Relying on his many years of rich combat experience, Aokiji forcibly twisted his body at the last second, crossing his arms to block in front of his head.
Through the gap between his arms, Aokiji saw a sword.
A wooden sword with a pitch-black blade, wreathed in black and red lightning, exuding an unparalleled, domineering will.
This was the sword Luo Chen had been holding at the very beginning.
And now, the master holding the sword, that young man, was the real Luo Chen.
Aokiji's pupils trembled violently.
Luo Chen had launched such a powerful attack, yet he had actually failed to sense it in advance.
'Observation Haki... it seems to have failed.'
Moreover, he was certain that in that instant, there was no medium behind him for Luo Chen to teleport to.
'How on earth did Luo Chen appear?!'
At this moment, numerous questions flooded Aokiji's mind.
His thoughts hadn't even cleared before the sword slashed onto his arms.
K-K-CRACKLE—!
The sound of crackling lightning exploded in an instant.
Black and red lightning spread out, rushing in all directions.
The entire mid-air forest was crushed by this tangible, powerful Conqueror's Haki.
The figures of Aokiji, raising his arms to block, and Luo Chen, slashing down, appeared before the countless Marines and pirates.
They looked up, the various expressions on their faces frozen in that instant.
Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki vibrated violently in the air.
The white clouds high above were blasted apart, turning into wisps of white that drifted against the blue sky.
BOOM—!
Admiral Aokiji's body was sent flying backward like a meteor, smashing toward the earth, blood scattering in the sky.
The frozen ground hundreds of meters below exploded with dust and smoke.
The ground trembled, showing just how powerful the force of Aokiji's impact was.
In mid-air, Luo Chen's figure stood, the pitch-black markings of Sage Mode appearing on his face.
He didn't bother with Aokiji. That "Divine Departure" slash had used his maximum power.
'Aokiji's Observation Haki was countered by Observation Killing. Blocking in such a hurry... his arms are probably almost broken.'
'Even if they aren't broken, he's temporarily lost his ability to fight.'
Luo Chen's gaze shifted to his lower right.
Kizaru and Shiryu were fighting on the ice.
Shiryu's current strength was clearly no match for an Admiral; he already had several significant injuries.
Kizaru, however, was as relaxed as ever, casually toying with him.
As if sensing Luo Chen's gaze, Kizaru looked up.
He glanced at the dusty area where Aokiji had crashed, his expression changing slightly.
"This seems troublesome."
Kizaru said in a low voice.
Shiryu heard this, grinned, and flashed away, retreating.
"I hope you can survive against the Captain."
He abandoned Kizaru and went to find his next preferred opponent.
He clearly couldn't win, and Luo Chen had also targeted Kizaru. Shiryu didn't plan to stick around.
In the air, Luo Chen dived down, his target locked on Kizaru.
Many people looked over.
The Marines mostly looked nervous and worried.
After all, Luo Chen had just used some unknown move to blast Admiral Aokiji into the ground with a single blow.
They still didn't know his condition or the extent of his injuries.
It seemed Admiral Aokiji was not Luo Chen's match and had been defeated.
'Can Kizaru, also an Admiral, win?'
The pirate side, on the other hand, was overjoyed.
From the looks of it, Luo Chen could handle at least one Marine Admiral.
And he held the absolute advantage.
"Ama no Murakumo."
Kizaru pulled his hands apart, and a golden light sword appeared.
He slashed at Luo Chen.
The pitch-black wooden sword collided with the golden light sword.
The shockwave was powerful, and the ground beneath Kizaru's feet shattered.
Luo Chen was also knocked back from mid-air, landing on the ground.
He used Shave to close the distance again.
In the sky, the wooden dragon's giant mouth opened wide, spitting down a large swath of wooden spikes, covering the area above Kizaru like rain.
"So troublesome."
Kizaru's expression was grave.
He raised one hand, preparing to blast the spikes with a laser.
The wooden spikes weren't very lethal, but Luo Chen could use them to teleport.
That was what worried Kizaru.
