Across the sea between the two deserted islands, warships stood like a forest of steel.
The air was suffocating.
Every soldier held their breath, eyes locked onto Island Two.
At the center of the battlefield, Gern Reginald Sigmar and Borsalino separated once more after their latest clash.
"Hah—!"
Gern's boots carved deep grooves into the scorched earth as he skidded to a halt. Reaching up, he unfastened the clasp of his white cloak and flicked it aside. The fabric drifted down like a fallen banner.
"Looks like it's time to get serious," he muttered, eyes sharpening as his fingers brushed the wrappings around Eight Desolations.
The bandages began to tremble.
Then—they unraveled.
Spiraling off the blade in fragments of ash-gray cloth, they disintegrated midair. The jet-black blade was fully revealed, its dark crimson patterns glowing faintly beneath the sunlight like veins filled with heat.
Thirty meters away, Borsalino stood still. His green-striped cap had already been blown away by the shockwaves, revealing his messy curls. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes narrowed for the first time.
"Such a pain~" he drawled lazily, though his hands slowly slid from his pockets."Do you really have to push me this far?"
"You old salted fish," Gern replied coolly, rolling his wrist as the blade hummed."From here on out, you'd better stay serious."
Borsalino chuckled faintly. Golden light exploded beneath his feet as his body launched skyward.
"Well then…"He hovered high above the island, arms crossed over his chest."Try making my three-month vacation worth it, Gern-kun!!"
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
The sky erupted.
Hundreds of light projectiles rained down like a golden deluge, blanketing the entire island in blinding brilliance.
The observing Marines went completely silent.
This wasn't an exhibition match anymore—this was annihilation.
"Heh."Gern let out a low laugh and drove Eight Desolations straight into the ground.
"Heavenquake—Earth Roar!"
BOOOOM—!!
The moment the blade touched the earth, a white shockwave exploded outward in a perfect ring. The ground surged like a living beast, throwing up walls of stone and soil nearly ten meters high. Every grain of sand vibrated violently.
The descending light orbs detonated midair, colliding with the seismic waves in a violent storm of gold and white. The ground sank several inches under the pressure.
Up above, Borsalino's pupils shrank.
"…That ability…"
As the dust cleared, Gern stood unmoving, blade still embedded in the fractured earth.
He looked up, lips curling into a grin."Scary, isn't it?"
He slowly pulled the sword free. Vibrations condensed around his open right hand.
"And that's not even the worst part."
His fingers snapped open—
"Heavenquake—Sever!"
Five blinding white裂lines ripped through the air, tearing space itself apart. The shockwaves howled like invisible blades, pulverizing rock, air, and earth alike. Five massive trenches tore across the island, racing straight toward Borsalino.
"Oh my~"
Borsalino's Observation Haki screamed in alarm. His body dissolved into photons just before impact.
The slashes tore through his afterimage, cleaving a distant cliff cleanly into six massive slabs that collapsed in thunderous succession.
On the warship, Onigumo dropped all six of his swords in shock.
"That's way beyond a slash, damn it!!"
Gern had already vanished.
BOOM—!
Sonic explosions erupted across the island as he flash-stepped through the air in particle form, leaving afterimages with every movement.
Borsalino barely reassembled a hundred meters away when his sunglasses reflected a cold glint from his flank.
"Too slow compared to light~"
He dissolved again, reappearing above Gern and spinning midair. Light gathered around his heel.
A light-speed kick descended from an impossible angle.
But—
"Too bad," Gern said calmly."My Observation's better."
He thrust his palm upward.
"Vibration Barrier—Perfect Sphere!"
A dome of vibrating white rings expanded instantly. The moment the kick landed, the force rebounded violently, multiplied by oscillating resonance.
"WHAT—?!"
Borsalino was blasted backward, his sunglasses cracking as his suit sleeve tore apart.
The spectators erupted.
"He deflected it?!""Even a light-speed kick?!"
Gion clenched her fists, nails biting into her palms.
Borsalino twisted midair, barely stabilizing himself.
"Hurt a bit, didn't it?" Gern called out."Equal and opposite reaction. Especially at light speed."
Before Borsalino could fully react, Gern surged upward.
Eight Desolations cleaved skyward—
BOOM—!!
The ground below exploded inward, collapsing into a massive crater as Borsalino was launched skyward.
"I've got you," Gern said calmly.
His form blurred above Borsalino, the blade's dark red patterns now pitch black, crackling with Armament Haki.
"Heavenquake—World Rend!"
The sword came down.
At the last possible instant, Borsalino roared—
"Yata no Kagami!"
A blade of pure light formed in his palm.
CLANG!!
Light and darkness collided with a deafening roar. The shockwave ripped open the clouds, carving a massive ring in the sky.
They plummeted toward the ground, blades locked, energy exploding outward. The island's center collapsed into a massive bowl-shaped crater.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Their blades clashed dozens of times in a heartbeat. Sparks lit the battlefield like fireworks.
The spectators stood frozen in silence.
"…Your swordsmanship…" Borsalino muttered, forcing back a strike."Who taught you?"
"Self-taught," Gern grinned. "Also known as wildly swinging until it works."
The shockwave knocked the light blade aside.
Speed favored the Glint-Glint Fruit—but at close range, Gern's seismic control dominated.
"Tch… vibrations really are troublesome," Borsalino sighed as he blurred backward, widening the distance.
Golden beams erupted from his fingers, forming a lethal net aimed directly at Gern's vital points.
Instead of dodging, Gern hurled Eight Desolations aside.
Crossing his arms before his chest, he forced the space around him to distort.
"Refraction—Seismic Prism!"
CRACK!
Space itself bent. Light twisted unnaturally.
The beams scattered, refracted into dozens of rays that tore across the island, carving molten craters into the shoreline. One beam grazed a warship mast—instantly vaporizing it.
"What the hell?!" Hina shouted. "He's bending light?!"
Borsalino hovered midair, his glasses shattered, his suit torn and scorched.
"Tsk tsk…" he muttered, smiling dangerously."Looks like this vacation's going to be hard-earned."
Gern caught his returning blade as the dust dispersed.
"Still time to surrender, senpai."
"Not happening~"
Golden light surged violently between Borsalino's palms. His lazy demeanor vanished, eyes sharpening with deadly focus.
"Ever been hit by consecutive light-speed strikes?"
"Yata no Kagami — Light-Speed Corridor!"
Mirrors of light bloomed across the sky.
Borsalino's body split into dozens of afterimages, ricocheting endlessly between the reflective surfaces—
And then—
Hundreds of golden figures surged toward Gern from every direction.