The sky had completely turned into a hopeless shade of gray.
Renzo's sloth zone resembled a giant overturned bowl, trapping the final one-kilometer battlefield beneath it.
Outside the dome, the world was motionless, an empty void ruled by sleepiness.
Inside the dome, however, the air was scorching, violent, and filled with the scent of imminent destruction.
Four figures occupied the four corners of this tiny circular battlefield.
At the center sat the transparent safe containing the Dark-Dark Fruit and the fifty-billion-berry check, like bait in the eye of a storm, radiating fatal temptation.
"Whew…"
The sea wind carried sand and ash, striking painfully against the skin.
Rear Admiral Shelby's once-elegant white suit now had only one sleeve remaining, revealing toned muscles slick with sweat.
He gently stroked his crimson blade, Moonlit Beauty, while his silver eyes swept across the other three competitors.
That blind old man was steady as a mountain, a true monster. Not someone to provoke.
That curly-haired Logia freak had beaten him senseless earlier. Though Shelby wanted revenge, reason told him the odds still weren't favorable.
Finally…
Shelby's gaze landed on the quiet young man in black training clothes, holding a black blade.
Blake.
Though Blake's swordsmanship earlier had been astonishing, Shelby still saw him as a straightforward physical swordsman.
"No Devil Fruit ability. No large-scale AoE. Just swings a sword around…"
A confident smile curled at Shelby's lips as he casually brushed his bangs back with flame.
"Feels a little unfair, but if I want to display the most perfect victory possible before Lord Renzo… then I'll have to choose you."
"You crush the softest first."
Having made up his mind, Shelby no longer hesitated.
"Hey! You gloomy guy in black!"
He pointed his sword toward Blake, orange-red flames instantly erupting along the blade.
"This stage is too crowded. Not suitable for so many dancers."
"Though it's regrettable, for the sake of my path to becoming the Flame Emperor… I'll have to ask you to leave first!"
"Remember the man who defeats you, G-5's future star, Rear Admiral Shelby!!"
BOOM!
Before his words even finished, the rocks beneath Shelby's feet melted.
His body transformed into a straight streak of fire, carrying blistering heat and unstoppable momentum as he shot toward Blake!
"Flame Ring: Fire Pillar Pierce!!"
…
On the other side of the battlefield, Aramaki played with a sprout in his hand while disdainfully watching Shelby charge off.
"Tch. Trash who only picks on weaklings is still trash, even with a Logia."
Then he turned his head.
Behind those sunglasses, his eyes glimmered with dangerous madness as he locked onto Issho across from him.
"Compared to that childish little scuffle…"
Aramaki casually tossed the sprout aside and violently plunged both hands into the ground, a savage grin spreading across his face.
"Hey, blind old man."
"That meteor trick earlier sure made a lot of noise. Smashed quite a bit of my forest."
"I'm pretty pissed off about that."
"I hear your gravity crushes everything? Then let's see…"
"Whether your gravity is heavier…"
"Or my life force is tougher!!"
"Frenzied Growth!!"
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!
The earth screamed!
Countless gigantic roots, thick as ancient serpents, erupted violently from underground with nauseating growth sounds.
But they didn't attack.
Instead, they twisted and intertwined with one another, forming in an instant a hundred-meter-tall, Thousand-Armed Wooden Buddha!
The entire Buddha was pitch black from Armament Haki coating.
Every arm wielded a different wooden weapon, carrying enough force to crush everything as it smashed down toward Issho!
Issho slightly raised his head, his closed eyes seemingly perceiving the giant palms descending from above.
He slowly drew his cane sword as purple light flowed across the blade.
"This young man's killing intent is far too heavy. Bad for the liver."
"Since you wish to test it…"
"This old man shall gamble with you."
"Gravity Blade: Fierce Tiger!"
…
"They've started! THEY'VE STARTED!!!"
Chief commentator Rehn got so excited he stomped his speaker system into pieces.
Holding two microphones, he screamed at the top of his lungs:
"Ladies and gentlemen! THIS is the god-tier battle you've all been waiting for!!"
"On the left! 'Flame Emperor' Shelby versus 'Ghost Sword' Blake! A clash between the Flame Logia and supreme swordsmanship!!"
"On the right! 'Jungle Tyrant' Aramaki versus 'Starfall Tiger' Issho! A TRUE monster showdown! A collision of natural disasters!!"
"This spectacle! These effects! This impact! Even movie theaters can't deliver something this insane!!"
"FULL SCALE WAR!!!"
The screen split into two.
On the left: flames and swordlight.
