All Doc Q could see was Hancock's peerless leg swinging toward him in a devastating arc.
"This is bad!"
"It seems fate isn't on my side today!"
At this distance, Doc Q felt there was no possibility of escape. He could only sigh softly and close his eyes.
Bang!
Hancock flipped in mid-air, her golden earrings dancing as her long hair flew. The fabric of her cheongsam tightened as her high-heeled foot slammed into Doc Q's face.
First, he was petrified, turned to stone. Then, he was sent flying by Hancock's impossibly long leg.
CRASH! The stone statue of Doc Q shot backward, smashing through the wooden walls of several houses.
Doc Q, taken out of the fight!
"Alright!"
Nami cheered at the sight, jumping for joy.
In their first time working together, the two women had displayed flawless coordination, defeating Doc Q, an officer of the Blackbeard Pirates, in just a few moves.
Of course, there was also Stronger to deal with!
The scene shifted back to Ryuuto…
Moments earlier, Ryuuto had effortlessly dodged Burgess's elbow strike. Now he stood off to the side, quietly observing him.
"Is this all you've got?" Ryuuto asked coolly.
The words made Burgess's brow furrow so deeply that it seemed his small goggles could no longer contain his scowl.
Before Burgess could reply, Ryuuto's right hand shot out, unsheathing Yubashiri in a blur.
"Then it's your turn to taste my blade!" As Ryuuto spoke, he coated the sword in Armament Haki, turning Yubashiri into a black blade that pulsed with a dangerous, bewitching aura.
"Wind-Sunder!"
With a sharp cry, Ryuuto swept Yubashiri in a single motion, his body vanishing on the spot.
Swoosh!
A sound of tearing air was all that was heard. When Ryuuto reappeared, he was already right in front of Burgess.
"What! So fast?" Burgess's eyes narrowed in terror. With no time for any other reaction, he instinctively crossed his arms to block.
BOOM!
The black blade of Yubashiri crashed against Burgess's forearms.
The thunderous collision erupted from the point of impact, unleashing a powerful shockwave that radiated outward in all directions.
"Interesting…" Feeling the immense force transferred through Yubashiri, Ryuuto thought to himself, "As expected of a brawler with monstrous strength! Moving mountains would be child's play for you, wouldn't it!"
A crackle of lightning burst from beneath his feet. "Chidori Nagashi!" Ryuuto shouted.
A blinding flash of lightning exploded from under him. He flipped through the air, his right foot stomping down hard on Burgess's crossed arms.
The sound was like a thunderclap.
BANG!
The power of the lightning descended with the force of ten thousand tons, smashing into Burgess's guard.
For a moment, the lightning was brilliant, countless arcs of electricity exploding outward to form a massive electrical field that instantly swallowed Burgess whole.
BOOM!
Fueled by the explosive thunder, Ryuuto's kick unleashed incredible power.
Engulfed in lightning, Burgess let out a pained cry. He was forced back several steps, each footfall gouging a ten-centimeter-deep print into the ground before he finally managed to stabilize himself.
"What kind of ability is this? It's too strong!" Burgess thought, a stinging pain spreading throughout his body as the potent lightning current seared into every muscle. Not only that, but his arms felt nearly crippled.
As the light faded, a gasping Burgess came back into view. His entire body was flushed red, and beneath the black hardening of his Armament Haki, he looked like a piece of iron heated to a scorching glow.
"Van Augur!"
Burgess stared at Ryuuto with a grave expression, then suddenly turned his head and bellowed toward the depths of a nearby street.
But as his voice faded, only a light breeze drifted out of the dark alley. There was no other sound or movement.
"My, my. If you hadn't mentioned him, I almost would have forgotten!"
Ryuuto's eyes narrowed. He instantly extended his Observation Haki, sweeping it down the street.
He felt it. Deep in the shadows, a figure was poised with a sniper rifle, aiming steadily in their direction.
Ryuuto knew he had him.
"Found you!"
He shouted, preparing to launch a flying slash.
Suddenly, a faint sound of tearing air reached him, and the presence he had locked onto vanished. No matter how he searched the alley, the figure was gone.
"The Warp-Warp Fruit and powerful Observation Haki!"
"And he's this cautious? I have no way of catching him. I'll just have to finish off Burgess as quickly as possible!"
With Van Augur's presence gone, Ryuuto felt a prickling sensation on his back, as if a knife was held to it. His previously casual demeanor sharpened into one of serious concentration.
"Looks like your backup is gone!" Ryuuto said to the motionless Burgess with a faint smile.
Sparks of electricity began to flow over Ryuuto's body, tracing mysterious patterns across his skin. A silver light erupted between his eyes.
"Bring it on!"
Seeing that Van Augur had not appeared, Burgess raised his arms high and roared. His muscles swelled, his biceps instantly growing in circumference, rippling with explosive power. He clenched his fists, his eyes locked on Ryuuto.
"Three Thousand Thunder Phantoms!"
As Ryuuto's voice rang out, the air crackled with a sound like thunder tearing through the sky.
A silver light flashed!
A streak of light, too fast for the naked eye to follow, vanished from sight.
Burgess stared ahead, where a figure composed entirely of lightning still stood where Ryuuto had been.
"Is that an illusion?" Burgess muttered. He braced himself, gathering his strength, then threw a ferocious punch.
"Eat this!" Burgess roared, stomping his right foot forward.
BOOM!
As his fist shot out, the compressed air ignited, launching a powerful air cannon straight at Ryuuto's lightning phantom. The debris and wooden planks on the ground were pulverized into dust by the immense pressure of the attack.
"Is it going to hit?" Burgess murmured as he watched the air cannon close in on the figure.
But before he could celebrate, two voices spoke in his ear at the exact same time!
"Thunder: Aurora Slash!"
Ryuuto's voice boomed like an explosion!
At the same moment, the lightning phantom slowly raised the lightning blade in its right hand and slashed forward.
Simultaneously, not far behind Burgess, the real Ryuuto mirrored the exact same motion, bringing the black blade of Yubashiri down in a deadly arc.
"What's going on? Why is the illusion moving?"
Burgess was stunned, but his battle instincts were superb. After a brief moment of shock, he quickly focused his attention on the lightning phantom in front of him.
He saw the phantom's lightning blade flash, effortlessly cleaving his air cannon in two.
Screech!
A sonic boom ripped through the air.
Seeing this, Burgess's pupils shrank. "Come on!" he bellowed. "Surge Elbow!"
With a running start, he poured all of his strength into his elbow, charging head-on to meet the slashing lightning figure.