With a single strike, a sound like thunder erupted on the surface of Zephyr's body. The surface, which was boiling like an air current, was broken at this moment. The Haki struck the body, and it halted the charging body for a moment.
"Poof!"
The Haki hit, the Secret Hole was pierced, causing Zephyr to instinctively spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Broken!
The old fellow stored all his Haki in his hands, so the defense level on his body wasn't that high!
Sage's expression showed joy, as the quickly recovering Haki, after a temporary halt, coiled around his hands again. He was ready to attack once more, but a red light suddenly emitted from his eyes, making him momentarily stunned, and instinctively, his body rapidly fell down from the air.
And Zephyr, at this moment, had already reached Sage's original position, ready to throw a punch.
As Sage was falling downward, facing Zephyr, he clapped his hands again and gathered the Haki into one place. Now, one was above and one was below, facing off with Zephyr's eyes.
"The heavens will..."
"Kid, let me tell you, the external release of Haki... I can do that too!"
Zephyr, with blood at the corners of his mouth, gave a sinister grin at him. His clenched fist gathered to the peak at this moment, completely disregarding the long distance to Sage, and slammed down a punch through the air.
"Don't underestimate the 'Black Arm'!!"
The pillar-like air current directly descended toward Sage's body.
BOOM!!
In the stormy weather, a thunderbolt suddenly exploded, instantly illuminating the dim sky, and the ground collapsed with the thunder, causing the port ground to rise and fall, seeping seawater.
And at the central position, a massive crater appeared, raising a giant cloud of smoke.
"Cough cough cough!"
Zephyr in midair suddenly had a violent cough, his breathing becoming more disordered, the Haki on his fist gradually dissipating. He took a few rapid breaths, gritted his teeth fiercely, and gathered the dissipating Haki back into his hand, along with his body swiftly descending, a karate chop like a Black Blade slicing down straight.
"It's over!!"
Buzz!
At the moment the karate chop was falling, a strange pressure burst forth from the smoke, causing Zephyr to momentarily become dazed.
Supreme King!
BAM!!
The fierce hand chop was blocked by two hands extending out of the smoke.
The smoke scattered, revealing Sage's hands covered in flowing black fire. His body lying on the ground at this moment became fierce and swollen, his hands firmly gripping Zephyr's wrists, teeth clenched, both eyes bloodshot.
"Oh... Cough cough! So that's it, you can recover your Haki very quickly, you brat, your will is really astonishingly strong." Zephyr grinned.
"You damn old relic!!"
Sage roared, pushing Zephyr's hands aside with a sudden twist, his fierce body rapidly rose, with a swift headbutt smashing into Zephyr's forehead, making him stagger.
"Hmm!!"
As Zephyr's head tilted backward, he let out a muffled shout, delivering a kick like a sword into Sage's solar plexus, sending him airborne, his body instinctively bending.
"Go to hell!"
Sage's eyes turned ruthless, enduring the pain with a fierce shout, and he punched Zephyr in the face with a backhand, the punch sending him flying. But at this moment, Zephyr's fist also struck, hitting Sage's face directly, punching him off the ground and backward, both of them falling to the ground.
Thud!
As they fell, the two quickly bounced up, rushing towards each other.
Sage swung his arm fiercely, his forearm coiling with Haki, slamming hard into Zephyr's temple. Zephyr delivered a straight punch, the flowing air embedded in Sage's chest.
"Poof!"
"Cough!"
Both coughed up blood simultaneously, Zephyr's head being hit so that it turned sideways, and at the same time, his body moved forward, with his head slamming into Sage's forehead.
Bang!
This collision pushed him back several steps. His shoulder trembled, and his face twisted in extreme pain, clenching his teeth, delivering a fierce kick into Zephyr's abdomen, kicking him to bounce on the ground a couple of times, rolling forward.
But simultaneously, his own body also crumbled to the ground.
"Ha, ha..."
Zephyr lay on the ground, clutching his chest tightly, taking a few fierce breaths before struggling to stand up.
Sage squirmed on the ground for a while, then opened his mouth to spit out a thick stream of blood before getting up. His arms were hanging abnormally at this moment.
