"Ragnar!"
"Did your father Kaido never tell you?"
"Devil Fruits may grant power, but only Haki can rule the world."
Red-haired Shanks narrowed his eyes. The sight of the three-headed, nine-eyed, eight-armed Nezha, blazing with divine fire behind Ragnar, stirred a flicker of emotion—but it quickly gave way to contempt.
"Gol D. Roger conquered the seas with Haki."
"I became one of the Four Emperors through Haki."
"Haki is the power that conquers all!"
With a voice as sharp as cold iron, Shanks raised Griffon. Lightning crackled as a blackened slash—wreathed in Conqueror's Haki—burst from his blade like a thunderclap.
Swish!
A slash of searing black and violet flew from Griffon, spiraling forward, warping the wind as it tore through space.
"Is that so?"
Ragnar's gaze remained calm, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.
"Then I'll take both... Devil Fruit and Haki."
"Because your Haki cannot conquer me."
He raised his three-pointed, double-edged spear—an extension of divine will—and slashed.
In that instant, the blazing figure of Nezha moved behind him.
As Ragnar swung, Nezha mirrored the motion, his eight arms wielding weapons wreathed in Samadhi Fire, unleashing them all at once toward the incoming Haki slash.
BOOM!
Fire and lightning met in midair.
The collision ignited a shockwave that spread outward in concentric ripples, bending the very air.
At sea level, the force shattered the ocean's surface into chaotic layers, throwing up monstrous waves—only to be vaporized the moment they rose by the infernal heat.
Fire and Haki clashed.
Heaven and earth groaned.
The battle distorted both sky and sea, twisting them like molten glass. From a distance, it looked as if a god and king were reshaping reality.
The climate fractured—a plaything in the hands of two cataclysms.
Dark storm clouds. Then torrential rain. Then a windless, blinding calm.
Reality shifted with every blow.
And then—
They pushed past their limits.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A blast roared out across a hundred miles, vaporizing clouds and tearing through the sea.
The heavens shook.
When the shock faded, the Samadhi Fire had vanished.
So had the crackling thunder of Haki.
Now—
In the burned and broken void—
Two figures remained.
Ragnar stood midair, divine and aloof like a god descending from heaven.
Shanks stood atop the sea, the sea itself trembling beneath his feet, like a sovereign born of conquest.
Both were bloodied.
Ragnar's silver armor had been split, revealing a deep slash that ran across his chest—something not even Aokiji at full power had managed to do.
Shanks was worse. His single remaining arm was scorched and cracked, and his body was lined with charred wounds. His cloak and clothes had long since burned away.
Yet neither man gave their injuries so much as a glance.
Their eyes locked.
Clang!
Invisible forces surged from their gazes alone.
Conqueror's Haki—one gold, one red—exploded between them like two rivers colliding, filling the battlefield once again with a blinding storm of will.
The signal of war was reignited.
Both men, bearing the wounds of their previous clashes, charged forward once more. Their blades—Ragnar's three-pointed, double-edged halberd and Shanks's Griffin—swung with lethal force.
Boom!
Even before steel met steel, the Conqueror's Haki infused in their weapons erupted violently.
A massive surge of black lightning exploded between them, tearing through the sea for a thousand meters around—cracking the air, splitting the heavens.
"You want to challenge me in spirit?"
"Ragnar!"
Red-Haired Shanks narrowed his eyes, a flash of imperial arrogance radiating from within.
"Do you know why I stand as an Emperor of the Sea?"
With that low growl, he poured more power into his Conqueror's Haki.
This wasn't just a duel.
He wanted to crush Ragnar's will.
To prove to all—to Yasopp's spirit watching from beyond, and to the world—that no upstart could challenge a King.
Yet beneath that burning hatred, Shanks remained painfully aware of the truth:
Ragnar wasn't just strong—he was terrifying.
Even among the Four Emperors, Ragnar's strength eclipsed most.
He couldn't kill him outright—not with sword nor Haki alone.
But perhaps, just perhaps, if he could break the divine warrior's spirit, then the rest of the world would follow.
Just as Shanks wrapped a new tide of Conqueror's Haki around Griffin, ready to strike—
He froze.
Ragnar was staring at him.
No, looking down on him.
It was the gaze of a god beholding a mortal's final moment.
A cold dread surged up Shanks's spine.
Something was wrong.
His instincts screamed at him to use Observation Haki, to foresee the next second.
But his rage had blinded him—
He couldn't activate it.
Then came the divine light.
From the center of Ragnar's brow, the Heavenly Eye opened.
And it shone.
"Not good!"
The moment Shanks met that vertical gaze, an overwhelming force descended on him like the weight of the heavens.
His mind was clear.
Painfully clear.
But his body—
Would not move.
As though chained by divine decree, he was paralyzed.
He could only watch in horror as the pupil between Ragnar's brows radiated divine might—
And fired beams of celestial light, like spears of judgment.
Each one aimed with precision.
Each one screaming toward his vitals.
Visit patreon.com/ShiroTL for more chapters.