Although Kizaru's heart was filled with raging killing intent, when it came to actually making a move, he remained extremely cautious.
His opponent was a Devil Fruit User who could counter him! His actual strength didn't seem too bad either; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sneak attack him.
Kizaru wanted to kill his nemesis here to nip future trouble in the bud, but he was also very clear that he wasn't necessarily the one with the upper hand.
In case the opponent's strength was greater than his, or perhaps on par with his, relying on that Devil Fruit's counter ability, it might just be him who ended up getting killed!
Therefore, while filled with killing intent, Kizaru had also prepared himself to retreat at any moment.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
The golden light descending from the sky, carrying terrifying piercing power, shot toward Vegapunk like beams of light.
Watching thousands of beams of light, none of which deviated in the slightest, all aiming straight at him, Vegapunk couldn't help but retort:
"Sure enough, Kizaru must have gone easy during the Summit War! Back then it was the 'outlining technique,' but for me, it comes with a built-in fire control targeting system? Isn't the difference in treatment for different people a bit too big?"
Although he was complaining, Vegapunk merely waved his hand, and the Yasakani no Magatama that had been flying toward him instantly stopped, turning into specks of light and disappearing without a trace.
Kizaru took a long, sharp intake of breath, a look of shock appearing on his face:
"Alright... I think I should probably retreat!"
This wasn't just affecting his elementalized body like before; it was directly affecting the light bullet attacks he projected outward.
In other words, his Devil Fruit ability was basically rendered useless...
Elementalization would be affected, using light-speed movement via elementalization was obviously impossible, and his long-range moves, despite having various names, were simply laser attacks; since the opponent could nullify them, what was left of the Glint-Glint Fruit?
Try one more time; if that doesn't work, he would have to retreat!
Having made up his mind, Kizaru landed on the roof opposite Vegapunk and pulled his hand, causing a golden laser longsword to appear in his grasp. Pitch-black Armament Haki was mixed into it, dyeing the golden longsword a dark gold color.
Long-range laser attacks could be controlled, but it would be much harder for the opponent to control a laser sword held in his hand, not to mention that it also contained Kizaru's Haki.
Without the slightest hesitation, Kizaru flashed out like lightning. Even without the elementalization bonus, as a Glint-Glint Fruit user, Kizaru's reaction speed and movement speed were far beyond that of an ordinary person.
The golden longsword slashed down overhead; in terms of speed, power, and angle, it was impeccable!
Don't let Kizaru's lecherous appearance fool you; in terms of swordsmanship alone, he was nearly touching the edge of being a Great Swordsman. No matter how poor his physical techniques were, he was still a Marine Admiral; he couldn't possibly have any obvious weaknesses.
Vegapunk didn't hesitate either; his lightning sword was similarly plated with a layer of pitch-black Haki, and he immediately met the attack without hesitation.
Possessing a reinforced version of Cavendish's swordsmanship talent, combined with development through scientific means, Vegapunk's swordsmanship level might not have reached the absolute peak, but it was definitely top-tier among the first-rate, even surpassing Kizaru!
Both of them were agility-type fighters. The golden and silver sword lights crossed and moved, rising and falling, like a meteor shower woven from gold and silver—beautiful, yet carrying deep murderous intent.
Every building, tree, and rock that came into contact with the meteor shower was sliced apart. Under the sharp sword energy, one crack after another appeared on the ground; they looked small in scope, but they were actually bottomless.
As the range of their battle grew larger and larger, everything within the area surrounded by the two sword lights was reduced to powder. Although neither of them used large-scale destructive abilities like flying slashes, the danger was even greater.
Charlotte Smoothie and Katakuri, standing on the sidelines, watched this direction quietly, wanting to understand the strength of their current boss.
"I feel... the boss's swordsmanship strength should be stronger than that monkey... It's just that his experience seems a bit lacking, and his swordsmanship is a bit rigid."
"Indeed, but the boss's swordsmanship has one characteristic: it is extremely stable..."
"We still don't know about the boss's Devil Fruit ability, right? It should be quite powerful!"
Just as the two Charlottes were discussing this, Kizaru, with sweat already dripping from his forehead, risked taking another sword strike from Vegapunk and finally retreated from the combat zone.
The opponent's swordsmanship was too strange—pure, mechanical, and stable. In his peak state, he could spar with him for a few rounds, but as the battle time extended and his attention became slightly distracted, he immediately fell into a disadvantage.
Moreover, he didn't know if it was his own illusion, but it seemed that as the battle dragged on, the opponent's swordsmanship gradually changed to counter him more and more... Could it be that the opponent was developing new swordsmanship on the spot?
"The sword technique model for this yellow monkey has only been deduced by about twenty percent, what a pity... Perhaps I should lower the output of the combat program..."
Vegapunk retracted his lightning sword and thought silently to himself.
In reality, the reason Vegapunk's swordsmanship appeared so stable was naturally due to the combat program. By exerting 100% of his power, there were naturally no peaks or valleys.
As for Kizaru feeling that Vegapunk's swordsmanship was gradually changing and becoming counter-effective against him, it was simply the combat program constantly absorbing the essence of his swordsmanship and deducing a counter-strategy. Things that the human brain couldn't do were easy for a program.
"Well... it seems I can't deal with you this time, young man! I really don't know when such a monster like you appeared on the sea!"
"Then goodbye, young man! Hopefully, I won't meet you again in the future!"
Kizaru muttered a few words, then his entire body quickly transformed into a beam of golden light, preparing to leave.
"You want to leave after fighting? How could such a beautiful thing happen?!"
Vegapunk sneered and reached out his hand. Kizaru, who had already elementalized, immediately transformed back into a solid form.
"Is there any point? Young man, as long as the distance is far enough, you won't be able to interfere with my elementalization, right!"
Kizaru said, narrowing his eyes, and then stamped his foot, instantly disappearing. It was the Marine Rokushiki, Soru!
"That's not necessarily true... I was just playing with you earlier! You really think you can escape from the palm of my hand!"
Kizaru, who should have disappeared, suddenly felt an incomparably powerful gravitational force, and his whole body was sucked toward Vegapunk's palm.
"Damn it, what is this again? Gravity developed from electromagnetism? That can't be possible!"
Kizaru's face was filled with horror, and he screamed instantly.
Although the four fundamental forces had a certain connection, if one could really develop electromagnetism to the point of extending into gravity, then the opponent's Devil Fruit ability would probably have been developed to the level of atomic restructuring and creation from nothingness!
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