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The Wind God Winged Dragon.
The largest flying creature of prehistoric times, it was the true king of the skies. With a colossal body exceeding seventeen meters in length, its presence was terrifying beyond words.
At that moment, at least, the Lieutenant Colonel had completely lost his composure.
"How is this possible? Winged dragons should have gone extinct long ago!"
"Idiot."
But at that moment, Rear Admiral Lanli stepped forward.
"Look at its head."
'Its head?'
The Lieutenant Colonel froze for a moment, then finally noticed.
Compared to its enormous body, the creature's head was small and oddly distorted by a rooster-like mask. The mask extended along the line of its beak, giving the creature an oddly distorted appearance.
But one thing was clear without any question.
"This thing… is a Devil Fruit user." Rear Admiral Lanli stated his conclusion softly.
"A Devil Fruit user?" Then that means... he's human?" The Lieutenant Colonel almost cried out. "Could he be the one who attacked Master Port?"
"That, I don't know." Lanli let out a short chuckle and slightly raised the massive odachi in his hand.
"You should leave.
"Leave? What are you talking about, sir?"
The Lieutenant Colonel froze, then gripped his flintlock tightly.
"Now that we've confirmed he's the attacker, I should naturally fight alongside you."
"Fool! This guy isn't an opponent you can handle." Lanli merely glanced at him and waved his hand dismissively.
"Leave at once. Go check the damage and casualties at the other bases. Leave this one to me."
"But..."
The Lieutenant Colonel hesitated and at that moment, Lanli suddenly let out a thunderous shout.
"No 'buts'! In my hometown, preventing a man from dueling a strong opponent is a capital crime!"
"... "
"So just where is your hometown, exactly?"
The Lieutenant Colonel thought, but he still obeyed, turning around and fleeing at once.
And so, within the forest… Only Rear Admiral Lanli remained, gazing up at the colossal figure in the sky.
"You're not stopping him from leaving?" He gripped the odachi and grinned.
"No need." At that moment, the massive creature in the sky smiled back. "My mission is to take the Heavenly Tribute stored here. So, I only need to deal with you."
Hearing this, Rear Admiral Lanli's grin grew even wider.
"Bold words."
As he spoke, his right hand settled on the hilt of his blade.
"If you want to deal with me, you'll have to get past this blade, Chōkō (Nagimitsu), first!"
The next instant...
"Clang!"
A clear, ringing sound echoed as silver light flashed. That was the light of the blade.
"Volcano Style: Flying Sky Slash!"
With a sword cry tearing through the air, the tip of Lanli's great odachi, Chōkō, unleashed a massive, silver-white flying slash.
The slash erupted from the tip of the blade and shot straight toward the heavens.
This alone spoke volumes about Lanli's strength.
A flying sword slash refined to this degree! Across the seas, he was undoubtedly a top-tier swordsman!
"Shhk!"
In an instant, the flying slash struck the Wind God Winged Dragon's massive right wing with pinpoint accuracy.
A faint curve appeared at the corner of Lanli's mouth.
"A body that big isn't always a good thing."
He knew this slash was powerful enough to cleave a small ship in two.
"All I have to do is wait for him to fall from the sky, and then..."
He had already begun planning how to finish off his opponent. But in the next moment, his thoughts and smile froze.
Because, at that instant...
"Bang!"
As the dust scattered, Lanli saw it clearly: The enormous winged dragon was still soaring high in the sky.
The massive wing that had been struck showed no wound at all. Its smooth wing membrane glimmered with a cold, rock-like sheen in the sunlight.
Only a faint white mark remained, silent proof that the slash had ever been there.
"So it's this hard?"
Rear Admiral Lanli's expression turned serious as he saw this scene. With just that single slash, he realized this fight would not be easy.
His flying slashes couldn't injure the opponent, and his opponent's ability to fly meant that most of his other sword techniques would be difficult to execute.
Ultimately, this was the greatest advantage of a flight-type Devil Fruit.
"Hm!?"
Just as Lanli was thinking of a countermeasure, he saw the enormous dragon in the sky move. Its enormous, winged body began to rapidly shrink and transform before his eyes!
In the blink of an eye, the shadow blotting out the sky vanished and what replaced it was a figure that crashed to the ground.
"Boom!"
The heavy impact made the ground tremble and sent a shockwave rippling outward. Standing before Lanli was a nearly three-meter-tall humanoid monster.
It still wore the iconic rooster mask. His body retained a human outline but was covered in rock-like, blue-gray dragon scales.
His arms had transformed into thick, clawed dragon limbs with wing membranes; his legs had transformed into powerful, reverse-jointed beast limbs.
A thick dragon tail swayed slightly behind him. This was Roy's Wind God Winged Dragon Fruit in Hybrid Form.
"You bastard…"
Seeing this, Lanli's rage surged violently and his hand gripping his sword bulged with veins from sheer force.
"Are you insulting me!?"
Abandoning aerial superiority on his own initiative was nothing short of an insult!
"On the contrary," Roy replied calmly. "I just think you're worth letting me stretch my body a bit."
As he spoke, he rolled his neck, producing a crisp cracking sound.
Then he smiled at Lanli.
"Ready? Then let's begin."
"You..." Lanli tried to say something but a moment later, he swallowed his words back down.
Because in the next instant, the opponent's figure had vanished.
"Soru!? So fast!"
Shock flashed through Lanli's mind upon seeing this, but there was no time to think further. His Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) had already detected a massive, violent force erupting beside him.
"Volcano Style: Iron Guard!"
Without hesitation, Lanli raised his great odachi sideways and used it as a shield.
Invisible power coated the blade. This power was one of the most mysterious forces on the seas...
Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki)!
The next moment, a massive winged claw slammed into the odachi.
"Clang!"
Like colliding steel, there was a deafening explosion as sparks flew violently.
Lanli's body was instantly blasted backward and smashed through the trunk of a massive tree.
"Armament Haki combined with Tekkai? And fused with swordsmanship?" At that moment, Roy spoke with clear interest.
"So this is Vice Admiral Yamakaji's sword style- Volcanic Style. Impressive!"
Just as his words fell...
"Don't get so cocky, you bastard!"
...Lanli's figure burst out once more from within the shattered tree.
"Since you chose close combat, don't expect me to hold back. Volcano Style: Ten Storms!"
With a sharp whoosh, he vanished from where he stood.
As a Marine Rear Admiral, his mastery of Soru was nothing to scoff at.
In the next instant, he appeared at Roy's side.
The great odachi in his hands, infused with Haki, turned into streaks of silver light. It slashed wildly toward Roy's vital points at blistering speed and from vicious angles.
"Not holding back?" Roy chuckled softly in response. "That's exactly what I was hoping for."
And so... the battle truly began!
(End of Chapter)