On the rocky island, the sea wind howled past, carrying with it the salty stench of the ocean.
Rayleigh slowly removed his shattered glasses. His golden hair stirred without wind, and a chilling sharpness burst from his pupils. Casually, he tossed the broken frames into the sea—the lenses traced a silver arc in the sunlight before being swallowed by the surging waves.
"Warm-up's over," Rayleigh said calmly.
With a light twist of his wrist, the slender, rapier-like blade carved half a crescent moon through the air.
"From here on…" His lips curved faintly."…you can't say I'm bullying the young."
Before the words had fully fallen, Rayleigh's figure blurred.
"Completely different from Oden's style!"Gern Reginald Sigmar pushed his Observation Haki to its limit, yet only caught a fleeting afterimage skimming the edge of his vision.
In the next instant, Black Blade Eight Desolations snapped upward on instinct, barely intercepting a jet-black sword light that slashed in from below at an oblique angle.
CLANG!
The deafening explosion of steel rang out as the reef beneath Gern Reginald Sigmar's feet detonated.
In that split second, Rayleigh's blade changed direction seven times upon contact—each shift precise, each strike aimed unerringly at the weakest points in Eight Desolations' defense.
Kozuki Oden's swordsmanship was all sweeping, open arcs.
Rayleigh's, by contrast, was pure technique and speed.
"So fast!"Gern Reginald Sigmar's pupils contracted sharply.
This wasn't a simple slash—it was a killing move that perfectly fused a great swordsman's mastery with an advanced application of Soru.
After barely parrying, Gern Reginald Sigmar slid his right foot back half a step. His left hand clenched into a fist as vibrational particles condensed, and he smashed it straight toward Rayleigh!
"Whitebeard's technique, huh?"Rayleigh crossed his blade to block. Weapon and vibration collided head-on, evenly matched, shattering the air itself.
BANG—WHOOSH!
Using the recoil, Gern Reginald Sigmar shot backward at high speed.
Rayleigh followed like a shadow.
Though he looked as though he were strolling at leisure, every step landed precisely in the gaps between Gern Reginald Sigmar's shifts in breathing and momentum.
His sword, coated in Haki, exploded into a storm of black radiance—sometimes like torrential rain, sometimes like a venomous serpent striking. There was no opening. Not even a moment.
"I can't widen the distance,"Gern Reginald Sigmar muttered internally as Eight Desolations whirled into an airtight barrier.
Yet Rayleigh's blade always found the most delicate angles to slip through. One redirected thrust grazed Gern Reginald Sigmar's cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.
...
Suddenly, dozens of water pillars erupted from the sea.
Gern Reginald Sigmar spun violently and slashed horizontally. Eight Desolations, wrapped in vibrational particles, unleashed a pale-white blade aura stretching ten meters.
"Heaven-Shaker · Sever the Sea!"
But Rayleigh sidestepped in advance, as if he had foreseen the future.
The blade aura skimmed past his chest and carved a trench more than a hundred meters deep across the distant sea surface.
At the same time, the recovery lag from Gern Reginald Sigmar's strike flashed brightly in Rayleigh's eyes. His sword suddenly flicked upward from below at an angle that defied human ergonomics.
"Looks like you really are completely unskilled with the sword,"Rayleigh said coolly."Marine brat."
SHK—!
A line of blood blossomed across Gern Reginald Sigmar's chest.
If not for his instantaneous partial intangibility—vibrational particles elementalizing his vital areas—this slash would have gutted him.
In the next moment, Black Blade Eight Desolations suddenly left his hand.
Gern Reginald Sigmar twisted midair and launched a spinning kick, his body transforming into a spiraling streak of black light that shot straight toward Rayleigh's face.
Rayleigh lifted his blade lightly, striking the sword's guard with perfect precision.
By all logic, the blade should have been knocked away—
Yet it suddenly accelerated, violating physical laws.
The hidden vibrational thrust Gern Reginald Sigmar had applied made the ambush impossible to fully guard against.
"Interesting."Rayleigh chuckled and leaned his head back. The blade tip skimmed past his nose, severing several strands of golden hair.
But that motion caused him to lose his balance—just for an instant.
Gern Reginald Sigmar seized that fleeting opening. He stepped back, gathered power, hardened his right fist with Armament Haki, compressed the vibrational particles to the very tip—
—and punched forward.
"Supreme Shockwave Fist!!"
Facing this attack, Rayleigh twisted his waist in midair and reversed his grip, pressing his sword downward.
CLANG!
The blade bent into a dangerous arc under the impact. Borrowing the force, Rayleigh drifted backward gracefully.
His toes tapped lightly on a wave crest.
