Along the island's coastline, a shockwave erupted—and the two figures were violently blown apart through the smoke and dust.
"Hahahaha! Exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!"Kozuki Oden stomped in his wooden geta, clack-clack ringing sharply as he hopped about like a madman, arms flailing wildly.He was so excited he even let out strange, animalistic cries of "Oooh! Oooh!"
Not far away, Gern Reginald Sigmar stood atop a fractured rock formation.The black blade Eight Desolations rotated slowly in his hand, the blade emitting a low, high-frequency hum.
His pupils reflected Oden's unrestrained,狂 wild figure—while his mind remained icy calm, dissecting everything with ruthless clarity.
"Three types of Haki… the Voice of All Things… a monstrous physique…""If this were the Oden who would one day sail with Roger to the final island and earn the title 'invincible under heaven,'I wouldn't stand a chance at all."
The sea wind swept past, carrying smoke and the stench of scorched earth.Gern raised one hand and calmly unfastened the clasp of his Justice cloak, letting it billow freely behind him.
He tightened his grip on the hilt. Pale particles gathered once more along the blade's edge.
"But the current Kozuki Oden has only been at sea for a year," Gern continued inwardly."At best, his strength is approaching—but not yet reaching—the level of a true admiral."
"Since that's the case…"Gern lifted his head sharply. A crimson flash flickered through his eyes.
"Then you'll do nicely as a whetstone—to test just how far my limits really go."
Before the words had fully faded—
Gern's Conqueror's Haki erupted once more.
Dark-violet lightning coiled around his body like raging serpents as the ground beneath his feet cracked apart inch by inch.
The oppressive will detonated outward in a circular blast, like a volcanic eruption centered on Gern himself.
Oden, who had been charging forward, skidded to an abrupt halt.His eyes went wide beneath those triangular sideburns.
"Conqueror's Haki?!"The manic grin froze on his face. "There's someone like that… in the Marines?!"
The next instant—
A far more excited howl burst from his throat.
"INTERESTING!!"
At the same time, Oden's own Conqueror's Haki exploded outward, a crimson wave slamming head-on into Gern's violet lightning.
"Crk… crack!!"
Amid the teeth-grinding sound of pressure shattering—
Oden's Haki was actually being overpowered.
"What the hell…?"He staggered back two steps, shock appearing on his face for the first time."This guy's Haki pressure… it's actually stronger than mine?!"
In that fleeting moment of hesitation—
Gern seized the opening.
His figure vanished in an instant, reappearing in a blinding flash as Eight Desolations carved a pale arc through the air.
"Heaven Quake — Flash Sever!"
Where the blade passed, space shattered like glass.A high-frequency vibrating slash screamed straight toward Oden's throat.
Oden reacted instantly, crossing both swords to block—
CLANG!
The deafening collision echoed across the island.A visible spherical shockwave burst outward as the ground beneath Oden collapsed violently.
His arm muscles bulged grotesquely—yet even so, he was being forced downward by the sheer weight of the strike.
"You bastard—what monstrous strength!!"Oden laughed madly under the crushing pressure."But good! This is GOOD!"
Using the rebound force, Oden twisted sharply, knocking Gern's blade aside as he countered in one smooth motion.
"Oden Two-Sword Style — Reverse Scale!"
The twin blades traced a perfect crimson-and-black arc.Gern's Observation Haki screamed in warning—he snapped backward just in time.
A thin line of blood sprayed from his left cheek.
Another hair's breadth, and half his skull would have been shaved away.
"Not done yet!"Oden's assault surged like a violent storm, his blades becoming a blizzard of afterimages.
"Oden Two-Sword Style — Wild Cherry Blossoms!"
The slashes flooded toward Gern in an overwhelming torrent.
Gern's pupils contracted sharply.Eight Desolations spun before him, forming an airtight defensive screen.
Each collision sent pale vibration particles rebounding part of the force—but Oden's strikes were simply too dense.
One blade slipped through.
It tore open a wound across Gern's left shoulder.
"I can't fight a swordmaster at close range,"Gern realized instantly.
Seizing a brief gap, he leapt skyward and drove his blade straight down into the ground.
Eight-directional shockwaves erupted simultaneously.
The earth split open like blooming petals, fissures tearing outward and devouring everything within range.
Oden retreated decisively—but the moment he jumped, Gern had already vanished.
"When did—?!"Oden's Observation Haki caught the shift. He turned—
Gern was already half-elementalized, forming beside him midair.
Gern's left fist hardened with Armament Haki as vibration particles compressed to the knuckles.
"Black Quake — Falling Star!"
The punch landed squarely against Oden's side.
With a sickening crack, Oden's body twisted violently.He was sent spinning upward like a kite with its string cut, blood spraying from his mouth.
But just as he was about to breach the cloud layer—
A flash of black-and-red lightning tore through his vision.
Gern—who should have been on the ground—was now above him, moving even faster.
"You—"
"In the air, you've got even less of a chance,"Gern said coldly.
His right arm fully transformed into flowing vibration particles.Dark red Armament Haki spiraled from his elbow, wrapping the entire limb.
Oden's pupils shrank violently.
He saw the outstretched fingers—like the talons of a hunting raptor—warping space itself as high-frequency vibrations tore toward his face.
"Bad—!!"
The instant Gern's hardened fingers clamped onto Oden's jaw—
The muscles of Gern's right arm swelled to three times their size.
"Black Quake — Heavenfall!!!!"
A shockwave rivaling a meteor impact detonated between them.
Oden's samurai topknot exploded apart instantly.His hair whipped wildly as his body was hurled downward like a falling star.
The air screamed as it was compressed violently.Oden's kimono ignited from friction, bursting into crimson flames and leaving a blazing trail behind him.
"SHOOOO—BOOOOM!!!"
Oden smashed straight into the center of the island.
The ground shattered like brittle ice.A terrifying circular shockwave erupted outward, collapsing mountains within hundreds of meters in an instant.
Boulders, splintered trees, and chunks of earth were flung skyward.Dust surged like a tidal wave, blotting out the sky.
"Gah—!!"Oden coughed up a massive mouthful of blood, his back driven deep into the earth.
Beneath him, the rock had been crushed into a meteor crater dozens of meters wide, spiderweb cracks racing outward.
His fingers dug into the ground as he tried to rise—but his bones felt scattered, his organs churning violently from the impact.
His vision blurred for a heartbeat—
Then he clenched his teeth.
Enma's blade stabbed deep into the earth, propping him up as he slowly stood.
"So this is Whitey's kind of vibration… damn, that hurts…"He grinned fiercely, eyes blazing."But next—it's my turn!!"
...…
As Gern took a brief breath—
A sudden roar exploded from the crater.
"Oden Two-Sword Style—"
From within the pit, Oden laughed loudly as a violent slash burst upward.
He stomped once.
The ground detonated.
His body shot forward like a cannonball, blades whirling as crimson-and-black slashes poured down like a storm.
"Rending Blades!!!"
This time, Gern was forced back to the ground.He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said coldly,
"Your physique really is monstrous."
He tightened his grip on Eight Desolations.The blade flared once more with pale light as he surged upward to meet the attack.
Facing Oden's onslaught, Gern neither dodged nor retreated.
The black blade spun in his hand, vibration particles forming an invisible barrier that shattered Oden's slashes one after another.
At the same time, Gern clenched his left fist.
Pale, high-frequency vibration particles condensed at the knuckles.
He threw the punch.
Space fractured like a shattered mirror.
Oden's Observation Haki did foresee the strike—
But Gern's vibration ability caused his movement to hesitate, just for an instant.