"That's unnecessary. No matter what, I will personally slay you," Raiden Ei stated with firm and calm eyes.
Hengkitari gripped the ground tightly with both claws, stomped down hard, causing the dry earth to collapse with a "bang," and charged rapidly toward Raiden Ei. Armament Haki wrapped around his claws as he swung them at her: "Good! Then let's see who lives till the end! Hah!"
Raiden Ei was already prepared for battle. She had anticipated Hengkitari's sudden attack. Her Youma blade instantly became enveloped in Armament Haki and slashed out, sending a strike toward the rapidly approaching Hengkitari.
The slash arrived instantly but was shattered by a single swipe of Hengkitari's claw. He did not slow his speed and continued charging toward Raiden Ei, his figure moving as fast as an afterimage.
Seeing that Hengkitari could disperse her slash with a casual pat, Raiden Ei dared not be careless. She stomped her feet and charged toward him, gripping her blade with both hands.
"Swish!" The two figures met instantly and attacked simultaneously. "Bang!" Hengkitari swept a claw toward Raiden Ei.
The Youma blade directly repelled the extended claw with one strike. At the same time, Hengkitari's crocodile mouth opened wide and snapped toward her body, which was within striking distance.
Raiden Ei saw him lunge to bite directly, but she did not retract the Youma blade held in both hands. With a "swish," she thrust it toward his body.
"Clang!" The Youma blade stabbed straight into his body, but unfortunately, his defense was too thick; even the Haki-wrapped blade could not penetrate.
Feeling the immense force transmitted from the Youma blade and seeing the large mouth about to bite her body, she used the blade in her hands to push hard and retreated backward.
"Crack!" Hengkitari bit into empty air. "Bang!" He stomped heavily on the ground, causing it to shake slightly, and continued to pursue the retreating Raiden Ei.
Raiden Ei sheathed the Youma blade in her system backpack and took out kusanagi from it. The Youma blade was not very suitable for dealing with Hengkitari.
"Thud!" She retreated a few meters and stood firm. Seeing Hengkitari pursuing, she instantly wrapped her kusanagi with Armament Haki, gripped the blade with both hands, and swung it toward him with a "swish."
Hengkitari saw a massive slash flying straight toward him and grunted, not daring to be careless. He extended both claws and directly slapped at the slash.
"Bang!" The two immense forces collided, causing the airflow to become turbulent. The shockwave bent the short plants, kicked up sand, and made the sea wind even more violent.
The moment the slash's immense force collided with Hengkitari, it stopped him and continuously pushed him backward. Both of his clawed feet dug two deep trenches into the ground.
"Ah!" Although the explosive power of the slash was strong, it was still limited. A slash without any supplementary force only managed to push Hengkitari back a short distance before he broke through it.
Hengkitari shook the claws on both hands and looked viciously at Raiden Ei, who was completely unharmed after one exchange: "You are quite tenacious, aren't you? It won't be so easy for you next."
His clawed feet stomped the ground, shattering the stones beneath them, and his attacking figure rushed toward Raiden Ei once more.
"How can I break through his defense?" Raiden Ei held kusanagi ready, moving her steps rapidly toward the figure of Hengkitari charging at her.
Holding the naginata, her reach was farther than Hengkitari's; unlike when she held the Youma blade where they were nearly equal, so at this moment, she attacked without hesitation, swinging kusanagi straight down toward his head.
Sensing the attack with Observation Haki, he directly slapped at kusanagi with his claw wrapped in Armament Haki. "Bang!" Sparks flew, and the claw was struck away.
"Hah!" He turned in the direction his claw was knocked away, and his large tail behind him swept toward Raiden Ei with a sound of cutting through the wind.
Raiden Ei had no time to retreat and dodge, so she retracted kusanagi to block in front of her. "Bang!" Her figure was instantly sent flying by the immense force carried by the tail.
Hengkitari spun around, used "Soru," and his figure appeared in front of Raiden Ei as if teleporting. He charged at her like a speeding train with "Renpa."
"Geppo!" Raiden Ei used the air for leverage and swung her kusanagi toward him. "Bang!" The two collided, and she was immediately knocked flying again. However, she had expected this; the power amplification of the Zoan type was too great, especially for an Ancient Species.
While using technique to neutralize the recoil from the powerful collision, she used "Geppo" to slow the impact force, finally landing steadily after being sent flying back more than ten meters.
Hengkitari had conducted two rounds of fierce attacks and was now a bit breathless. He looked at Raiden Ei opposite him, who was still steady and composed. His current level of attack could not harm her at all.
It seemed he had to use his full power before others arrived. His figure crouched on the ground on all fours, his tail flicking back and forth, kicking up sand.
"Heh heh! Raiden Ei, since you can block my attacks in my Half-Beast form, then come see my true strength! This is my real power."
"Rumble!" As soon as the words fell, his figure rapidly grew larger—five meters, eight meters, ten meters. In no time, he transformed into a Giant Crocodile over ten meters long. His four limbs were not short and thick like the crocodiles Raiden Ei had seen before; the bone spurs protruding from his body were more numerous and dense, and a ferocious aura washed over her.
The pirates who had been knocked unconscious by the Conqueror's Haki nearby were miserable. The ten-meter-plus Giant Crocodile only needed to move its body slightly, and they would lose limbs. Those with bad luck were stomped to death, truly fulfilling the saying that an elephant doesn't need to worry about crushing a few ants.
Raiden Ei looked at the Giant Crocodile that had been a human and felt eager to try. Such a large target would be a waste not to practice slashes on. It was a pity its skin was too thick for one strike to kill. If her Armament Haki had upgraded to the realm of "Internal Destruction," she could have killed it with one strike even if the opponent used Armament Haki to defend.
Nevertheless, she made her move. Her purple eyes stared intently at the Giant Crocodile, and Conqueror's Haki surged from her body, sweeping outward centered on herself.
She tried motionlessly to control Conqueror's Haki Infusion onto her arm. In just an instant, she sensed faint red lightning flickering around her, but after persisting for a while, she failed again.
Hengkitari felt the Conqueror's Haki rushing toward him, but it was useless against him. The opponent was just making a futile effort.
"Haha, are you out of moves? Such weak Conqueror's Haki is only good for tickling me," a voice came from the Giant Crocodile's mouth.
On a hilltop not far from where the two were fighting, a man wearing a suit, a hat, and a Marine coat draped over his back was watching the battle below with great interest: "Both are quite formidable!"
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