Roger grinned broadly.
He casually greeted Sakazuki without a care.
Sakazuki, however, gave no response.
The power in his hand intensified.
Seeing this, Roger's smile faded slightly, and he tightened his grip.
Buzz—!
A blinding white light burst forth.
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion erupted from the two as its center, expanding outward.
It destroyed everything on the ground in its path, sweeping through the area.
When the white light dissipated, only a barren wasteland remained.
The two stood a hundred meters apart, facing each other.
Sakazuki activated his ability, his skin glowing red as lava flowed beneath the surface.
Blinding golden light flared from his eyes.
Waves of intense heat surged from his body.
Magma Mode—activated!
With a flourish of his long blade, he gripped it with both hands.
He stomped forward, and a massive burst of force from his back propelled him toward Roger.
The hundred-meter distance vanished in an instant.
He slashed down with his long blade, and vents opened at his shoulders and elbows.
Endless heat waves blasted forth, adding force to his strike.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
The sound of clashing blades rang endlessly, the swords in their hands leaving afterimages as they fiercely collided.
Waves of sword energy burst out from the impact, flying off in unknown directions.
The only evidence of their ferocious exchange was the endless crisscrossing trenches carved into the ground.
Unlike Sakazuki's expressionless face—
Roger kept his usual carefree grin.
Clang!
Their weapons clashed again. Roger chuckled with a hint of mockery:
"Don't go dying on me, Navy."
"Divine Departure!"
Roger gripped his blade with both hands, the biceps on his arms bulging and stretching his shirt.
The Supreme Grade blade in his hand was wrapped in spiraling Conqueror's Haki.
He slashed toward Sakazuki.
Sakazuki remained unfazed and raised his blade to meet the strike.
Clang!
A devastating force surged forward.
The Armament Haki on the magma blade rapidly broke apart.
In moments—
Crack!
A crisp sound of shattering rang out.
A wave of black sword energy shattered the magma blade and flew straight at him.
Sakazuki's pupils shrank sharply.
BOOM!
The black sword energy streaked across the sky like a meteor.
It destroyed everything in its path and slammed into a distant mountain.
Half of the mountaintop was sliced clean off.
Roger held his blade in his right hand, resting the spine on his shoulder.
He glanced around:
"Missed, huh?"
Then he grinned again, unconcerned.
He looked toward the outskirts of the town.
There, a newly arrived army from the Kingdom of Darlons had appeared.
He stepped toward that direction, but the moment his foot landed—
It sank halfway into the ground.
...
Suddenly, the land within a hundred-meter radius of Roger began to shift and squirm.
Endless magma erupted from the ground and rapidly boiled.
BOOM!
Like a volcanic eruption—
A hundred-meter-wide pillar of magma burst from the earth, wrapped in thick black smoke, and shot into the sky.
The ground cracked apart as if unable to withstand the eruption.
The magma that soared into the clouds exploded amidst the black mist.
Chunks of lava fell like a rain of fire onto the town.
At that moment, it was as if the entire island saw a flash of light streak by—like a hallucination.
But submerged in the magma, Sakazuki knew—it was no illusion.
A beam of light sliced through, cutting the sky-bound magma pillar clean in two.
Roger stood there with only a slight tear in his clothes.
He pointed his blade downward, gripped it with both hands, and plunged it into the magma.
RUMBLE!
The earth split in two, forming a deep rift that stretched beyond the horizon.
The magma beneath the surface was thoroughly disturbed—unable to erupt again.
...
Underground, submerged in the lava, Sakazuki activated his ability.
The town above was now completely submerged in magma, resembling a hell of molten rock.
Under Sakazuki's command, the magma spun rapidly, surging toward Roger.
Tornadoes of lava formed one after another, encircling him layer by layer.
Roger, however, didn't find it difficult to deal with these lava tornadoes—each swing of his sword shattered them.
But the problem was that they kept forming, layer upon layer—endlessly.
After slicing through several more, Roger began to lose patience, a glint of savagery flashing in his eyes.
He turned toward the Darlons Kingdom's garrison outside the town and shouted with wild fury:
"Divine Departure!!"
A black crescent sword energy over three hundred meters long slashed toward the garrison outside the town.
The magma twisted and squirmed—Sakazuki's figure solidified.
He appeared in front of the sword energy and pressed both hands to the ground:
A massive three-hundred-meter-long magma sword erupted from beneath the earth.
Coated in Armament Haki, it rammed straight into the incoming slash from Roger.
BOOM!!!
A massive burst of energy exploded where the magma and sword energy clashed, spraying outward.
Everything around them was destroyed.
But Sakazuki remained where he stood.
He let the force of the explosion slam into him, tearing through his body.
In the next instant, the magma surged and healed his wounds. He wasn't standing still—he was...
Roger appeared a short distance away.
His Conqueror's Haki locked onto Sakazuki.
His long blade was wrapped in the same Haki, ready to strike at any moment.
A savage glint flashed in his eyes, his face like that of a demon.
He glared at Sakazuki:
"So you've finally stopped running, Navy brat."
Sakazuki looked at Roger and mocked:
"Only know how to swing your sword at the weak, sea trash."
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