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Perona glanced at Kalifa, who was chasing Hawkins, then looked in the direction Kalifa had pointed before leaving.
'Perfect timing. Let's try the power of my Zanpakutō's Shikai on these people.'
After thinking for a moment, she left Killer—whose fate remained uncertain—and quickly rushed toward the location of Supernova Capone Bege and the others.
Soon, she spotted Capone Bege and his group preparing to leave.
"Is this woman... chasing us?" Capone Bege asked, raising his head to look at Perona with a cold expression.
"The ghosts next to her are very troublesome. We need to be careful," Mad Monk Urouge said with a wide grin, swinging the huge stone pillar in his hand toward Perona with tremendous force.
Since you couldn't touch those ghosts, long-range attacks would have to do.
X Drake, one of the Supernovas, saw Urouge launching a direct attack. He frowned slightly and chose to rush toward Perona as well.
Under their combined assault, they believed that even Perona would lose her balance and fall into a disadvantageous position.
However, while their plan was sound, Perona didn't only possess Hollow-Hollow Fruit abilities.
'I have to use swordsmanship. Otherwise, if I get caught by Ikki that I only used my Devil Fruit, I'll have to do extra training.'
Perona's mind focused as Armament Haki quickly flowed into the black sword in her hand.
After taking a deep breath, scorching flames rapidly wrapped around the black blade.
"Flame Breathing: Fourth Form - Blooming Flame Undulation!"
Perona centered herself and rapidly rotated while brandishing her black sword.
With the support of her Sky-Cutting Realm swordsmanship, flying slashes of swirling flames erupted from Perona's black blade.
Not only were Drake and Urouge caught in the attack, but even Capone Bege and Jewelry Bonney—the only female Supernova pirate who had been hesitating whether to fight—were swept up in it.
"This woman is also a swordsman?!" Urouge's eyes widened as he desperately tried to control his weapon and strike the flame slash.
Drake remained silent in his heart. As an undercover agent placed by the Marines, he naturally knew that everyone aboard Ikki's ship could use swordsmanship. Even those who originally didn't know how to wield swords would master the art soon after joining the Explorer.
Despite this knowledge, Drake, aware of his current identity, still chose to face this scorching slash alongside Urouge.
BOOM!
There was a tremendous explosion as the rotating flame slash was finally shattered by Urouge and Drake's combined efforts.
"Not bad, I'm pretty good at this," Perona said, raising her eyebrows as she looked at the Supernovas with some surprise.
Originally, she hadn't dared to face so many Supernovas at once. But because Kalifa had told her to capture these pirates, combined with her confidence from Tenken's Shikai ability, Perona had still chosen to attack.
The result of her assault also surprised her.
"Hehe, the swordsmanship Ikki taught me is actually pretty useful. I wonder if I could defeat these people without relying on Tenken if I activated my Demon Slayer Mark."
Perona looked at the ghosts beside her as if asking their opinion.
Seeing the ghosts surrounding her, Perona casually rested her black sword on her shoulder, looking at the Supernovas with a mocking expression.
The faces of Urouge, Capone Bege, and the others instantly darkened.
"Hahaha, it seems we're really being underestimated," Urouge laughed.
"In that case, let me see what kind of power you have, little girl."
Urouge removed his shirt, revealing rock-like muscles. The next moment, his entire body swelled up considerably as he swung his stone pillar toward Perona again.
Perona glanced at Urouge, and a flash of determination appeared in her eyes.
"Roar, Tenken!"
Perona raised her sword and pointed it at Urouge. The next moment, a massive spectral arm holding a long sword suddenly appeared beside her.
Perona swung her blade upward, and the huge arm also wielded its massive sword in an upward strike.
Urouge's eyes widened as he quickly changed the direction of his stone pillar's swing to meet the incoming blade.
BOOM!
With a tremendous crash, Urouge was blown away along with his stone pillar.
"What... what is that?" Capone Bege asked with his mouth agape, staring blankly at the huge arm beside Perona. He didn't even notice that the cigar had fallen from his mouth.
'Is this also a sword modified by Ikki?' Drake frowned, thinking of the intelligence he had received from the Marines about Ikki.
"Hey, are you okay, big guy?" Jewelry Bonney asked, tossing aside the large meat bone in her hand and looking back at Urouge, who had fallen to the ground.
Facing Perona, who kept bursting out with powerful abilities, Jewelry Bonney wasn't going to just sit back and watch.
"Cough, cough... do I look okay to you?" Urouge said, standing up and spitting out blood.
"That sword arm is incredibly powerful. If you try to resist it head-on, you'll probably die!"
Urouge spoke seriously. At this point, his body had grown larger from absorbing the power of Tenken's attack.
But he discovered that he couldn't completely absorb the power brought by Tenken.
When everyone heard Urouge's words, their faces instantly fell.
The Hollow-Hollow Fruit was already difficult enough to deal with, but now there was that strange arm and mysterious sword to contend with.
Capone Bege and the others' hearts sank.
Meanwhile, Law, after ensuring that Ikki's partners wouldn't take action against him, stood atop a tall building watching Perona's battle with interest.
Jewelry Bonney, who caught a glimpse of Law's behavior from the corner of her eye, immediately wanted to yell at him in displeasure.
Just then, Perona moved.
Several Negative Hollows suddenly flew out around her, surrounding Capone Bege and the others from various angles.
The massive arm beside her also followed her movement of raising the black sword, lifting the huge blade.
"Everyone, be careful!" Urouge shouted.
As soon as he finished speaking, Tenken's massive sword came crashing down.
BOOM!