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Ayr was strong—extremely strong—and even Golden Lion could not deny it, but strength alone wasn't enough to make him concede defeat, for the battle had only just begun.
"Lion Majesty: Imperial Grand Beasts (Goshō Kaijū)!!!"
With a sharp shout and a slight flick of his fingers, Golden Lion shifted his stance, causing the seawater beneath his feet to surge violently, rising high into the air as it condensed into countless enormous lion heads that roared and hovered menacingly around him. His Devil Fruit power, the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, granted him the ability to freely manipulate non-living matter—be it seawater, falling snow, or even the faintest raindrops.
"If we were on land, perhaps I wouldn't be able to defeat you, but this battlefield is both sea and sky. As long as I stand, the outcome isn't something you can simply declare!" Golden Lion sneered grimly, convinced that Ayr, like most who wielded supernatural powers, was a Devil Fruit user. With savage confidence, he added, "Once these seawater lions crush you, the ocean's curse will do the rest. How will you resist this, Ayr?"
Calmly, Ayr replied, "I'm not a Devil Fruit user, Shiki. Your tricks are useless against me." His abilities, though resembling the powers of various Devil Fruits, came not from consumption of one, but from the mastery of countless arts and techniques across different worlds. His strength was his own—pure and unshackled.
Golden Lion snarled, refusing to believe. "Stop joking, Ayr! Only a Devil Fruit could unleash such terrifying destruction!" But Ayr offered no further explanation, tightening his grip on his sword as his intent became clear: end this quickly, repay Roger's favor, and depart.
Sword in hand, Ayr coated the blade with Armament and Conqueror's Haki before charging headlong at Golden Lion.
"Come on, Ayr!!!"
Golden Lion bellowed, sending the seawater lions hurtling forward, their roars shaking the battlefield. Yet Ayr calmly pressed his palms together and invoked, "Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!!!" In an instant, a colossal wooden dragon burst forth, its fangs glinting and claws rending the air as it bellowed thunderously, lunging straight into the onrushing seawater lions.
The clash was cataclysmic—Ayr's wooden dragon tore through the water-born beasts as though they were fragile illusions, scattering them into nothingness. With the path cleared, Ayr closed the distance in a heartbeat.
"Divine Severing Slash!!!"
Channeling immense Haki into his blade, he swung down ferociously. Golden Lion roared in defiance, crossing his dual swords to block, but the force behind Ayr's attack far exceeded his own swordsmanship, which was already weakened by the injuries from Ayr's earlier lightning strikes. Blow after blow rained down, forcing Golden Lion into a desperate retreat, his defenses collapsing.
At last, Ayr spotted an opening—his blade cut ruthlessly across Golden Lion's guard. Shiki, unable to parry in time, wrapped his abdomen in hardened Armament Haki, but even so, blood spurted as Ayr's slash cleaved through his defenses, hurling him backward a hundred meters. The wound was deep, and the pain twisted Golden Lion's expression in raw agony.
The pirates watching below erupted in horrified cries.
"Admiral Shiki!!!"
"What kind of monster is Ayr?! He even surpasses Admiral Shiki in swordsmanship!"
"Damn it... the battle's barely begun, and Admiral Shiki's already bleeding heavily! At this rate, he'll lose!"
"The difference in strength is absurd—this isn't even a fight!"
Though Ayr's bounty was unimaginably high, no one had expected the gulf between him and Golden Lion to be so overwhelming. After all, Golden Lion was no weakling—he was a fearsome great pirate of the New World, yet here he was, struggling as if they weren't even on the same level.
Rayleigh, watching gravely from afar, murmured, "Ayr's strength... it might already surpass Roger's." Though Roger was destined to become the Pirate King, his raw might had never been so far beyond Golden Lion's, and if Ayr could crush Shiki so easily, defeating Roger might not be difficult either.
Beside him, Jabba suddenly felt a chill as Ayr's earlier words resurfaced in his mind. "Now I finally believe him... this man really might have killed three of the Five Elders in Mary Geoise!" Back then, he had dismissed Ayr's boast as nonsense, knowing from ancient records that the Five Elders' combat power rivaled the highest forces of the world. Yet witnessing Ayr's power firsthand left him no room for doubt.
High above, Golden Lion clutched his bleeding abdomen, blood pouring freely as his twisted expression slowly curved into a sinister smirk.
"It's over, Shiki," Ayr declared, striding forward with blade in hand. Golden Lion had already been wounded twice, his strength greatly diminished; it was only a matter of time before he fell completely.
But through clenched teeth, Golden Lion sneered, "You're right... it's about to end!"
At that very moment, the sea itself betrayed Ayr—a massive hidden lion head of seawater, secretly condensed during their earlier clash, surged upward and swallowed him whole.
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