They spent about two weeks preparing.
Conveniently, a storm was approaching Water Seven. Kanata adjusted their course to arrive at noon that day, taking full advantage of the situation.
The wind was strong, but the sky remained clear with no clouds yet—clear weather still showing through.
A good day for battle—Kanata narrowed her eyes.
"A-are you seriously going to fight the Golden Lion? It's not too late to run, is it?"
"Give up. At this distance, he's already detected us."
Kanata admonished the frightened Jorge. Water Seven was already right in front of them. Having come this far, there was no running away.
They circled the island from a slight distance, watching the situation, waiting for Shiki to emerge.
Before long, Shiki appeared with his subordinate pirates.
"Connect the Den Den Mushi."
"Got it."
Using the number they'd obtained previously, Scotch quickly prepared the Den Den Mushi and connected to Shiki's.
It served partly as a time-waster until the Navy approached, but also because Kanata thought exchanging words with the opponent they were about to fight wouldn't be bad.
『—So you really came without running.』
"I have no reason to run. If you're going to chase me, I simply decided to crush you first."
『Jihahahaha! How spirited! I'd love to see if you have the strength to back up that mouth.』
The enemy had twelve large galleons. Leading four pirate crews, Shiki rode on the lead ship.
Kanata had only about thirty people on a single galleon. The disparity in forces was decisive.
『Final warning. Won't you become my subordinate? As Octavia's daughter, your strength is practically guaranteed. If you lend me your hand, taking the world isn't impossible!』
"I have absolutely no intention of teaming up with you. Besides, if you want to team up, there's a way to ask, isn't there?"
『A way to ask?』
"You should say, 'Please let me become your subordinate,' shouldn't you?"
Shiki's loud laughter echoed through the Den Den Mushi.
Scotch and David were sweating nervously, but Kuro and Junxi were laughing.
—Then Shiki's laughter abruptly stopped.
『—So that's your last words, is it?!』
"You're the one who'll disappear here. Tremble, freeze—and shatter to pieces."
Clack—they both roughly disconnected the call simultaneously. Kanata and Shiki leaped from their ships at exactly the same moment, racing through the sky.
Shiki wielding his two famous swords—Oto and Kogarashi.
Kanata wielding her single crude weapon—an unnamed spear carved from a Sea King's fang.
Above the sea where dark clouds were beginning to gather, they clashed with full-force strikes from the very start—the impact split the heavens, threw the sea into turmoil, and served as the signal gun announcing the war's beginning.
☆
The shock pierced the skin like needles.
Every time the two monsters clashed weapons over the sea, the impact resonated even to distant locations.
Sensing this, Garp immediately issued orders to his subordinates.
"Looks like it's started. Hey! Get the ship between them and Water Seven!"
To secure the citizens' safety, they'd first wedge themselves between the Golden Lion Pirates and Water Seven to eliminate escape routes. After that, they'd attack the subordinate pirates—that was the plan.
Garp rolled his shoulders once, held a cannonball in one hand, took aim—and hurled it with tremendous force.
"Fist Bone—Meteor!!"
A projectile far more powerful than any cannon shot scored a direct hit on one of the pirate ships.
Billowing black smoke as it burned, the struck ship gradually began to sink.
"Bwahahaha!! Even though they're subordinate pirates, they're all weaklings! Bring me a thousand rounds!"
"Vice Admiral Garp, please don't get too carried away. Officially, we're here to protect citizens from the conflict between the Golden Lion and the Witch."
Getting too invested in one side would cause trouble later—told this by a subordinate, Garp crossed his arms with a disgruntled look.
The actions were the same, but apparently they didn't want it widely known that the Navy and pirates had teamed up.
This was probably the World Government's thinking rather than the Navy's.
"They use pirates but insist they're not working together. Well, you can't really call it working together..."
It was purely a relationship based on mutual benefit. If either side suffered a disadvantage, the relationship would collapse immediately.
Garp didn't care what happened to pirates, but he was somewhat concerned about the Witch's crew since Dragon was with them.
Only somewhat concerned, though.
"Vice Admiral Garp. We have communication from Vice Admiral Tsuru."
While holding a cannonball in one hand and taking aim, Bogard approached with a Den Den Mushi. Tsuru had urgent communication for Garp.
Garp stopped aiming and answered the call, still holding the cannonball.
"Yeah. What is it, Tsuru-chan?"
『This storm coming in—apparently it's not just an ordinary storm. You'll probably be fine, but I thought I'd give you a heads-up anyway.』
"Huh? What do you mean?"
『Water Seven apparently gets a high tide every year at this time. A colossal storm called Aqua Laguna.』
For island residents, this was an annual occurrence they were used to, but underestimating this storm could easily kill people.
Going out to sea during this high tide was suicidal in the first place. Excluding the two rampaging on the ocean, there was a strong possibility of ships being swallowed whole by massive waves.