Since blocking Zephyr's karate chop just now, his arms had shattered, but it didn't hinder the ferocity in his eyes.
Huff!
The howling wind accompanied by raindrops the size of beans drenched the two figures: an elderly man feeble and sickly yet incredibly strong, and a youth battered and bruised, both locked in a stare amidst the storm.
"Sage, kid! How does it feel to be old?" Zephyr suppressed his breathing, shouting towards Sage.
"Quite ordinary!"
Sage glared at him menacingly, "You have a dirt-like smell, nearly buried. Stop struggling!"
"Is that so..."
Sage chuckled as he bowed his head and clenched his fist, "Arrogant brat, it's time for me to teach you some respect for your elders!"
Sage's entire body transformed into jet black, Haki covering him completely, he snarled: "I only respect the dead! Once you're dead, I'll erect a grave for you!"
Zephyr shook his head with a smile, about to step forward when suddenly a loud 'bang' resounded, and instinctively he shifted to the side, a burst of explosion went off next to his fist.
A cannonball?
Huff!
Before Zephyr could respond, another gust of wind came from the side, and a massive boulder hurled towards him.
Boom!
Before the rock could get close, red light flashed in Zephyr's eyes, and he casually shattered the boulder into pieces.
In the distance, Renedia opened up a hammer-cannon, aiming at Zephyr, while Marika maintained a throwing stance, the ground of the port before her missing a chunk, letting seawater gush in.
Ching!
Just as the stone shattered, a gleam of cold light shot out from the gloomy sky, heading straight for Zephyr's throat.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
As Zephyr saw the cold light approaching and was about to react, his face suddenly changed, his breathing became erratic, unable to suppress it any longer, he started coughing violently.
No matter how strong Haki is, humans are still humans, ultimately flesh and blood.
Except for certain monsters possessing iron-like bodies impervious to blades and bullets, a normal person, no matter how powerful, will still be injured by sword and blade if they let their guard down.
Zephyr... Fundamentally, he is just an ordinary man, an elderly man with asthma.
Since just now, he had been suppressing the onset of asthma, several times he became weak because of it, giving Sage opportunities. With such fierce battles, his asthma was out of control.
And as the cold light drew closer, it transformed into a Rapier Blade, about to pierce Zephyr's throat.
"Lily!!"
Buzz!
Suddenly, a loud shout stopped that blade, the intense Supreme King's Haki even twisted the sky above, turning the clouds into a vortex.
Lily halted her figure there, looking back at Sage in surprise.
In Sage's eyes, a blood-red hue erupted, "Stop."
Lily pursed her lips, gazing at Zephyr who was coughing nonstop, his figure hunched over, and nodded, "Understood."
Only then did the blood-red hue in Sage's eyes fade, he shrank down, reverting to a normal form.
Lily moved to Sage's front side, still warily eyeing Zephyr, said: "Sage, we're ready."
On the Death Star, the entire crew had boarded.
Sage glanced at the hunched figure of Zephyr, slowly said, "I've lost... Old man, keep your life; you can only die by my hand!"
Saying this, he turned and stepped towards the Death Star.
Lily sheathed her Rapier Blade, looked once more at Zephyr, said: "White Thunder, this sword, I will be worthy of it."
After which, she quickly ran towards Sage, following him into the Death Star.
"Power Braking!"
With a charming voice ringing out from inside the Black Ship, it quickly turned amid the storm, sailing away from the port with speed far exceeding that of ordinary ships. Before long, it became a mere silhouette, then disappeared over the horizon.
At the same time, the storm swirling over Logue Town vanished, and the gloomy sky cleared, revealing a slightly golden sunset. Its rays shone upon the town, adding a hint of brightness to the dampness and gloom brought by the bad weather.
The wind and rain stopped.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Zephyr tremblingly pulled out a respirator-like device from his lower back, covered his mouth and nose, took a few deep breaths, and his violently heaving chest gradually calmed down.
After a while, he set the device aside, sat down heavily, and stared at the sea horizon for a long time before sighing softly:
"I'm getting old..."