'CRACKLE!'
Blue lightning blazed brighter than the sun itself. Kojin stretched out his hand, and the thunder gathered into a massive spear nearly ten meters long: the Spear of Longinus.
Black-and-red lightning wrapped around it as Conqueror's Haki surged through the weapon. Invisible waves of Haki spread outward, and as they passed over Luffy, his head twitched. Two red gleams appeared beneath his lowered eyelids. At the same time, his long black hair began to sway despite the complete lack of wind.
"So fast!" Rayleigh's pupils contracted. Kojin's speed had reached an unimaginable level, his movements impossible to track with the naked eye.
Rayleigh's body reacted almost entirely on instinct, taking a single step backward. That one step saved his life.
The Spear of Longinus, wrapped in black-and-red lightning, grazed right past his nose and plunged viciously into the ground.
'BOOM!'
The instant its tip struck, the earth shuddered like a wave, and the entire ten-meter spear vanished beneath the surface. All that remained was a perfectly round, pitch-black hole.
A moment later,
'BANG!'
The ground for kilometers around shook violently. Cracks tore open everywhere, and brilliant arcs of electricity erupted from them, shooting into the sky like countless pillars of blue light.
'If that had hit me, I'd probably be dead.' Rayleigh's expression grew even graver as Kojin moved again.
'WHOOSH!'
Without a visible trace of movement, Kojin appeared right in front of Rayleigh, his right hand spread wide.
'BZZZZZT!'
Brilliant arcs of electricity intertwined into a blazing pillar of lightning. Rayleigh's eyes widened as his field of vision was swallowed by blinding light and crackling sparks. Death was right in front of him; every hair on his body stood on end.
In that split second, he moved. Armament and Conqueror's Haki coated his blade as he swung straight into the incoming lightning.
'BOOM!'
A violent shockwave erupted. The lightning flooded everything with light, its tremendous force slamming into Rayleigh and throwing him back several hundred meters. He hit the ground and skidded dozens more before finally coming to a stop.
Immediately, a red gleam flashed in his eyes. Rayleigh spun around and swung his sword again, just as Kojin emerged from a burst of lightning, bringing his right leg crashing down wrapped in thunder.
'BANG!'
The earth shook. Rayleigh trembled violently, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"You may be old…" Kojin sighed, "…but your senses are still sharp."
"Are you looking down on me?" Rayleigh grinned.
A flash ran across his blade as he suddenly slashed from an awkward angle. Kojin's body instantly turned into lightning, retreating over a hundred meters.
"Then how many more exchanges can you survive?" Kojin smiled faintly.
His body stretched into a streak of lightning once more, appearing right in front of Rayleigh.
Punches. Kicks. Knee strikes. Elbows.
Kojin unleashed his Rokushiki at an absurd speed. With lightning enhancing every movement and Conqueror's Haki infused into his strikes, he had practically become lightning itself. The sheer frequency of his attacks pushed Rayleigh back again and again. Red light flickered in Rayleigh's eyes as he twisted, shifted, and dodged with everything he had.
Both men had pushed their speed to the limit, making their duel almost impossible to follow. To an outside observer, the entire battlefield seemed to fall silent, leaving only two blurred phantoms flickering back and forth.
Bartholomew Kuma's eyes shifted slightly. He stepped forward a few paces, bent down, and checked on the fallen Straw Hats, a strange glint passing through his eyes.
Then Kuma turned his attention toward Luffy. Suddenly, his enormous body stiffened, shock flashing across his face.
'BANG!'
Another deafening explosion erupted from the fight, blasting Rayleigh away. He crashed through more than ten massive trees before finally hitting the ground.
"Haa… haa… haa…"
Rayleigh struggled back to his feet, breathing heavily. Beads of sweat covered his face, his chest rising and falling like a bellows. With his aging body, this battle had already pushed him close to his limit.
'WHOOSH!'
A bolt of lightning shot toward him from the distance, arriving in an instant. Before Rayleigh could evade, a heavy fist smashed directly into his face, slamming him back down.
"Looks like your arrival didn't change anything after all, Rayleigh," Kojin said with a calm smile.
He opened his right hand. Electric arcs danced between his fingers, gathering into brilliant light.
Rayleigh lay on the ground, staring at the scorching electricity less than an inch from his forehead. His eyes flickered, his breathing heavy as the massive strain on his stamina made him dizzy.
He had to admit it: Kojin had grown vastly stronger. With Rayleigh weakened by age and Kojin in his prime, the gap between them had only widened.
"A man should at least do what he believes is right," Rayleigh suddenly smiled. "Don't you think so, Kojin?"
"That's an interesting way to put it," Kojin smiled back. "But like I said… Straw Hat dragged everyone else into this. His crewmates. And now you."
