Chapter 100: Who Do You Think I Am?!
"Forbidden?"
Zoro looked past Lily towards the royal palace behind her, a corner of his mouth lifting. "I understand. You must have set some kind of trap here, making me search for so long!"
Lily shook her head. "There's no trap. I also don't know why you've been wandering here for so long. If you truly wanted to go to the royal palace, you should have arrived long ago."
After coming out of the royal palace, she had taken a few subordinates to loot nearby, while she herself stood on a rooftop, observing Sag's battle in the distance.
Then she saw, amidst the streets filled with battling King's Army and Rebel Army soldiers, a green-algae head abruptly appear, running around randomly in circles.
Lily didn't even know where his destination was because this random turning was like drawing circle after circle, spiraling until he reached her street…
"I just don't know the way! Who made the streets here so hard to navigate!" A vein popped on Zoro's forehead.
Doesn't know the way…
Lily twitched the corner of her mouth. "Directionally challenged to this degree?"
"That kind of thing isn't important!"
Zoro looked towards the royal palace behind Lily. "The royal palace is behind you, right? I just need to go past here to get there."
"Logically speaking, yes," Lily nodded. "But as I said, it's forbidden."
Zoro drew the two swords from his waist and grinned fiercely. "I see. Are you going to stop me? You seem like a very good swordswoman, but it's better if you step aside. I'm not like that lecherous cook; even if it's a woman, I will cut."
Although he didn't quite understand why this woman wouldn't let him enter the royal palace, it didn't matter…
Defeat her, and he could pass!
Click.
Lily more directly gripped the hilt with her right hand, drawing the brightly shining blade with a click.
Against this kind of stubborn man whose head was clearly blocked, talking sense was impossible.
The most effective way to stop someone wasn't persuasion, but directly knocking them down.
The sword at her waist wasn't just for decoration.
The rapier blade, only two fingers wide, emitted a dazzling light under the sunlight. At first glance, it looked like intense daytime thunder, extremely bright.
Zoro narrowed his eyes slightly. "A rapier? Looks like a good sword…"
Lily held the rapier vertically before her, her gaze gradually turning cold along with the blade's light. She said faintly, "The sword's name is 'Shirai,' one of the Ryō Wazamono fifty craft. Also, women…"
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Lily disappeared from the spot. The light of the blade echoed like thunder in the air.
The extreme speed greatly startled Zoro. His pupils locked tight, and he subconsciously raised his twin swords.
Ding!
The tip of Shirai struck the exact center of the crossed swords. The impact force from the extreme speed thrust pushed him back half a step involuntarily.
He forcefully parried the rapier away. Just as his twin swords were about to chop down, he heard a chih sound. With a stunned expression, that trace of cold light appeared from his chest area down to his waist, bringing forth a spray of blood.
Pained, Zoro gritted his teeth, bringing his twin swords down fiercely.
Whoosh!
The sharp blades cut through the air, but the cold light in front had already withdrawn.
Lily stood firm on the ground, Shirai's blade pointing downwards, letting the blood on the rapier drip off. Continuing her unfinished sentence from before, she said, "…can also be very strong."
So fast, there was no time to defend!
Zoro lowered his head, looked at the bloodstain spreading on his waist, and said gravely, "A fast sword?"
"Yes. Compared to men, women are weaker in stamina and strength. Under the same tempering, surpassing them is ultimately impossible. But that doesn't mean there aren't other means. Strength isn't necessarily just about physical force…"
Lily said, "Speed is also a kind of strength. Swordsman, this is a duel with real swords, a battle of life and death. Don't be careless just because I'm a woman."
Whoosh!
Just as her voice fell, Lily thrust her rapier straight forward, turning into an afterimage, bringing the cold gleam of the blade rushing over.
Zoro held Yubashiri in a reverse grip with his right hand, crossing it horizontally above and below with Sandai Kitetsu in his left hand. "Nitōryū: Nigiri!" (Two Sword Style: Two Slash!)
When it came to fast swords, he knew them too. This 'Nigiri' stance was precisely for rapid slashes.
Ding!
The reverse-gripped Yubashiri blocked the incoming, extremely fast thunderous light. As sparks flashed, Shirai's rapier blade thrust onto Yubashiri's blade, forcing the light back, and also checking the figure of Lily holding the sword behind it.
Ka!
The instant it was blocked, Zoro quickly swept Yubashiri downwards, the blade sliding along the middle section of Shirai, pushing upwards. Simultaneously, his body lowered, and the Sandai Kitetsu in his left hand slashed horizontally towards Lily's exposed opening.
The speed of his swing was no slower than Lily's thrust!
Whoosh!
But this slash ultimately hit empty air. As Sandai Kitetsu approached, Lily's feet twisted open, her figure becoming an afterimage, letting the sharp blade cut nothing but air.
"I can catch up!"
But just as Lily disappeared, Zoro stomped on the ground. An incomparably huge impulse shot his body forward, chasing the retreating figure. His twin swords slashed horizontally.
"Nigiri: Hirameki!" (Two Slash: Flash!)
"Lightning Waltz."
Just as the sharp twin swords were about to hit the figure, the figure suddenly swayed open. The cold gleam of the blade carried the body as it disappeared, presenting a disordered flash of lightning, dodging the twin sword slash while also slamming towards Zoro's chest.
