"Jihahahahaha!!"
Shiki burst out laughing, then abruptly stopped and grinned menacingly at Kouta. "Brat, from here on out, you better fight seriously. If you die because you held back, don't blame me!"
With that, he suddenly lunged at Kouta with lightning speed.
Kouta's eyes flashed red as he shrank the range of his Observation Haki, concentrating it tightly within the immediate combat zone.
Sure enough, the difference was massive—his movements while swinging his blade felt far more fluid and precise.
These advanced applications of Haki were nearly impossible to master without the guidance of a top-tier fighter.
Observation Haki normally spread out naturally. Controlling it was extremely difficult, and most people could only learn to release and retract it at will.
No one would have thought it could be honed to such a minute, intricate level.
Clang—!
Kouta parried the strike, swiftly withdrawing his blade—only for Shiki's second attack to slash toward him instantly.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
Now the roles had reversed, and Kouta was on the defensive.
Yet he could feel that the old man was deliberately guiding his swordsmanship, refining both his technique and Haki.
With a complicated look in his eyes, Kouta glanced at Shiki.
Sensing Kouta's gaze, Shiki let out a wild laugh. "Jihahahaha! Don't tell me you're pitying me, brat!"
Suddenly, he unleashed a ferocious aura. "Do you even know who I am?!"
"I'm the Captain of the Flying Pirates—the Supreme Commander of the Flying Pirate Fleet, Shiki the Golden Lion!"
Facing Shiki's sudden ferocity, Kouta held his defense as best as he could.
On the small island, the sound of blades clashing echoed nonstop.
Occasionally, a flying slash would cleave open the clouds above.
This battle raged for an entire day and two nights.
When the third day's sun finally rose, the clash of steel had faded into silence.
The once-towering mountains of the island had been leveled into flat land.
At the center of the island, in a massive crater that was slowly sinking, Shiki and Kouta faced each other, both gasping for breath.
Unlike Kouta, whose breathing had steadied, Shiki's was irregular and fading.
He was utterly spent.
The flame of life within him was nearly extinguished.
Only sheer willpower had kept him standing in battle this long.
Kouta stared at Shiki, a wave of complex emotion flickering in his eyes. He had to admit—this old man had truly become his mentor in the end.
Even if there had never been a formal bond between them, the truth was already there.
Why did all the top-tier warriors on this sea have such a thing for being someone's teacher?
He wasn't Monkey D. Luffy, after all.
Did Shiki somehow see that he was the protagonist?
"Jihahahaha!!"
A sudden burst of laughter snapped Kouta out of his thoughts. Seeing Shiki laugh so heartily, he couldn't help but laugh as well.
"Fine, then. If you want to be my teacher, so be it."
If the man was bold enough to teach, how could he be afraid to learn?
Shiki watched Kouta with satisfaction. He was genuinely pleased with this student he'd met at the end of his life.
In just one short day and two nights, Kouta had nearly mastered his sword techniques and Haki applications.
The old lion stopped laughing and said with a smile, "Kid, I'll teach you one last move. Your Conqueror's Haki is too crude."
"I don't know how you managed to do Conqueror's Haki Infusion, but your version is still a far cry from the real thing."
A fierce surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted from Shiki. He dropped the blade in his left hand and gripped his remaining sword with both hands.
A dense aura of purple-black Haki burst from him and spread outward in waves.
Around his body, red-violet lightning crackled in the air.
Veins bulged across his forehead as he poured all his remaining strength into imbuing his blade with this overwhelming force.
For him in his current state, this final move was pushing it.
Kouta watched quietly, not interrupting.
His own Conqueror's Haki Infusion came from his spatial domain—a place where his mental energy was omnipotent. He had forcibly woven it onto his blade.
That made it stronger than Armament Haki, but still limited—not enough to decide a battle.
Shiki looked up at Kouta and continued, "Conqueror's Haki is really just a person's will made manifest. It can't be trained through effort alone. To grow and control it, you must clash with others who possess top-tier Conqueror's Haki."
"When you're able to fully control your Conqueror's Haki, just as you would your Armament Haki, you'll naturally be able to infuse it properly."
With that, he raised his blade and unleashed the final strike of his life.
A massive crescent-shaped slash, shrouded in purple-black energy, soared forward in an instant.
It sliced through the air like it was tearing space apart, leaving behind a web of cracks like shattered glass.
The fractures spread across the entire island.
"Brat, if you can't block this, then die with me!"
"Because the sea has no place for the weak."
"Jihahahahaha…"
Kouta stood firm, eyes locked on the incoming slash. His silver hair billowed wildly in the wind as his pupils swirled with starlight. Several times, he considered drawing his blade to counter—but each time, he stopped.
He could sense it.
There was no way to block this strike with a sword.
That final blow, born of Shiki's burning life force, was so sharp it might have rivaled even Dracule Mihawk, the world's strongest swordsman.
Unless Mihawk also wielded Conqueror's Haki and could infuse it.
There was no choice.
Staring at the slash racing toward him, Kouta realized there was only one power that could stop it—his domain.
He raised his head and shouted, "Old man, let me show you my strongest power—so you can die knowing the truth."
Hearing that, Shiki stopped laughing and forced his eyes open to clear the illusions clouding his vision.
He had almost no energy left. If not for sheer willpower, he would've collapsed already.
He looked up just as the slash reached Kouta.
Boom!
It collided with an invisible wall, shattering the space around Kouta like a mirror.
Just when Shiki thought the slash would continue pushing forward…
The fragmented space around Kouta began to mend—like a broken mirror fusing back together.
After a brief moment of stillness, the massive slash split in two. The upper half shot toward the distant sky, while the lower half froze in front of Kouta.
Seconds later, the bottom half rapidly shrank and finally disappeared before his eyes.
"That ability… was it the same one that absorbed the island earlier?"
"Truly incredible…"
"Jihahahahaha!!!..."
A wide grin split Shiki's lips as laughter bubbled out of him again. For a brief moment, it was like he could see his old rival Gol D. Roger once more.
"Another one… another brat from the East Blue stands in my way of reaching the pinnacle of the world!"
"Roger…"
With one final roar, Shiki the Golden Lion exhaled—and breathed no more.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 350 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!
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