The lightning in his hand flared, reshaping into another spear. The sharp tip lowered until it rested less than a centimeter from Rayleigh's forehead.
"Heh." Rayleigh laughed. Even with death staring him down, there was no fear in his eyes.
"Goodbye, Rayleigh," Kojin sighed. "What a shame for someone like you to die in a place like this."
The lightning spear thrust downward,
, only for an enormous force to stop it cold. The spear froze in place, unable to move another inch.
"Had enough fun?" a cold, deep voice came from the side.
A smile touched Kojin's lips. Instead of turning right away, he slowly looked up at the bubbles drifting through the sky.
'Pop.'
One after another, they burst as they reached their peak.
Only then did Kojin turn to look at Straw Hat Luffy.
The boy was still sitting on the ground, but his head was raised. No… calling him Straw Hat Luffy was no longer entirely accurate.
'THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!'
The heartbeat rang out like war drums, powerful enough to make everyone's chest tighten. This time, Kojin wasn't the only one who could hear it, everyone could.
Luffy remained seated, but the left side of his chest visibly heaved with every beat, his heart pounding with incredible force.
'DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM!'
The Drums of Liberation began playing their joyful rhythm. The ground, the trees, even the floating bubbles started trembling in time with the beat.
At the same time, the steam surrounding Luffy turned pure white. His black hair gradually bleached white as well, a ribbon-like cloud floating behind him wrapped in Conqueror's Haki.
But the strangest thing was his expression. He looked calm, serious, his eyes carrying a depth and weariness no seventeen-year-old should possess. It was almost as if another soul had taken over his body.
"Luffy?" Rayleigh stared in shock.
This form looked somewhat similar to Kojin's awakening, but with Luffy's current strength, there was no way he should have been capable of awakening his Devil Fruit. The sight left Rayleigh deeply confused.
Bartholomew Kuma stared at Luffy as well, his instincts warning him that something extraordinary had just happened to the boy.
Then Luffy clenched his extended right hand. The lightning spear in Kojin's grip was violently yanked aside and hurled into the distance.
'DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM!'
With the Drums of Liberation pounding from his chest, Luffy rose to his feet and turned sharply toward Kojin, his gaze cold and piercing.
Kojin turned to face him with a smile.
"So what should I call you? The Warrior of Liberation? Joy Boy? Or Monkey D. Luffy?"
Luffy's pupils contracted slightly, a trace of seriousness appearing in his eyes.
Rayleigh, still lying on the ground, felt his heart jolt at those words. He looked at Luffy again, that gaze was definitely not the boy's.
"Joy Boy…" Luffy spoke in a low voice. "That's a name I haven't heard in a very long time."
He raised his hands and examined the body he now occupied, a huge grin spreading across his face.
"Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Bright, carefree laughter burst from his mouth.
"So I ended up choosing a kid like this?" He laughed again. "He really is another me."
Kojin stared closely at the figure before him. He was certain of it now, this was the mysterious will hidden inside the Nika Fruit.
Under normal circumstances, it likely would have awakened only after Luffy reached a certain level of strength, eventually merging with its host. But Kojin's presence had resonated with it, forcing the awakening early.
"You've let me see the scenery of another era," Luffy grinned, his expression unreadable. "Eight hundred years, huh?"
He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly, as though savoring the feel of an unfamiliar age.
"Show me your power, Warrior of Liberation," Kojin smiled faintly.
"My power?" Luffy murmured, then grinned again. "Hahahahaha!"
"More accurately," Kojin continued, "I want to see the power of that fruit. Sun God Nika."
"Sun God…" Luffy's eyes sharpened. "You've seen his power before?"
He sounded genuinely surprised.
Kojin only smiled, offering no answer.
"You really are an extraordinary man," Luffy sighed. "You know far too much, and somehow, you even managed to wake me."
His voice grew quieter. "I should have continued drifting through time with this fruit, slowly becoming part of its host's body and soul. Liberation and freedom were supposed to be passed on to my next inheritor."
Kojin smiled. "No one should think too highly of themselves. Maybe your role in this world was never as important as you believe."
Luffy looked at him in surprise, then burst out laughing again. "HAHAHAHAHA! You know… that actually makes a lot of sense!"
Kojin stepped forward. One step. Two. Three.
'BOOM!'
The air shook as black-and-red lightning flooded the sky.
'BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!'
Everything trembled, the atmosphere becoming unbearably heavy.
"Enough talking," Kojin said calmly. "The only reason I dragged you awake ahead of time was because I wanted to see what this fruit is really capable of."
Luffy's eyes sharpened. "So you're an enemy?"
The moment the words left his mouth, black-and-red lightning erupted around him as well.
'DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM!'
The Drums of Liberation thundered across the battlefield once more.
(End of Chapter)
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