The blood in Ares's veins surged from merely warm to boiling hot.
That rush of adrenaline, that euphoric high pulsing through every inch of his body, had him utterly immersed in a trance-like state. He loved this feeling craved it. The thrill of battle was intoxicating.
This was the kind of ecstasy only combat could bring.
The sensation of hot blood pumping through his limbs. The fierce tension in his coiled muscles. The explosive force that erupted with each strike. It was a symphony of power and Ares reveled in it.
And at the very moment he shouted "Rayleigh!"
He raised one arm skyward.
His five thick fingers tightened together, forming a bladed edge with the shape of a karate chop. His entire posture mimicked a technique of legendary swordsmanship like a warrior splitting a mountain with one bare-handed strike.
In that instant.
A brilliant arc of sword light burst forth from Ares's open palm.
"Fleshblade, Scalpel!"
To Ares, his body itself was a weapon.
Or rather he was the weapon.
It had always been his dream to turn his own body into a blade that surpassed even the twelve Supreme Grade swords.
That dream was the fire that drove him forward.
That dream was why he fought.
The moment Ares's arm lifted, Rayleigh the master swordsman himself sensed danger.
His pupils contracted.
His seasoned nerves tensed involuntarily.
He could feel it: the glint of death hidden within that dazzling arc of sword light.
It was beautifully radiant. And unimaginably sharp.
Rayleigh had no doubt if that slash landed, it would cleave any ordinary person cleanly in two.
"What a ferocious slash…"
He couldn't help but inwardly marvel.
The man named Ares, who had previously only used fists and brute force against Shiki and Sunbell… now revealed skill in swordsmanship that was anything but crude.
His palm alone could unleash a strike that rivaled blades.
That unexpected technique flickered a trace of surprise through Rayleigh's usually calm and composed gaze.
Yet even as admiration bloomed in his heart, Rayleigh's body moved without hesitation.
A battle-hardened pirate like him never let surprise slow him down.
In one smooth motion.
Rayleigh raised his blade. The tip of his longsword met the incoming slash with surgical precision.
CLANG!!!
A blinding shower of sparks erupted upon contact.
Orange flashes burst like fireworks across the field.
The metallic screech of steel-on-steel sliced into Rayleigh's ears, vibrating against his eardrums.
A roaring gust of wind tore across his face.
This was no ordinary slash.
Rayleigh's usually stoic face finally showed a shift.
Even his arm trembled slightly under the pressure though only for a second before he regained control.
Streams of dark purple Haki spiraled like turbulent currents from the hilt of his sword, racing along the blade until it coated the entire length.
In a blink.
His sword transformed into a Black Blade.
BOOM!
The blood-red slash that clashed against his sword shattered into brilliant fragments, then dissipated into nothingness.
That one probing strike…
Was enough to make Rayleigh fully understand:
The man before him Ares was terrifyingly strong.
Strong enough that defeating him would be no easy feat.
That feeling so sudden, so absolute rose within Rayleigh's heart. But not for a moment did it inspire fear.
If anything… it made him more serious.
Rayleigh's eyes sharpened, peering at Ares from behind the blade of his sword. In that fleeting moment, thoughts raced through his mind like lightning.
"This guy's slash isn't like others."
"Normal sword strikes focus on sharpness but his… carries terrifying brute strength."
"The average fighter wouldn't survive even one blow."
"The technique has traces of the Navy's Six Powers… and even hints of the Golden Lion's style."
"How the hell did he come up with this kind of attack?"
Rayleigh had seen all kinds of elemental slashes before flaming swords, lightning-infused strikes.
But none of them came close to the visceral power packed into Ares's blows.
It was raw. Savage. Pure.
The sheer force behind Ares's technique left Rayleigh feeling like each swing came with the weight of a mountain.
No wonder this man could overpower giants like Shikar in terms of physical strength. But what made Ares truly terrifying… was that he had learned how to fuse that strength into his slashes.
Rayleigh's mind worked in overdrive.
His adrenal glands pumped furiously, flooding his body with energy.
Even his breathing quickened.
Just one strike had pushed him to this point.
Yet in that moment, Ares's eyes lit up.
A glint of excitement flickered across his face as he watched Rayleigh's blade shimmer with Haki.
"Not bad. That's a fine Armament Haki."
"Then let me show you… my own unique version."
As he spoke.
Ares manipulated the blood rushing through his arm, accelerating its flow. Every vein, every muscle fiber, every tendon he synchronized them perfectly.
One body. One weapon.
Hiss…
White steam began rising from his skin.
His entire arm turned crimson, as if drenched in blood or coated with molten lacquer.
"Crimson Armament, Bloodwave Slash!!"
As the prized pupil of the Golden Lion, Ares had naturally inherited the master's famed technique Bloodwave Slash.
But unlike the Golden Lion's golden-hued slashes…
Ares's were a deep, ominous blood red.
A sword light thirty meters wide ripped through the sky.
The instant he unleashed the slash, however, Ares frowned.
It didn't feel right.
It wasn't perfect.
Even amid battle, his mind kept working.
"This strike… doesn't fully fuse with my Crimson Armament."
"It's incomplete."
"What's missing? How do I perfectly merge my Haki into the slash?"
In that moment.
His mind drifted to a memory.
To a lesson from the Golden Lion, Shiki.
Cigar in mouth, that wild man had once told him:
"The essence of a slash is speed and power. Simple, right? But every swordsman has their own journey, their own insights. That's why no two slashes are the same."
"It's okay to be different."
"But in the end, it all comes back to speed and strength."
"You gotta learn to see what's inside someone else's slash."
"Technique is just surface stuff. It's the core that matters."
Shiki had never explained everything outright.
He hadn't wanted to create a "Mini Shiki."
What he wanted…
Was for Ares to become a singular force.
An unparalleled swordmaster.
To walk a path no one else could.
As the saying goes.
A master shows you the door, but the path is yours to walk.
A perfect copy is just a shadow.
It can never surpass the original.
Fixed thinking would only limit Ares.
That's why Shiki never forced specifics. He wanted to see Tengetsu Ares become something greater a true legend of his own making.
And now
In the middle of this life-or-death clash, those words echoed in Ares's mind.
"The essence of a slash…"
He whispered the words to himself.
Then he asked, almost without realizing
"And what about the essence of Haki?"
Somehow…
He knew.
If he could unlock the core truth of Haki, he wouldn't just evolve.
His swordsmanship would undergo a complete transformation.
A qualitative leap.
A breakthrough into something never before seen.
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