Chapter 70: You Can Only Die By My Hand!
Bang!
This rapidly attacking force, like black fire, was struck by Zephyr's fist, but the impact also caused his body to stagnate momentarily, halting his forward movement.
He looked at Sag, whose fists still flowed like black fire, his eyes filled with an inexplicable expression.
The power of this attack was very wrong.
That was the technique of emission, no doubt about it.
But emission was just a kind of 'flow'. It could indeed strike people remotely, but the distance definitely wouldn't be very far. It wasn't that it *couldn't* reach this extent.
There was a kid under Borsalino who used 'Soku Kū Doku Gyō' (Foot-Air Solitary Walk), which could release Haki over long distances; that was achievable.
But whether it was 'Soku Kū Doku Gyō' or a great swordsman's Haki-coated slash, compared to close combat, the power would definitely be much weaker.
Haki was just Haki. Although it could enhance power, it still needed to be wielded by a person. Pure long-distance release would only become a simple impact, and the farther it traveled, the more this was true.
Even a great swordsman releasing a super long-distance Haki-coated slash was not as effective as fighting with a sword directly.
An attack containing one's own strength held the true power.
But what was happening now?
That long-distance Haki strike wasn't weak; it was even somewhat strengthened. Not only that…
"Full power Haki?" Zephyr murmured.
That feeling, it should be this kid releasing all his Haki. Even if his guess was wrong, after fighting using Haki for so long, his Haki amount should have been reduced somewhat.
But…
This kid's hands, coated with the exact same Haki as before, were still flowing, without any change.
Sag didn't care what Zephyr thought. After one strike stopped him, he took advantage of the opening, stepped on the air, and rushed straight up. In mid-air, he clasped his fingers together, and Haki, like black flowing fire, continuously wrapped around his palms.
The degree of Haki emission, if it were an ordinary person, they couldn't do it like Sag. The power would change with distance, perhaps just turning into a simple impact. But Hokuto Shinken could transform this emission into the most substantial attack power. Whether it was precision or attack distance, he could be stronger than anyone!
Especially…
When every strike was with full-power Haki!
"Tenha Kassatsu: Ryūseigun!" (Heaven-Breaking Life-Killing: Meteor Swarm!)
His palms struck out continuously. The coated Haki was launched out with his constant waving. In Zephyr's vision, it was as if a large amount of black flowing fire descended, covering the sky and overwhelming the earth!
"Kid!!"
Zephyr roared angrily, planted his feet wide, and punched straight at the falling meteor swarm.
Boom boom boom!!
Like a large number of cannonballs landing, in this port area, as Sag's attacks landed, they blossomed everywhere on the ground. The power of his Haki blasted crater after crater into the ground, and the cracking gravel shot and splashed in all directions.
Lily, holding a box and running towards the ship, casually knocked away a piece of gravel, looked towards the side of the port, and her pupils tightened.
She couldn't see Haki, but that didn't mean she couldn't sense its power. Even the ground was blasted to such an extent. The rippling air wave blew her wavy long hair, making her skirt sway open, outlining her well-trained, tight leg shape, making the lofty shape of her upper body even more prominent.
Had the power reached such a degree?
"Sag…"
She worriedly glanced at Sag, who was continuously waving in the air. This guy should have used all his strength. Although he seemed to have the upper hand, Lily always had a feeling… it wasn't that simple.
Boom!
A large amount of Haki bombardment destroyed the ground beyond recognition. Zephyr's position, in particular, was blasted into a huge cloud of gunpowder smoke, but the smoke was quickly blown away.
The Haki bombardment fell towards Zephyr, but was continuously broken by his swinging fists. The vibrations stirred up by this shook everything around.
Even though the speed of his punches wasn't as fast as Sag's frantic bombardment, letting a few streams of fire-like Haki hit his body, they were still offset by Zephyr's body, which moved rhythmically like the wind.
He had activated Haki throughout his body, and it wasn't even simple hardening. The coated, flowing surface contained extremely strong Haki!
Useless!
The current Tenha Kassatsu was truly the complete form. Relying on Haki to hit people remotely could also pierce their pressure points, thus using Hokuto Shinken.
But the key was…
He couldn't break the defense!
Dong!
As Zephyr swung his fist, he suddenly stepped forward forcefully, creating a crater in the ground. His Haki, rhythmic like the wind, grew heavier by another layer, forming an airflow that transpired upwards. Immediately, the vibrating tremor transmitted to Sag's side, causing cold sweat to involuntarily appear on his forehead.
Following Zephyr's step, his figure, like a fierce wind, blew upwards straight into the air. He no longer used his fists to block, but instead clenched one fist tightly, charging power behind him.
The Haki impacts issued by Sag hit his body, merely creating impact vibrations, not even slowing him down.
