light erupted from Hawkeye's position. A vertical, soaring slash surged toward Weiss.
It gained speed rapidly, warping the air around it.
Weiss snapped back to attention. Sword intent surged around him. He unleashed a crimson slash to intercept the glowing attack.
BOOM!
The two slashes collided midair. Power wrestled, equal in might. Neither gained ground until they burst apart into shockwaves that rocked the island.
The earth split again. Sea spray shot into the sky, blending with churned-up dirt to turn the land to mire.
Weiss struck again. His blade vanished in a blur and reappeared at Hawkeye's side. Star Abyss, cloaked in Armament Haki, clashed against the black blade.
"Sorry. Got caught up in a thought," Weiss said seriously.
"If you let your mind wander again, you'll die," Hawkeye warned, his piercing eyes showing no trace of jest.
Weiss didn't respond. His answer came in the form of a thrusting strike wrapped in killing intent. The air itself turned crimson with bloodlust.
Hawkeye's expression darkened. He swung his blade with both hands, clashing against Weiss's strike. The next moment, both appeared behind each other.
SPLURCH!
SPLURCH!
Weiss glanced at his arm—blood gushed from a gash. Hawkeye's wrist was also bleeding. They had wounded each other simultaneously.
"Just a normal attack."
Weiss lunged again. The two swordsmen danced across the battlefield, their movements blurring. Sword energy tore through the space, leaving destruction in its wake.
"Why are your sword moves always just… basic attacks?" Hawkeye asked amid the clash. "Is there a deeper meaning behind them?"
The names, he noticed, didn't sound like traditional martial arts techniques.
Weiss remained silent. Should I say I'm just too lazy to name moves properly? That shouting attack names feels good? It's not like I'm copying him… I just call them basic strikes unless I yell something cool.
"There's no deeper meaning," Weiss replied at last. "It's just fun."
"For example: Basic Attack—A Sword to Rule All Others!"
With that, he retreated in a flash, placing a hundred meters between them. Star Abyss pointed forward. Sword qi surged around him like rivers flowing into the sea.
Calm descended.
It was the stillness before the storm.
Silence engulfed the world.
BOOM!
A sword cry rang out as Weiss slashed. Sword qi erupted from his body, crimson energy roaring forth like a geyser. In the sky, it formed a blood-red thread. The air trembled as if the very heavens bowed before it.
Hawkeye's pupils narrowed. "Thirteen slashes in one instant? So that last one wasn't even your full power."
He responded immediately. His black blade trembled with energy, tearing the air as he launched a storm of flying slashes.
The first collided with the crimson line—and shattered, dispersing into an explosion of energy.
The second followed suit, the shockwave slicing the dust apart.
The third slowed the red slash slightly—but crumbled all the same.
The fourth. The fifth. The sixth...
Finally, after the tenth flying slash, Weiss's combined thirteen-slash strike dissolved in the air—dispersed completely.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
"Your sword is fast. A good sword," Hawkeye acknowledged.
"Oh, I've got better."
Weiss closed the distance. His sword energy flooded the battlefield, blanketing everything within fifty meters.
The already shattered rocks and broken wood disintegrated further, mingling with seawater until the ground turned to thick sludge.
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
Hawkeye stood within the domain of Weiss's sword energy. Metallic sounds echoed as invisible blades sliced at his body repeatedly.
"Truly, only those who can coat their entire bodies in Armament Haki can call themselves world-class fighters," Weiss muttered.
It was a sign that Weiss's sword domain wasn't strong enough yet. The day he could cleave through full-body Armament Haki with it—that would be the day he truly succeeded.
"These kinds of attacks don't work on me," Hawkeye said flatly.
"I know," Weiss replied. "But haven't you noticed something?"
"You mean… the vanishing sword intent?"
"Exactly. You see, against someone like you, I need something unique."
After fighting Kaido, Weiss had been pondering new techniques. He'd seen others conjure tigers or demons with their sword intent—manifestations of their will.
But Weiss had never focused on that. To him, sword energy was the romance of a warrior. Why bother with fancy illusions when a blade could do it all?
Still, when he realized that fusing sword intent into the blade increased its power, a strange idea sparked in his mind.
"This is something I only developed after fighting Kaido," he said with a grin. "And this is the first time I'm using it in this world."
As he spoke, the sword domain stilled. The tides of sword energy that had consumed the space froze in place.
The constant metallic ringing against Hawkeye's body ceased.
Hawkeye exhaled in relief—he had been coating his clothes in Haki the whole time. If he hadn't...