"This... This can't be?!"
Dragon's voice was a low growl of disbelief.
He stared at the man cloaked in black energy, an unprecedented unease rising in his heart.
The very laws of nature, the wind that was his to command, had been severed.
This was a situation he had never encountered before.
Before he could ponder it further, the world dissolved into a blur.
"Whoosh—"
Mike appeared before him like a ghost, his right hand raised high with the inky-black, ethereal blade emanating a soul-chilling gleam through the curtain of rain.
His gaze was as cold and sharp as the abyss itself, locking onto Dragon.
"Next—"
'Danger!' Dragon's heart seized.
Years of combat experience screamed at him that this next strike was lethal.
Without a moment's hesitation, he coated his entire body in the hardest Armament Haki he could muster.
"Storm Shield!"
Pushing his Devil Fruit to its absolute limit, he forcibly drew every ounce of wind from the surrounding sea, constructing an impenetrable, multi-layered barrier of raging tempests around his armored form.
"Beneath the moonless sky, all things shall be extinguished," Mike's cold voice devoid of all emotion rang out.
He raised the black blade high, as if lifting a piece of the starless night itself.
"The Final... Getsuga Tenshō!"
With an earth-shaking roar that was felt more than heard, the black blade swung down.
A massive, pure black crescent slash tore through the air as it hurtled toward Dragon's defenses.
"BOOM—!"
The entire sky was split by the attack.
The upper half was engulfed in an endless, silent darkness, while the lower half reflected a milky-white radiance, as if the boundary between the world had been forcibly redrawn.
"CRACK!"
The black slash collided with the wind barrier.
In an instant, the impenetrable shield shattered like glass.
"SNAP!"
The Armament Haki defense beneath it fared no better, shattering under the terrifying pressure before dissipating into nothingness.
"BANG—!"
A deafening explosion resounded as Dragon's defenses were utterly obliterated.
His body was sent flying with a sonic boom, tumbling through the air before he barely managed to steady himself, his feet skidding across the churning surface of the sea.
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
A deep, horrifying gash ran across his chest, so deep it nearly reached his bone.
"Cough..." Dragon glanced down at his wound, his expression darkening to the extreme.
He clutched his chest, glaring at Mike and for the first time, his eyes revealing an unconcealable wariness and fear.
'Damn it... if another slash like that hits me... I'll die here.'
'The revolution isn't finished'.
'I can't die yet!'
'Escape...' his mind screamed.
'I have to escape! Right now!'
He never could have imagined that this Marine Captain could possess such terrifying swordsmanship.
The power of that strike surpassed all of his understanding about swords, leaving him with an unprecedented sense of his own mortality.
He had no way of knowing if Mike could unleash another such attack, but he couldn't afford to gamble.
'The world is still waiting for our answer...'
With that thought, Dragon's eyes hardened.
Ignoring the searing pain in his chest, he swung both arms forcefully, summoning two powerful gusts of wind.
One gust shot toward the distant Going Merry, a final gift to push his son's ship further out to sea.
The other formed a rapidly spinning whirlwind beneath his feet, lifting him high into the air.
He gave Mike one last, complex look.
The Marines had birthed another monster, one who might prove even more troublesome than the Three Admirals.
Without another word, he turned around as the whirlwind propelling him rapidly into the distance.
"The Marines... have produced a true monster..." his voice drifted faintly on the wind.
....
The storm gradually subsided.
Mike emerged slowly from the dissipating black mist of his Mugetsu form, his aura stabilizing.
He watched Dragon's retreat with a calm expression.
"Lazy Justice is my justice," Mike spoke softly, as if making a declaration to the empty sky.
"You and your Revolutionary Army—stay away from me and mine. I'm just an ordinary man who wants to enjoy life."
In the far distance, Dragon's retreating figure paused slightly before accelerating away.
Mike watched him go, making no other move to stop him.
"The Final Getsuga Tenshō exhausted my Zanpakuto power for now..." he muttered, rubbing his shoulder.
"Besides, I got to test my Haki and vent my anger. Right now, all I want is to crawl back into my warm bed."
With the job done, his laziness was already kicking in.
He glanced downward, his gaze settling on Kizaru and Smoker.
"If I had gone all out, and with Kizaru's help, Dragon probably wouldn't have escaped today," Mike stretched leisurely, a lazy smile playing on his lips as he lit a fresh cigar.
"But whatever... its not worth the effort."
'Whoosh—'
In a flash of yellow light, Kizaru appeared beside him.
"Want to capture him?" the Admiral asked, his usual languid tone intact.
"The World Government would pay a fortune for his head!"
Mike exhaled a cloud of smoke, squinting his eyes with amusement.
"You go ahead, Admiral. This glorious achievement is all yours."
No way was he taking that bait.
Capturing the "World's Worst Criminal"?
The whole world would know his name by tomorrow!
How could he possibly slack off then?
Mike chuckled, flicking the ash from his cigar.
"Old man Kizaru, a feat like that is a one-way ticket to becoming the Fleet Admiral."
Kizaru's expression stiffened slightly as an involuntary image flashed through his mind—Fleet Admiral Sengoku, hunched over his desk, pulling his hair out over mountains of paperwork.
"Hmm..." Kizaru mused with a look of genuine horror on his face.
"I think Sakazuki is better suited for the job. Being Fleet Admiral... it's stressful it makes you ages fast!" He touched his wrinkled face.
"And I, my dear boy, am still in the prime of my youth!"
"Old man," Mike said with a deadpan expression.
"Where is your dignity?"
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