"Tekkai!"
"Hrah!"
All three Vice Admirals used Tekkai at once.
But—
"Hmph!"
They groaned in unison. Even with both Armament Haki and Tekkai reinforcing their bodies, Arthur's strikes were too heavy to endure easily.
"So Tekkai really is like a buff," Arthur mused inwardly. "With their level of strength, Armament Haki alone should have been enough to block me. The fact they need both means I've already forced them past their comfort zone."
And with that thought, he struck again.
Swish! Swish!
Arthur's swordplay flowed seamlessly. His system hadn't only granted him the Red Dragon bloodline and the sealed holy sword Excalibur, the Sword of Promised Victory.
On top of that, he had inherited the swordsmanship of the "Nightmare" and Arthur Pendragon himself—a true swordmaster.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Clear metallic sounds rang out as the Vice Admirals fought defensively. They hadn't expected Arthur's offensive to be this ferocious. His knight's armor was well-forged, layered with the resilience of the Red Dragon's Scales and reinforced with Haki. Against him, it was like fighting a man sealed inside a turtle shell—they couldn't find a weak point.
"Shigan!"
"Rankyaku!"
Clang!
Their blows barely scratched him. Arthur pressed forward.
"Hammer of the Wind King!"
"Rokushiki Secret Art—Rokuogan!"
One Vice Admiral countered head-on but was blasted back, coughing blood as Arthur's storm tore through him.
"Damn it!" he spat, stunned. His power… it's gotten even stronger? Impossible! How can someone's strength rise mid-battle like this?
Arthur exhaled deeply, his heart pounding. That last strike had consumed far more mana than he liked—nearly over his limit.
"Just as I thought," he muttered with a confident smile. "Half an hour. That's all I'll need to finish this fight."
Since awakening his Red Dragon bloodline to 10%, he hadn't truly tested its full amplification of his magic. Now he had.
Crack!
Arthur stomped, the ground splintering, and lunged forward at greater speed.
"Rokushiki—!"
"Sorry," Arthur cut him off, grinning. "The same trick won't work twice."
His invisible blade flared with cutting winds.
"Hammer of the Wind King!"
This time, its power doubled. One Vice Admiral, caught mid-judgment, was crushed by the gale and cleaved down by Arthur's unseen blade.
Arthur narrowed his eyes. Strange. His strength felt weaker than before. My first estimate was half an hour to defeat them—but killing them outright shouldn't have been possible so quickly. Unless…
He turned to the remaining two Vice Admirals, realization dawning. "The Rokushiki Secret Arts… or rather, the Rokuogan. The stamina drain on your bodies is enormous, isn't it?"
The two exchanged grim looks, stepping back. He was right.
The ambush had been carefully planned. Against anyone else—Kaido, or Arthur before his bloodline strengthened—the trap would've been certain death. But Arthur's sheer endurance had let him survive their "sure-kill" strike.
The Rokuogan, the ultimate technique of the Rokushiki, was devastating. But it also drained stamina and Haki at terrifying rates.
"In that case," Arthur said coldly, "this ends here."
"Hammer of the Wind King."
He moved like a storm, striking before they could recover. Against Arthur—whose greatest strength was endurance—their drained bodies stood no chance.
It was pure cleanup.
Moments later, the fight was over.
Swish!
Arthur's invisible blade carved a final arc, felling the last of the Vice Admirals. He didn't linger to savor the victory. Instinct screamed again—
"Buddha's Shockwave!"
"Quake Shock!"
Two attacks struck from behind at once.