Of course, movement speed didn't necessarily mean attack speed.
Even if you could move as fast as light—could your attacks really be as fast as light too?
That was why fighters like Golden Lion Shiki had long since stopped chasing after mere speed. There was no point. Even if you could move faster than anyone else, someone like him could simply stand there, wait for you to approach, and cut you down in a single stroke.
Attack speed depended entirely on one's own skill.
And Borsalino—did he truly have the speed of light? Sure, the Glint-Glint Fruit granted him the potential of light-speed movement, but the one controlling that power was still Borsalino, a human.
No matter how incredible a Devil Fruit's ability might be, it was still bound by the limits of its user.
Borsalino had already stepped into admiral-level power, his body breaking past its natural human limits—his reflexes and neural responses were far beyond normal, allowing him to wield the Glint-Glint Fruit with terrifying precision.
But even so, he still couldn't truly attack at light-speed.
So yes, Borsalino's speed was undeniably fast—but not as unstoppable as it first appeared.
And since light could only travel in straight lines, if you could predict his landing point, his speed was not invincible. That was how Rosinante could keep up with him.
"You're bluffing," Borsalino said with an exasperated look.
"I'm really not," Rosinante replied with a calm smile.
The moment the words left his lips, both fighters unleashed their full strength. Their blades clashed, ringing sharply through the air.
They had both stopped trying to out-speed each other—there was no point anymore. Each knew the other's speed now, and speed alone would no longer decide the fight.
Instead, their swords became the focus, their slashes growing fiercer by the second. Though their swordsmanship itself was simple, their strength, speed, and mastery of their Devil Fruits elevated every strike into something far beyond ordinary swordplay.
"Alright, enough testing each other—don't you think it's time to get serious? Even I'm getting a little bored," Borsalino said with a lazy grin, blocking Rosinante's strike.
Testing?
Was that what they'd been doing this whole time?!
First it was just "warming up," now it was only "testing"?
How much more shocking could these two get?!
Around them, everyone's faces were blank with disbelief.
"Heh, so you weren't serious just now? That's terrifying—I was already going all out!" Rosinante laughed.
"You're lying," Borsalino replied flatly.
Then suddenly—both moved at the same time.
Twin beams of light shot forward, swords flashing as they struck.
"Heaven-Crushing Slash!" Rosinante roared.
"Ame-no-Murakumo!" Borsalino called out.
BOOM!
Their blades collided and a massive explosion erupted, swallowing them both in a blazing inferno.
"Rosinante!" Robin cried out in terror, taking a step forward—but Shaxia quickly held her back.
"Stay calm. Something like this isn't enough to bring His Majesty down," Shaxia said, though her own expression was grim.
Robin stopped but her face remained pale, her gaze locked on the center of the explosion.
"Light-Speed Kick!" Borsalino's voice suddenly rang out from within the smoke.
"Crushing Fist – Critical Strike!" Rosinante's voice followed immediately after.
The resulting explosion was even more devastating, the shockwave ripping through the battlefield.
"This is insane. If we stay here, we'll be caught up in it!" Benn Beckman barked, his tone deadly serious.
"People of the Grey Kingdom, fall back with us! If their next attack reaches us, we'll all be in trouble," Shanks ordered.
"But Rosinante—!" Robin started to protest.
"Relax. He's the Dragon King, Rosinante. This isn't enough to bring him down. Sengoku's shockwaves were far more destructive, and he still withstood those. If we stay here, we'll only distract him," Shanks said firmly.
"Fall back. We're just making His Majesty worry by staying here!" Ryan said as he moved to lead the group away.
At the same time, cold sweat was pouring down the faces of the surrounding Marines.
"Fall back! Everyone fall back—but keep formation! Don't let the pirates escape!" the rear admiral barked out his orders.
They should have used the chaos to launch an assault on the Red-Hair Pirates, but with Shanks' crew standing so close to Raine's group, they couldn't risk provoking a full-scale war with the Grey Kingdom.
They weren't Borsalino, and the World Government had specifically ordered them not to create unnecessary conflict with the Grey Kingdom—for now.
But they couldn't withdraw either. So they were forced to slowly retreat, trying to avoid getting caught in the crossfire—while desperately maintaining their formation.
"I heard you awakened your Devil Fruit at Marineford—enough to shake heaven and earth. Why haven't you used it yet? Don't tell me you still can't fully control your awakened power," Borsalino's voice said as a flash of light shot out of the smoke—he was completely unharmed.
"To deal with you? I don't think I need to use my awakened power just yet," Rosinante replied as he emerged from the explosion as well, completely calm.
"You're making things difficult for me. I am at admiral-level, you know," Borsalino said, almost pouting.
Even as he spoke, his leg lifted—light gathering at his foot before he kicked, sending a blinding laser beam straight at Rosinante.
Rosinante tilted his head just slightly, letting the beam pass by him harmlessly. It slammed into one of the massive Yarukiman Mangrove trees.
BOOM!
The tree exploded, its massive trunk blown clean in half.
"This guy is completely out of control!" Shanks exclaimed, shocked that Borsalino had just casually blown apart one of the seventy-nine giant mangroves that made up the Sabaody Archipelago.
Every single tree was critical to the island's stability—and Borsalino had just kicked one apart like it was nothing.