Fifty bullets per second erupted from my integrated Gatling guns, a curtain of steel lead designed to shred anything in its path. But as the smoke cleared, Shiki stood there, casually adjusting his robe.
"Tch. Figures... standard lead doesn't mean squat to you guys, does it?"
I muttered under my breath. I hated this world's power scaling. Once someone hits a certain tier, mundane firearms become nothing more than noisy toys.
"An annoying gnat," Shiki hissed. He flicked his wrists, and his twin blades, Oto and Kogarashi, blurred into motion.
SHINK-SHINK-SHINK!
"Hey! This armor is Wooterz steel, you know!" I roared, but it didn't matter. His blades carved through the "invincible" alloy as if it were wet cardboard.
"So what?! Before my blades, all things are but paper!"
He was fast, but his ability was the real nightmare. I tried to sweep his legs with my mace, but the weapon suddenly veered off course, caught in his gravitational manipulation.
The Float-Float Fruit allowed him to make anything he touched weightless—and he was using it to parry me without even trying.
"If you can only manipulate non-living things, then how about this?!"
I raised my forearms, and twin flamethrowers erupted from my wrists.
"USELESS!" Shiki barked, hovering effortlessly above the heat.
"I know that! Here, have some more toys!"
I reached into my belt and lobbed eight concussion grenades at him. I wasn't looking for a kill; I just needed to blind him for a split second.
"I TOLD YOU, IT'S FUTILE! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
"Not happening!" I closed the gap, my fists coated in obsidian Haki. "How about a punch from a special alloy fist?!"
In the original story, Krieg used diamond. I didn't have that kind of budget, so the Science Division had cooked up a hyper-dense "Super Alloy" just for my knuckles.
One punch! Two! Four! Eight! Sixteen! Thirty-two—
GRAB.
Shiki's hand clamped down on my fist, stopping the steel-shattering momentum dead in its tracks.
"You have some spirit, brat. But these toys... they're getting boring!!"
He swung his blades again. I barely managed to wrap my protective mantle around myself to absorb the cut, but Shiki didn't stop there. He slammed his palms together.
"Lion's Majesty: Earth Bound!"
The very ground beneath my feet surged upward, twisting into the shape of giant earthen lions that lunged from every direction.
"Guh... NOT YET!"
I spun in a circle, scattering explosive charges to blast the earthen maws back. From behind my shoulder plates, I deployed a weighted flail on a chain.
I swung it with bone-breaking speed, smashing through the lions that had been weakened by the explosions.
I donned a gas mask in one fluid motion and aimed my right shoulder plate.
"DRINK THIS! Paralysis Gas: MH3!!"
A thick, purple cloud erupted. I wasn't allowed to use lethal poison gas, but this concentrated neurotoxin was the next best thing.
"And these for dessert!"
From the left shoulder, I fired a volley of steel needles as thick as a man's arm, synchronized with heavy explosive shells.
Surely that did something...
"Impressive," a voice drifted through the settling dust. "Tell me your name. I'll make sure it's carved on your headstone."
Shiki emerged. His robe was singed, and he had a few nicks, but he looked largely unfazed.
"Ugh... I'm covered in dents, and you're barely scratched? The 'Legendary Tier' is further away than I thought..."
"Jihahahaha! You've got guts, Marine. Now, your name?"
"I am... DON KRIEG!!"
I screamed my name to bolster my own failing courage. My hidden weapons were spent. My armor was a mess. My mantle was shredded. I had four swords left, my mace, and... The Big One.
"Fine, Krieg. Since you've struggled so hard, I'll show you a glimpse of my true power."
"Bring it! I'll survive it if it kills me!"
I slammed my two shoulder plates together. A long, heavy handle extended from the center, forming a massive, eight-ton mechanical lance: the Great Battle Spear.
BOOM!
As Shiki sent more stone lions at me, I didn't just hit them—I exploded them. The Great Battle Spear's secret was simple: it was an impact-detonation weapon. Every time it touched something, it triggered a massive, directed blast.
Shiki tried to touch the spear to make it float, just as he had with my mace.
"Think again! If you can float what you touch, I just won't let you touch it!!"
I twisted the grip, triggering a surface explosion that blasted his hand back. Using the recoil, I slammed the spear into the ground, creating a massive smoke screen. Then, with a roar, I swung it in a massive arc.
"THE HARDER I SWING, THE BIGGER THE BOOM! GREAT BATTLE SPEAR!"
The resulting explosion was the largest yet. The shockwave caught Shiki mid-air, blasting him back despite his twin-blade guard.
"See that?! Don't underestimate me, Lion!!"
"Ah... I see. My apologies," Shiki said, his voice dropping to a terrifyingly calm register. "I was insulting you. Let's finish this for real."
"Oh, crap..."
Shiki raised both hands toward the harbor. Suddenly, a massive shadows loomed over the plaza. He was lifting the docked Marine warships out of the water and dropping them directly onto my head.
"SHIT! STORM... FLASH!!"
I drew one of my swords and swung a massive air-cutter, slicing through the first hull, but the blade shattered instantly under the pressure.
"THE SHIP IS FALLING!" "JUMP FOR IT!" "HELP ME!"
The screams of the Marines still on board reached my ears.
"YOU BASTARD! DON'T INVOLVE THE INNOCENTS, SHIKI!!"
I dropped the Battle Spear and threw my arms wide. I used every ounce of Haki, every bit of Tekkai, and the raw, desperate strength of a man who refused to see his subordinates crushed.
CRUNCH!
I caught the prow of the falling warship. My knees buckled. My armor groaned. The weight was astronomical, but I screamed until my lungs burned and managed to guide the massive vessel safely to the ground.
"You're wide open, boy!"
Shiki was on me in an instant. His twin blades carved through my chest plate. I used Tekkai to harden my muscles, but the force sent me reeling, my vision blurring from the pain.
I didn't let go. I drew my last two swords in a reverse grip.
"Dual Strike: TWIN WING GULL!!"
I lunged forward, crossing the blades and thrusting with the force of a hurricane. The strike pierced through the stone slabs Shiki had raised as a shield and tore through his right thigh.
"YOU... BRAT...!!! I'LL—"
Shiki raised his arms for a final, lethal execution strike. But before his blades could fall, the thunder of a massive cannon—or perhaps just a very loud voice—interrupted him.
"THAT'S ENOUGH, SHIKI!"
Sengoku and Garp stood at the edge of the plaza, flanked by hundreds of Marines.
I saw the "Twin Shields" arrive and felt the tension snap. My body, held together by nothing but adrenaline and stubbornness, finally gave out. My vision faded to black.
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