Zoro subconsciously defended backward. But just as his blade was about to approach the lightning flash, he suddenly sensed something. The forward-moving blade suddenly flipped, using the back of the blade to block the incoming thrusting sword.
Clang!!
Sparks flew from the backs of the twin swords. The cold light drilled past, thrusting into his chest, pointing out a flower of blood.
"Hah!!"
Zoro roared loudly, swinging his arms fiercely, parrying the rapier forward, reversing, and cutting towards Lily.
Whoosh!
The cold light rose again, quickly pointing out two more blood flowers on Zoro's body. Like thunder, it flashed past the sword slash. The lightning dashed to Zoro's side and stopped, revealing Lily's figure.
She flicked the blood from her sword tip downwards. "Is this all?"
Zoro stood in place, lowered his head to look at his continuously bleeding chest, then raised his eyes and glanced at Yubashiri.
Just now, it wasn't out of mercy that he used the back of his blade to strike; it was purely because he sensed danger. If he had used the edge, it was very likely…
"It's cracked."
On the back of Yubashiri's blade, an opening was clearly chopped out, cracking all the way to the junction of the spine and the edge.
"This sword, according to the Loguetown owner, also belongs to the Ryō Wazamono fifty craft, the same as your sword, right…"
As famous swords, although each workmanship was different, their hardness and sharpness were incomparable to ordinary steel. Like crappy swords made of ordinary iron, Zoro himself could chop them烂 (rotten/broken) with a little time.
But encountering slightly better steel, Zoro couldn't cut it, let alone a sword of the same level like this, clearly broken open by one sword strike. That wasn't comparable to just chopping something烂…
Zoro turned his head to look at Lily, saying gravely, "Do you know 'Cutting Steel'?"
What Koushirou said about cutting nothing, yet cutting everything – did it refer to this?
"Quick reaction."
Lily nodded, acknowledging it. "If you had blocked with the edge, your sword might have become unusable."
Cutting Steel was not Haki.
Sag said it wasn't the perceptible Kenbunshoku, nor the power-increasing Busoshoku, but like 'Life Return' for martial artists, it was a realm belonging to swordsmen.
Sensing the Breath of All Things to find its weak point, thus breaking it open with the sword.
As a woman whose stamina and strength were not her strong points, sometimes finding an alternative path was necessary to become stronger.
Lily, besides daily training, also meditated as Sag suggested, striving to strengthen this Breath of All Things. It was just that the results weren't sufficient yet.
Otherwise, even the back of a famous sword of the same level, she should have been able to cut it.
"You woman… are really strong."
An unusual brilliance erupted in Zoro's gaze. He tore the cloth from his arm and tied it around his head.
He drew the white sword from his waist. "This sword is called 'Wadō Ichimonji'. The Loguetown owner said it's one of the Ō Wazamono twenty-one craft."
He bit the hilt. The eyes beneath the green bandana became fierce and fiery. He grinned.
"Three swords…"
Lily paused slightly. "Strange swordsman. You seem very happy. Do you think you're certain to win?"
Zoro crossed his hands, making the two swords in his hands stand vertically at his sides. The horizontal blade of Wadō Ichimonji formed a cross shape with the two swords. He said gravely:
"I just discovered a possibility and feel excited! You are a very strong swordswoman. I will use my full strength to fight you. Don't die!"
Kuina's words weren't entirely correct!
Right before him was a strong enemy, showing a different path for a swordsman!
As long as he could survive her full-strength battle!
Then, after the voyage ended, he could go tell Kuina. Besides the world's number one great swordsman, the sea also had different kinds of strong female swordsman enemies.
"Seems you're full of confidence. Good spirit." Lily gripped her sword tightly. "Alright, let me be the one to crush this spirit of yours!"
Whoosh!
Light like thunder stirred up again. Lily's figure turned into an afterimage and disappeared, only the light of the blade showing in this space, instantly thrusting towards Zoro.
"Hakūzan!" (Space-Breaking Slash!)
"Santōryū…" (Three Sword Style…)
Zoro's body bent slightly, head raised, staring intently at the attacking blade light. His two swords quickly crossed, bringing the third in his mouth along, fiercely chopping forward.
One sword attacks, one sword blocks, one sword covers the gap opened by dodging.
Like an evil demon in hell that can freely grab people!
"Oni! Giri!" (Demon Slash!)
Zoro roared loudly. The edge light from the crossing of the three blades rushed straight towards the lightning flash, his eyes carrying the aura of viewing death as returning home (fearless determination).
He couldn't keep up with this speed, but as a swordsman, it wasn't necessary to keep up to fight the enemy.
Exchanging injury for injury, catching the opponent was enough!
Lily, rapidly thrusting forward, also discovered the ingenuity of this move. At her speed, as long as she didn't get close to the pincer attack of the three swords, she could definitely find another chance.
But Lily had absolutely no such thought!
As a swordswoman, how could she lack even the courage to face the challenge?
Dodging once was easy, dodging a second time was also easy, but should she dodge just because she encountered something?
Then what kind of navigator for Sag would she be!
Not to mention, the eyes of this green-algae head swordsman clearly carried mockery.
He dares to advance without hesitation… Do you dare?
"Who do you think I am?!"
Lily's pupils tightened, shouting delicately, "It's just a pincer attack! Pierce the surface with a point, rush through!"
The surging sword light forward brightened greatly at this moment, transforming into surging thunder, heading straight for the blade light blocking from three sides.
Boom!!
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