That single fact stole his breath.
It was utterly unbelievable. It was the only thought rattling in Zephyr's mind.
He'd fought the kid before; he had a solid measure of Rojen's strength. Yet, that one sword stroke shattered his prior judgment completely. The force slammed into him like a thunderbolt racing down a taut wire, surging forward like a dragon enraged. When the two powers finally collided, the resulting explosion was a deafening boom, terrifying power.
There was no question: this strike packed Admiral-rank power.
The clash held a desperate and brutal stalemate. But after just three heartbeats, the Seven Stars blade shuddered, and Zephyr found himself blasted back a full meter.
"Hah!" Zephyr let out a sharp breath, a flicker of triumph in his eyes. He'd won that initial exchange.
Wēng Wēng Wēng!
The Seven Stars seemed to vibrate in frustration, unleashing an even fiercer Sword Energy that attacked again. The edge of the blade shrieked like an angry, roaring dragon, carrying an immense weight as it instantly accelerated.
Zephyr's pupils shrank. His body flashed due to an instinctual evasion.
Whoosh!
The Seven Stars transformed into a streaking, drifting dragon, charging with a terrifying burst of speed.
Boom!
The blow missed Zephyr, but it detonated against the Marine outpost behind him, blasting apart the main gate. The sword radiance stretched and retracted, dozens of meters long, its power astonishing.
Having missed its target, the Seven Stars seemed genuinely enraged, cyan light pulsing as it gathered strength once more.
Flames of fury burned in Zephyr's eyes. Some unknown, strange sword dared to contend with him.
"Rojen! You actually think that thing can stand against me?" he roared.
As if in answer, the Seven Stars surged forward. Zephyr's body wavered, and he barely dodged the terrifying strike. As the cyan light swept past, he threw a punch.
"Bang!"
The strike smashed the Seven Stars straight into the ground. Sword Energy erupted outward, splitting the earth into a vast, jagged crater.
"Admiral Zephyr," Rojen's voice cut through the dust and ruin, the Seven Stars hovering and withdrawing slightly. "Last time, it took four of us to deal you a crippling blow. Only then were you severely injured."
Rojen stepped forward, covering thirty meters in a single motion, moving with a speed that felt like teleportation.
"But this time, I alone am enough."
Clang! The Seven Stars slid back into its scabbard, but the sword intent erupting from Rojen grew even more terrifying.
Zephyr's face was the color of iron as he stared at the young man. He remembered Sengoku's earlier warning, the rumors that Rojen could stand against an Admiral. He hadn't fought this man at his full strength before, but an inexplicable, suffocating pressure now weighed on his chest.
"Admiral-grade combat power," Rojen declared, his voice ringing with cold certainty. "Today, I will crush it alone!"
He strode forward, the distance between them shrinking rapidly until he stood before Zephyr, the thirty meters now just a single step away.
"Boast shamelessly! You're far too arrogant!" Zephyr bellowed. He refused to believe this kid could possibly be his match. "Last time your sword was shattered by me! You dare face me alone now? I will beat you into a cripple, smash every bone in your body, and then send you to Impel Down!" Zephyr thundered as he lunged.
"Who's boasting shamelessly? The results will be seen in a moment!" Rojen retorted.
Rojen reached back with his right hand. The Seven Stars trembled, then hummed as he gripped it. Sword Energy ran rampant, spiritual power surging from Rojen's hand and into the blade. In an instant, the longsword quivered, the cyan light expanding and contracting until it stretched three zhang in length.
"Heavenly Sword Style!" He murmured.
"If I completely maim you," Rojen thought, "the Marine Headquarters will have no choice but to send forces here!" His long blade swung out, cleaving straight toward Zephyr.
The Admiral's expression changed instantly at the sight of the lengthening Sword Energy. He threw both arms up in front of him. In the blink of an eye, his entire body was coated in jet-black Busoshoku Haki, forming the most perfect defense he could muster.
Yet, watching that descending strike cleave toward him, Zephyr's heart still clenched. Could he truly block it?
Boom!
In a blur, the Sword Energy struck, engulfing Zephyr. The slash was so fast that, locked under Rojen's overwhelming aura, even Zephyr's Kenbunshoku Haki was suppressed and useless.
The man who possessed Rojen's soul, the Dugu Sword Saint, was a powerhouse of Admiral-level, perhaps even beyond. The power Rojen wielded in this state was terrifying.
The Sword Energy dissipated. Rojen's eyes narrowed slightly as Zephyr lowered his arms. He'd blocked it. The Heavenly Sword Style had failed to draw blood.
"As expected of an Admiral," Rojen murmured, a strange mix of disappointment and respect in his tone.
He took a step, Shrink the Land Into an Inch, and in the blink of an eye, he stood before Zephyr. With a horizontal slash, the cyan light expanded. Zephyr's expression darkened as he swiftly dodged, simultaneously throwing a heavy, retaliatory punch.
In an instant, the two clashed at close range, a blinding, furious, and unrelenting exchange.
Having mastered the myriad Sword Immortal techniques of Mount Shu, Rojen's swordsmanship had reached a truly inconceivable realm. The Seven Stars danced, sometimes held, sometimes released to fly, its speed a streak of flowing light. From afar, it seemed to weave luminous arcs through the air.
Meanwhile, Zephyr's fists and legs moved with blurring speed, each strike fast enough to shatter the very air.
Two fighters of Admiral-grade strength faced each other head-on. Around them, Sword Energy tore deep furrows into the earth, and Fist Wind stirred up clouds of dust, the ground erupting into craters with every blow.
"What are you all staring at!? Get moving and support the other fronts!" The five Vice Admirals, trapped inside the mysterious energy cage, shouted furiously at the Marines who had followed Zephyr out. They were utterly imprisoned by Rojen's power, unable to break free.
The stunned Marines finally snapped out of their daze, shouting orders as squads of soldiers scattered in all directions.
Rojen's eyes flickered; he wanted to cut down the fleeing Marines, but Zephyr instantly saw through his intent, intensifying his assault to forcibly block the path.
"As expected of an Admiral… truly worthy of the title," Rojen thought. The day he'd managed to defeat Zephyr, it had been a matter of sheer luck. Compared to the former Admiral Kizaru he'd fought before, this old man's strength was even more fearsome.
But Rojen felt no fear. The soul that resided within him was now the Sword Saint, Dugu Yuyun.
When the Sword Saint emerges, who in the world can truly stand against him? Even an old-school Admiral would eventually have no choice but to kneel.
His right hand shifted into a sword seal, releasing the Seven Stars. The blade transformed into a streak of cyan light, flying rapidly under his command as he dueled Zephyr again and again.
Then, Rojen took a single, deliberate step back, drifting lightly away.
"Where do you think you're going, brat!?" Zephyr roared, charging after him.
"You think I'm running? That's where you're wrong!"
A grin flashed across Rojen's face. His right-hand sword seal flickered, and the Seven Stars froze Zephyr's movements in place, pinning him down. Closing his eyes, Rojen began to gather power.
Among the famed sword arts of Mount Shu, starting from the foundational Manipulating Sword Arts, progressing to the Myriad Sword Secrets, then to the Heavenly Sword Style, there was one technique that stood highest of all.
It was the pinnacle of all sword skills, the Esoterics, a technique of unimaginable might that could only be performed when one's strength reached divine heights.
That art was known as the... Sword God.
When the Sword God manifests, all Myriad Swords bow their heads!
(End Of This Chapter)
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