My Haki right now only hardens my whole arm like a single piece of steel.
But tempering a Black Blade means letting Haki seep into muscle, tendon, bone and even blood so they lock together into an even tougher structure.
If I keep doing it, I can really forge it into a true Black Blade.
For Tengetsu Ares, battle was always the best teacher.
He roared with laughter.
Hahahaha.
That joy came straight from his bones.
Because his greatest dream was to forge his own body into something that surpassed the Supreme Grade Blades.
Nothing could make him happier.
He knew he had just taken another step toward that goal.
He was one step closer to making his body harder than any Supreme Blade.
To Redfield, watching him like this, he looked completely deranged.
Two hours of fierce fighting.
Still not over.
In fact Ares was getting fiercer.
He kept trying to adjust his blood-colored Armament and he was getting results. His strikes became even more savage, even sharper.
His swordsmanship was improving at a ridiculous speed.
The person who felt it most was of course his opponent, the Lone Red, Patrick Redfield.
Monster.
This guy is not human.
He is a monster wearing human skin.
He was about to collapse. Ares was treating him like a whetstone, testing out sword concepts on him again and again.
The more he ground, the sharper he got.
Redfield could only watch Ares's slashes get stronger and stronger.
Watch Ares's strength go up and up.
What hurt even more was that Ares was also starting to learn his swordsmanship.
Redfield wanted to stop him.
But he could not.
Even when he swung his strongest techniques, it was hard to hurt Ares's thick-skinned, heavily defended, absurdly tough body.
That man also had a terrifying self-heal.
It was basically unsolvable.
There was no weak point to exploit.
Redfield on the other hand was being shaken again and again by Ares's monstrous strength. His arms, his organs, his body were all taking damage.
He could not win.
He really could not beat this freak.
Without future sight, Redfield honestly had no good method to defeat Ares.
But then suddenly.
His Observation picked up a scene.
Vice Admiral Garp had just injured Wang Zhi.
That side of the battlefield was starting to tilt toward the Marines.
He dodged Ares's attack and shouted.
"Ares, your crewmates can't hold on much longer."
"Are you really going to keep fighting me and watch them get killed by the Marines?"
Ares's offense was still violent, but when he heard that he frowned.
He used Observation.
And sure enough, he saw Garp punch Wang Zhi away. Wang Zhi had basically lost combat power.
Only Slardar was still holding on.
He was fighting Garp alone.
It was very dangerous.
On land, the Sea Demon Slardar was nowhere near Garp's level. He could barely block, much less win.
If he left it alone, Slardar would not last long.
He would be beaten down by Garp.
"If you want me to let you go, I can. But you have to promise me one thing. One year from now, you and I must have a proper fight with everything we have."
Ares pulled back his attack, still looking unsatisfied.
Both eyes locked on Redfield with burning expectation.
"No problem."
Redfield agreed immediately, delighted.
He finally felt like he could breathe again.
As long as he could shake Ares off here, any condition that was not too outrageous he would accept.
"Then remember it."
Ares reminded him heavily. A foe of that level, he really did not want to let him go, but he could not just watch his own companions die.
He turned and dashed toward where Garp was, shouting excitedly.
"Garp, let us finish the duel we did not finish before."
While he went for Garp, Redfield dove straight into the forest and slipped away like the wind.
He swore.
He would never come back here again.
What pact?
He never wanted to meet that monster again.
Redfield made up his mind. After leaving he would find a place to hide.
He could not let Ares find his trail.
Because if that guy found out, he would cross the whole world just to come fight him.
At that moment.
Garp, who was fighting Slardar, was stunned for a second, then grinned and answered Ares.
"Come on."
"I am going to smash you so hard with my Iron Fist that you forget which way is north."
Ares sprinted across the ground like a giant black panther, fast and powerful.
His beastlike body bulged and rippled. Muscles gleamed like black steel plates moving under his skin.
The whole ground shook, stones leaped up and danced.
This time.
Ares did not cancel his human-beast form. He let that suffocating, feral instinct explode.
"Blood Armament. Dragon Roar Wave."
From tens of meters away, Ares punched.
A terrifying punch shockwave erupted from that massive fist and warped the air. It left a visible blast line, as if it pierced the whole sky and earth.
Terrifying.
Facing that overbearing attack, Garp's arms bulged like steel.
Dark purple Armament gathered into a glowing sphere over his iron fists.
"Galaxy Split."
He punched.
The air tore. A boom erupted.
Destructive power poured out and met Ares's fist wave head on.
The moment they touched
A deafening explosion shook the battlefield.
Boom.
Garp felt a mountain crashing down on him.
That terrifying force crushed his punch and swallowed him whole.
The punch shockwave tore through him and blasted a huge ravine behind him that ran all the way to the horizon.
"Garp."
Sengoku's face changed. He forced John and Silver Axe back with one palm and stared in shock at Garp getting swallowed by the attack.
John and Silver Axe, who had been forced back, were gulping for air, blood dripping from the corners of their mouths.
"Finally, Ares is back. Judging from that hit, he got even stronger," Captain John said with relief.
They were both already injured. Even working together, fighting Admiral Sengoku was hard.
They had taken even more hits now, and their old wounds were worse.
Silver Axe clicked his tongue. "Of course he did. That guy never comes back from a fight without getting stronger. You know it."
"I am more curious about when Ares will surpass Rocks."
When he said Rocks.
Captain John's expression changed and he snapped, "Silver Axe, do not say that."
"Watch your tongue."
He glared at him. "When we get back to Beehive Island, do not talk like that."
He knew very clearly what the Rocks Pirates were.
A group of lunatics.
Every single one was ambitious and had their own goal.
Rocks himself was even more bloodthirsty and ruthless. In his eyes there was only profit.
If Rocks ever felt that Ares could threaten his position or his life, the Rocks Pirates might see something no one wanted to see.
"Heh, I was just talking. Ares is a monster, that much is true. His growth has already gone past everyone's imagination," Silver Axe said with an awkward bloody grin.
"A year ago would you have thought Ares would become this strong?"
John shook his head and sighed.
"Never. I only thought he would become one of Rocks's strongest fighters, a terrifying battle captain."
"I did not expect him to become this fearsome."
"It feels like he is even a bit stronger than Whitebeard and Golden Lion now."
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