The air had become so intensely scorched that even light itself warped strangely while passing through the battlefield.
"Huff… huff…"
Shelby stood atop the tallest black rock.
His white suit, which previously only had half a sleeve left, had now been completely burned into ashes, revealing his toned upper body drenched in sweat.
Yet there was not the slightest trace of embarrassment on him.
Instead, under the illumination of the flames, his muscular physique looked even more like a finely sculpted statue.
Opposite him, Blake still wore his black training uniform, standing motionless with his black blade in hand.
Only now, the edges of his dark clothes had curled and charred from the heat.
"Blake, I admit it. I underestimated you before."
Shelby swept his soaked silver hair back with elegant composure.
His expression had changed.
Gone was the carefree narcissism.
In its place was an almost fanatical focus.
"Your swordsmanship is truly powerful. It's the crystallization of Lord Renzo's wisdom. You can neutralize my attacks with the smallest cost possible, even counterattacking in return. If this were a prolonged battle, I might lose."
Moonlit Beauty slowly rose in Shelby's hand, its tip aimed directly at Blake.
"But… this is the finals."
"Lord Renzo is watching. Chief Rehn is watching. The whole world is watching."
"As the protagonist, how can I perform some drawn-out tragic drama?"
"If technique alone can't break through your defense quickly enough…"
"Then I'll use something that surpasses everything else in sheer scale to crush you!"
BUZZ!
As Shelby's voice fell, the orange-red flames around him suddenly underwent a qualitative transformation.
The originally violent fire began collapsing inward and condensing.
Its color rapidly shifted from orange-red to dazzling gold,
Then rose in temperature yet again, turning into a blinding pale white!
That was the manifestation of heat reaching an extreme limit!
"White Flame Mode!"
Shelby transformed into a white sun fallen upon the mortal world!
The surrounding magma pools instantly boiled violently.
Even the obsidian beneath his feet began vaporizing!
"This… is my full power!!"
His body flashed.
This time, Shelby abandoned all flashy sword techniques.
Instead, he compressed all the white flames onto the blade itself, turning his entire body into a streak of white aurora capable of piercing heaven and earth!
"Flame Emperor Sword: Daylight Meteor!!"
....
"MY EYES!!!"
Countless spectators screamed while clutching their eyes.
The blinding white light on the giant screens was nearly enough to blind everyone watching.
Chief Rehn wore sunglasses, yet tears still streamed from his eyes from the brightness.
Even so, he gripped the microphone tighter, voice hoarse with excitement:
"It's here!! That's the legendary ultra-high-temperature white flame!!"
"Rear Admiral Shelby, no! it's gonna be Vice Admiral Shelby! He actually developed the Flame-Flame Fruit to this level in barely a month?! This isn't just talent, it's a miracle!!"
"At this temperature, even Armament Haki would instantly burn through! Can Blake's swordsmanship still hold up?!"
"This is practically a map-cannon-level single-target attack! He's trying to decide the battle in one strike!!"
Inside the noblewomen's VIP booths, shrill screams erupted endlessly.
"So handsome! That's my sun god!"
"I can't even see his face anymore, but this radiance… ah! I'm suffocating!"
.....
At the center of the battlefield,
Facing this world-destroying attack, a trace of seriousness finally appeared on Blake's face.
The heat wave crashing toward him made even the moisture inside his body feel as though it were evaporating.
His Observation Haki told him clearly: This attack could not be blocked.
Sidestepping, redirecting force, parrying, before that ultimate heat, every technique would melt away like snow.
"So this…"
"Is the violent beauty of a Logia…"
Blake murmured softly.
If it had been the old him, perhaps he would've despaired.
Perhaps he would've fought desperately before losing.
But now…
"Lord Renzo once said…"
Blake slowly closed his eyes.
In his mind appeared that afternoon, the image of that man casually splitting boulders apart with a tree branch.
And the doodles scribbled across that wrinkled notebook.
True strength wasn't loud sound effects.
Nor dazzling visuals.
It was… making the world shut up.
"Haaa…"
Blake inhaled the scorching air deeply.
