Setting aside Oliver and Enel for a moment…
Facing the sudden eruption of Ryūkawa's Iai strike, Aeridar felt his scalp tingle. The sheer brilliance of that sharp blade-light brought with it a suffocating sense of crisis, a threat that could truly end his life.
Specifically, under Ryūkawa's ambush, the long-gestating Iai had unleashed such terrifying power and speed that Aeridar was caught completely off guard. He didn't even have time to raise his hand in defense.
"Shinra Tensei!"
With a single thought, Aeridar unleashed a powerful shockwave. Like a repulsive force, it sought to blast away everything in its vicinity. The very air was compressed into a near-visible atmospheric wall acting as a shield.
Suddenly, the ferocious, lightning-fast blade-light seemed to sink into a viscous mire, revealing the snow-bright edge of the steel. But that "slowing" was only relative; the blade continued to carry an incomparable sharpness. Cutting through the stagnant air, it moved with grim determination toward Aeridar's throat.
"Damn it!"
Aeridar stared at the approaching edge, veins bulging on his forehead. This strike was beyond his imagination. His hastily unleashed impact force was insufficient to stop Ryūkawa's momentum. He could only watch as the blade reached his neck.
Pop.
The air shimmered. Aeridar vanished instantly.
Shlik—! Rumble!
The invisible, razor-sharp gale following the blade acted like a scythe, leveling every tree within a hundred meters of Ryūkawa. Trunks toppled in a haze of rising dust, their cut surfaces as smooth as glass.
"Dammit... I missed!"
Ryūkawa looked at the faint smear of blood on the shining length of Kagekimaru Kunimitsu, and his expression soured.
A moment later, Aeridar reappeared beside Oliver.
"Captain!"
Oliver gasped at Aeridar's state. Aeridar was clutching a hideous wound on his neck; it was deep enough to have sliced into his trachea. Blood pulsed uncontrollably through his fingers.
However, Aeridar waved Oliver off, signaling he was fine. The wound was already beginning to close.
By now, Enel had regained control over his body, and the erratic electricity surging around him finally stabilized. Within seconds, Aeridar removed his hand. Countless tiny granulations of flesh were knitting together at high speed, closing the gruesome gash before their very eyes.
"Hey... is that cheating? How does he have that kind of recovery?" Ryūkawa stared, dumbfounded, at the disappearing wound.
"A new Devil Fruit ability? Or the Chris Pirates' bio-genetic technology?" Malha, who was well-informed, immediately began to speculate.
Seeing that Aeridar was out of danger, Oliver and Enel breathed a sigh of relief.
"I almost died. Truly... I underestimated you." Aeridar stared at Ryūkawa, his voice rasping. The killing intent in his eyes had become almost tangible.
To nearly have his head lopped off by a single strike, it was a profound humiliation. If his head had actually fallen, even Aeridar would have died.
"A pity I didn't finish you," Malha said grimly, his dark eyes locked on Aeridar.
"Yohehehe~ a monster in every sense of the word!" Ryūkawa flicked the blood from his blade, leaving a crimson line on the dirt.
Aeridar triggered a faint pulse of impact, shaking the remaining blood from his clothes.
"Bastard! I'm going to slaughter you!"
Seeing Aeridar was safe, Enel turned his fury toward Malha, the lightning on his body crackling violently.
"Careful, Enel. He likely has the Paramecia-type Deco-Deco Fruit. It has the power to decompose anything. It's a complete 'broken' ability!" Aeridar warned.
In Aeridar's knowledge, truly "broken" abilities were rare: Foxy's Slow-Slow Fruit, Sugar's Hobby-Hobby Fruit, or Bartolomeo's Barrier-Barrier Fruit. Others like Perona's Hollow-Hollow Fruit or Pudding's Memo-Memo Fruit might not have high raw combat power, but they were absolute in their specific niche.
However, this Deco-Deco Fruit was a "broken" ability with extreme destructive potential. Aeridar surmised that Enel had lost control because the ray had decomposed his body. Lightning decomposed into electrons; Enel had to regroup those electrons back into lightning before he could regain his form.
"Tsk! I don't care what ability it is. Everything is destroyed before my thunder!"
"El Thor!"
Enel bellowed in rage, thrusting his palm toward Malha. Blinding light erupted as a massive pillar of lightning roared forward.
"Great Deco-Deco Ray!"
Malha frowned and met the attack with his own palm. Green light surged into a pillar the size of a water barrel, colliding head-on with the lightning. There was no massive explosion, only the roar of thunder. The lightning pillar constantly vanished under the green light's assault, while the green pillar simultaneously depleted its energy.
"Leave Ryūkawa Jiku to me. This time, he dies! Two-Sword Style: Life-Slaying Slash!"
Oliver charged, wielding Nagamitsu and Mikazuki Munechika. A faint, almost imperceptible blood-red glow coated his blades.
"Stop dreaming! I'll take your head this time! One-Sword Style: Dragon Flash!" Ryūkawa met him head-on, his blade-light so sharp it seemed to pierce the very air.
Clang—!
The two crossed paths, a shockwave rippling through the clearing. The ground between them split open, cracks racing outward.
Rumble... rumble...
"Roar—!"
Suddenly, the earth buckled and heaved as if a thousand horses were stampeding. The terrain itself flipped over; massive amounts of soil, trees, and rocks twisted into several roaring, gargantuan lion heads.
Aeridar had crouched down at some point, his hand pressed firmly against the ground. "Hmph... if you have a broken ability, don't think mine is any less formidable! Die! Lion's Threat: Earth Bind!"
"Hold on! Reinforcements are coming!" Malha shouted toward Ryūkawa before several massive lion heads cut off his vision, surrounding him completely.
Crumble!
The earthen lions lunged, carrying tens of thousands of tons of debris. They snapped shut around Malha, burying him alive in an instant.
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