"Yes."
Lily stood up from the deck, brushed off the dust on her body, and firmly gripped the White Thunder Sword's hilt, "I won't lose!"
"You, who can't cut iron, how could you be my opponent!"
Blade shouted angrily, leaping upward sharply, the blade spinning forcefully around him. As he descended toward Lily, he carried a whirlwind, and then he grasped the hilt, ensnaring the whirlwind around the blade and swung directly downward.
"Wind Blade!"
At this moment, Lily closed her eyes.
This was a formidable enemy, as strong as steel. As a swordsman, if she couldn't cut iron, indeed she wouldn't be his match.
Escape?
That was certainly an option, Lily was confident Blade couldn't catch her.
But what use was escaping, just to leave it to Sage to resolve?
Sage perhaps wouldn't mind, might even reassure her, after all, she would become stronger eventually, no need to be anxious.
But she was unwilling!
Run away once, there'll be a second time, this differs from evading a naval pursuit, this is an iron wall obstructing her path.
Running away now, what about next time, when facing someone Sage doesn't want to confront, should she ask for his help again?
And the next time?
Lily's knuckles whitened as she gripped the sword hilt with force.
She wasn't just a vase who could navigate, nor was she merely someone who fed Sage at leisure, a common woman who could be replaced at any time!
"I am an officer, a navigator, the first crew member Sage recruited, determined to not let anyone be oppressed, I'm not a supplicant!"
Lily's eyes snapped open, with the White Thunder in her hand swiftly thrusting at the descending Blade.
Even if it's a deadly fight, she must defeat this guy, not be a burden to Sage!
Clang!
The sword blade pierced through the wind pressure from the blade's slash, falling into a lull. The massive Tornado Slash enveloped Lily, even before it arrived, the residual waves blew her golden hair, even severing some strands.
The nearly deadly threat stirred within Lily's heart, simultaneously rendering her mind a blank slate. In this instant, she seemed to feel, amid the intense Tornado Slash, the crisscross flow of wind blades, causing turbulence in the stirred air.
...
"Lily, do you like swords? In the future, I'll teach you swordplay. Though you're young, you can lay a solid foundation."
In the garden of the royal palace, a blurry figure spoke to the then three or four-year-old Lily. The face was unclear, but a smile was visible on the lips.
"No need to be so quick with the swings, that's a shallow approach. Now, you need to observe and meditate."
"Keep this in mind, a sword, though sharp, doesn't need to cut through everything. Leaves have their flow, stones have their presence, the earth and air feel different. Cutting through everything is merely the essence of the sword, but controlling the cut, that's the true swordsman."
The young Lily, grasping the sword with naive confusion, day by day meditated and probed. Using the custom-made wooden sword at that time, she struck at leaves and branches, stones and steel.
Vigorous swings could shatter leaves and branches, but not stones and steel.
Until one day, her wooden sword grazed over leaves and branches, hitting a stone squarely, she, twelve years old then, saw the audacious Ennio.
The blurry figure in her memory vanished, replaced by the hateful Ennio!
Who was that figure, her memory was unclear. However, Lily saw, as Ennio laughed wildly at her, her wooden sword struck the stone, and a crack appeared.
That was...
Whoosh!
The rapier blade pierced and broke the slash, and Lily moved her body, dodging to the side.
Boom!!
The huge blade fell hard, blasting a hole in the deck, the slash sweeping around, cutting open cracks.
Blade shouted at Lily standing to one side, "Don't think about running!"
"No...I won't run!"
Lily stomped a foot, using Moon Step to leap in the air, once again, like before, both feet stomped, transforming into a white thunderbolt shooting straight down.
"Breaking the Sky..."
"Useless!"
Blade spun the blade, forming the Wind Wall. This woman's speed was indeed incredible, fast enough it couldn't be countered, but breaking through his steel-like defense, that was impossible!
Just need to block once more!
Thunderbolt descended, the speed increase from descending elevated the thrust's power, its sword tip breaking through the slash wind surrounding the blade, touching the blade.
This time, the thrust's power would weaken, hence being blocked by the equally steel blade. Next, it was Blade's turn to strike...
"Slash!"
The thunderbolt accelerated sharply, slipping past Blade's body, smashing to the position behind.
Lily half-crouched, slowly sheathed the rapier.
Her body stood up, the White Thunder's hilt and sword sheath aligned, emitting a light sound.
Click.
Whoosh!!
Blade's blocking motion halted there. As the rapier was sheathed, his chest was cut open with a fissure, spurting blood like a fountain. The massive blade, shattered from the middle, broke into two pieces.
"Iron Cutting, I can do it."
Lily looked up at Sage watching her and said, "After all, I'm an officer of the Disaster Pirates."
Sage responded with a smile, "Well done, Lily."
Lily nodded, then turned back to the fallen Blade and said indifferently, "This so-called Iron Wall can't stop me."
"Iron Wall? Where is an Iron Wall?"
Pearl, who had already risen and joined the battle, perked his ears and glanced around, "Is there anyone as famous as me, Pearl?!"
"Fight well, Pearl, don't let yourself be distracted!"
Gin swung his cane, knocking down the surrounding navy, looking at Pearl and saying, "Otherwise Renedia will beat you."
"Yes!"
Pearl bumped his fists on the Iron Shield, the friction from the Firefly Stone ignited a fire on the shield, laughing loudly, "Taste Pearl's Fire Fist!"
Bam!
A hammer struck the back of his head, knocking him down flat.
"I've told you not to use fire! Use your turtle shell well to fight, or I'll throw you into the sea to keep company with turtles!"
Renedia used her long hammer to smash the navy rushing at her, then turned to Pearl angrily.
"S-sorry..."
Pearl trembled on the deck for a while, raising his smoking head, whining loudly.