At the exact moment the white meteor was about to swallow him whole,
He opened his eyes.
In that instant, his originally black pupils glowed with rings of dark crimson.
BUZZZZZZ!!!!!!
A horrifying aura capable of changing heaven and earth, capable of freezing magma itself, exploded from his body without warning!
If Shelby's aura resembled a sun that incinerated all things,
Then Blake's aura was an abyss that devoured light itself!
That was, Conqueror's Haki!
And not the beginner-level intimidation used for clearing fodder, but Conqueror's Haki refined to the absolute limit, capable of affecting reality itself, Conqueror's Haki Infusion!!
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Thick black-and-red lightning exploded into existence like wildly dancing black dragons, instantly wrapping around Blake's black blade.
The originally black sword now resembled a black hole, devouring even the surrounding light.
"You're too noisy, Shelby."
Blake gripped his blade with both hands.
His voice was terrifyingly calm, yet it pierced through the roaring explosions of the white flames and entered Shelby's ears with crystal clarity.
"Your light is too blinding."
"Your fire is too loud."
"For the sake of Lord Renzo's afternoon nap…"
"Please extinguish yourself."
Blake stepped forward.
The magma beneath his feet instantly dispersed from the force of his Haki, exposing the glowing red earth below.
No flashy movements.
He simply swung his blade at the incoming white meteor.
That single slash contained twenty years of relentless training.
Contained his entire understanding of swordsmanship.
Contained his ambition and tyranny, his desire to climb upward and stand at the summit!
"Ghost Sword Style: Secret Art."
"Great Thousand Worlds Extinction!!!"
BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!
The black abyss and white sun collided head-on in the sky without a single flourish.
Time itself seemed to stop.
Then, there was no explosion.
No shockwave.
Only… annihilation.
Everyone watched in horror as the once-invincible white flames, upon touching the black slash, were rapidly stained black, swallowed, suppressed, like ink spilled across a painting.
Those tyrannical black-and-red lightning bolts not only split the flames, they split the air.
They split space itself!
"What?!!!"
At the center of the collision, Shelby's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
His pride and joy, the white flames capable of vaporizing steel instantly,
Had become as fragile as paper before that black blade!
That was…
Absolute suppression of rank!
Suppression through Haki itself!
"How can your Conqueror's Haki possibly be this strong?!!"
Shelby roared in disbelief.
But the only answer he received was Blake's cold gaze,
And the descending blade.
"Because…"
"I desire it more than you do."
Blake twisted his wrist.
The black lightning around the blade tripled in size!
"GET DOWN THERE!!!"
BOOM!!!!
A deeply muffled impact echoed like a giant hammer smashing into every spectator's chest.
The white meteor was violently cleaved out of the sky by the black slash!
Shelby's entire body became a broken kite.
The white flames around him instantly extinguished as he, together with Moonlit Beauty, crashed violently into the magma pool below!
BOOOOMMMM!!!
Magma exploded a hundred meters into the air, completely swallowing Shelby's figure.
Meanwhile, Blake remained suspended in the sky, maintaining the downward slashing posture.
Blake lightning still dripped from his sword.
His Haki burned around him like tangible flames.
The entire arena fell into dead silence.
Even Rehn forgot to commentate.
Everyone stared blankly at that black figure resembling a demon god.
One slash.
Just one slash.
He had directly crushed a top-tier Logia user at full power!
This was… the strength of G-5's newly promoted commander, "Ghost Sword" Blake?!
.....
Behind Kizaru's sunglasses, his eyes had narrowed.
The teacup in his hand remained suspended in midair for a long time.
"Maa~…"
Only after quite a while did he finally let out a long sigh.
"Renzo-kun~… the amount of Haki in that kid's slash just now…"
"Even within Headquarters… that level is exceedingly rare~."
"No, you could even say…"
"He's already touched the threshold of admiral-candidate level~."
"And that pure sword intent…"
Kizaru turned toward the nearby Mihawk.
Mihawk had also put down his teacup.
