A sharp pain suddenly spread throughout his entire body.
Am I going to die?!
In this final moment, Drake's mind flashed with this thought. He had never imagined that a simple combat assessment in a training camp could bring him so close to death!
His thick half-beast hide, even after transformation, could not withstand the power of the Getsuga Tenshō and was about to be cleaved in two.
At that instant, a figure appeared with near-instantaneous speed, showing incredible agility. It reached Drake, yanked him back suddenly, and stretched out a massive hand to grab the sword energy of the Getsuga Tenshō. With a forceful squeeze—
Shii!
The crescent-shaped sword energy shattered, scattering in all directions, leaving countless crisscrossing cracks across the ground.
The person who had entered so suddenly, moving at a speed nearly like teleportation compared to Roya and others, was none other than the former Marine Admiral, now Chief Instructor of the training camp—Zephyr, the Black Arm!
Zephyr looked at the cracks on the ground in silence. Then he raised his head, cast a deep glance at Roya, and gently placed Drake on the ground.
"Roya, you win."
Zephyr's voice was deep and solemn as he stepped back from the field.
The arena fell completely silent.
From the moment Roya unleashed Getsuga Tenshō, producing a massive crescent-shaped sword energy, to Drake being crushed as if by unstoppable force, and then Zephyr intervening—these events had occurred almost instantaneously.
Many recruits hadn't even seen exactly what happened; everything had become a blur in their eyes.
Yet, despite barely catching any details, the enormous crescent-shaped slash was etched deeply into everyone's mind.
When Zephyr announced Roya's victory, the recruits were still in shock, unable to recover their composure, their minds blank, completely occupied by the image of that crescent-shaped sword energy.
On the battlefield.
In front of Roya lay a deep trench, roughly two meters across, surrounded by innumerable crisscrossing fissures.
Drake's weapons—the one-handed sword and four-bladed axe—had been broken into halves: half the sword hilt, half the blade, half the axe hilt, half the blade, scattered everywhere.
Drake himself, though rescued at the last moment by Zephyr, still bore a clear line of blood running down his body, blood slowly oozing out, his face showing shock and disbelief.
After a long pause, someone finally spoke with a dry voice.
"Was that slash… his true power?"
Drake had been extremely strong, nearly crushing everyone else. With his Devil Fruit activated, his strength had doubled. Yet, even under these circumstances, he was still decisively defeated by Roya!
It wasn't just ordinary recruits; even the top ten recruits could only feel a dry sensation in their throats.
At this point, no one knew what to say—or needed to. Roya's position and strength were unquestionable.
Number one of the entire camp!
Not a single recruit would doubt his rank anymore. Not a single recruit would question his power. Their only feelings were awe and fear of a true strong warrior.
---
At the very same time that Roya defeated Drake, high above in the massive fortress of Marine Headquarters, two somewhat relaxed figures stood at the railing of the top corridor.
One of them, with a hint of interest in his expression, gazed down at Roya in the plaza.
"Well, well, Vice Admiral Garp's nephew is performing quite well."
The speaker was none other than Kuzan, also known as Aokiji, one of the three admirals and the Marine's highest combat power.
Next to him stood another of the three admirals—Sakazuki, also known as Akainu.
Compared to Aokiji, who had great respect for Garp and had once been a little sidekick, Akainu's attitude toward Roya was cold. He thought of Garp's son, Monkey D. Dragon, the revolutionary leader.
In the Monkey family, it seemed everyone had a rebellious streak. Garp was like this, Dragon too, and now Roya seemed no different.
This kind of personality was precisely what Akainu despised.
Perhaps one day, Roya might suddenly betray the Marines, join the Revolutionary Army like Dragon, or become a pirate opposing justice.
"A flame-type ability, huh… that's just fine."
"I hope you won't commit any acts of treason against justice. Otherwise, even if you are Garp's relative, I will uphold justice to the end—I will not allow you to become a threat like Dragon!"
Akainu's face was icy as he cast a cold glance at Roya below, then turned and left the corridor, heading to his room.
Seeing this, Aokiji's eyes flickered slightly, but he said nothing, shrugged, and also turned to leave.
---
As Akainu and Aokiji withdrew their gazes, Roya in the plaza looked up as if sensing something. But all he saw was the grand, imposing Marine Headquarters fortress.
"Was that an illusion?"
Roya shook his head slightly, deciding not to think too much, and walked off the field.
Roya's spirit was far stronger than ordinary people's, making him extremely sensitive to many things, especially those related to presence and will—like… hostility.
At that instant, Roya had indeed felt a flash of hostility, sharp as a needle prick along his back. Whether real or imagined, it did not matter.
He was Garp's nephew, Dragon's cousin. In this world, there were countless people who would want to see him dead. He could not possibly worry about each one individually.
Nor did he need to.
Once he strengthened his Soul Sword to the fifth stage and released Ryūjin Jakka, he could roam the seas freely, fearless of anything.
After leaving the field, Roya casually walked to a corner, paying no attention to the ongoing combat assessment. He activated his attribute panel with a thought.
[Stage Three: Agile Soul Sword +0
Attributes: Attack +135, Strength +40, Agility +40
Special Attribute: All Things in the Universe, turn to ashes: Adds fire damage to sword attacks
Special Attribute: Getsuga Tenshō: Releases crescent-shaped sword aura when attacking
Enhancement Energy: 82/120]
"Over twenty points of enhancement energy gained from today's battle?"
Seeing his enhancement energy had reached 82, close to the next upgrade, Roya nodded. He closed the attribute panel and meditated, reflecting briefly on areas he hadn't executed perfectly.
Today's battle not only increased Roya's enhancement energy, but more importantly, helped him adapt to real combat, allowing him to gradually bring his trained sword techniques into full effect in battle.