In just a few breaths, Zephyr got closer and closer to Sag. The power charged in that fist, even a fool could tell it was extremely heavy.
Cannot be hit!
Sag gritted his teeth tightly. The swinging palms instantly stopped. His five fingers opened and combined into one. Flowing fire-like Haki detached from his hands, all condensing at the center of his palms, and fiercely bloomed forward.
"Tenshō Honretsu!!" (Heaven Commander Rushing Violent!!)
Boom!!
A cluster of black flowing fire, larger than ever before, rushed straight towards Zephyr's body. Using Haki completely at full strength also meant that, for the first time, Haki didn't reappear on Sag's hands. Compared to the Haki used separately just now, this time combined into one, the power was naturally doubled.
The strike hit, crashing into Zephyr's body surface with a sound like thunder. That body surface, transpiring like an airflow, was broken open at this moment. The Haki hit his body, unexpectedly causing the upward-charging body to stagnate for an instant.
"Pu!"
Haki hit, pressure points pierced, causing Zephyr to subconsciously open his mouth and spurt out a cluster of blood.
Broken!
The old guy's Haki was all charged in his hand; the protection level for his body wasn't that high!
Sag's expression showed a hint of joy. The extremely fast recovering Haki, after a brief stagnation, re-wrapped around his hands. He was just about to attack again, but the red glow that suddenly appeared in his eyes made his expression stunned. Subconsciously, his figure quickly fell from the air.
And Zephyr, at this time, had already reached Sag's original position, just right to swing his fist.
As Sag fell downwards, facing Zephyr, his hands combined again, Haki gathering in one place. At this time, one was below, one was above, meeting Zephyr's eyes.
"Tenshō..." (Heaven Commander...)
"Kid, let this old man tell you, Haki emission, this old man can do it too!"
Zephyr, with blood at the corner of his mouth, grinned ferociously at him. His clenched fist, at this moment condensed to the peak, completely ignoring Sag who was a long distance away, fiercely smashed down remotely.
"Don't underestimate 'Black Arm'!!"
A pillar-like airflow descended directly towards Sag's body.
Boom!!
In the stormy weather, a bolt of lightning suddenly exploded, instantly illuminating the dark sky. And the earth, following this thunder sound, suddenly collapsed, causing the port ground to undulate and seep seawater.
And in the center position, an even larger crater appeared, stirring up a huge cloud of smoke.
"Cough cough cough!"
Zephyr coughed violently in the air, his breathing becoming even more chaotic. The Haki on his fist gradually faded away. He gasped rapidly a few times, gritted his teeth fiercely, and condensed the faded Haki back onto his hand. Following his heavy fall, a hand-knife, like a black blade separating space, chopped straight down.
"It's over!!"
Buzz!
Just as the hand-knife chopped down, a strange pressure bloomed from within the smoke, causing Zephyr a momentary daze.
Haoshoku Haki!
Bang!!
The fierce hand-knife was blocked by two hands extending from the smoke.
The smoke blew away, revealing Sag's hands covered in black flowing fire. His body, which had fallen to the ground, became ferocious and expanded at this moment. His hands deadly blocked Zephyr's wrist, his teeth clenched tightly, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
"Oh cough cough cough! I see, you can recover Haki extremely fast, huh? You kid, your willpower is truly incredibly strong," Zephyr grinned, smiling.
"You old undying bastard!!"
Sag roared, his hands suddenly shifted sideways, forcefully moving Zephyr's hand away. His ferocious body quickly rose, fiercely headbutting Zephyr's forehead, knocking him staggering.
"Nn!!"
As Zephyr's head tilted back, he let out a muffled shout from his mouth, kicking like a sword towards Sag's heart nest, kicking him off the ground, his body subconsciously bending.
"Go die!"
Sag's eyes showed ruthlessness. Forcibly enduring the pain, he roared, backhanding a punch onto Zephyr's face, fiercely knocking him flying. But at the same time, Zephyr's fist also crashed forward, striking Sag squarely in the face, punching him off the ground and tilting backward. Both fell to the ground.
Dong!
As they fell, the two quickly bounced up and rushed towards each other.
Sag fiercely swung his arm, Haki wrapping around his forearm, fiercely slamming it into Zephyr's temple. Zephyr delivered a straight punch, the flowing fierce wind directly embedding itself in Sag's chest.
"Pu!"
"Cough!"
The two uniformly spat out blood. As Zephyr's head was knocked aside, his body moved forward, bringing his head crashing towards Sag's forehead.
Bang!
This collision knocked him back several steps. His shoulders trembled, and his face twisted extremely in pain. He clenched his jaw and fiercely kicked Zephyr's abdomen, kicking him so hard he bounced twice on the ground before rolling forward.