Within those sharp hawk-like eyes shone unmistakable admiration.
"Not bad."
Mihawk nodded and gave an extremely rare evaluation:
"Still somewhat rough."
"But that aura of extinction already has a certain flavor to it."
"Seems those few acres of farmland weren't tilled for nothing."
As for the mastermind behind everything, Renzo merely yawned lazily and pulled the blanket up slightly.
"Not bad." Renzo spoke calmly. "At least…"
"He didn't embarrass me."
"Though…"
Renzo glanced at the screen.
"That fire-playing brat probably isn't dead that easily, right?"
...
At the edge of the magma pool.
"Cough… cough cough…"
A charred black hand trembled as it grabbed onto the obsidian shore.
Shelby crawled out while smoking from head to toe.
His clothes were completely gone, with only a few scraps remaining.
That face that once made countless girls scream was now half-charred and half-swollen.
His hair had exploded into a giant afro.
"Pain… this hurts like hell…"
Shelby painfully climbed ashore, rolled over, and lay flat on the scorching ground while gasping for air.
He had lost. Completely and utterly.
At the instant of that clash, he had clearly felt the difference between himself and Blake.
It wasn't a gap in Devil Fruit ability.
It was… a gap in willpower.
That Haki.
That determination to cut through every obstacle.
It was something this naturally gifted "chosen one," who had always lived smoothly, simply lacked.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps approached.
Blake sheathed his sword and walked over, looking down at Shelby from above.
"Still fighting?"
Blake's voice remained calm.
His Haki had already faded, making him look like an ordinary neighborhood youth.
Shelby painfully lifted his eyelids to glance at him.
Then, "Fight my ass!"
Shelby cursed irritably and pulled out that familiar little mirror from his pocket.
But the instant he did, CRACK.
The mirror shattered.
"My hairstyle… my face…"
Shelby let out a despairing howl.
"Blake, you bastard! Don't you know you're not supposed to hit the face?! I'm docking your salary!!"
Blake's mouth twitched slightly.
'This guy… his priorities were always this bizarre?'
"A loss is a loss."
Shelby tossed away the broken mirror.
Though miserable-looking, he showed no intention of cheating.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out all his gold tokens, fourteen in total.
"Take them."
Shelby threw the tokens toward Blake with a pained expression.
"That's my hard-earned private savings…"
Blake caught them.
But he didn't take all of them.
After counting them, he took seven, then tossed the remaining seven back onto Shelby's chest.
"?"
Shelby froze.
"What's this supposed to mean? Humiliating me?"
"No."
Blake shook his head and turned toward the other side of the battlefield,
Where Issho and Aramaki's battle was also nearing its conclusion.
"Lord Renzo said…"
"This is called sustainable development."
"If I take everything from you, you'll be eliminated."
"Then the finals lose one more capable fighter."
"If I leave you half…"
"You can still continue causing trouble for those two monsters."
Compared to facing them alone…"
A sharp glint flashed through Blake's eyes.
"I'd rather this become a chaotic free-for-all."
Shelby stared at the gold tokens on his chest, then at Blake's back, stunned for several seconds.
Then suddenly, he burst into laughter, though it hurt his wounds terribly.
"Haha… what a sustainable development!"
"Blake, you thick-browed bastard, turns out you're this scheming too!"
Shelby grabbed the tokens and shakily stood up.
Though his flames had weakened considerably, they reignited once more.
"Fine! I'll accept this favor!"
"Since you didn't kick me out of the tournament…"
Shelby looked toward the battlefield where forests and gravity collided in the distance, fighting spirit blazing once again in his eyes.
"Then I'll help you…"
"See this show through to the end!"
"Before those two monsters decide a winner…"
"I'll make sure they know…"
"This Flame Emperor isn't someone to mess with either!!"
.....
Watching this scene, Rehn became so emotional he tore apart his own red tailcoat.
"A reversal! Another reversal!!"
"This is the bond of G-5! This is the romance of men!!"
"Blake didn't finish him off, instead, he chose to preserve the flame itself! What magnanimity! What tactical awareness!"