"It should be like this because Rin said so when he went out," Artoria replied, her face tinged with red. She had just heard Princess Shirahoshi say that Rin had stayed by her side the entire time she was recovering from the effects of the poison. That alone made her heart flutter, but that wasn't the point. The key detail was Rin's parting words to her that he had one last thing to do for Princess Shirahoshi before leaving. Artoria figured Rin must've learned somehow what had happened that day with Princess Shirahoshi, and now he had gone to settle the score for her. What she didn't know was that Rin, who had memories from a previous life where he had read the One Piece manga, already knew Van der Decken IX's obsession would pose a lasting threat to Shirahoshi. Unless he was eliminated now, Van der Decken IX's relentless pursuit would haunt Shirahoshi for the rest of her life something Rin wasn't going to allow.
"Artoria, then let's head out now," Enel said, ready to depart toward the east side of Fishman Island alongside Casa and Artoria to see if Rin needed backup.
"Then I'll dispatch my royal guards to accompany you," King Neptune offered, preparing to send several squads. After all, Rin was a highly honored guest of Fishman Island. If something were to happen to him, it would be a diplomatic and personal tragedy.
"No need—we'll handle it. The strength of the four of us is enough," Artoria replied firmly. She didn't want to waste any more manpower. Between herself, Enel, and Casa, they had enough power to shake even the New World. Besides, the royal guards hadn't fully recovered their morale. Ever since Jinbei left to join Luffy and the Sun Pirates disbanded, and after Hody Jones was defeated by Rin during the coup, King Neptune's remaining forces lacked the resolve to be useful in high-stakes combat.
"Well then, if you do need reinforcements send word at once," King Neptune nodded solemnly.
In the next moment, Artoria, Enel, and Casa leapt forward in synchronized bursts of speed vanishing from the drawing room, leaving behind King Neptune, Princess Shirahoshi, and the remaining guards.
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East of Fishman Island
"I'd like to see what your so-called sword art truly looks like," the swordsman known as Bone Erosion sneered, watching as Rin prepared to unleash a technique. Bone Erosion was curious whether this young warrior's 'hidden technique' would match what he imagined. If so, then perhaps this boy's swordsmanship rivaled the skill he had possessed in his own prime.
"Ghost Slash," Rin intoned calmly. In the next breath, his Thunder Tribulation Blade was engulfed in a sinister, purple-black aura. The swirling mist that coated the blade closely resembled the demonic black smoke that perpetually surrounded Bone Erosion himself.
"Heh, just as I thought boy, you miscalculated. This technique of yours? I can use it too—Spook Slash!" Bone Erosion shouted. The black smoke encasing his body surged forward, clinging to his own jagged blade. Once gathered, the haze shimmered with a violet-black gleam, giving off a chilling aura as if both blades had drawn power from the underworld itself. The ghastly mists radiating from their weapons pulsed like a heartbeat from hell.
The two warriors leapt high into the water-filled sky, and the violet-black energies intensified twisting and thickening as if attempting to consume them whole. Then, with a soundless boom, both were swallowed by a curtain of swirling dark mist. The impact of their clash distorted the sea currents below, creating massive pressure waves that twisted the water and stirred up whirlpools, while the stunned spectators from the seabed watched with awe.
"You you know Ghost Slash too?!" Rin exclaimed mid-clash. He was shocked. Not only was Bone Erosion able to perform the same high-level technique, but the aura he produced was nearly identical to his own. Yet the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. A true Dai-Kengō a master swordsman of the highest class would surely have his own version of such a deadly move. Still, the method Bone Erosion used was unlike anything Rin had seen before his footwork, his breathing, even the tempo of his strikes was alien.
Boom! Their clashing auras exploded in a storm of energy above the seabed. A bizarre vortex formed where they fought swirling violently in a countercurrent of purple-black water. The vortex was strange, ominous its gravitational pull distorted light, as if warping the space around them. The onlookers murmured in confusion. Why had a whirlpool appeared in mid-ocean for seemingly no reason?
Clang! The whirlpool's epicenter was not the two men but their blades: Rin's Thunder Tribulation Blade and Bone Erosion's corrupted katana. Rin slashed downward with the full force of the Ghost Slash, his blade crackling with the ominous aura, while Bone Erosion parried with matching power. The two exchanged a flurry of attacks, dashing forward and backward in combat too fast for the average eye to follow.
"In you—I see the shadow of an old man I once knew," Bone Erosion muttered mid-fight, staring into Rin's eyes. His strikes paused briefly, as if haunted by a memory. That same unshakable resolve, that same form it was like watching a ghost. The man Bone Erosion once admired had long since become a corpse, buried by time, but in Rin… he saw flickers of that legacy reborn.
"Oh yes? So can I know who that person is?" Rin asked calmly while parrying the Bone-Etching Blade. In a battle between seasoned warriors like them, exchanging words mid-fight was as natural as breathing they were both used to talking while their blades clashed.
"He was my son and the only apprentice I ever took in my life," Bone Erosion replied with a heavy sigh. Rin's execution of the Ghost Slash had triggered the memory of someone long gone, someone whose presence still echoed in his soul even after decades. His son, once a gifted swordsman, had died years ago, and seeing Rin use that same technique had struck something deep within him.
"So that's how it is I understand now." Rin nodded, realization dawning. It all made sense. The swordsmanship style granted to him by the system's mysterious swordsmanship package the aura, the stance, the energy flow it was all inherited from Bone Erosion's son. That was why their Ghost Slash techniques had felt so similar. Rin hadn't just learned any technique he had inherited a legacy.
...… 0
"I didn't expect that after so many years, the world would be so different," Bone Erosion murmured wistfully. The thought of his long-lost family, the peaceful days spent with his wife and son before fate took them away, weighed heavily on his heart. Those memories, though distant, had not faded.
"Clang." Rin's blade lashed forward again without hesitation. He remembered how Bone Erosion had been nearly struck earlier during a moment of reflection. Had Rin not pulled back at the last moment, the result would've been bloody.
"Uncle Bone Erosion it's not wise to get lost in thought in the middle of a duel," Rin said, voice calm but tinged with a playful warning. He could see the swordsman across from him had sunk too deeply into the past.
"Hmph! You're good at exploiting your opponent's openings, kid but don't expect the same trick to work again. Come at me! I won't be so careless this time!" Bone Erosion barked back with renewed focus. A man of his level, a true Dai-Kengō in the world of swordsmen, couldn't afford such lapses. Letting his guard down against a young blade like Rin? That would be a disgrace. If anyone heard he was injured by a rookie during a sentimental daydream, he'd be the laughingstock of the Grand Line.
Rin responded by slashing forward again, sending a blade of air laced with concentrated purple-black aura his Ghost Slash energy channeled into a wave of deadly sword aura. It surged through the water like a predator hunting prey.
"Draw Cut!" Bone Erosion shouted as he sheathed his blade with one fluid motion then in an instant, drew it in a high-speed Iaijutsu slash. A shockwave of sword aura, equally tainted with the eerie violet-black mist, rocketed forward.
The two slashes collided in midwater with an explosive crash, shaking the surrounding sea. Purple-black tendrils of energy twisted and cracked like lightning as the two techniques canceled each other out. In the end, the only thing left between them was silence each swordsman waiting to see who would strike first next.
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