Without overwhelming power to dominate everything, such a feat was nearly impossible.
Now that he was facing Issho in battle himself, El could clearly confirm that Issho's strength truly measured up to the rank of Admiral of the Marine Headquarters.
And he had no intention of letting such a powerful warrior slip through his fingers.
"So, Issho—do you have what it takes to defeat me?!"
Even without using any special abilities, El had kept pace with Issho, who hovered freely in mid-air. His performance was nothing short of spectacular.
"Not so fast… Captain El, I have no intention of giving up yet!"
Issho slid his sword-cane back into its sheath. Almost at the same moment, countless points of light appeared in the sky above, raining down toward the area where the two were fighting.
"Fire Ritual!"
It was a meteor shower!
Unlike the single massive meteor he had used against Doflamingo earlier, this time there were many projectiles, each of considerable size, falling all at once.
Knowing how agile El was, Issho hoped to use this rain of falling meteors to restrict his movements.
If ordinary rubble and debris could not harm this powerful young pirate, then he would turn to the raw force of nature itself! Issho possessed the strength and confidence to do exactly that.
El watched the fireballs streaking down like rain.
"Interesting… do you really think these raindrops can hurt me?"
Issho chuckled. "I don't aim to hurt you, Captain El. I will be more than satisfied just to keep you from moving as you please!"
As he spoke, Issho soared freely through the falling meteors, buoyed by his Gravity Fruit. He stood atop a large floating boulder and drove it straight toward El.
It was strange to think that Issho, who usually held complete command of the skies, now found himself having to limit his opponent's mobility just to gain an advantage.
In the air, this was normally his absolute domain. Even many Zoan users who transformed into birds could not hope to fight on equal footing with someone who controlled gravity itself.
After all, for bird-like Zoan users, flight depended on both wings and keeping their own weight manageable.
When facing Issho, they would be lucky if they did not plummet from the sky like falling stones—if he chose to let them fall at all.
Among Devil Fruit powers, there existed a clear hierarchy of dominance.
There were differing opinions on whether fire or magma burned hotter, but it was widely accepted that the Flame-Flame Fruit was distinctly inferior to the Magma-Magma Fruit.
In terms of temperature, destructive force, combat capability, and the ability to reshape the environment, the Magma Fruit far surpassed its counterpart.
In the same way, the Gravity Fruit held a natural advantage over most other powers that allowed flight.
The difference was that against a master of Armament Haki as skilled as El, the support offered by any Devil Fruit became drastically reduced.
This was not just true for Issho's power—many other Devil Fruit users found themselves at a similar disadvantage when facing someone with such mastery of Haki.
In the first half of the Grand Line, few people understood or practiced Haki; it was a rare and little-known art. There, a Devil Fruit alone was enough to grant its user immense power.
But in the second half—the vast expanse known as the New World—masters of Haki were as common as grains of sand.
There were countless warriors who wielded it with sublime skill, and even those who stood at the very peak, like Issho and El, were not unheard of.
Against such opponents, the advantage gained from a Devil Fruit alone became almost negligible.
That was why, in the New World, even the strongest fruit users had to develop other forms of combat—hand-to-hand combat, and above all, Haki.
Issho's Devil Fruit was undeniably formidable, but if it were the only thing he relied on, he would pose little real threat.
El continued to press forward, stepping and leaping from one floating rock to the next, moving through the air as if it were solid ground.
The burning meteors falling from the sky were no obstacle; every one that came near him was shattered with a single punch or swatted aside with an open palm, unable to cause him the slightest harm.
"If this is all you have, Issho… you will never stop me!"
El intended to overwhelm Issho with the very strength he prided himself on. He knew that a warrior of such caliber would never submit through words alone.
If he wanted to recruit him into his crew, he had to first show him what he was truly capable of.
Issho remained silent, offering no reply. Instead, he poured all his focus and energy into the fight.
Bzzz!
A flash of silver light cut through the air. Even El frowned slightly and shifted his body sideways to avoid the strike.
"Good! Now that's what I'm talking about!!"
Seeing Issho unleash such an attack, El's eyes lit up with excitement. A worthy opponent was exactly what he sought.
Anyone too weak to even stand before him was no more than grass to be cut down—no challenge, no satisfaction.
Beyond his Devil Fruit power, Issho's skill with the sword was equally extraordinary.
Though blind, and though his sword-cane was no famous or legendary blade, the force behind that single slash had truly made El feel a flicker of genuine danger.
Issho was a man driven by a deep and unshakable sense of justice. He had blinded his own eyes precisely because he had seen far too much of the cruelty and corruption that plagued the world.
Aside from his strict moral code, he was usually gentle and approachable, rarely getting into arguments or conflicts. For someone wielding such immense power, it was no small feat to remain so grounded.
Another thing worth noting: Issho had few hobbies. The only one that could truly be called a pastime was gambling—but this never compromised his honor or his principles.
His decision to confront the auction house and challenge Doflamingo stemmed directly from that same sense of justice.
In fact, recently he had been considering his future—whether he should find a way to join the World Government and the Marine Headquarters.
Of course, with his current strength and standing, he knew more than most about the secrets hidden within those organizations.
He understood full well that neither the World Government nor the Marines were perfect; corruption and hidden agendas ran deep.
Yet in the end, that did not matter as much as the bigger picture. The world was now in the so-called "Great Pirate Era," and for all its flaws, the Marines were still the only force on the front lines that came closest to embodying the ideal of justice.
The World Government itself was too far removed from the common people, too disconnected from the suffering below, to truly understand what justice meant.
If Issho were to choose, between the two, he would likely start from the very bottom ranks of the Marines, rising step by step through his own ability, until he reached a position where he could make a real difference.
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