"I see... But we'll probably be fine. Especially the Witch—she's an ice ability user."
Shiki had the ability to fly through the air. While he'd face restrictions moving in the air during a storm, he wouldn't be swallowed by a tsunami.
The ones in danger were actually Garp's group, but he optimistically figured they could somehow handle a mere tsunami.
With the weather gradually worsening, he wanted to hurry and sink the Golden Lion's subordinate pirates and withdraw.
"How do you see the battle between the Golden Lion and the Witch, Tsuru-chan?"
『The Witch is strong, but I don't think the Golden Lion would fall behind... I'd say it's fifty-fifty depending on the storm's scale.』
"That sounds about right..."
If they clashed head-on in pure ability, Kanata would lose.
But having anticipated that and chosen advantageous circumstances to bring it to a draw was truly frightening.
Her combat sense must be inherited from her mother—Garp muttered to himself.
"Like mother, like daughter."
『That sounds heartfelt. Hurry up and crush the subordinate pirates and get back, or you'll be swallowed by the tsunami.』
"Oh, you're worried about me? Then I'd better crush them quickly."
Ending the communication, Garp fired himself up and had cannonballs prepared.
His subordinates gave up—he wouldn't listen anyway. They'd been told from above to restrain him, but since they also wanted to avoid being swallowed by the tsunami, they decided to turn a blind eye.
—Garp finished sinking all the subordinate pirates around the time the tsunami began surging toward the island.
☆
Racing through the air at high speed, Shiki and Kanata clashed.
The weather gradually worsened, and by the time the gale began raging, Shiki's movements were becoming less precise.
(Shiki's ability is levitation. With natural wind strengthening, it makes sense that control becomes difficult.)
In contrast, Kanata was moving through the air at high speed using Geppo—one of the Six Powers.
She needed to move constantly without rest, but wasn't affected as severely as Shiki.
However, even suppressing his ability's advantages, Shiki was strong.
"Seems like you deliberately chose a stormy day to come, but killing just you won't make much difference. You think you can beat me in aerial combat?"
Even amid strengthening rain and wind, the great pirate didn't waver.
Lighting a cigar, his blade wrapped in powerful Haki swung to sever Kanata's neck—she blocked it completely with her spear, also wrapped in Armament Haki.
There was no chance of victory in aerial combat.
But against Shiki, attacks couldn't reach him except through aerial combat.
Wondering what to do, she was overwhelmed in the blade lock and knocked into the sea.
"For an ability user, it's over once you fall in the sea—What?"
Starting from where Kanata fell, the sea began to freeze.
The rough waves froze in their current form, and an unharmed Kanata emerged from within the ice.
Shiki descended to bring Kanata within his slashing attack range, sighing.
"Ice ability... A Logia. Both parent and child have troublesome abilities."
"On the sea, I have a chance at victory. Don't underestimate me."
Grinning, Shiki swung the sword in his right hand, bisecting Kanata's body as she stood at a distance. Wrapped in Haki, even a Logia user couldn't avoid fatal injury.
Kanata was split apart by the slash, ice shards scattering and disappearing.
—Then massive ice pillars were erected on the sea's surface.
"Trying to blind me?"
He couldn't escape Shiki's Observation Haki.
Searching for her presence, he found she was moving through the ice.
Positioning his sword, he slashed in one motion. Cutting an ice pillar in two, he captured Kanata's figure as she emerged.
"—Zanpa!!"
Swinging both swords, multiple flying slashes assailed Kanata. She dodged them by a hair's breadth, using the towering ice pillars as footholds to approach Shiki.
Rotating to position herself above Shiki, Kanata used centrifugal force to slam her spear down on him as he tried to defend with crossed swords.
The impact scattered violently, and Shiki was blown forcefully into the sea.
Just before touching the water's surface, he recovered his posture, flying low near the surface while slicing through the sea.
"Lion's Threat—Imperial Earth Coil!"
The sliced sea changed shape, becoming multiple lions targeting the falling Kanata.
Kanata froze them in one breath, easily shattering them with kicks.
In that instant, Shiki closed the distance, this time determined not to let Kanata escape, aiming for her neck at point-blank range.
"Lion Thousand-Slice Valley."
A ferocious consecutive slashing attack that reduced ice chunks to shreds—even Kanata couldn't escape unscathed.
Creating multiple cuts while deflecting and parrying the slashes, she barely escaped.
Falling to freeze the sea surface, catching her breath, Kanata began planning her next move. Shiki, perhaps intending to finish her with that, sighed in the air as if deflated.
"...You still won't die from that? I want you as a subordinate, honestly."
"Give up. I have absolutely no intention of becoming your subordinate."
The rain that had been raging in the storm had turned to snow at some point.
The temperature gradually dropped, and the gale blew even more fiercely.
