The terrifying shockwave instantly swept across a thousand-meter area. Aside from the exceptionally strong, most people in its path were either blown away unconscious or killed on the spot.
All the live broadcast Den Den Mushi died, and the screen in the city square instantly went black. Some daring individuals stealthily headed towards the scene to watch.
Dust and smoke permeated the land. Figures darted through it – Moria, Riki, Jack, Jozu, and others. They had been thrown by the impact force and then quickly rushed back, wanting to see the result.
Waves of Observation Haki swept over the area, probing the situation within.
Bege stood there, Fire Cloud Sword in hand, unmoving. Lisen, however, had fallen not far away. His condition was far more horrific; his right hand, which had directly collided with the Fire Cloud Sword, was a bloody mess. Deep, bone-visible sword marks tore apart his right arm and even his body. Flesh was torn, and blood sprayed out freely, pooling beneath him in a crimson stain.
Lisen was not dead. He propped himself up with his left hand, managing to sit. A savage grin appeared on his face.
He raised his right hand, and a chilling white light pulsed on his fist, a light that was intensifying.
"I blocked it! I blocked your attack!"
"Commendable. But can you block my second sword strike?" Bege sneered, raising the Fire Cloud Sword once more. Lisen's expression changed drastically.
He struggled to his feet, a light fluctuating around his body; he was absorbing the impact from before and converting it into his own power.
Just as Bege was about to swing his sword, a figure charged over at astonishing speed, instantly leaping into the air behind Bege and to his side, then smashing a fist towards Bege's head from above.
Bege had already captured his movement. He turned and slashed with his sword. Blade and fist collided. The terrifying slash sent the person flying, crashing into the distant, shattered ground.
He flipped over and landed on his feet. This person was none other than Bisacchi Louis.
Bisacchi Louis's right hand trembled, blood dripping from his fist. The force of Bege's slash just now had been so powerful it had nearly severed his right hand.
He himself was also heavily injured. To defeat Marco, he had chosen to trade injuries, forcefully taking Marco down.
In the distant, broken ground, Marco lay, his face grim, the azure flames of the phoenix burning wildly around him, repairing his body.
"Louis, hold him off! I need to absorb the impact force in my body!" Lisen roared, white light emanating from him.
"How am I supposed to hold him off?" Bisacchi Louis's expression was extremely ugly. He had barely managed to block that last slash. In his current condition, he couldn't possibly stop Bege.
But he also knew that if Lisen was defeated, their Bisacchi family would lose this championship match.
Bege's gaze was icy. He raised his sword and charged towards Lisen. Bisacchi Louis gritted his teeth and transformed into a giant black bull. This black bull was three meters tall, its body a mass of rippling muscle. Its bull's head and horns were coated in Armament Haki. It charged wildly, further trampling the already shattered ground into pieces.
It aimed to collide with Bege with the most savage force.
"Courting death!" His eyes glinting with a deadly coldness, Bege swung his sword. A terrifying slash of blood-flame energy instantly struck the bull's head. The black bull's four hooves buckled, and it knelt on the ground, its momentum carrying it forward more than ten meters.
The Armament Haki on its head instantly shattered, and the sword energy tore open a massive wound.
The black bull knelt in the ruins, blood gushing from its head. It quickly transformed back into Bisacchi Louis, who collapsed to the ground, a gruesome sword gash on his head still bleeding.
Bege snorted coldly and walked past him. He had held back in that last slash; if he had used a "Beast King" strike, Louis would undoubtedly be dead.
At this moment, Lisen charged forward explosively. The aura around him was incredibly powerful. Having absorbed the impact force from Bege's "Beast King" slash, he had received an extremely strong enhancement. Leaping into the air, his iron fist, now radiating a dazzling light, contained an incomparably terrifying power. The very air seemed to distort beneath this punch.
Bege's pupils constricted. He simultaneously swung the Fire Cloud Sword, blood-flames surging, an extremely ferocious sword qi erupting.
"Beast King!"
The Fire Cloud Sword sliced through the air and collided with Lisen's iron fist.
At the moment of impact, Bege's pupils shrank to a pinpoint. He could feel the terrifying power erupting from Lisen's iron fist, assaulting him relentlessly like a great mountain, making his entire body tremble.
So this is the impact force of the Beast King slash!
Under this pressure, Bege's face contorted savagely, and he too unleashed all his strength to withstand the terrifying impact.
The instant they collided, the two terrifying forces formed a circular shockwave that blasted outwards in all directions.
The ground beneath his feet collapsed continuously four or five times in an instant. All the rubble within a hundred meters was pulverized into tiny pebbles. Sand and dust surged outwards like a tidal wave, resembling a sandstorm.
The crowd of onlookers was sent flying by the astonishing shockwave. Only Jozu, transformed into his diamond form, desperately resisted the impact, rushing towards Marco, picking him up, and using his own body to shield him from the blast.
After about ten breaths, due to the recoil from the collision, both men were simultaneously sent flying by the massive counterforce.
Bege skidded across the ground. Lisen tumbled through the air, and upon landing, couldn't maintain his balance, stumbling back tens of meters more.
But soon, these two figures, thrown hundreds of meters apart, after steadying themselves, once again sprinted at extreme speed, closing the distance, and then crashed into each other again, producing a thunderous, muffled roar.
Their figures became entangled, clashing fiercely, like bombs exploding, the din unceasing.
The ground continuously crumbled, slowly transforming into a massive basin.
"Your slashes will only make me stronger!" Lisen, bathed in blood, bleeding profusely, fought with increasing valor.
"Your strength is weakening. How many more of my slashes can you absorb?" Bege's gaze was sharp. In their multiple clashes, he had felt the power behind Lisen's punches diminishing – a signal that Lisen was now in a very bad state.
"How long can you last in your current state?" Lisen had likewise seen through Bege's condition. After unleashing two "Beast King" slashes consecutively, Bege had also consumed a tremendous amount of energy.
With a boom, the collision was even greater. A dazzling, powerful slash of blood-flame light flashed out. This time, only one figure was sent flying backward, smashing heavily onto the ground, skidding for over a hundred meters before crashing into the shattered spectator stands, further demolishing them.
"A victor has emerged! Who is it?!"
The crowd of onlookers immediately perked up, their Observation Haki rapidly blanketing the battlefield.
A figure walked out from amidst the swirling dust and smoke.
"It's Bege! Bege won!" Moria roared.
"Trash! Trash! What Undefeated Boxing King? All trash!" Taku growled in anger. He looked at that proud figure, his face so dark it seemed water could drip from it.
"Lisen lost?!" Bisacchi Bourne's expression was extremely ugly. He clenched his fists, the veins on his arms bulging.
This result was absolutely not what he had hoped to see.
Bege sheathed his sword, took a cigar from his pocket, lit it for himself, took a deep drag, and blew out a series of smoke rings.
Looking at Lisen, who lay like a man of blood, unconscious in the ruins, he said indifferently:
"I can!"
"Endure until you fall!"