The battle between William and Golden Lion Shiki had transformed from an aerial pursuit into a brutal clash of raw power.
Both combatants had unleashed their ultimate techniques. The tremendous force William now commanded directly corresponded to the immense steam pressure contained within his body—pressure he could only maintain through the precise control of Life Return and the physical endurance of Iron Body.
Life Return drained his mental reserves, while Iron Body punished his physical form. The longer he sustained these techniques, the greater the toll on his entire being.
Shiki faced similar limitations. His aging body, already taxed by the relentless exchanges with William, now channeled Armament Haki throughout his form. His face had turned a deep crimson—not from steam like William's Overheat state, but from the intense blood pressure surging through his system.
Above the small island, they collided repeatedly. Blade met blade, fist struck fist. Any pretense of technique or finesse had long since vanished, replaced by a pure contest of strength and will.
William, young and vigorous, enhanced by his Robust trait and Overheat state, delivered blows of overwhelming power with every movement.
Shiki countered with his Armament Haki. Though it couldn't match William's raw strength, Haki's ability to strike a Logia user's physical body while enhancing both offensive and defensive capabilities allowed him to fight William to a standstill—perhaps even gaining a slight advantage.
William's attacks couldn't penetrate Shiki's Haki armor, but Shiki's Haki-infused strikes could wound William directly.
When William swung his blade toward Shiki's neck, the Golden Lion made no attempt to dodge. Instead, he allowed the sword to connect while invisible energy materialized around his throat.
Shiki spat blood but successfully blocked the attack with his Haki-reinforced neck. In the same motion, he seized Wado Ichimonji with one hand while curling the fingers of his other into a claw-like formation, coating them with Haki before raking them viciously across William's chest.
His fingers, curved like a predator's talons, tore through William's flesh, leaving five deep, bleeding punctures. Steam hissed from the wounds as Shiki's face contorted into something barely human.
"Let's see how long you can last!" he snarled, his earlier composure completely abandoned.
William's expression matched Shiki's ferocity. Even the most disciplined warrior would succumb to battle rage in such a moment. Gripping Shiki's wrist with iron determination, he forced words through gritted teeth: "Eye of Horus..."
Simultaneously, steam began pouring from William's eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, and even from the fresh wounds across his body.
Shiki's pupils contracted in primal fear. Sensing imminent catastrophe, he activated his Devil Fruit powers with unprecedented speed, manipulating earth and stone to form a barrier between himself and William. With every ounce of his remaining strength, he reinforced his Armament Haki to its absolute limit.
BOOM!
The steam explosion shattered the battlefield. Without William's sustained control, the superheated vapor quickly dispersed in the downpour. A single wisp coalesced into William's form, but his condition was dire—face ashen, blood streaming from his mouth as he began plummeting from the sky.
A platform of earth, manipulated by Shiki's powers, formed beneath William's falling body, lifting him back up to face his opponent once more.
Shiki's appearance was equally devastating. His last remaining sword had been blown away by the explosion. His left forearm—the one William had gripped moments before—had been completely severed, blood fountaining from the ragged stump.
During the explosion, the first layer of defense Shiki had constructed with his Devil Fruit powers had disintegrated instantly. If not for channeling every fragment of his Haki into protection, he would have perished on the spot.
Shiki coughed, spitting another mouthful of blood. Yet despite his ruined state, he laughed—a ragged, triumphant sound cutting through the rain. "I've won..."
A lightning flash illuminated the sky at that precise moment, drawing all eyes upward. It perfectly masked the faint report of a rifle from the distant horizon.
BANG!
Before Shiki could complete his sentence, the ship's wheel embedded in his head—the very symbol of his identity since Marineford—shattered into fragments.
Shiki's vision flooded crimson, the world dissolving into a sea of red. His ears filled with a roaring sound like rushing rivers. Though his senses failed him, his mind remained strangely lucid. In that moment of clarity, he realized what he was hearing—the sound of blood flowing through his own brain.
I've lost... again?
"ROGER!" Shiki roared, blood streaming from his eyes and ears, his voice raw with decades of hatred and frustration.
In that instant, William, who had been lying on the floating rock, summoned his remaining strength. With one powerful push, he launched himself toward his enemy.
"Viper!"
William executed a technique reminiscent of the piercing hand strike from karate in his previous life. His hand formed a rigid blade that drove directly into Shiki's chest.
Though trained in Finger Pistol, William had never limited himself to its orthodox application. Instead, he had incorporated his finger-strengthening exercises into his self-created fighting style, "Muto-dori: My School." This particular strike also integrated power generation principles from Fish-Man Karate, making it devastatingly effective.
The strike pierced Shiki's left chest, but the true lethality of "Viper" lay not in the initial penetration. Like its namesake, the real danger came after the fangs had broken skin—when the venom was injected.
High-pressure steam erupted from William's fingertips inside Shiki's chest. The pirate's torso briefly swelled before exploding outward, his heart obliterated by the internal blast. A wound larger than a fist gaped in his chest, edges seared by superheated vapor.
In his previous life, William had seen a high-pressure gas-injection knife online—a weapon that released compressed gas after stabbing, causing catastrophic internal damage. "Viper" operated on the same principle, using superheated steam to inflict devastating secondary trauma.
Blood from Shiki's mouth and ruined chest drenched William's face and upper body.
"I've won," William declared, his blood-smeared features set in grim determination.
Shiki's eyes widened in shock, but no words emerged from his lips. His body hung limp in William's grasp, life already fled.
Around them, the earth trembled with apocalyptic fury. The floating islands began their inexorable descent, gravity reclaiming what had been stolen.
Far away in the sky, a small airship hovered silently. Unlike the other vessels engaged in the battle, this one and its crew had maintained their distance, participating in none of the island conflicts. From beginning to end, they had a single mission.
Yasopp lowered his massive sniper rifle—a weapon nearly as tall as a man—and chuckled softly to himself. "Thanks for letting us accomplish something even the Pirate King couldn't manage," he murmured, his voice carried away by the wind.
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