Chapter 238: "Golden Lion" Shiki (III)
'What does he want to do?' Eric widened his eyes. 'He isn't thinking of removing the rudder, is he? Didn't they say that would be life-threatening?!'
But looking at the expressions of Esdeath and Scáthach , neither of them seemed surprised…
'Did they already know…?'
'Could Scáthach 's prophetic abilities have been used to…?'
Eric 's mind raced.
Pfft!
"Ahhh!" Shiki grabbed the handle of the rudder and, gritting his teeth, yanked it out from his head!
Hiss
Hey, man, your head's bleeding!
"Ha ha ha ha..." Bright red blood flowed down his face, making Golden Lion Shiki's domineering smile even more menacing.
Whir~
The long-lost Conqueror's Haki surged back into Golden Lion's body.
Feeling the intense pressure from this Haki, Esdeath and Scáthach exchanged glances, their eyes filled with cold battle intent.
How long had it been? Shiki raised his head and pondered for a moment.
Had it started when the rudder was driven into his head? Or had he gradually disappeared during his quiet years spent studying vicious animals?
Shiki didn't know.
Hiss, hiss
Shiki bent down again, removed the two famous swords from his legs, which served as his feet, and held them in his hands.
His legs, already healed, began to bleed from the ankles again.
"Ever since I inserted this rudder into my head, I've become less and less like myself. Now, I have to 'thank' you all for helping me find myself again in this battle. I'm the 'Golden Lion!'"
Shiki shook off the bloodstains from his sword hilts and roared:
"I'm a great swordsman!"
Three new wounds, three bloodied spots, couldn't stop Golden Lion Shiki's desire to fight.
The sword wounds Esdeath had inflicted were frozen by the cold air, and the blood couldn't flow out.
"Lion · Thousand Cut Valley!"
A more powerful and wide-reaching golden sword energy slashed out from Shiki's swords, Sakura Ten and Dead Wood.
A massive wave of sword energy, much larger in number, surged toward the three.
"Heh, this is more like it!" Esdeath laughed. "Fighting against a Golden Lion without Haki was really boring."
… Scáthach calmly blocked each sword energy, her red spears spinning continuously, creating an impenetrable defense.
After using his Lion · Thousand Cut Valley, Shiki began panting heavily.
"Ha… ha…" Golden Lion was getting old, and after the heavy blow to his head, he felt fortunate to be alive after pulling out the rudder.
Dizziness occasionally surged up to his brain, and his eyelids fluttered as the surrounding vision slowly darkened and began to narrow.
'Is this the end?' Shiki chuckled softly, "Ha ha ha ha... At least I managed to find myself in the end."
"Next!" Esdeath tossed a green bean at Shiki, "Eat it!"
"Esdeath, you…" Eric couldn't help but shout, but he didn't attempt to smash the bean in the air or interfere with Esdeath's actions.
"Ha ha ha ha... Is this poison?" Shiki caught the plain-looking bean, and before Esdeath could answer, he swallowed it, thinking that at this point, what could be worse than death?
But would Golden Lion fear death? After all, he was the man who once stormed the Navy Headquarters alone!
The intense pain in his head disappeared, and Shiki was filled with strength again; his legs, which had long since lost feeling, returned to him.
"This is..." Shiki looked at his legs in disbelief, slowly lowering his body. His feet touched the ground, feeling the sensation of standing on the earth.
He reached up and touched the huge wound that had once been on his head.
Hmm, smooth as a mirror, still bald.
"Ha ha ha ha, you guys really have something good!" Shiki laughed loudly. "Just in time, I'll take it!"
Shiki shattered the ice that had frozen on his chest.
"Then you'll have to see if you're capable of it."
Whir~
All four of them simultaneously unleashed their Conqueror's Haki. The Haki from the three of them clashed against Shiki's.
Boom!
The different-colored Haki collided, then shattered together.
"Not bad, you three are no ordinary brats."
"Dying at my hands would be an honor for you!"
"Heh, just a bunch of remnants from the old age. Golden Lion, do you know what others say about you?" Eric shouted:
"They say you were a great pirate, on the same level as Pirate King Roger and Whitebeard, but if you still need others' names in your introduction, that means you've already lost!"
"You little bastard! You've really pissed me off!"
Shiki floated into the air again, his hand reaching out, ready to show them the awakening of his Float-Float Fruit abilities.
"Lion Might · Earth Roll!"
The ground beneath him began to tremble, and the hard earth cracked and lifted. The brown sand around the three swirled violently.
Boom boom boom!
The sound of the earth shaking echoed, and massive waves of soil rose, crashing toward the three in a landslide.
"Roar!"
The brown sand formed into a lion's head, roaring at them.
The sandstorm pushed toward them, and the area inside the sand circle shrank rapidly.
"Lion Might · Royal Land Roll!" Shiki, watching from the sky, didn't stop and continued his attack.
Unlike how things played out in anime, where the villain attacks and watches the protagonist break his moves, Shiki kept going.
The lion heads frozen into ice fell to the ground and shattered, then Shiki used his power to raise and crush them, causing ice crystals to float in the air.
The broken ice and air formed white lion heads, and they hovered above like a snowstorm, eyeing them.
"Roar!"
A dozen lion-headed elemental creatures roared in unison, an overwhelming force!
"Since I've been caught in the Golden Lion's attack, I'll join the fight too," Scáthach said calmly, not waiting for Esdeath to respond before rushing toward the lion head.
"Hmph! Freeze!" Esdeath placed her hands on the ground, and a white ice road spread out, freezing the soil waves and lion heads in place.
"Ha!" Scáthach hurled her spear with great force, the red spear transforming into a red flash, bouncing off the frozen lion heads.
Boom boom boom! In the blink of an eye, the lion heads made of sand were shattered, and the rolling sandstorm stopped.
"Heh... Well done." Shiki raised his hand, ready to launch another attack.
"Hm?!" Shiki looked up and fixed his gaze on the front.
"What are you doing?" Eric suddenly appeared in front of Shiki, his spear tip glowing with explosive purple flames as he thrust it at Shiki.
Clang!
Shiki deflected the blow with a sword. "I've already been tricked by your teleportation once. How could I fall for it again?!"
"Go down!" Shiki's other sword rose high and struck at Eric .
"!" Eric twisted both hands, and his spear split into two.
He pulled back the haft and blocked in front of him.
Clang!
"What?!" Shiki was surprised to see Eric 's weapon change.
"Why don't you go down first?" Eric 's entire body turned blue, crackling with violent electric charges.
"Divine Punishment!" The electricity surged up from Eric 's body, curving through the air, and a thick blue lightning pillar descended from the sky, striking directly at Golden Lion.
"Ahhh!" Shiki, enveloped by the lightning pillar, screamed in pain.
Then he was blasted to the ground.
The blinding light of the lightning faded, revealing Golden Lion's body, burnt black and red, with his golden hair scorched halfway.
"Not bad, kid!" The scorched Golden Lion glared at Eric , and the ground began to rumble again.
(END CHAPTER)
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