"Shishishishi!" With that eerie, unmistakable laugh, a swarm of bats fluttered through the air as Moria stepped into Zone 1.
"Dragon King Rosinante, I've been wanting to meet you for a long time! Fight me!" Moria bellowed the moment he arrived.
"Hehehe… looks like things are finally heating up over there too. Moria and Dark Thorn, huh? Fufufufu, Moria's ability can be quite a pain to deal with. If you're careless, you might just get burned. I wonder how you'll handle this, Rosinante," Doflamingo said from above, grinning wickedly as he watched from the sky.
"Moonlight Moria, is it? Didn't expect you to show up too," Rosinante said calmly. "But hold on a bit. Wait for the others to arrive first. That way, your odds of surviving might improve a little."
To be honest, Rosinante didn't think much of the current Moria. If it were the Moria from years later—after surviving the New World and before being crushed by Kaido—then perhaps Rosinante might have taken him seriously.
But this Moria? At best, Rosinante considered him a somewhat promising rookie. Compared to the underground elites still fighting their way forward through Enel's storms, Moria wasn't necessarily stronger. The only reason he'd reached this place so fast was because of his Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
"What do you mean by that?" Moria frowned, clearly irritated.
"He means," Dark Thorn said flatly, "that you can't beat him alone. You might as well wait for the others so you can all attack him together."
The killers of the underworld had no fondness for pirates—especially this one who swaggered in declaring that the trillion Berries would be his.
"What?! Rosinante, are you looking down on me?! I'm Moria! Moonlight Moria! Don't think that just because they call you the strongest rookie you can act so high and mighty! I'm not afraid of you!" Moria roared in fury.
As he shouted, he waved his arm, and the bats around him surged forward, flapping madly toward Rosinante.
"Oh? Looks like that side's started up too," Borsalino drawled, his tone lecherous and mocking. "That's the Moonlight Moria from the West Blue, right? The Shadow-Shadow Fruit user. Heard he's got some potential—one of the so-called new stars who rose up after the Pirate King's death. Creepy look though… is he even human?"
"Not worth watching," Sakazuki muttered with disdain. "Compared to Rosinante, these so-called supernovas are a joke. Not even in the same league."
Though Sakazuki wanted Rosinante dead, he still acknowledged the man's terrifying strength. That acknowledgment was exactly why he wanted Rosinante eliminated as soon as possible.
"I'm not looking down on you," Rosinante said, voice calm as steel. "I'm just stating a fact. If it's one-on-one… the battle will end in an instant."
His blade flashed—so fast it was like light slicing the air—and the swarm of bats was cleaved neatly in two.
"Fufufufu, don't underestimate Moria's ability," Doflamingo said, still laughing. "If you let your guard down, you might get caught off guard."
Doflamingo knew Moria well enough to understand how troublesome he could be.
Doflamingo considered himself stronger than Moria, but not by an overwhelming margin. Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit was unpredictable. If Rosinante really was as strong as rumored, then Moria didn't stand a chance—but if Rosinante got careless, Moria might just find a way to turn things around.
The bats Rosinante had sliced apart suddenly reformed, merging together until they took on the shape of another Moria!
So the real Moria was still standing back there? A clone? Dark Thorn's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Shadow Mage!" Moria roared.
The shadowly double lunged forward, its massive hand slamming toward Rosinante.
"Not bad," Dark Thorn muttered, impressed despite himself.
"It seems," Rosinante said evenly, "that you all don't quite understand where you stand."
As he spoke, his sword moved in one smooth, almost casual motion. A colossal slash tore through the air, cleaving straight through the shadow mage and continuing toward Moria himself.
Seeing the massive slash, Moria's expression changed drastically. He thrust his hands forward, arms coated with Armament Haki, and met the attack head-on.
But his face twisted in horror the next instant—the power behind the slash was beyond imagination. His feet dug into the ground as he was pushed backward, unable to stop himself from sliding.
Dark Thorn blinked, momentarily stunned.
Not because Rosinante's slash was overwhelmingly strong—but because it wasn't as powerful as he had expected.
The pressure Rosinante exuded was immense, yet this slash didn't quite match that feeling. It was certainly mighty, but in sharpness and precision, it was about on par with a typical swordmaster's strike.
A swordsman's rank is measured by the power and sharpness of his sword aura—the stronger and keener it is, the higher the level. Rosinante's strike had plenty of raw strength, but its edge wasn't as fearsome as Dark Thorn had imagined.
He'd seen swordsmen unleash far sharper strikes with similar force.
"Heh, looks like those days of basic sword training weren't for nothing," Rosinante said with a faint smile. "That slash has finally reached the level of a true swordmaster."
"Damn you, Rosinante!" Moria roared, panting heavily as he finally dispersed the slash's power. He'd blocked it—but barely, and the effort had left him winded.
At that moment, Dark Thorn's eyes glinted coldly. His hand drifted to the dagger at his waist.
Until now, Rosinante's presence had made him feel utterly hopeless about winning. But after witnessing that slash, a flicker of hope appeared in his heart.
Rayleigh, watching from the sidelines, caught that glimmer immediately. The old master smiled faintly.
"I'd advise you to wait a little longer," he said calmly. "If that last slash gave you the illusion that you can beat Rosinante… then I can only tell you—it's exactly that. An illusion."
"Shadow Horn Lance!" Moria bellowed. His shadow twisted and transformed into a long, spear-like weapon that thrust toward Rosinante.
But before the attack could even reach him, Rosinante's figure flickered—gone.
"You don't want to wait, huh?" Rosinante's voice murmured, suddenly appearing in front of Moria. "Then we'll start with you."
So fast! Moria's eyes went wide in disbelief. Rosinante had moved faster than he could see—no, faster than he could even perceive.
"Such incredible speed!" Dark Thorn whispered, his own face pale. As the Dark World's top assassin, speed was his pride—but compared to Rosinante's, his seemed like a crawl.
Before either could react, Rosinante extended a hand and struck.
It was a light punch—so light that it almost looked like a gentle tap, a hollow motion with no real strength behind it. Moria didn't even flinch.
"Hah! That kind of girly punch can't hurt me!" Moria sneered.
But the words had barely left his lips before his expression froze. His eyes bulged wide—then he spewed a torrent of blood.
Shock and disbelief filled his gaze. His eyes rolled white, and he collapsed limply to the ground.
"I told you," Rosinante said quietly, withdrawing his fist. "If it's one-on-one… the battle ends in an instant."