The green pyramid went into Roger's body. Roger was glad he ate the Combine-Combine Fruit, which let him quickly boost his power. If it was another Devil Fruit, he wouldn't have been able to use it so well.
The moment the green pyramid entered his body, his Haki shot up. His strong Conqueror's Haki split the sky without even fighting anyone, and the dark clouds Aatrox brought were swept away.
This pyramid unlocked all his potential for Haki. Now he could say he had the strongest Haki in the world.
Although, he probably had the strongest Haki before, too.
Aatrox grinned. "Now you finally look like something."
The two crashed into each other in an instant. The huge power shook the world, and the entire city of Yuba was destroyed in that moment.
Except for the pyramid in the very center, all the other buildings were blown away. The entire oasis was turned upside down, and the sandstorm that followed made everything look the same shade of yellow.
The two fought from the ground to the sky, breaking through the clouds and reaching even higher places.
They went up to heaven and down to earth, disappearing from the Yuba area in the blink of an eye.
No, Yuba itself was gone.
This was the level of their battle. They could easily destroy a human kingdom.
Roger managed to knock Aatrox back with one sword strike. This was the first time he had directly overpowered Aatrox. With a bang, they both landed on the border of Alabasta.
"The ocean is your weakness!"
Aatrox smirked. With a wave of his hand, countless thread-like things appeared around Roger's body. These threads frantically pulled at Roger's body, and below them was the Saint River.
This river, which separated the two areas of Alabasta and led to the sea, connected with the threads, seeming to drag Roger into the river.
Roger slashed his sword at the tentacles, but Aatrox struck down with his sword at that moment. Roger quickly defended. Although he couldn't stop the big sword from hitting his body, his rushed attack wasn't as strong as Aatrox's, and he was knocked into the Saint River from the sky.
Splash!
His body sank into the water with a loud splash, followed by an even louder sound, because Aatrox had also entered the Saint River!
The moment he entered the water, Aatrox swung his sword down, sinking Roger again, who was trying to struggle. Roger, weakened in the water, couldn't resist Aatrox's attack at all.
This is bad!
This was when the weakness of eating a Devil Fruit showed. Although he could gain great power, fighting in the sea was too frustrating.
But then his body flashed with a green light, and he suddenly felt his power return. Was the portable pyramid developing his sea battle skills?!
The boost to Haki disappeared, and instead boosted his ability to fight in the ocean. Roger's overall strength decreased, but he greatly improved in the water.
He had almost been killed by Aatrox's attack, but now he could block Aatrox's attacks. He used Aatrox's power to quickly distance himself and burst out of the water at his top speed.
"Divine Departure!"
Roger roared and cut the Saint River in half with one sword strike. A huge gap appeared in the river at that moment, and Aatrox was in that gap, unharmed.
"You've come this far as a human. You remind me of some things from the past," Aatrox said. "But do you still think you're human? The power of the demon world will corrupt you. The darkness in your heart will replace your will. You will become a new demon and replace one of the eight!"
"You're fighting to protect this world? That's hilarious. Now I'm actually looking forward to the day you become a demon and slaughter this world. If I can see that, then I can bring destruction to this world even later."
Aatrox laughed. "I'm a bit harsh, but I think you can understand, right? After all, I'm a sword!"
"..." Roger didn't say anything, just breathed lightly and quickly.
What Aatrox said made some sense. He had been fighting Aatrox for so long and had been deeply affected by the demonic power on Aatrox's body. Dark thoughts appeared in his mind from time to time.
The aftereffects of eating the demon cells were also appearing at this time. Maybe one day he really would become like Aatrox said?
Or maybe the original Aatrox was like that too?
He had resisted the darkness, but later became the darkness, and now he was going to bring that darkness to the world.
"So stop talking so much!" Roger suddenly shouted. "To prevent that from happening, I need to end this fight as soon as possible!"
He held the sword with both hands, or rather, he was holding both hands, because Ace had merged into his right hand, and green light flashed inside. In an instant, the whole world paused.
Aatrox was the same. They had both been fighting for too long, and now it was time to decide the winner.
Boom!
No one knew when or who moved first, but it looked like they moved at the same time. Two swords, one huge and one small, collided with equal power.
Pfft!
Two silent slashes passed each other. Aatrox and Roger switched positions, and the next moment, a large amount of blood spurted out of Roger's chest.
A very deep wound appeared on Aatrox's right hand, as if it would cut the whole hand off. But a tiny bit of connection remained after the cut, and the entire right hand was just a little bit away from falling off.
Aatrox turned around and grabbed Roger, who was falling, with his left hand. He was now covered in blood. The slash from before had almost made him pass out.
But...
Even this wasn't enough?
Roger was a little desperate. He had gained so much power for this fight, but in the end, he couldn't do anything?
"You've done very well, for a human."
Aatrox grinned and said in a proud voice, "You are worthy of becoming my host. Use your body to destroy this world."
The flesh on his body writhed, as if to swallow Roger inside.
Roger couldn't resist. He had no strength left.
And he couldn't count on the others, because their fight had taken them over the Saint River. How could the others keep up?
But at this moment, he suddenly heard Makima's voice in his ear.
"Cut off Aatrox's right hand!"
----
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