"Don't even think about touching our King." Moria's eyes locked onto White Lion Brent. Seeing the Vice Admiral draw his sword against Bege, Moria immediately threw a massive fist towards him.
Brent reacted instantly, slashing viciously at Moria's giant fist. However, Moria's fist was coated in dense Armament Haki, rendering it impervious to the slash.
Their brutal clash generated a violent shockwave, the ground beneath Brent's feet instantly shattering.
Brent's expression turned extremely grim. Moria had put his full strength into that punch, unleashing power so immense that even Brent struggled to parry it.
Brent shot backward abruptly. A sword mark appeared on Moria's fist, but the giant simply swung his enormous body around and smashed another crude punch towards the Vice Admiral.
"Die!" Brent roared, exploding in fury. His figure vanished in a blur of speed as Moria's giant fist pulverized the ground where he'd stood. Brent reappeared at Moria's side, his longsword instantly imbued with Armament Haki, and slashed at Moria's arm with lightning speed.
A spray of blood erupted from the point of impact. The Armament Haki reinforcing Moria's arm shattered under the force of the blow, the blade biting deep into his flesh.
Suddenly, Brent was forced into a rapid retreat as a massive Shadow Spear shot towards him.
While dodging, Brent shattered the spear with a single sword stroke. The broken shadows danced in the air, reforming into numerous smaller Shadow Spears that rained down on him like arrows.
"One Sword Style—Lion's Fury Dance!" Brent snorted contemptuously. With a flick of his sword, he unleashed dozens of sword flashes in an instant, annihilating every single Shadow Spear.
Moria roared, charging forward like a meteor, his shadow slithering across the ground and twisting through the air around him like a demon from the abyss.
Meanwhile, Modi and Riki had each engaged one of the other Vice Admirals. The final Vice Admiral was being handled by the combined might of the two giants, Dorry and Brogy.
The rest of Bege's forces clashed fiercely with the six Rear Admirals and the remaining Marine officers.
The battle raged, growing fiercer and more scattered as the combatants spread out across the island.
Bege and Mad Tiger Simon fought like madmen, trading brutal sword strikes. The surrounding jungle was shredded by countless flying slashes, and flames engulfed the area, leaving devastation in their wake.
"One Sword Style—Tiger Arhat!" Simon suddenly retreated, bringing his sword down in a sharp diagonal motion. Bege felt an astonishing surge of sword aura.
Behind Simon, the spectral image of a colossal tiger-headed giant materialized.
"Tiger Fang!" Simon roared. Simultaneously, he lunged forward, and a massive, fang-shaped wave of sword energy erupted from his blade, piercing towards Bege.
Bege's expression shifted. He swung his Fire Cloud Sword forward instantly, sending a giant Flame Rhinoceros charging out. However, the rhinoceros was cleaved in two by the Tiger Fang slash, which continued towards Bege unabated, its speed terrifyingly swift.
Bege didn't even have time to launch another attack. He immediately brought his sword up defensively, bracing himself to block the razor-sharp sword wave head-on.
BOOM!
The energy wave slammed into the Fire Cloud Sword. The immense force sent Bege crashing back into a cliff face dozens of meters high. The cliff crumbled instantly, burying him under an avalanche of rock.
Mad Tiger Simon stared coldly at the rubble concealing Bege, caressing the blade of his sword. That technique, Tiger Arhat: Tiger Fang, was something he had developed during his campaigns in the New World over the past two years. More than a few notorious pirates had fallen to that very strike.
CRASH!
The pile of rubble exploded outwards. Bege emerged, wreathed in a ferocious, blood-red aura, resembling some primordial beast.
The pitch-black Armament Haki coating his body had shattered in several places, revealing the tough Castle Skin beneath – his Devil Fruit ability. He had needed both layers of defense to withstand Simon's attack.
Simon's gaze grew colder. "Even a pirate worth five hundred million belli couldn't block that strike," he stated flatly. "Yet you seem unharmed."
Bege didn't reply. Flames erupted along his Fire Cloud Sword as he took a step forward, his figure flickering as he closed the distance to Simon.
