"Well then... looks like you're the only one left."
Golden Lion Shiki cast a scornful glance at the fallen Robin, Gloria, and the others before turning his sharp gaze on Solomon.
Solomon was in a dire state his strength depleted, his body covered in wounds, and the brief boost from his Devil Fruit ability, which allowed him to reach the level of a great swordsman, was nearing its end.
"Then it's all or nothing... damn it, Wayne, where are you?!"
"Iaido Slash: Heart Gate!"
Solomon drew a deep breath and poured all his remaining strength into one final attack.
Shiki, seeing the incoming slash, didn't dare underestimate it. He quickly spun and slashed with both of his legendary blades Oto and Kogarashi sending a volley of flying slashes in return.
"Lion's Might: Thousand Cut Valley!"
Shiki burst into manic laughter. "You should feel honored! You're about to fall to one of my signature techniques!"
The two forces clashed in mid-air, but Solomon's slash, powered only by a temporary boost to great swordsman level, couldn't stand against Shiki's full-force attack. The Thousand Cut Valley tore through Solomon's strike and sent a howling gust that knocked him to the ground.
Solomon's eyes flashed with frustration as he struggled to get back up, but the "Heart Gate" state had already ended. The backlash struck immediately.
"Tch. Just a child playing war."
Shiki's expression was cold as he looked down at Solomon, then raised both arms. A massive column of earth rose up beneath his feet, trapping Solomon, Robin, Gloria, and Klaw tightly within. There was no way out.
At that moment, Dr. Indigo limped over. He was clearly still injured from the earlier battle.
After making a series of flamboyant gestures in front of Shiki, the old pirate seemed to understand and raised an eyebrow.
"Why don't I just kill them, you ask?"
Indigo blinked in surprise.
Wait, did he actually understand me?! w(°Д°)w
Shiki answered solemnly.
"Because my dream is to become Pirate King and rule the world. And these pirates though defeated still have strength worth harnessing. Once I've taken down that brat Wayne, the rest will fall in line."
"Why would I kill my future crew?"
He spoke with unwavering confidence and ambition, as if his dominance alone could bend Solomon and the others to his will.
"But... before that, I'll need to teach Wayne a lesson. Where's that coward hiding, anyway?"
"No matter. Let's start with the city below!"
Floating higher into the sky, Shiki raised one hand. A massive chunk of rock larger than a house detached from the air and began plummeting toward Freedom City.
This was Shiki's terrifying Float-Float Fruit power in action. By touching any inanimate object, he could make it float and control it at will. And now, he was raining destruction down from above, piece by piece.
Meanwhile, down in the city, Wallace was organizing the evacuation. He suddenly noticed a dark shadow falling over him. He looked up and froze.
"What the—?"
"It's a meteorite! A meteorite's falling!"
The young recruits behind him were visibly shaken, voices filled with panic. Wallace, too, stared up with a grim expression. If this meteor hit, the entire district could be flattened.
He drew both of his swords, eyes locked on the incoming threat. A boulder that size... even he wasn't sure he could cut it.
In that instant of crisis, Wallace remembered something Wayne had once told him:
"A true swordsman must be able to cut steel. But to do that, he must first learn to hear the breath of all things... and to do that, he must listen with his heart."
Wallace closed his eyes and opened them again.
And in that moment, he heard it.
The breath of the world around him. The faint whisper of the stone as it fell.
"Haah!"
Two-Sword Style: Cross Slash!
He leapt high into the air, twin blades shining, and slashed straight through the meteorite.
Boom!
The enormous rock split into four pieces. Though some fragments crashed into nearby buildings, the worst of the damage was averted. No lives were lost.
In a moment of desperation, Wallace, only twenty years old, had heard the breath of all things and stepped into the realm of the true swordsman.
He had become a great swordsman.
But in the face of Golden Lion Shiki's overwhelming power, one more swordsman wouldn't tip the scales.
"Huh?"
High above, Shiki frowned. His Observation Haki had picked up the moment the meteorite was sliced in two... by a young swordsman.
"Ka ha ha ha! This city really does keep surprising me!"
He let out a loud, gleeful laugh. But then his smile twisted into a sneer.
"Let's see if you can cut something even bigger!"
He raised his hand again, preparing to hurl an even larger meteor toward the city.
Armament Haki: Honey Badger Barrage!
Before he could act, a shadow shot up into the sky it was Keith!
Though previously unconscious, he had awoken. Seeing Shiki attempting to destroy Freedom City, Keith launched himself into the air to stop him.
"Huh?"
Shiki instinctively covered his body in Armament Haki, blocking Keith's strike. Then he slashed twice in return, forcing Keith back.
He narrowed his eyes.
This man he remembered cutting him down earlier. So why was he still standing?
Looking into Keith's determined eyes, Shiki's scowl shifted into a smirk.
"Is this the power of conviction? Not bad for a pirate. Tell me your name, boy."
Shiki wasn't impressed by Keith's strength but the fact that he could fight on, despite his injuries, was something the old pirate admired.
Keith landed, eyes locked on Shiki in the sky, and declared solemnly:
"My name is Keith. Nicholas Keith. From the East Blue. I'm the Honey Badger a Zoan-type user of the Ferret-Ferret Fruit, sub-model: Honey Badger."
Shiki's face froze.
The admiration in his eyes vanished. Replaced with fury.
"You're from the East Blue? That pathetic sea?"
Among the four seas, East Blue was considered the weakest. And for Shiki, it was a sore subject.
Because he had once been defeated by a man from East Blue.
That man... was Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.
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