"Gagagaga! The Reaper versus the Dragon King—now that's a rare sight! Tell me, Dark Thorn, how do you still have the mood to stand around watching? The slave army outside is taking heavy losses. If you don't hurry up, your master's going to be furious!"
As the Reaper's scythe danced through the air, unleashing waves of deathly slashes, more figures appeared—Killer Ghost, Blade Wolf, Oni Warrior, and the others finally stepped into Zone One.
But their appearance was nothing short of miserable. Their bodies bore wounds, their subordinates were nearly all dead, and the few survivors who staggered in behind them looked half-alive.
"How about you try your luck then?" Dark Thorn said coldly, his voice calm but cutting. "Join up with the Reaper—if you can help him bring down the Dragon King, I'll make sure the Lord pays you ten times your usual bounty."
Killer Ghost shivered, glancing at the storm of black slashes spinning through the air. "I'll… pass. The Reaper doesn't need anyone's help. He's a living legend, remember?"
Dark Thorn had only said it half in jest—he never truly intended to send Killer Ghost in. If the Reaper failed, he would still need every able body left to take Rosinante down.
And besides, Rosinante wasn't alone. Even if you ignored the warriors of the Grey Domain, there was still that so-called "spectator," the Dark King Rayleigh, standing nearby. He claimed he wouldn't intervene—but who could believe that?
This was bad. The manpower gap was far too wide. If things continued like this, their chances of victory were close to zero.
Dark Thorn frowned deeply. He hadn't expected that out of more than a hundred thousand fighters, only a handful would make it this far.
The plan had been simple: use the masses to wear down the Dragon King and the Grey Domain's forces. No matter how powerful they were, sheer numbers should have drained them dry.
But reality was brutal. Most never even laid eyes on their target before dying. It wasn't just the Dragon King—the entire Grey Domain's might had far exceeded imagination.
Then again, who could've predicted that the Grey Domain had both spatial weaponry and strategic-level Devil Fruits like the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the Cloud-Cloud Fruit at their disposal?
Let's hope the Reaper at least drains Rosinante's strength, even if he can't kill him… otherwise—
Just as that thought crossed Dark Thorn's mind, Rosinante's voice thundered across the battlefield:
"Silence!"
At once, the Reaper froze. The endless wave of deathly slashes halted midair, and for the briefest instant, he stopped moving.
That instant was all Rosinante needed.
"Sky-Crushing Slash!"
Rosinante's eyes flashed like lightning as he swung his blade.
A razor-thin arc of sword light flew forth. The Reaper was still stunned by the sudden paralysis—he couldn't react in time. The blade struck cleanly.
This "Sky-Crushing Slash" looked deceptively simple, much slimmer than the titanic versions Rosinante once unleashed that split sky and earth alike. This time, it was as narrow and unassuming as any ordinary swordsman's strike—perhaps even smaller.
But when it hit the Reaper, the power hidden inside erupted like a caged storm.
The Reaper was swallowed whole by the explosion of force.
The Sky-Crushing Slash was born from Rosinante's Collapse Fist technique—an attack that condensed power into a violent burst—but now wielded through a sword.
In the past, Rosinante's swordsmanship hadn't been refined enough; his so-called Sky-Crushing Slash was really just a Collapse Fist blast channeled through a blade. It looked spectacular, but the actual power was limited.
Even if he'd struck with a brick instead of a sword, the results wouldn't have differed much.
Now, however, things were different.
Rosinante had become a true swordsman. His new Sky-Crushing Slash wasn't merely a punch disguised as a slash—it was a genuine sword technique.
Every ounce of strength, every thread of sword aura, was compressed into the blade, turning it into a strike of pure penetration and explosive release.
To the eye, it seemed ordinary—almost too simple. But the moment it landed, it shattered everything.
The strike cleaved the Reaper's scythe in two before piercing straight through his body. As it passed, arcs of sword energy burst outward from the wound, carving dozens of deep gashes all across the Reaper's form.
And even after punching through his body, the slash did not stop.
It kept going.
The ground split beneath its path, a deep scar slicing straight across Zone One, stretching all the way toward the illegal districts beyond.
Everything it touched—trees, rocks, people—was sliced clean in half.
Ordinary sword slashes weaken as they travel. The Sky-Crushing Slash, however, only grew stronger, expanding instead of fading.
By the time it reached the outskirts, the once-thin beam of energy had swollen to ten times its original size. It struck a Marine warship anchored in the harbor—and split it cleanly in two.
Then another. And another.
Four warships were severed in succession before the slash finally plunged into the sea, tearing a massive gorge into the ocean itself. Waves roared and crashed violently against the sky.
"M-Monster… Is that something we can even fight against?" Killer Ghost stammered, eyes wide with disbelief.
Dark Thorn said nothing. His expression was unreadable, but the silence spoke louder than words.
Blade Wolf, on the other hand, trembled from head to toe. As a swordsman himself, the sheer mastery on display left him shaken to his core. Rosinante's technique, his control over power, the precision of his blade—all of it was beyond comprehension.
Even Rayleigh, watching from the sidelines, raised his brows in mild surprise.
He had seen Rosinante use the Sky-Crushing Slash before, but never like this. Now that the move had evolved into a true sword technique, its destructive potential was on an entirely different level.
Though no one had formally taught him, Rosinante's insight—and his uniquely honed Observation Haki—were far beyond the norm. A decade of relentless refinement had turned his original hybrid technique into something entirely new.
A top-tier strike, worthy of the greatest swordsmen in history.
"Fufufufu… What an outrageously reckless attack!" Doflamingo laughed wildly. "So strong it's almost despair-inducing!"
Rosinante glanced down at his blade, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Not bad… but there's still room for improvement."
His Observation Haki told him the same thing—the strike could be even sharper, even more complete.
But with his current level of swordsmanship, this was his limit.
If he could one day step into the realm of the Great Swordsmen… then the Sky-Crushing Slash would ascend again—into something truly divine.