"Now it's your turn to take a hit," Bege declared.
He paused, planting his right foot forward. The terrifyingly violent aura around him surged to its absolute peak. He brought the Fire Cloud Sword down in furious slash, flames shooting dozens of meters into the sky.
Simon's pupils contracted. His body underwent a startling transformation; his previously muscular frame seemed to shrink slightly, yet the aura radiating from him grew exponentially more terrifying.
This was the Rokushiki secret technique, Seimei Kikan, achievable only by those who had truly mastered the Six Powers.
In his Seimei Kikan state, Mad Tiger Simon's speed and power reached their absolute zenith.
As the Fire Cloud Sword descended, a massive Flame Dragon roared into existence, hugging the ground as it surged forward at incredible speed. The earth cracked and scorched beneath the explosive wave of fiery sword energy, looking as though the very ground was being split apart.
Simon gripped his sword with both hands, his eyes wide with fury. Stomping hard enough to shatter the ground beneath him, he violently slashed upwards, creating a giant energy wave over ten meters high.
"Tiger Arhat—Tiger Claw!"
It was as if the claw of a colossal tiger slammed down onto the Flame Dragon's head, intending to crush it completely.
The two terrifying streams of sword energy detonated on impact. The Flame Dragon exploded, followed instantly by an indescribably powerful shockwave of fire that swept across hundreds of meters, tearing apart everything in its path.
Scalding flames rained down on the distant forest, setting it ablaze.
Two figures shot out from the fiery blast. Simon's uniform was scorched in several places, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Bege had clearly taken a heavy hit as well.
Their gazes met through the inferno, and they moved almost simultaneously, plunging back into the heart of the fiery battlefield.
Simon took two steps, shattering the broken ground, and launched himself high into the air.
Bege looked up, startled. Simon plummeted from the sky, letting out a tiger-like roar that echoed across the deserted island. Using Geppo, he continuously kicked off the air itself, adding ferocious downward momentum until he seemed to transform into a living blade, shooting straight towards Bege.
"Iai Slash—Nightfall Ascent!" Bege drew his sword in a flash, sending a huge upward slash of energy skyward. Yet, when it collided with Simon's descending blade, Bege's attack simply disintegrated.
"One Sword Style—Tiger Arhat—Heavenly Tiger Fang!"
Bege's eyes narrowed, and he dodged frantically.
BOOOOM!
Simon crashed into the ground, obliterating a hundred-meter radius. Terrifying sword energy erupted upwards, sending a massive shockwave rolling outwards, whipping up gale-force winds that scattered dust and debris. The scene was utterly devastating.
Bege was thrown violently backward, rolling across the ground before forcing himself back to his feet. He spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, his fierce gaze fixed on Simon's figure standing amidst the wreckage.
Simon rose from the cratered earth, looked at Bege, and snorted coldly. "Even that didn't kill you."
But as Simon stared into Bege's eyes, he realized with growing unease that his opponent seemed to be getting… more excited. The pirate's aura was still intensifying, and beneath the seriousness in his eyes lay a heavy, dangerous glint.
"Looks like you haven't been slacking off these past two years, either," Bege chuckled, the blood vessels in his eyes becoming increasingly prominent. His presence began to climb frantically.
Simon suddenly surged forward, moving at full speed. The dust from the shattered ground was instantly blown aside by his astonishing velocity, creating a person-high blur of white as he shot towards Bege using Soru.
In the blink of an eye, he was before Bege, his cold blade slashing down.
Bege's eyes snapped wide. An extremely terrifying, savage aura exploded from him, as if some incredibly vicious beast was roaring from within.
In that instant, Bege swung his sword, meeting Simon's blade head-on.
CRACK-KABOOOOM!
With a deafening clang, it was Simon who was sent flying backward. He crashed heavily onto the shattered earth dozens of meters away, pulverizing the already broken ground further.
Simon coughed up three mouthfuls of blood, staring up in shocked fury at Bege, who was now completely enveloped in a swirling, blood-red aura.
A ferocious grin split Bege's face.
"Fierce Beast Secret Art—Beast King!"
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