On the right: forests and warped gravity.
…
"DIE!!"
Shelby's flaming thrust closed in on Blake's face, the temperature so high even the air itself ignited. Blake's hair tips began curling from the heat.
Yet facing this lethal attack, Blake showed none of the panic Shelby expected.
He remained in his sword stance, calm as though watching a leaf drift through the air.
"Too wasteful."
Blake murmured softly.
"Flames dispersed. Heat leaking outward. Charge path too straight…"
"There are three openings."
The moment the fire was about to engulf him,
Blake moved.
No, he barely moved.
His left foot slid back half a step while his body rotated at an extremely subtle angle,
Exactly where the heat wave was weakest.
"Ghost Sword Style: Silent Step."
Whoosh!
Shelby's eyes blurred.
The target that should have been impossible to miss simply vanished!
Then an icy chill shot up from beneath his ribs.
"What?!"
Shelby's expression changed drastically.
Forcing his body to twist, he slashed backward with Moonlit Beauty.
"Flame Ring: Fire Wall!"
BOOM!
A wall of fire exploded beside him.
But the slash still came.
Silent.
Like a hot knife cutting butter.
A black blade casually sliced through the fire wall and cut open Shelby's expensive suit.
If he hadn't reflexively used elementalization, that strike would've gutted him!
"H-how is that possible?!"
Shelby retreated dozens of meters, floating in the air while staring at the tear across his waist with disbelief.
"My fire wall was coated in Armament Haki! How could you cut through it?!"
Blake stood unmoving, Blake Fang still hanging casually at his side, as if he hadn't attacked at all.
He looked at Shelby and shook his head.
"Chief Rehn taught you to compress your power."
"But you only compressed the flames."
"You didn't compress your intent."
"Every movement screams, 'I'm about to slash you.'"
"Too noisy."
Blake spoke indifferently, carrying the same tone of "disgust" he had learned from Renzo.
"This kind of inefficient attack doesn't work on me."
"You bastard…!!!"
Shelby's pride took catastrophic damage.
He, a Logia user, was being lectured by some "ordinary human" without a Devil Fruit?!
And being called inefficient?!
"DON'T ACT SO HIGH AND MIGHTY!!"
Shelby laughed in fury, silver hair whipping wildly in the heat as his entire body resembled a burning torch.
"If you look down on my flames so much, then let me show you…"
"What true hell looks like!!"
"Great Flame Ring: Unknown Fire!!"
Shelby slammed both palms downward!
Instead of attacking Blake directly, he injected flames into the ground itself!
RUMBLE!
The earth split apart as countless pillars of fire erupted like geysers, turning the entire hundred-meter radius into a sea of lava!
"Let's see where you run now!!"
Inside this inferno, Shelby was king.
His body flashed like lightning between fire pillars while his sword swung continuously, every slash unleashing torrential flames.
"Breath of Flame: Crimson Lotus!!"
Countless flaming sword waves sealed off every possible escape route.
This was complete, all-directional, no-blind-spot firepower suppression!
"Now this is a little interesting."
At the center of the inferno, sweat poured down Blake's body from the overwhelming heat, yet the fighting spirit in his eyes only intensified.
"A battle of endurance?"
"Then let's see…"
"Whether your flames burn faster…"
"Or my sword cuts faster."
"Armament Haki: Full Coverage!"
Pitch-black Haki instantly coated his entire body, turning him into a man forged from black steel.
Facing the endless rain of fire, Blake stopped dodging.
He swung his blade.
"Ghost Sword Style: Thousand Pale Cuts!"
At that instant, his hands disappeared.
Only countless black lines weaving through the air remained, forming an airtight net!
Every line was a slash!
SHING SHING SHING SHING!!!
Flaming sword waves were shredded apart!
Lava pillars were severed in half!
Even the scorching heatwaves themselves were sliced open by the dense barrage of strikes!
The two instantly descended into close combat.
One side was violent blazing fire.
The other, a cold black blade.
Every collision exploded into showers of sparks.
Every second contained dozens of exchanges between attack and defense!
The more Shelby fought, the more horrified he became.
No matter how much he increased his firepower or altered his techniques, Blake always neutralized everything with the simplest, most energy-efficient movements possible.
Worse, Blake still found openings to counterattack!
"Does this bastard have infinite stamina?!"
Shelby panted heavily.
"In this kind of heat and high-intensity combat, why doesn't he look tired at all?!"
…
If the left side was a clash of technique and spectacle,
Then the right side was pure monster warfare.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion rang out.
