Chapter 22: The Legend Steps In
The grove had transformed into an impossible scene. A dense, luminous forest of Levi's making, each thin beam humming with condensed spiritual weight. It was less a cage and more a labyrinth of slowed time and crushing gravity.
"What… what is this? Some kind of divine judgment?" Sentomaru muttered, awe warring with his tactical mind. He could sense the oppressive power in each slender strand. The entire network was contracting, slowly but inexorably, shrinking the space around Luffy and the damaged Kuma.
The moment Luffy managed to haul Zoro free from the main pillar, they stumbled directly into this new mesh. Luffy's rubbery limbs moved as if through deep water, each pass through a Reiatsu thread sapping speed and strength. Zoro, even freed, gasped under the accumulated pressure.
"Tch… Nine Sword Style: Asura!" Zoro snarled, his spirit flaring. The spectral form of a three-headed, six-armed demon manifested around him, blades whirling in a furious storm of slices. The slashes, which could cut steel, passed through the thin beams of light without severing a single one. They were not physical; they were concentrations of will and soul, unbreakable by mere steel.
While Gion engaged the persistent Bartholomew Kuma, her elegant yet fierce swordplay clashing against his silent, paw-pad deflections, Levi focused on his shrinking trap.
"Young man," a voice, weathered and calm yet carrying immense authority, spoke from the edge of the light-forest. "Must you be so thorough? Could you not spare a sapling its chance to grow?"
The words arrived a fraction of a second after the attack.
A sword stroke. Not a flashy beam, not a massive shockwave. It was a cut of such perfect, refined lethality that it seemed to divide the very concept of 'space' in its path. It was colder, sharper, and more focused than Gion's finest technique, aimed with surgical precision at Levi's neck.
"Finally," Levi said, his tone almost one of satisfaction. "Silvers Rayleigh."
He did not dodge. He took a single, heavy step forward.
CRUNCH. The ground beneath his foot cratered. From his form erupted a wave of Reiatsu, but this one felt different—not just pressure, but a chorus of psychic pain. It carried the sensation of shrieking crows, wailing ghosts, the cold kiss of oblivion. It was soul-damage given form, a shield of screaming death.
The legendary sword, its edge wrapped in the black lightning of advanced Armament Haki, met the wall of shrieking spiritual energy.
KABOOM—!
The collision was silent for a split second, then erupted into a visible ripple of distorted air that screamed vertically into the sky. Both combatants, masters of control, had consciously directed the aftermath upward, sparing the island an immediate cataclysm. A less disciplined clash would have flattened the archipelago.
"Blocked." A flicker of genuine surprise passed through Rayleigh's sharp eyes behind his glasses. He'd expected the Admiral to block it, of course. But to do so without raising a hand? To manifest such a unique, terrifying form of Haki—it felt like Conqueror's, yet saturated with a foreign essence of death—purely by thought? It spoke of a frightening level of mastery and a power system he didn't fully recognize.
Levi's pre-emptive comment—We're finally here—was equally telling. This wasn't a surprise encounter. The young Admiral had anticipated his intervention. That changed the calculus. Rayleigh's low-profile life on Sabaody was a delicate balance; stepping into the light like this would shatter it forever. But some choices, once made, couldn't be taken back.
"Young man, let's end this here," Rayleigh said, his voice firm. Perhaps he could still reason with this seemingly pragmatic, if terrifyingly strong, youth.
"That won't be possible," Levi replied, his voice calm, his gaze unwavering through the shimmering energy between them.
"They aren't the monsters you think they are," Rayleigh pressed, gesturing subtly toward the struggling Straw Hats.
"I know," Levi nodded, his agreement simple and honest.
The admission gave Rayleigh pause. "Then you understand this pursuit is unnecessary."
"No. It is necessary." Levi's eyes held a cold, transactional light. "He is my assigned credit. And you… you are a bonus. The odds of securing the Straw Hat were perhaps fifty-fifty. With the 'Dark King' added to the ledger? That raises the success rate to ninety-nine percent. I should thank you for improving my prospects."
He offered a thin, utterly humorless smile.
Rayleigh stared at him. The ambition was staggering, and utterly devoid of the moral posturing Rayleigh was used to from Marines. This was pure, predatory acquisition. His eyes flicked to Luffy, who was fighting the shrinking cage with every ounce of his being. In that stubborn defiance, he saw an echo of a laughter-filled man from a distant past. How much longer does an old man have to wait? The time for watching might be over.
"Ambition without principle is a hollow thing, young man," Rayleigh said, but his posture shifted. The air of the kindly, washed-up coating salesman evaporated.
"Ultimately, pirate or Marine," Levi responded, his own spiritual pressure beginning to climb in response, "strength is the final arbiter. I've always wanted to see for myself… the power of the Right Hand of the Pirate King."
A slow, fierce grin spread across Silvers Rayleigh's face. It was an expression the world hadn't seen in over two decades. The last vestiges of retirement fell away.
"In that case," Rayleigh said, his voice dropping into a low, vibrant rumble, "I won't hold back. It's been a long time since I faced someone who demanded my full attention."
An aura erupted from him—not the wild explosion of a rookie, but the focused, towering pressure of a true conqueror. Flickering black lightning, the hallmark of supreme Haki, wreathed his sword and crackled around his form. The kindly old man was gone. In his place stood a legend: the Dark King, the formidable swordsman who had stood beside Gol D. Roger and carved their names into history.
This was the real Silvers Rayleigh.
And Levi's eyes gleamed with genuine, focused interest. The collection could wait a few moments longer. This was a once-in-a-lifetime calibration test.
(End of Chapter)
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