Onigumo was ferocious from the very start.
He pressed the attack without pause, his killing moves coming one after another as all eight swords carved through the air in relentless succession. Every angle was viciously precise, and every slash carried a chilling force sharp enough to rattle the soul.
Then he leapt.
Suspended in midair, all eight arms swung down at once toward Kairos D. Vale.
Clang!
The air split apart with a shriek. The violent wind howled like a wild beast, and Onigumo descended like a tiger pouncing from above.
Shhk!
Electric arcs burst from Kairos' seven blades, warping the air around them. His counter came down like a bolt of lightning, smashing directly into Onigumo's eight-sword strike.
The collision sent a violent tremor through the deck.
Sparks sprayed everywhere.
Steel screamed against steel.
Shockwaves rolled outward.
Their killing intent surged so fiercely that if anyone had stepped into the range of their clash at that moment, they would have been shredded instantly by the storm of blade-light.
"Vice Admiral Onigumo… is being suppressed…"
A young Marine stared blankly at the scene before him, unable to believe what he was seeing.
In his eyes, Onigumo's swordsmanship ranked among the best in the entire Marine organization. Even among Vice Admirals, he stood near the top. Not even renowned swordsmen like Vice Admiral Momonga could confidently claim they could overpower him.
And yet now—
this young man named Kairos was suppressing him through pure swordsmanship.
Could it be…
that Kairos, despite his age, already possessed the power of an Admiral?
The Marine inhaled sharply, then shook his head hard.
Impossible.
The final victor had to be Vice Admiral Onigumo.
Crackle… crackle…
At that moment, a faint electric sound rang across the deck.
It was subtle, but it carried an edge so fierce that hearing it alone made one's eardrums ache.
Then light appeared.
Blinding, dazzling lightning.
This wasn't the electrical aura that had been dancing around Kairos before.
No—
it looked as if real thunder had descended straight from the heavens.
Rumble!
Thunder rolled as Kairos slashed with all seven blades.
That strike perfectly recreated the overwhelming might of Killer Bee—the pillar of the Land of Lightning, a warrior whose strength stood firmly at the Kage level.
That strike could be described with only one word.
Fast.
Too fast.
So fast the naked eye couldn't follow it.
All anyone saw was a flash of lightning tearing through the battlefield.
Even a master of Observation Haki would have struggled to trace the path of that slash.
Shhhk!
When the blade fell, it was like a sea of thunder erupting into motion.
This was—
Lariat Thunder Sword.
Clang!
The deafening crash exploded across the warship.
Onigumo raised his blades to block, but his body was blasted backward.
His boots dug into the deck, carving two long trenches nearly twenty meters before he finally stopped.
The arm holding his sword trembled slightly.
His blood surged violently through his body.
His suit had been torn apart, exposing his right arm. His black hair was a mess, and his eyes were wide open, reflecting a brilliant streak of lightning burning across his vision.
"Vice Admiral Onigumo got pushed back?!"
The Marines shouted in disbelief.
This was the first true head-on collision between the two men—
and Onigumo had been sent skidding back twenty full meters.
"So there really is swordsmanship like lightning…"
"That's not even swordsmanship anymore. It looked like Vice Admiral Onigumo was fighting a thunderbolt…"
The Marines were shaken to the core.
Everything had happened too fast.
None of them could clearly see how Kairos had moved.
They only knew one thing:
in that instant, he had attacked with seven blades—
and each slash had been as fast as lightning.
Swordsmanship like that was beyond anything they had ever heard of.
One by one, they swallowed hard.
Anyone with eyes could see it now.
Vice Admiral Onigumo…
was about to lose.
"What kind of swordsmanship… was that?" Onigumo panted heavily. Even speaking seemed difficult. The moment he opened his mouth, he coughed up a streak of blood. Faint traces of electricity still crawled across his body.
Those were the lingering effects of the Lariat Thunder Sword.
Crack.
The instant he spoke—
the eight swords in his hands snapped.
All of them.
Not a single one remained intact.
The watching Marines felt their hearts seize.
The breaking of those eight blades was proof enough.
Onigumo had truly lost.
An unknown young man had defeated one of the Marines' top Vice Admirals.
"Lariat Thunder Sword."
Kairos let out a slow breath and stated the name of the attack plainly.
Onigumo straightened up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked disheveled now, but his eyes were bright as he stared at Kairos with a strange intensity.
"Earlier, you said you used Eight-Sword Style?"
"Yes." Kairos nodded calmly.
Onigumo visibly stiffened.
Now he was certain.
Kairos hadn't been lying.
He really was an Eight-Sword Style user.
Which meant…
Onigumo hadn't even managed to force out Kairos' eighth sword before losing.
The gap between them was enormous.
At that realization, shock and disbelief flashed through Onigumo's eyes.
He was shocked by Kairos' strength.
By the sheer level of his swordsmanship.
And he was equally stunned that a powerhouse like this had emerged from East Blue without making a name for himself first.
Onigumo fell silent, brows tightly furrowed.
Then, just as suddenly, they relaxed.
He laughed.
"I didn't expect a trip through East Blue to bring me something like this." He shook his head, then looked at Kairos seriously. "I lost."
The moment those words left his mouth, an uproar swept through the Marines.
"He really lost…"
The Marines looked at one another, all seeing the same disbelief reflected in each other's eyes.
They didn't want to accept it—
but the truth was right in front of them.
Vice Admiral Onigumo, a man powerful enough to seem untouchable, had actually been defeated by a complete unknown.
"I gained a lot from this too," Kairos said, exhaling deeply. His eyes shone brightly.
And he meant it.
Even setting aside whatever reward the system might grant him, crossing blades with a genuine powerhouse had sharpened him in a very real way.
At the very least, his control over his body had improved again.
Killer Bee's Eight-Sword Style was truly something extraordinary.
"I haven't even asked your name yet," Onigumo said, forcing a smile.
For the first time, he had the urge to befriend someone.
A swordsman like Kairos would be a wasted talent outside the Marines.
Unfortunately, Onigumo's naturally vicious face only made that smile look more frightening.
"Kairos," he said. "Kairos D. Vale."
"...Kairos D. Vale."
Onigumo repeated the name quietly, fixing it firmly in his memory.
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