The hundred-meter Thousand-Armed Wooden Buddha was violently bent downward by a terrifying purple gravity wave!
Countless wooden arms shattered and exploded into splinters under the pressure.
"NOT DONE YET, BLIND MAN!!"
Standing atop the Buddha's head, Aramaki laughed madly.
His hands came together as green light exploded outward.
"As long as the roots remain, the forest never dies!!"
"REGENERATE!!!"
CRACK CRACK CRACK!
The shattered wooden arms instantly regrew,
Larger and more grotesque than before!
And upon these newly formed arms bloomed enormous seductive flowers releasing sickeningly sweet aromas.
"Forest Manifestation: Pollen Hell!!"
POOF! POOF! POOF!
The flowers sprayed massive quantities of yellow pollen, instantly filling the battlefield.
The pollen was not only poisonous,
It also carried powerful paralytic and hallucinogenic effects!
"Cough… cough…"
Even with closed eyes, Issho smelled the sweetness and frowned deeply.
"Not only controlling plants…"
"But also using poison…"
"What a troublesome ability."
Covering his nose with one hand, Issho drew a circle in front of himself with the other.
"Gravity Blade: Repulsion!"
BUZZ!
A powerful repulsive force erupted outward, blowing all the pollen away!
But in that instant, "GOT YOU!!"
Aramaki grinned viciously as dozens of giant wooden hands slammed down from every direction simultaneously!
"Forest Manifestation: Thousand-Handed Slap Barrage!!"
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!!!!!
The rapid impacts sounded like thunder.
The ground was smashed into Swiss cheese as dust exploded everywhere!
"HAHAHAHA! GOT TURNED INTO MEAT PASTE, DIDN'T YOU?!"
Aramaki laughed triumphantly.
But the next second, his smile froze.B
ecause when the dust cleared, that blind man in the purple yukata still stood there.
The ground beneath his feet remained completely untouched.
Above him floated a faint purple semi-transparent gravity barrier,
Firmly supporting dozens of giant wooden hands overhead!
No matter how much Aramaki forced the Wooden Buddha to push down, the barrier remained utterly unmoving, like a heavenly divide.
"W-what kind of defense is this?!"
Aramaki was stunned.
"Young man's quite the strength you have."
Issho slowly raised his head, voice still gentle while his cane sword gradually slid from its sheath.
"But strength alone isn't enough."
"You must also understand…"
"How to borrow momentum."
"Gravity: Hell Journey!"
CRACK!!
Issho violently stabbed his cane sword into the ground!
At that moment, the island's entire gravity field… went berserk!
Aramaki's expression changed in horror.
The Wooden Buddha beneath him had begun, floating?!
The gigantic Buddha, along with Aramaki himself, uncontrollably drifted upward into the sky!
Above them, a massive black vortex had appeared.
A gravity singularity forcibly twisted into existence by Issho!
"Go cool off up there."
Issho casually waved a hand.
"Gravity: Reverse Flow!"
BOOM!!!
The hundred-meter Wooden Buddha shot skyward like a rocket, seized by an invisible giant hand!
"AAAAAHHHHH! PUT ME DOWN! I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!!!"
Aramaki screamed wildly while flailing in panic.
But before he even reached the apex, Issho's wrist flipped again.
"As you wish"
"Gravity: Hundredfold Amplification!!"
BUZZZZZ!!!
The upward force instantly transformed into horrifying downward pressure!
The ascending Buddha abruptly stopped midair,
Then plummeted downward at ten times the previous speed!
Under the violent force reversal and hundredfold gravity,
CRACK CRACK CRACK!!
The supposedly indestructible Armament-coated Wooden Buddha disintegrated in midair!
Exploding into countless fragments!
As for Aramaki, he became a green meteor screaming in despair as he smashed into the earth!
RUMBLEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
The ground shook violently.
A crater dozens of meters deep appeared instantly.
"Whew…"
Issho sheathed his sword and wiped sweat from his forehead.
"This move…"
"Isn't very kind to the lower back…"
…
At the G-5 live broadcast plaza, nobody spoke anymore.
Everyone stared at the screen with mouths wide open, watching the two battlefields that resembled clashes between gods and demons.
On the left, a dance of death between flames and black blades.
On the right, natural disasters colliding between plants and gravity.
The combat power of these four had completely surpassed ordinary people's understanding of what the rank of "officer" even meant.
"T-this is insane…"
A Vice Admiral muttered blankly.
"Battles on this level…"
"Even among Admiral sparring matches at headquarters… aren't seen very often, right?"