Clang!
In the pitch-black night rain, a shrill sword cry pierced the sky like tearing silk.
A section of an alloy long staff, wrapped in deep Haki, forcibly blocked a cold blade in mid-air. The violent airflow sent the accumulated rainwater flying in a glittering spray. Sabo held the staff with both hands, his combat boots sliding back three or four steps on the slippery stone slabs, stabilizing his lower body amidst a trail of friction sparks.
Chila.
Accompanied by the faint sound of tearing fabric, the left side of Sabo's tailcoat was sliced open by a wisp of sword energy that hadn't fully dissipated, leaving a shallow bloody gash. Blood mixed with rainwater, sliding down his arm and dripping onto the jagged rocks of the breakwater.
This swordsman, codenamed "Vogel," possessed an astonishingly high density of Armament Haki. Combined with a silent assassination style derived from Rankyaku, his strikes had no wind whistles or starting stances. If one's focus wavered for even a second, those invisible vacuum slashes would slice through a person as easily as the fortress ruins.
"Your reactions are indeed fast. To continuously block my Silent Sword, you're a rare tough nut among the rookies."
A dozen meters away, Vogel, the CP0 Vice Captain wearing an owl mask, held his long katana level. He looked like a ghost in the night. "But a Great Swordsman's blade can cut through any element. If you only blindly use these defensive moves, once your stamina fails, your neck will be sliced open."
Sabo slowly adjusted his breathing, wiping a trace of blood from his shoulder. Although he had suffered superficial wounds, his gaze didn't waver. He had been calmly perceiving the opponent's "silent" way of exerting force during their high-intensity contact.
"Defending? You seem to have misunderstood one thing." The alloy staff in Sabo's hand lightly spun. "I was just getting a clear sense of your moves to see if your strength is actually worthy of your blade."
"Stubborn even in the face of death." Vogel's eyes turned completely cold. Abyss-like black Haki condensed on his blade. "Just because you had some dog-shit luck and took down an old, frail former Admiral, you rats living in the mire have grown arrogant. You actually dared to stretch your dirty hands toward the tribute of the Celestial Dragons!"
Vogel took a step forward, his killing intent enveloping Sabo like a tide. "The Celestial Dragons are the most sacred and noble creators of this sea! After tonight, all of your heads will become stepping stones for the stairs of the gods!"
Listening to this speech filled with condescending superiority and fanatical brainwashing, Sabo suddenly stopped moving. He didn't refute angrily; instead, he let out a low, echoing chuckle.
"Sacred? Noble?" Sabo casually thrust the alloy staff into the mud beside him.
He slowly raised his eyes. At this moment, a bone-deep disgust for the World Government welled up, alongside an absolute pride that allowed no one to trample it. "Don't use your servile slave mindset to measure the true capacity of this sea."
Born into a noble family wrapped in lies, Sabo knew better than anyone the foul pus that flowed beneath that "glamorous" order. To make room for a Celestial Dragon, they would burn tens of thousands of civilians to death with a clear conscience. What right did this filthy privilege, built on decayed bloodlines and piles of bones, have to talk about legitimacy?
On this sea, the only man Sabo was willing to turn into a blade for—the man he would pledge his life to support—was a man who didn't ask about origins and disdained the rules of the "gods."
Portgas D. Ace.
Since Ace wanted to stand at the very peak of this world, how could his second-in-command back down in front of these government watchdogs?
"A bunch of spineless wild dogs who only know how to be shields for parasites..." Sabo took a deep breath. His fists clenched tight, and pitch-black Haki boiled over. In his chest, his determination to help his Captain sweep away the thorns of the world reached a dam-bursting explosion.
"You simply don't understand what a true King is!!!"
Accompanied by this roar from the depths of his soul, like the hiss of a fire dragon—a mental pressure, domineering and heavy enough to make the air stagnate, swept out from Sabo in all directions!
"What?!" Even for the battle-hardened Vogel, his "swordsman's heart" experienced an uncontrollable moment of wavering.
That's Haoshoku!
How was it possible? This "King's disposition" actually existed in a second person within this rookie pirate group!
In that one second of mental stagnation, a fierce light erupted in Sabo's eyes. He didn't grab the staff; he bent his legs. With a muffled bang of an air burst, two clusters of dazzling high-pressure flames violently sprayed from the air behind his boots!
With the thrust of a rocket booster, Sabo's body became a physical missile, breaking through the resistance of the air. He appeared in Vogel's close-range blind spot.
"Not good!" Vogel's heart pounded. His Observation Haki made him instinctively swing his Great Grade Sword, carrying a pitch-black slash toward Sabo's face.
However, Sabo's right arm also sprayed a scorching trailing flame, pushing his arm swing to its physical peak. His hand, with fingers pressed together into a claw, was covered by a layer of pitch-black Ryuo as thick as dragon scales.
He didn't dodge. He ruthlessly grabbed the edge of the blade!
"Fire Dragon King: Sky-Rending Claw!"
Sila! An ear-piercing sound of metal grinding exploded. Vogel discovered in horror that his blade hadn't shattered the flesh; it was steadily clamped by that iron-like dragon claw! The propulsion and claw force merged, making Vogel's arms tremble. The edge of the sword was an inch from Sabo's neck, yet it remained motionless.
"He caught a Great Grade Sword with his bare hands?!"
Warning bells rang, and Vogel tried to abandon the sword to escape, but a cold sentence fell in his ear. "Don't bring out your stale pride to make a fool of yourself."
Sabo's left arm pulled back. This time, the firepower was blocked at the elbow, followed by a high-explosive internal spray! The iron fist, wrapped in high-level Haki and explosive thermal energy, landed solidly on Vogel's chest.
"With this punch, go reflect in hell! Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Boom!
A heart-shattering explosion sounded. The "indestructible" Tekkai was pierced like ruined paper. The internal destruction Haki penetrated the ribs, pouring through the agent's viscera like a hot knife through butter.
Half of the owl mask shattered. Vogel spat a spray of blood, his fingers dislocated from the shock. His body flew back over a hundred meters, crashing through stone bollards and smashing deep into the foundation. He didn't move again.
The rain fell. The wind blew Sabo's deep blue tailcoat. He stood straight, wisps of high-temperature smoke rising from his knuckles. In his right hand, he held the captured, shiny-as-new 21 Great Grade Sword.
"It is indeed a good sword." Sabo let out a long breath, the boiling intent in his eyes calming.
Just as the battle halted, hundreds of meters away in the ruins, an extremely frantic, new Haoshoku pressure—even more arrogant than before—surged into the clouds with a crackle of thunder.
Sabo's brow twitched, and a hearty smile appeared. "That proud Sky Island 'god' seems to have been pushed to the brink as well."
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