Whoosh! Whoosh!
The cold, sharp gleam of a blade flickered incessantly as Gilman continuously swung his hands, slashing towards Sephiroth with terrifying speed. After discarding the standard sword in his left hand, which had been shattered by Gilman's Haki attack, the youth now gripped the Butcher's Blade with both hands to parry the brutal assaults.
The short-haired man's attack movements were not refined, instead, many of his movements were flawed, driven by anger. However, relying on his steel-like body, thanks to his Supa Supa no Mi, and formidable Busoshoku Haki, he disregarded Sephiroth's counterattacks. He sought only a swift victory to kill Sephiroth, bringing an end to this battle.
Clang!
The youth once again exploited a gap that appeared during Gilman's assault. He wrapped dark Busoshoku Haki around the Butcher's Blade in his hands and fiercely slashed towards the opponent's chest, leaving a scratch there. However, its depth was less than one centimeter! At his current Haki intensity, Sephiroth was not yet capable of emitting his Busoshoku Haki in a form of internal destruction—the ability to damage from within. Therefore, his idea of inflicting internal damage on Gilman was essentially wishful thinking, a burning frustration in his mind.
Gradually, the black mist that enveloped the surroundings began to thin and dissipate, revealing the trees, grass, and the scattered corpses of pirates around them, a grim sight beneath the Sabaody sky.
"What? Running out of stamina, so it's hard to maintain these petty tricks?" Gilman looked around, a mocking sneer on his face. Upon seeing the corpses of his subordinates strewn about, a surge of rage immediately flared within his heart. Endless killing intent erupted from him, causing the air to become slightly stagnant and heavy.
Boom!
In his fury, the short-haired man suddenly raised his right leg, transforming it into a sharp blade thanks to his Supa Supa no Mi ability, and slashed fiercely at the ground, creating a large, bottomless crack that extended outwards.
My apologies!
Sephiroth's figure flickered, appearing more than twenty meters away from the short-haired man, creating distance. He wasn't in a hurry to attack. Instead, after taking a deep breath, he slowly sheathed his Butcher's Blade, prompting confusion from Gilman.
"It's not that I'm running out of stamina..." Sephiroth began, his voice calm. "It's just that next, I have to concentrate all my attention on the fight and can no longer be distracted by controlling the black mist..." An acknowledgment that hinted at true power.
"Heh!? With your tickling attacks?" Gilman scoffed, his laughter hoarse. "I advise you not to struggle further. Just accept death obediently!"
"An old man once told me," Sephiroth spoke, his tone turning serious, the eyes behind his mask sharpening, "he said, 'What is Busoshoku Haki, what is Kenbunshoku Haki, as long as the attack power is strong enough and the speed is high enough, those are all merely superficial things.' Now, I want to test if there's any truth to what he said..."
As he spoke, Sephiroth clasped his hands together. Busoshoku Haki flowed through his palms and surged into the muscles of his arms.
Life Return: Arm Strength Enhancement!
A deep red color spread rapidly, suffusing his arms, and the muscles of his arms, as if inflated, began to swell, becoming bulging and veiny, appearing incredibly terrifying and powerful! Lately, he had been contemplating how to make Haki circulate and grow within the meridians, much like true qi in Wuxia novels, and strengthen his physique. Although he still hadn't created a perfect internal cultivation method, he had inadvertently developed the ability to stimulate acupuncture points with flowing Haki to temporarily strengthen muscles!
This temporary local muscle enhancement, with his current amount of Haki, in his vampire form, also couldn't last long. At most, it could be maintained for about one and a half minutes before his Haki was excessively consumed, leading to a state where he temporarily couldn't use Haki. If the Haki consumption from wrapping it around his weapons was also taken into account, that time would be even shorter! Therefore, he didn't plan to drag it out any further. Once his Haki was depleted, whatever the outcome, he would choose to retreat from the air using Geppo. He absolutely didn't believe that Gilman, a Supa Supa no Mi user, could chase him and fight in the sky...?
"Hmph! Playing petty tricks again!" Gilman's face showed disdain. He stomped his foot hard on the ground, and his figure shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring, his speed drastically increasing.
One-Sword Style: Instant Slash!
A flash of bloody sword light streaked past, and their figures crossed in a blink of an eye. In the air, a line of blood splattered outwards!
Agh!
"How is this possible!!!? You actually managed to wound me!!!" The short-haired man stared blankly downwards, seeing the line of blood on his chest, which extended from his left shoulder to his right waist. His eyes were filled with disbelief and a hint of fear—something rare for him.
"It seems the old man's words still hold some truth..." A cold smile played on Sephiroth's lips. He turned, looking at his enemy who had been so self-assured, now plunged into fear and confusion.
"Brat! Don't be too arrogant!!!" Gilman roared in anger, quickly turned, and attacked Sephiroth again. But this time, a trace of apprehension appeared in his eyes, and his attacking movements were no longer as sharp and dominating as before, showing hesitation.
However... After losing his composure, Gilman's mind had developed a major flaw. How could he possibly use Kenbunshoku Haki to predict attack trajectories now, when his emotions were overwhelming him? The fighting skills of both sides were not on the same level to begin with, and now he had lost the aid of his Kenbunshoku Haki... Before long, the offense and defense reversed. In the attack and defense pattern Sephiroth had prepared for him, he began to retreat step by step, continuously getting wounded on his chest. Moreover, two consecutive slashes landed on the first wound, making it even deeper and more horrifying!
One-Sword Style: Instant Slash!
Sephiroth, like a life-devouring demon, flashed past him at immense speed, once again slashing at the opponent's continuously wounded spot, delivering the final blow.
Thud!
Gilman's body split in two and fell onto the grass. Fresh red blood flowed from his wounds, staining the green of the grass.
Sephiroth slowly sheathed his Butcher's Blade and let out a long breath. His arms quickly deflated, and the sanguine color on his arms slowly faded, returning to normal.
The reason why this last slash was able to penetrate Gilman's body was purely because the opponent's mindset had collapsed, he had lost his will to fight, and even the intensity of his Busoshoku Haki had significantly decreased, which allowed him to kill the opponent! Otherwise, he estimated he would have to slash seven or eight more times, draining more of his Haki.
Sephiroth immediately walked towards the black cloth bag in the distance, picked it up, carried it to Gilman's corpse, and placed it down. He opened the cloth bag and rummaged through it for a while, finding a round purple fruit inside. The fruit was covered with spiral patterns and had jagged thorns... a Baku Baku no Mi!
After waiting for a while, besides this fruit, he found no other Devil Fruits inside the black cloth bag. He wasn't discouraged. It was good enough that one of the three Devil Fruits could regenerate inside the black cloth bag! After all... the Baku Baku no Mi ability originally only belonged to INSECTS!
After eating this fruit, the user could also gain the abilities of other ability users by devouring them, or perform fusion and modification on swallowed living and inanimate objects. If properly developed, this was practically a very high rhythm!
Hmm!?... Wait, fusion and modification!!!
A flash of inspiration suddenly passed through Sephiroth's mind, and an uncontrollable expression of excitement appeared on his face! A crazy but brilliant idea had just formed.