But Luo Chen gave Kizaru no chance to fire his laser.
Black Blade-level swordsmanship, coated in top-tier Armament and Conqueror's Haki, pressed Kizaru so hard he had no chance to fire.
He could only use hand-to-hand combat or partial elementalization to dodge the spikes.
Luo Chen activated the Flying Thunder God marks on the numerous wooden spikes. He teleported like lightning, his afterimages filling the sky, tightly surrounding Kizaru.
Kizaru was clearly under immense pressure, sweat beading on his face.
Luo Chen's strength was even greater than last time.
He had to treat the power of every single sword strike with his full attention.
Moreover, it was hard to tell where each slash would come from.
Luo Chen could continuously teleport using the wooden spikes falling around him.
'Just hold on until this batch of spikes hits the ground, then I can breathe,' Kizaru reminded himself.
The second the spikes surrounded him was the moment of greatest pressure and danger.
As long as the spikes were gone, Luo Chen would lose his teleportation medium, and it would be much easier.
But the next moment, Kizaru's expression changed drastically.
Because Luo Chen had disappeared from his Observation Haki.
'This is... Observation Killing?!' Kizaru was shocked.
He knew that a very few top-tier powerhouses could block Observation Haki.
But even he had never encountered it.
The requirements for blocking Observation Haki were very high.
Observation Haki had to at least reach the level of seeing the future.
Conqueror's Haki also had to be at its peak.
The peerless powerhouses who could do this, like Rocks and the Pirate King Roger, were basically all dead.
'Yet this young man, Luo Chen, has learned Observation Killing.'
Kizaru was inwardly stunned.
He seemed to have guessed how Aokiji was defeated.
'Luo Chen's phantom-like teleportation, combined with Observation Killing... he could be called the world's strongest assassin.'
'Observation Haki being blocked is like losing your eyes.'
'And the enemy can teleport at will.'
'It's impossible to defend against.'
Kizaru's thoughts raced. His entire body exploded into countless golden photons, which then reformed into numerous clones.
'With hundreds of me, I don't believe Luo Chen can find my real body in an instant.'
'Moreover, these hundreds of clones all have my aura. Even Observation Haki can't tell them apart.'
Luo Chen came out of his teleportation state, stood firm on the ground, and looked at the hundreds of Kizarus surrounding him.
He raised his left hand, the one not holding the sword.
An invisible repulsive force suddenly burst out.
Like an unseen shockwave, it spread out in a ring from his center in all directions.
He was going to use Shinra Tensei to destroy Kizaru's clones.
Within a hundred meters of Luo Chen, the frozen ground was completely blasted away by Shinra Tensei.
The many Kizarus scattered within that hundred-meter radius disintegrated one by one, turning into golden light particles.
Such a large-scale and rapid attack... Kizaru didn't even have time to escape.
Not to mention his clones weren't that agile.
In the blink of an eye, the numerous clones were shattered by Shinra Tensei, leaving only the real body.
Although Kizaru had lost his clones, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Because he was now outside the range of the falling wooden spikes.
'As long as there's no medium, Luo Chen can't get close with teleportation.'
'If I keep my distance, even with my Observation Haki restricted, I can still react and dodge Luo Chen's attacks.'
Just as he thought this, thirty meters away, Luo Chen's figure suddenly distorted.
Then, it disappeared in a rippling, spatial vortex.
'He teleported? Where did he go?'
Kizaru's gaze quickly fell on several spots.
The wooden dragon in the sky, the Going Merry in the distance, and the many broken pieces of wood scattered on the ground.
These were all mediums where Luo Chen could potentially appear.
Just then, the sound of air being torn came from behind his head!
From the execution platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's shocked and furious voice crossed the Marineford battlefield.
"Behind you!!!"
Kizaru's scalp instantly tingled, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
'Who was the Fleet Admiral's warning for?'
'There was no need to think. It had to be him.'
The sound of breaking air behind him, the sharp, tearing sensation on the back of his neck... it all signaled that Luo Chen's sword was about to slash his throat!
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]