"Not good!"
Upon seeing this, Rayleigh's heart sank, and an intense fear surged within him.
The incoming sword strike seemed to carry the power to destroy heaven and earth, its sword intent overwhelmingly fierce.
Wherever it passed, space itself appeared to be torn apart, emitting unsettling buzzing sounds that chilled the heart.
The might of this sword strike was terrifying—it could rival the full-force blow of the Pirate King Roger from back in the day!
One must know that Roger stood at the pinnacle of the pirate world!
Moreover, even when compared to the power unleashed by Whitebeard after activating his Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability, this sword strike wasn't inferior in the slightest.
Faced with such an attack, how could Rayleigh dare to show even the slightest negligence or underestimation?
His expression grave, he tightly gripped the longsword with both hands and held it horizontally before his chest, assuming a defensive stance.
Simultaneously, the Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki within him surged forth like a bursting dam.
Yes, that's right!
At this very moment, Rayleigh unleashed two immensely powerful types of Haki simultaneously. It was almost unbelievable—for others, mastering one type of Haki to its peak was already a remarkable achievement.
Even if they weren't world-class powerhouses, they'd still hold a place of significance in the entire world.
As for those who could master two types of Haki to their peak, even if all such powerhouses were counted together, they wouldn't exceed the number of fingers on both hands.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
These two types of Haki intertwined and merged, forming a dual-colored energy flow that coiled around the longsword in Rayleigh's hands like a spirit snake.
In an instant, the entire sword radiated with intense light, sword energy overflowing in all directions, as if it now possessed the power to split heaven and earth.
Without a doubt, Rayleigh had now elevated his strength to its peak, entering an unprecedented state of maximum power!
"Boom..."
With a deafening roar, Lancelot's fierce slash came crashing down like a thunderous force upon the longsword tightly held in Rayleigh's hands!
In that split second, Rayleigh's heart sank heavily as an unstoppable, mountain-toppling force surged through the blade.
"Crunch..."
Under the impact of this force, Rayleigh felt all the strength in his body pushed to its limit.
The muscles throughout his body bulged prominently, and his originally well-fitted clothes now strained tightly, seemingly on the verge of bursting apart under the tension.
Yet, even so, Rayleigh still found it difficult to completely withstand Lancelot's earth-shattering strike.
His upper body involuntarily leaned forward, while his lower body had to sink to stabilize his stance.
His feet dug deeply into the ground as if taking root, but even this couldn't prevent his body from being forced backward.
As Rayleigh dragged his feet laboriously across the ground, two deep furrows were clearly visible, as if they were painful scars left upon the earth from this confrontation.
Wherever he passed, dust billowed and debris scattered, creating a terrifying scene.
"Hah..."
With this roar, Rayleigh mustered every last ounce of his strength, pushing his body's potential to its absolute limit.
His power surged to 120%!
Gritting his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, he forcibly twisted the longsword in his hands, altering the trajectory of that seemingly unstoppable slash.
The sharp sword energy whistled as it shot high into the sky, tracing a brilliant arc before ultimately dissipating into nothingness.
However, such an extreme outburst placed an immense burden on Rayleigh himself.
In that instant, he felt as if all his strength had been drained away, leaving him exhausted.
His sword-wielding hands trembled, the shaking growing increasingly violent as if they might release the hilt at any moment.
Not just his hands—even his legs shook like sieves.
At this moment, all his muscles remained highly tense and explosively contracted, bulging like solid rock.
This made his body unusually stiff, greatly affecting his movements.
"Huff... huff..."
Rayleigh gasped for breath, his panting as ragged as the sound of a broken bellows.
He took deep breath after deep breath, trying to calm the surging energy and chaotic breathing within him.
Only after a long while did he finally feel slightly relieved, the weakness and fatigue in his body somewhat alleviated.
This gave him the strength to fight again.
But just then, Rayleigh suddenly realized something was wrong.
His eyes widened, his expression froze, and he inwardly exclaimed: "Not good!"
It turned out that during his moment of recovery, his fierce opponent—Lancelot—had vanished without a trace!
As a veteran with decades of combat experience, Rayleigh knew exactly what this meant.
An enemy wouldn't disappear without reason—they must be hiding, preparing to launch a fatal strike.
Thinking this, Rayleigh didn't dare delay even slightly, immediately heightening his alertness to maximum and entering a state of complete vigilance.
While warily observing his surroundings, not missing any clue, he secretly mobilized his remaining strength, preparing to respond to any sudden developments.
Time passed second by second, the atmosphere growing increasingly heavy and oppressive, almost suffocating.
"Ah... Rayleigh, you've truly grown old after all! If you were ten or twenty years younger, you definitely wouldn't have struggled so hard against such an attack."
Just as Rayleigh was sighing to himself, an emotional voice came from behind him.
Hearing this voice, Rayleigh's face turned grim, as if he'd seen something terrifying.
Without hesitation, he forcefully pushed off with both legs, his entire body shooting forward like an arrow from a bow.
Simultaneously, he skillfully executed a difficult mid-air rotation. By the time his feet landed steadily, he was already facing the figure that had been standing behind him—Lancelot.
At this very moment, Rayleigh's originally calm eyes abruptly contracted to the size of needle points, revealing an unmistakable look of astonishment and vigilance.
The reason was simple: just moments ago, he had completely failed to detect when Lancelot had silently appeared behind him!
For Rayleigh, who had once roamed the Four Blues and experienced countless battles, this situation was inconceivable.
At the same time, Rayleigh couldn't help but inwardly lament.
Despite the passage of time and his advancing age, his mastery over the three types of Haki had become increasingly refined, particularly his profound expertise in Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki.
However, no matter how exquisite his techniques were, they couldn't change one cruel reality: his physical capabilities had significantly declined compared to before.