"Is that all?"
Bahr scoffed and suddenly swung his arm. The air rippled violently like disturbed water, and the head of the foremost stone lion vanished with a "swish." The remaining torso crashed into the stone lion behind it, sending rubble flying everywhere.
"Kid, smashing rocks won't faze me," Golden Lion Shiki said, shaking the short swords strapped to his ankles. The debris at his feet continued to float upward. "As long as something isn't completely gone, I can make it rise again!"
Bahr raised an eyebrow and swung his Black Sword Autumn Water, sending out an airwave that split the newly formed stone lion in half. But with a clench of Golden Lion's fist, the rubble reassembled with a "crack," looking even more ferocious than before.
The two went back and forth—Bahr smashing, Golden Lion reassembling. The stone lions shattered and reformed, reformed and shattered, tumbling endlessly in the air like unkillable cockroaches.
"Are we playing games here?!"
A vein pulsed at Bahr's temple as he twirled the Black Sword Autumn Water deftly in his hand. His figure vanished from sight, only to reappear above Golden Lion in the next instant. The blade, wreathed in dark purple Haki, came crashing down toward the man's head.
Golden Lion reacted swiftly, crossing the short swords on his feet to block. A deafening "clang" reverberated, sending sparks exploding between them.
"Your swing's too slow!" Golden Lion used the recoil to leap back, spinning midair and unleashing a flurry of sword energy. "Watch and learn—strike with momentum, use finesse!"
Before the words even finished, his foot blades carved intricate arcs through the air. Three golden slashing waves, infused with Haki, tore through the sky with a piercing shriek.
Bahr gripped his black sword and blocked horizontally. "Clang! Clang! Clang!" The three slashing waves struck the blade in succession, sparks flying so violently he had to squint. The sword trembled fiercely, the impact traveling up his arm and numbing his wrist, his palm throbbing faintly.
Staggering back a few steps, he nearly lost his footing as the airwaves scattered the clouds beneath him. He clicked his tongue inwardly. "This old man looks scrawny, but he packs a punch."
Shaking out his numb wrist, Bahr raised an eyebrow and grinned lazily. "Not bad, old-timer."
A lion might age, but its ferocity remained. He couldn't fathom how a legendary figure like this had fallen to the Straw Hat Boy—it was downright baffling.
"Gyahahaha… I am Golden Lion Shiki!" The man roared with laughter, his mustache quivering, though a glint of approval flashed in his eyes. "You're an interesting brat. Name yourself!"
"Bahr."
"Bahr?" Golden Lion's grin froze for half a second before erupting into another round of "Gyahahaha!" laughter. "No wonder you looked familiar! So you're that reckless punk who dared attack a Celestial Dragon. Got guts!"
Bahr studied him, then mused, "Just a minor scuffle, no need to take it seriously. How about we call it quits? Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?"
"What's wrong with you, brat? Where's your backbone?!" Golden Lion's brows furrowed instantly, his expression darkening as he bellowed, "Swordsmen don't stop mid-fight! You're pissing me off!"
"Who said I'm a swordsman?" Bahr shrugged dismissively, twirling the Black Sword Autumn Water in his hand. "This swordplay? Just a trick to impress girls."
"Absurd!" Golden Lion's eyes blazed with fury as he unleashed a fierce Slashing Wave. "A swordsman's blade is meant to cut down enemies. As for women... just snatch them after winning. What's with all this courtship nonsense!"
"Barbaric." Bahr sneered, twirling his black blade in a half-circle flourish. "I'm a scholar, unlike you pirates with no moral compass."
To him, true freedom meant traveling leisurely, fishing, basking in the sun, and enjoying fine wine—not sailing around with brutes, fighting and killing.
The only nuisance was that damned bounty poster. What rotten luck.
"Brat's still a brat. What do you know about being a pirate?" Golden Lion raised an eyebrow, exhaling a smoke ring before suddenly lunging with a roar. A golden slash tore through the air like an arrow. "Today, I'll show you where real swordsmanship belongs!"
Bahr's pupils contracted. His figure flickered, leaving afterimages mid-air as his black blade twisted the air into vortices. Serpentine slashes howled toward Golden Lion.
Unfazed, Golden Lion stood firm like a mountain. With a sweep of his hand, stone lions formed an impenetrable defensive formation. Weaving between them, he wielded short swords at his ankles and fists alike, kicking out sharp Foot Swords to shatter incoming attacks.
"All flash, no substance!" Golden Lion lectured mid-battle. "Take that last move—if you'd dropped your shoulder and pivoted as you landed from Teleportation, your blade would've been three times faster!"
Before the words faded, he kicked a stone lion apart. The debris suddenly coalesced behind Bahr into a massive claw, whistling toward his back.
Bahr dodged swiftly, sidestepping the lethal strike and cleaving the claw to dust with a backhand slash. "Old man, are you lecturing me now?"
Couldn't they just fight? Why the unsolicited advice? Did all top-tier pirates fancy themselves mentors?
"Can't stand lazy brats like you." Golden Lion chuckled darkly, spinning into a sudden advance. His ankle blade arced toward Bahr's face at a tricky angle.
Bahr's eyelid twitched. As he raised his black blade for a Dimensional Slash, Golden Lion barked, "Don't stiffen your wrist—use finesse!"
"Shut up!" Bahr halted abruptly, his blade dipping suddenly to skim Golden Lion's foot.
Golden Lion retreated, but not before his pant leg tore open with a rip, revealing dusty leg wraps. Hovering mid-air, he laughed low and summoned stone lions to encircle Bahr. "Now that's more like it. Half an inch lower, and you'd have severed my tendon!"
Bahr cursed inwardly but couldn't help testing the wrist technique Golden Lion had mentioned. The blade's force and speed indeed sharpened by a third.
As he pondered, a roar came from above: "Watch your feet!"
Glancing down, he saw the ground bristling with Stone Spikes and leapt skyward. Noting Golden Lion's debris-controlling gestures from the corner of his eye, he marveled at the old monster's battlefield precision.
They clashed from sky to ground and back to the clouds, trading blows across the heavens and earth. Bahr's blade grazed Golden Lion's shoulder, while Golden Lion's Foot Sword gashed Bahr's belly.
Every time Bahr left an opening, Golden Lion would berate him while fighting, teaching him how to wield his blade. And each time Bahr was lectured, his strikes grew fiercer, each slash aimed at Golden Lion's vital spots.