Chapter 13: Lacking Combat Experience
Lugart's pupils contracted violently. He stared, transfixed, at the completely liberated Black Blade: Eight Desolations in Garon's hand.
The dark red, cracked patterns on the blade and the high-frequency whine it made as it tore the air sent a sharp pain through his eardrums.
"Now that is a fine blade..." Lugart muttered. He knew full well that not just any weapon could withstand having a Devil Fruit's power channeled through it, let alone one like this.
"Captain! That's... a Devil Fruit power?!" The Blood-Spear pirates finally processed what they'd seen, swallowing hard as they shouted.
"A Paramecia..." Lugart's expression slowly turned savage. "No wonder you dared to come alone. But... that power... it looks a little familiar."
"Captain Lugart..."
"What are you afraid of?!" Hearing the fear in his men's voices, Lugart angrily threw back his cape, the stolen military insignias clattering. "I've seen more Devil Fruit users on the Grand Line than I can count!"
Before his words even faded, Lugart's figure exploded into motion.
Like a viper, his spear "Blood Beak" shot forward, its barbed tip tearing the air as it aimed straight for Garon's throat.
"Die, Marine brat!"
Garon remained standing in place. He didn't even bother to lift his eyes.
VMM!
The spear passed straight through his body as if it were a phantom, not drawing a single drop of blood.
"What?!" Lugart's eyes widened, unable to believe his attack had failed.
The instant the spear-tip had made contact, Garon's body had dissolved into countless, trembling particles, only to reform a second later.
"Just as I thought. He mistook me for a Paramecia," Garon's voice came from behind him.
Lugart spun around, only to see Garon now standing three paces away, the orb of vibrating light in his hand glowing even brighter.
"No wonder you ran back from the Grand Line," Garon's tone was filled with undisguised mockery.
Hearing the taunt, Lugart's face went pale with rage. He roared, and "Blood Beak" instantly disassembled and re-formed in his hands as two short spears, their tips glowing with an eerie red light.
"Don't you look down on me, brat!" He crossed the short spears, his body blurring as he shot toward Garon like a ghost. "Dual Beak Heart-Pierce!"
Garon still didn't move. He simply raised one hand, vibration particles flowing around his arm like water.
"Quake-Wall."
BOOM!
Lugart's twin spears slammed violently into an invisible barrier in front of Garon. A shockwave erupted, sending the nearby pirates flying. The ground cracked and pebbles shot into the air, but Garon himself didn't move a single inch.
After a moment, sweat began to bead on Lugart's forehead. His hands, from the force of striking the particle-barrier, had begun to tremble. He decisively pushed off, leaping back to create distance, his expression grim.
"Dammit... a goddamn Logia..." Lugart's voice was distorted with shock, which quickly twisted into a furious roar. "This is why I hate you blessed, lucky bastards the most!"
With those words, Lugart stomped the ground, the earth beneath him exploding. He spun "Blood Beak" in his hand, and the barbed tip of the spear was suddenly coated in a pitch-black, metallic sheen!
"You lucky bastards think you're hot shit just because you ate a fruit!" Lugart's eyes were bloodshot. "On the Grand Line, I've seen too many guys just like you... and in the end, they all die like stray dogs!"
Garon ignored his roar. His form vanished.
"Quake-Step: Rail-Slide!"
A transparent track of vibration particles appeared in the air. Garon's body was catapulted forward, instantly closing the distance to Lugart. He raised Eight Desolations high, the vibration on the blade so dense it formed a visible, white edge of light, and brought it cleaving down on Lugart's head.
Before the blade even arrived, the terrifying vibration had already torn the ground apart, the dock's paving stones shattering like fragile cookies.
But Lugart just gave a savage grin. He didn't dodge or block. Instead, he met the attack, thrusting his Armament Haki-coated spear, "Blood Beak," upward!
CLAAAAANG!!
In the explosion of metal on metal, blinding sparks erupted from the point of impact.
This kid's got incredible strength! Lugart was visibly stunned for a second by Garon's raw power.
Garon, for his part, was just as surprised. Lugart's Armament Haki had actually, completely blocked the shockwave's impact. The recoil was so strong it sent a numbing jolt all the way up his arm.
"Hey, Marine kid... your combat experience is shit!" Lugart spat, then spun "Blood Beak" in his hand. The black-coated barbs glinted coldly in the sun.
Garon didn't reply. He simply raised Eight Desolations, the blade whining as high-frequency particles danced along its edge like electricity.
"Quake-Break."
The blade fell.
The air was torn in an instant. A massive, fan-shaped slash, carrying an apocalyptic shockwave, exploded outward. Everywhere it went, the ground split, buildings were pulverized, and space itself seemed to crack!
Lugart, with a savage grin, still didn't dodge. He thrust his spear forward like a striking viper.
"Blood-Feast Lunge: Sea-Penetrator!"
The Haki-hardened spear-tip met the shockwave-slash head-on.
BOOM!!!
The air detonated. Lugart was thrown back several steps, the impact so great the skin on his hand burst open, blood dripping from his wrist.
At the exact same time, on Garon's chest, a thin red line slowly appeared. He had been grazed by the spear's tip.
His body, which should have been elementalized, had been cut.
"Armament Haki?" Garon took half a step back, a flash of genuine surprise in his eyes.
"Ha... HAHAHA!" Seeing Garon's stunned look, Lugart suddenly burst out laughing, a mad, ecstatic light in his eyes. "You... You don't fucking have Haki, do you?!"
Garon looked down at the wound on his chest, his expression unreadable.
Lugart's laughter grew even more unhinged. He slammed his spear into the ground, jutting his chin out arrogantly. "Didn't expect that, did you, brat?! I'm a man who's fought real monsters on the Grand Line! Haki... this is the proof of a true powerhouse!"
With that, Lugart seized the advantage. Knowing Garon couldn't counter Haki, he lunged forward, his spear becoming a black-coated blur, stabbing in a torrential flurry.
"Blood-Feast: Thousand Spears!"
Garon was forced to parry, his black blade and the spear clashing in a continuous shower of sparks.
But as he fought, Lugart quickly realized something else was wrong. It wasn't just that this Marine kid was inexperienced...
At first, he'd assumed that because Garon drew a sword, he was at least some kind of swordsman. But now, feeling out his moves...
Garon's swordsmanship was a complete, unmitigated mess. He had no technique, no stances, no form whatsoever. He was just relying on his Devil Fruit and the sheer quality of his blade to hack and slash with brute force.
With every swing, he was just violently amplifying his power with vibration, not using a single ounce of a swordsman's refined skill.