*Clang!!*
*Clang!! Clang!!*
The ringing of clashing blades was accompanied by bursts of sparks. Kizaru held his sword with both hands, his golden laser sword fiercely colliding with the pitch-black, edgeless heavy blade.
*Bang!!*
Allen leaped into the air, slashing down heavily with his blade. Kizaru raised his sword to block, but the immense weight transferred through his body and into the ground beneath his feet, causing the earth to abruptly crack and cave in.
*Clang!!*
The muscles in Allen's arms bulged as he suddenly exerted more force, pressing down and deflecting the laser sword, the impact forcing Kizaru to stumble back several meters.
Before Kizaru could steady himself, Allen, wielding the heavy sword with one hand, spun in the air and brought the blade crashing down once more!
Seeing this, Kizaru chose not to take the blow head-on. His body radiated a golden light, instantly breaking down into countless particles of light that flew away from the spot.
*Bang!!*
Allen's strike missed, his heavy sword smashing into the ground and erupting into a massive fissure that extended over a hundred meters forward, as if threatening to tear the entire earth apart.
A red glint flashed in Allen's eyes. He shattered the ground beneath his feet, launching himself forward with astonishing speed.
In the distance, the countless golden particles of light rapidly converged into a humanoid shape, gradually reforming into Kizaru's figure.
Having just reverted from his elemental form to a solid body, Kizaru looked up, his face filled with astonishment. He glanced around, only to find that Allen was nowhere to be seen.
"Are you looking for me, monkey?"
A voice came from behind. Kizaru's expression shifted in alarm as he swiftly spun around, sweeping his light sword outward!
*Zing!!*
Allen leaned his body back, the laser sword narrowly grazing his face, the heat so intense it seemed to distort the very air.
While dodging the horizontal slash, Allen twisted his waist, channeling all his power into his leg, and launched a high sweeping kick right at the side of Kizaru's face!
*Bang!!*
The kick landed squarely on Kizaru's face, contorting his flesh and instantly sending him flying. His body shot through the air as straight as an arrow.
"My, my~ What heavy strikes~"
While still flying through the air, Kizaru raised a hand to wipe the blood from his nose. He glanced down, a look of surprise crossing his face, and as he shifted his gaze, he saw Allen already pursuing him to press the attack.
"Flame Emperor!!"
With a furious roar from Allen, a massive burst of raging fire erupted from his body, rapidly gathering around his fist and radiating a blinding, scorching light.
Flapping his pitch-black wings violently, Allen's speed surged, instantly blinking to a position directly above Kizaru.
Combining the Internal Destruction technique of his Haki, his fist—wreathed in both flames and Armament Haki—smashed down viciously!
*Bang!!*
Kizaru hastily crossed his arms in front of him to block. The moment they made contact with Allen's fist, his arms immediately buckled under the terrifying force.
"Haa!!"
Allen's eyes turned ferocious. The muscles in his arm swelled as he exerted even more power, driving his fist forward as the flames and Haki wrapped around it erupted simultaneously!
*Boom!!!*
The fist broke through the guard and slammed into Kizaru's body, caving in his entire chest. His back crashed brutally into the earth, sending a dense, spiderweb-like network of cracks spreading outward.
Endless flames surged, swallowing Kizaru and pouring into the ground, spreading through the fissures. In an instant, the entire forest was reduced to a roaring sea of fire!
"Cough...!!"
Kizaru coughed up two mouthfuls of blood. He lay on the ground, clutching his chest, the cynical, playful expression completely wiped from his face.
Allen curled his lips into a sinister grin. Black mist surged from his palm as he reached out to grab Kizaru by the throat.
But right at that moment, an invisible force suddenly pressed down.
*Boom!!*
The gravity abruptly skyrocketed, crushing the ground beneath his feet into a circular crater.
Allen felt as though a massive mountain had been dropped on his back. His legs bent as he gritted his teeth to resist. He snapped his head around, only to see a boulder the size of a house hurtling straight toward him!
*Bang!!*
The massive rock slammed squarely into Allen, sending him flying. His body was flattened against it like a pancake as it crashed heavily into a cliff face, embedding a good portion of the boulder into the rock wall.
*Boom!!*
Accompanied by a muffled rumble, cracks burst across the boulder embedded in the cliff, rapidly spreading over its entire surface.
*Boom!!*
With another muffled blast, the entire boulder shattered and exploded on the spot, turning into countless pieces of flying shrapnel.
Billowing dust and smoke filled the air as Allen's figure rapidly dashed out from within.
"To take a direct hit from such an attack and remain completely unscathed... what a monstrous physique."
Fujitora's voice was low and solemn as he faced the charging Allen, his cane sword radiating a strange purple light.
"Gravity Blade: Fierce Tiger!!"
*Zing!!*
Terrifying gravitational force was infused into a flying slash that blasted forward, distorting even the space it passed through.
The power of this move was enough to collapse a small mountain. Especially when combined with a slash, even the abilities of the Dark-Dark Fruit couldn't absorb it directly.
Allen's gaze sharpened. He held his heavy sword horizontally at his side with both hands, gathering his strength. A powerful Haki erupted from his body, forming a majestic aura that exploded outward with him at the center.
"Spear of Elbaf: Ikoku Sovereignty!!"
Channeling all of his Haki into the heavy sword, the muscles in Allen's arms bulged significantly. With a deep, explosive shout, he swung the heavy sword forward in a massive horizontal sweep!
*Boom!!!*
The Haki shockwave pierced straight through space, plowing a massive trench through the earth in its wake. It violently collided with the flying slash, triggering a catastrophic explosion!
A powerful shockwave rippled outward, tearing the ground apart and sending countless rocks flying!
The gravity-infused flying slash was utterly obliterated. The residual force of the Ikoku Sovereignty shockwave slammed fiercely into Fujitora, instantly sending him flying and crashing hard against a boulder.
*Bang!!*
"Gah!!"
The boulder shattered and exploded. Fujitora fell to the ground, dropping to one knee. He gripped his sword with one hand to support his body while clutching his chest with the other, coughing up a large mouthful of blood in agony.
"This is quite the headache. Can't even two Admirals pin down this monster?"
Having caught his breath, Kizaru placed a hand against his forehead. The Ama no Murakumo sword in his hand rapidly compressed into a sphere of golden light, which he hurled with all his might in Allen's direction!
*Whoosh—!*
The sphere of light howled through the wind, crossing hundreds of meters in an instant. Allen grinned, raising his heavy sword and taking a baseball batter's stance.
However.
Halfway through its flight, the sphere containing compressed light energy suddenly burst apart under Allen's astonished gaze, transforming into countless golden particles of light, each one turning into a laser beam!
*Pew! Pew! Pew!*
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of golden streaks of light rained down across the forest floor. Allen's pupils shrank, a red glint flashing in his eyes as he pushed his Future Sight Observation Haki to its absolute limit!
*Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!*
The laser beams bombarded the area in a relentless, torrential downpour, each one blasting a massive crater into the ground. Allen's figure flickered as he constantly dodged.
Even with a physique as formidable as his, he still couldn't take that many laser beams head-on.
Amidst the dense cacophony of explosions, pillars of fire shot up into the sky throughout the forest.
A few seconds later, the explosions gradually ceased.
Allen dashed out from the billowing smoke, only to see Kizaru supporting Fujitora off the ground. Half of Kizaru's body had turned into golden light, and like a shooting star streaking across the sky, they rapidly flew away.
Allen instinctively took a step forward, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes. Ultimately, he loosened his grip, lowered his heavy sword, and halted his pursuit.