But at the same time, his own body also fell to the ground.
"Ha, ha…"
Zephyr lay prone on the ground, clutching his chest, gasping fiercely several times, and staggered to his feet.
Sag, however, squirmed on the ground for a long time, opened his mouth, and spat out another mouthful of thick blood before finally climbing up. His arms hung unnaturally at his sides.
From blocking Zephyr's hand-knife just now, both arms had been shattered. But it didn't hinder the fierce intent on his face.
Whoosh!
The fierce wind, along with the bean-sized raindrops, washed over the two. One weak and sickly, but unbelievably strong old man, and one youth who looked inhuman and was covered in injuries, faced each other in the wind and rain.
"Sag kid! How does it feel to fight an old man?!" Zephyr suppressed his gasping and shouted at Sag.
"Quite ordinary!"
Sag stared fiercely at him. "Carrying a whiff of earthy smell, already about to enter the grave. Don't struggle anymore!"
"Is that so."
Zephyr lowered his head and smiled, clenching his fist. "Arrogant kid, this old man must properly teach you what respecting your elders means!"
Sag's entire body turned pitch black, Haki covering his whole body. He said fiercely, "I only respect the dead! When you die, I'll build a grave for you!"
Zephyr shook his head and smiled. Just as he was about to move his feet, suddenly, a loud 'bang' sound spread. He subconsciously struck sideways, and an explosion erupted on his fist.
Cannonball?
Whoosh!
Before Zephyr could react, the sound of strong wind came from the side again, and a huge, incomparable stone flew over.
Boom!
But before the stone could get close, a red light flashed in Zephyr's eyes, and he smoothly blasted the large stone to pieces.
In the distance, Renettia unfolded her hammer cannon, aiming at Zephyr, while Marika maintained her throwing posture. In front of her, a large piece of the port ground was missing, seawater surging in.
Clang!
Just as he shattered the stone, a trace of cold light flashed from under the dark sky, heading straight for Zephyr's throat.
"Cough cough cough!"
Zephyr saw the cold light approaching. Just as he was about to make a move, his expression suddenly changed, his breathing became extremely rapid, and he began to cough violently, unable to hold it back any longer.
No matter how strong Haki was, humans were ultimately humans, ultimately flesh and blood.
Except for certain monsters possessing bodies like steel, impervious to knives and guns, normal people, no matter how strong, would be injured by swords if they slacked off.
Zephyr was ultimately just an ordinary person, and an old man with asthma.
From the beginning, he had been suppressing the onset of asthma. There were several times in the middle where he became weak due to asthma, giving Sag opportunities. Plus, with such a fierce battle, the asthma could no longer be suppressed.
And the cold light, as it approached, turned into a thin sword blade, about to pierce Zephyr's throat.
"Lily!!"
Buzz!
Suddenly, a loud shout stopped the sword light. Intense Haoshoku Haki even rolled open the sky, causing the clouds above to form a whirlpool shape.
Lily's figure froze there, turning her head to look blankly at Sag.
A large amount of scarlet bloomed in Sag's pupils. "Stop."
Lily pursed her lips, looked at Zephyr, who was already coughing non-stop, his figure bent over, nodded, and said, "Understood."
At this time, the scarlet in Sag's eyes dissipated. His figure shrank, returning to normal form.
Lily walked to Sag's side front position, still warily staring at Zephyr, and said, "Sag, we're ready."
On the Death Omen Star, all members had already boarded.
Sag glanced at Zephyr's hunched figure and slowly said, "I lost... Old man, keep your life well. You can only die by my hand!"
Saying this, he turned, took steps, and headed towards the Death Omen Star.
Lily, however, retracted her rapier into its sheath, glanced again at Zephyr, and said, "Shirai, this sword, I will be worthy of it."
Then, she quickly ran towards Sag, followed behind him, and boarded the Death Omen Star together.
"Dynamic Braking!"
Following a delicate, pretty voice from inside the black ship, the black ship quickly turned direction under the wind and rain, sailing away from the port at a speed far exceeding ordinary ships. Before long, it turned into an outline, and then disappeared on the sea horizon.
Immediately disappearing, was also the storm swirling over Loguetown. The dark heavy sky dissipated, revealing a slightly golden sunset. Its sunlight shone on the town, bringing a trace of brightness to the dampness and gloom brought by the bad weather.
The wind and rain stopped.
"Cough cough cough!"
Zephyr trembling took out something like an oxygen mask from his back waist, covered his mouth and nose, and took several deep breaths fiercely. The violent rise and fall of his chest finally eased.
After a while, he put down the mask in his hand, sat down with a plop, stared at the sea horizon for a long time, and then faintly sighed:
"Getting old..."
●●●
● 24 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
● https://www.patreon.com/c/Devmaya
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)