In the next instant, the sea surface bloomed with spiderweb-like裂纹 stretching a hundred meters in diameter!!
"Worthy of the future Pirate King's right hand,"Gern Reginald Sigmar panted as he recalled Eight Desolations. Sweat mixed with traces of blood dripped from his chin.
Staring at Rayleigh twenty meters away—his breathing perfectly steady—Gern Reginald Sigmar suddenly grinned.
"As expected… Roger's right hand."
"Heh."Rayleigh twirled his sword. The sea wind whipped his open shirt violently.
"To withstand over a hundred exchanges while I'm fighting seriously…"He smiled faintly."There are fewer than ten people on the seas who can do that."
...
On the deck of the Oro Jackson, Buggy pumped his fists excitedly, his red nose glowing even brighter with excitement.
"Hahahaha! Did you see that? Rayleigh's completely suppressing that Marine!"He planted his hands on his hips and laughed smugly, turning to Shanks with exaggerated winks."So much for 'Heaven-Shaker' Gern! In front of the Dark King, he's just getting chopped back step by step! Give it a little longer and Rayleigh'll finish him easily!"
"Exactly!"Gaban grinned around his pipe."Buggy's right. Rayleigh's swordsmanship isn't for show. That Marine brat's got some skill, sure—but he's still lacking."
Yet while Buggy and Gaban laughed with arms around each other, Shanks stared unblinkingly at the rocky island, his brow tightly furrowed.
He hadn't missed the subtle adjustments Gern Reginald Sigmar made after each forced retreat—nor the icy calm in his eyes.
"No…"Shanks murmured."Rayleigh's suppressing him only because Gern's swordsmanship isn't refined enough."
"Huh?!"Buggy spun around, visibly annoyed."Shanks, you hit your head or something? Rayleigh's a great swordsman! Didn't you see? That guy even kicked his sword out as an attack just to hit Rayleigh!"
Shanks shook his head, his tone heavy.
"That's precisely because Rayleigh is a great swordsman—and Gern's clearly inferior with the blade.And yet… even so, Rayleigh still hasn't been able to truly cripple him."
"That's the real problem."
Buggy opened his mouth to argue, but a low, hoarse voice suddenly came from the back of the deck.
"The red-haired brat's right."
Everyone turned.
Douglas Bullet had forced himself into a sitting position. His chest was still caved in, yet his eyes had regained their sharp edge.
"That Marine…"He stared fixedly at the battlefield, a cold smile tugging at his lips."He hasn't even started using his real strength yet."
Buggy's eyes bulged."Bullet?! You didn't get your brain knocked loose, did you? That guy's clearly—"
"Shut it, clown."Bullet cut him off coldly, his gaze sharp as a blade."You don't understand real combat."
Buggy flushed red, about to explode—
—but Roger's voice suddenly rang out, silencing the entire deck.
"Rayleigh…"Roger crossed his arms. For once, his trademark grin was gone, replaced by a slight frown."You can't let yourself get tied down."
"…Otherwise," he said quietly,"this is going to get very troublesome."
...
On the rocky island, Rayleigh's blade tore through the air once more, forcing Gern Reginald Sigmar to block horizontally.
Amid the explosive clash of metal, the soles of Gern Reginald Sigmar's boots carved two deep furrows into the stone.
"You…"Rayleigh's voice was calm yet razor-sharp."…are you adapting to my combat rhythm?"
Gern Reginald Sigmar curled his lips into a cold smile. Eight Desolations shuddered violently as dark-violet Conqueror's Haki wrapped around it.
"Very observant, 'Dark King.'"
Before the words even landed, he activated Shock Flash—his figure blurring, then vanishing entirely.
"That instantaneous shift—just like with Bullet!"Rayleigh's pupils shrank. His Observation Haki detected nothing.
"So that's what Bullet felt back then…"Rayleigh murmured, tightening his grip on the sword.
In the next instant, space collapsed into a blinding point of white light.
Gern Reginald Sigmar appeared above Rayleigh like a roaring white torrent, both hands gripping his blade as he brought it crashing down.
The moment the blade neared its target, a spherical vibration burst erupted.
"Heaven-Shaker · World Collapse!"
The strike fell.
BOOOOOOM—!!!!
The entire rocky island disintegrated under the force of the vibrations. Massive fissures spread like spiderwebs as the sea exploded into towering waves.
Rayleigh's figure flickered among the collapsing rocks, sword light slicing apart falling boulders—
—but his brow knit tighter and tighter.
Gern Reginald Sigmar's way of fighting had completely changed.
No longer a swordsman barely holding on.
But—
The true Heaven-Shaker.