Shiki's gaze moved to his subordinate pirates' ships sinking below, then to Garp hurling cannonballs like meteors.
"Seems you got the Navy on your side. All my subordinates wiped out... You did well convincing that Garp bastard."
"He apparently wants your head too. More than mine."
"Ha, ridiculous. Don't dream that you can beat me just because of a storm."
A great pirate competing for supremacy in the New World wouldn't fall easily even under such adverse conditions.
Moreover, a massive tsunami large enough to easily swallow ships could be seen approaching from the distance.
Shiki casually levitated his mothership into the air, ensuring it wouldn't be swallowed by the tsunami even if tossed somewhat by the wind.
"Don't get cocky, little girl. Your mother was a monster, but we weren't weak enough to lose easily to her. We've lived through different eras."
"How ridiculous. Are you stronger because you struggled? Saying such things while unable to take the head of someone you call a little girl just makes you look foolish."
Even seeing the approaching tsunami, Kanata showed no concern whatsoever.
If left alone, not only herself but her comrades on the ship would be swallowed—but just as the tsunami drew close, Kanata moved.
"Niflheim—"
—The massive tsunami froze instantly.
Even waves extending to the horizon couldn't escape if within Kanata's ability range.
"—Fenriswolf."
In an instant, a giant ice wolf materialized from the frozen tsunami.
The ice wolf opened its maw wide to swallow Shiki, but was bisected in one stroke. However, using its massive body as a path, Kanata moved right in front of Shiki.
The swung spear aimed for Shiki's throat. Shiki dodged it by a hair and struck back at Kanata.
The back-and-forth offensive and defensive exchange continued—and the storm grew stronger.
☆
"Damn, the wind really is strong..."
The wind was strong enough that even Shiki couldn't ignore it, and heavy snow was falling.
Unable to maintain stable posture, his slashes couldn't carry their intended power.
In his field of vision were multiple frozen great waves, some crumbling from the aftershocks of their clashes.
At this point, even Shiki couldn't remain uninjured—he'd sustained wounds here and there.
"Strong indeed... At this rate, I'll be worn down first."
Kanata too, while not completely covered in wounds, had sustained some significant injuries.
Though her movements weren't hindered, losing too much blood would clearly worsen her performance. She couldn't afford to drag this out.
(After finishing off this girl, that Garp bastard is waiting too. I don't want to waste too much stamina taking too long...)
He could immediately flee after dealing with Kanata, but even then, control was uncertain in this storm. Being targeted would be troublesome.
Perhaps this was the time to withdraw—just as he began considering this.
Perhaps noticing that Shiki's attention had begun drifting from her, Kanata held her spear low.
"Looking away—you must have plenty of room to spare."
Kanata glared at Shiki, wrapping her spear in Haki—at that moment, lightning struck Shiki directly.
A roar that tore through the air resounded, scorching Shiki's flesh.
Being in the air during this great storm, such things could happen, but the timing of this lightning strike was remarkably good.
"—Ikoku!!"
Not missing this opening, Kanata unleashed her maximum strike to kill Shiki.
Aiming at Shiki whose consciousness had momentarily fled, a powerful slash flew—slicing deeply from shoulder to abdomen.
"...Gah, ha...!!"
Despite suffering burns from the lightning and slash damage, without falling into the sea, Shiki glared fiercely at Kanata.
"That just now... was that your doing?!"
"If you're talking about the lightning, you're mistaken. I have no power to manipulate lightning."
Really, that had been pure coincidence.
Coughing blood, Shiki assessed the battle situation calmly despite his rage.
While thinking it absurd, that last strike had been one step short of fatal for Shiki. With high chances of being brought down if he continued fighting in this situation, retreating was the best option.
Running from a fight he'd picked would shred his pride to pieces—but dying here and exposing such disgrace would be even more humiliating for Shiki.
"—Damn, no choice but to retreat."
A slash delivered in the instant his consciousness fled. Though somewhat mitigated by Haki, the wound was deep. Flying away like this would cause problems... he couldn't say it wouldn't, but he still had stamina left to escape.
With wind this strong, Garp's cannonball throws would miss, he judged.
"I'm withdrawing here... I'll be waiting eagerly in the New World."
He declared he'd prepare a fleet and definitely kill her.
But this was a golden opportunity—having cornered him without his proud fleet, without his officers, with severely limited forces. Kanata had no intention of letting him escape easily.
"If you can't win one-on-one, you'll supplement with numbers? A loser's logic."
"Say whatever you want. I don't intend to die here."
As Shiki fled upward with his ship, Kanata leaped up to pursue.
Despite such wounds, Shiki still matched Kanata equally, buying time until the ship moved far away.
Finally separated by an unclosable distance—judging she couldn't catch up to Shiki's flight speed, Kanata lowered her blade and decided to return to the ship.
***
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