[The Flagship: The Stored Power of Three Years]
On the deck of the sinking flagship, the air was screaming. Ato, still wrapped in his white Limit Breaker aura, stared at Raiden. The Vice-Commander stood perfectly still, but the wooden planks beneath his feet were charring and turning to ash. The atmosphere was so heavy with Raiden's presence that the rain falling from the sky vaporized before it could touch the deck.
Raiden: "Now my full form."
Ato: "Huh?"
Raiden: "Tot—"
Ato didn't let him finish the sentence. He knew that letting a man like Raiden complete a transformation was suicide. Ato vanished and reappeared behind Raiden, his hands locking around the giant man's wrists. With a roar of effort, Ato began slamming Raiden into the deck—left, right, and center—trying to break his concentration. The "Earth Shaker" vibrations from his hands tore through the wood, sending splinters flying like shrapnel.
Ato stopped for a second to catch his breath, the white aura flickering with the strain. But in that moment of stillness, Raiden's hands shot out. He caught Ato's forearms in a grip that felt like crushing hydraulic shears. He was not letting go of Ato.
Raiden: "You know for about three years i have been storing energy of other pirates and now today will be the day I will release fifty percent of it."
Ato's eyes widened. Three years of stolen power? Every punch, every blast, every ounce of kinetic force Raiden had ever absorbed was being funneled into his right arm. He tried to pull away, but Raiden caught his hand more tightly, the gold light from his veins beginning to burn through Ato's white aura.
Raiden: "Total Overload."
Power started gathering in Raiden's right hand, glowing with the intensity of a dying star. The air began to swirl in a vortex around them. Raiden was not letting go of Ato with his left hand, pinning him in place like a butterfly to a board.
Raiden: "Release: Fifty Percent."
The energy gathered into a single point, a sphere of pure, compressed kinetic destruction. Raiden punched Ato. The impact didn't make a sound—it made a vacuum. The shockwave stripped the wood off the ship and sent Ato flying across the ocean. He became a streak of white light, skipping across the waves until he slammed into Jiro's ship, breaking through the reinforced hull and going straight into Jiro's private room.
Raiden stood on the deck of his ruined ship, his arm smoking, his breathing heavy. He looked at the hole in the distance.
Raiden: "I hope now.....now he has to be dead."
[The Third Ship: The Shame of Swords]
Back on the third ship, the battle between the "Demon" and the "Future" was taking a bizarre turn. Kojo stood with his three blades ready, his purple aura flickering. Zen, bleeding heavily from the chest where Kojo had previously slashed him, closed his eyes and focused his power in his hands. He was trying to mix the power of his knuckle strikes and his future-sight energy together into a physical manifestation.
Kojo: "That's not gonna work. Dragon Fang!"
Kojo rushed towards Zen, his blades humming like a swarm of angry hornets. Zen suddenly opened his eyes. The panic was gone. He blocked the attack with ease, his arms now glowing with a strange, metallic silver light. With a flick of his wrist, he pushed Kojo back, the force of the shove feeling like a mountain hitting a house.
Kojo: "Ok then... What are you?"
The air around Zen began to warp and bend. His physical body didn't just glow—it transformed. His limbs merged, his skin turned to cold, tempered steel, and his presence sharpened into a lethal point. In a flash of light, Zen became a giant, sentient sword.
Kojo stared at the massive blade hovering in front of him, his mouth agape. "And why a sword? It's a shame for all the swords. Please turn back to original form."
Zen's voice echoed from the steel, cold and vibrating. "Shut up! And fight me!"
The clash began anew. Kojo and Zen were attacking continuously; both of them were attacking fast. The sound of steel on steel was constant, like a thousand blacksmiths working at once. Kojo used his three-sword style to parry the massive, sentient blade that Zen had become. The sparks flying from their collision lit up the dark night.
Zen: "Knuckle blow!"
The giant sword swung with a blunt-force impact. Kojo dodged it by a hair's breadth, but he couldn't help but shout in frustration at the sheer stupidity of the name.
Kojo: "Oi! Why is the attack name knuckle blow! IDIOT!"
The giant sword hesitated mid-air for a split second, the metallic surface shimmering with confusion. Zen: "Oh, i never thought about it."
Kojo: "Idiot!"
Both of them came in an attacking stance, the absurdity of the moment only making the killing intent sharper. Kojo launched himself towards the giant blade, spinning like a top. Zen protected himself from Kojo, his steel body ringing with every hit.
Zen: "Big cut."
The attack was fast and huge. The massive blade swept across the deck, catching Kojo before he could complete his rotation. He couldn't protect himself and got hit, the edge of the "Zen-Sword" slicing deep into his shoulder and throwing him across the deck.
Kojo: "Ok." He spat blood, his purple aura beginning to fade as his energy reserves hit zero. "Now i have dragged this battle... I need to finish it."
Kojo stood tall, his legs shaking but his grip firm. He put his third sword back in his mouth and crossed the other two. He focused every last drop of his "Demon Flow" into the tips of his blades, the purple aura turning almost black.
Kojo: "Three Sword Style: Excalibur!"
It was a move of pure, concentrated light. Kojo rushed towards Zen. The giant sword couldn't protect itself in time. Kojo's blades struck the center of the steel body. CRACK. A massive fissure appeared on the surface of the giant sword, spider-webbing across Zen's metallic form.
Kojo: "Now final move. Three Sword Style: Oni Gashi!"
Kojo passed through the sword like a ghost. For a moment, everything was silent. Then, the big sword turned back into its normal form. Zen stood there, his chest torn open, coughing a fountain of blood.
Zen: "Well....Played."
Zen's eyes rolled back, and he fell down, his body hitting the deck with a heavy thud. He was completely defeated.
Kojo stood for a second, then his purple aura evaporated. He fell down. The "Demon Flow" had taken everything from him. He couldn't move a single bone; his muscles felt like they had been replaced with lead.
Kojo: "I need to move... the captain... Manjo..."
But his body refused to obey. The adrenaline that had kept him upright was gone. Suddenly, his eyes closed, and he fell unconscious on the deck of the silent ship.
[Jiro's Ship: The Crater]
Deep inside the hull of Jiro's ship, in the ruins of the Vice-Commander's quarters, the silence was broken by the sound of dripping water. Ato was buried under a pile of debris, his breathing shallow.
Raiden's 50% release had been a monster. Ato's ribs were cracked, and his white aura was nowhere to be seen. But as the flagship continued to sink in the distance, his eyes flickered open.
Ato: "Fifty... percent...?"
He gripped a broken piece of the wall and pulled himself up. His body was screaming, but his eyes were fixed on the flagship where Raiden stood. He wasn't done.
Ato: "I'm... just getting... started."