The moment the words fell, an even stronger burst of Conqueror's Haki erupted from both of them.
"Boom..."
The enormous shockwave from the explosion forced both men back a hundred meters, but that retreat lasted only an instant. Their attacks were not going to stop.
Shiki thrust his left hand, still gripping Kogarashi, straight into the thousand-meter wave surging behind him.
"Venomous Snake."
In an instant, under the control of Shiki's Devil Fruit ability, the waves nearly a thousand meters high around them were seized in his hand. With a sweep of his arm, they became a raging torrent that crashed straight toward the incoming Yemu.
Seawater was the natural enemy of Devil Fruit users. Shiki had killed countless arrogant Devil Fruit users with this move, but unfortunately, Yemu would not be among them.
Facing the towering wave rushing toward him, Yemu simply raised Tengoku.
As the Conqueror's Haki coating faded from the blade, a dazzling red light appeared on Tengoku again. Then he swung it at the wave.
"Frozen Slash!"
In an instant, a brilliant blue slash shot straight toward the water.
Wherever the slash passed, ice crystals formed before the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, the towering wave froze into a massive iceberg, then shattered under the lingering force of the slash, turning into snow and ice that filled the sky.
Yemu's figure passed straight through the storm of ice and snow, closing in on Shiki.
"Clang!"
Their twin blades collided once more, but a vicious grin spread across Shiki's face as he roared.
"My Fuwa Fuwa no Mi isn't that simple..."
"???"
Yemu sensed danger behind him. At the same moment, Shiki swung with tremendous force and kicked Yemu in the body, sending him flying.
And waiting for Yemu's rapidly falling body was a massive snow lion formed from ice and snow. Its jaws opened wide, swallowing Yemu whole in a single bite.
Seeing this, Shiki's face darkened, and he swept his arm.
"Die!"
Under Shiki's control, the giant snow lion collapsed inward, as if it meant to seal Yemu completely inside its belly.
Yemu understood then that the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi's power was definitely not as simple as merely making objects float free of gravity.
That kind of precise control over anything he touched reminded Yemu of telekinesis from science fiction movies.
Just then, countless streams of fire burst from the snow lion's body like a surging spring. The snow lion instantly exploded and melted, and Tengoku in Yemu's hand cut out a fire dragon that flew straight at Shiki.
"What a powerful Devil Fruit ability. Come on, Shiki, try controlling my flames!"
Shiki grinned savagely.
"In that case, I'll give it a try."
Brimming with confidence, Shiki stretched his palm toward Yemu's incoming fire dragon. But just as the flames were about to reach him, his expression changed. He dodged aside at once, then swung his twin blades and scattered the fire dragon.
At that moment, Yemu had already closed in. Caught off guard, Shiki could only respond in haste.
This time, it was Shiki who was sent flying.
However, the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi allowed him to stop his retreat.
"Brat, you actually set me up!"
Just now, he had not even needed Observation Haki to clearly sense the heat of that fire dragon.
If he had truly tried to touch it with his hand and control the flames, even with Armament Haki covering his hand, he likely would have been burned.
"Hahaha, weren't you full of confidence just now?"
"Don't get too cocky, brat. The real battle has only just begun..."
In an instant, the two swung their swords and charged at each other again.
...
Under the bright moonlight, above the stormy sea, Yemu and Shiki clashed once more.
Since this was a life-or-death duel, neither of them had any intention of holding back. Both fought with the absolute conviction to kill the other.
In this battle, both men pushed every form of power they possessed to the limit. Mind, body, and technique had all reached their peak.
Mind meant will.
Body meant the flesh.
Technique included martial arts, swordsmanship, Devil Fruits, and Haki.
In terms of will, Yemu did not think he was inferior to Shiki. But in terms of the body, the gap in age was not so easily erased. Even though Yemu felt he had more than enough advantages hidden inside him, Shiki's body was monstrous in its own right, and he was still at his peak. Compared with him, Yemu was immediately at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, the awakening of Yemu's two Devil Fruits was enough to make up for that weakness.
After the Mera Mera no Mi awakened, its elementalization was no longer limited to his own body. It could affect the surrounding world, turning all matter into flame, allowing him to borrow a force close to nature itself to attack his enemy while reducing his own stamina consumption.
And after the Paramecia-type Atsu Atsu no Mi awakened, he could alter not only the heat of his own body, but also the heat of matter in the surrounding world. He could absorb it, strengthen his own attacks, and weaken his opponent's.
Compared with Yemu's awakened dual Fruit abilities, Shiki, who possessed only the unawakened Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, fell behind in terms of Devil Fruit power.
But in martial arts and swordsmanship, Shiki held an absolute advantage. Even so, that advantage was not enough to become a decisive victory.
As for Haki, although Yemu had the power of Rocks within his heart helping him, he could at most fight Shiki to a draw.
So, judging by all these factors, Shiki currently held the advantage in this decisive battle.
In a world where attack power was high but defense was low, even the slightest edge in a duel between masters could turn into victory. But the world of One Piece was different. The strong in this world had not only high attack power, but also high defense, and their durability was absurd.
In a battle between such powerhouses, expecting one move to decide the outcome was impossible.
That was why battles between the strong in the world of One Piece so often lasted several days and nights, and that was without even counting those unreasonable comebacks after getting knocked down.
Yemu and Shiki's battle at this moment was exactly like that.
On the surface, Shiki held the advantage. But relying on that advantage alone to secure victory was impossible. All he could do was continuously wear down Yemu's strength during the fight, then wait for an opportunity to decide the outcome.
Yet in a sense, that advantage was also a disadvantage.
Although it was said in the world of One Piece that the strong did not decline with age, looking at the powerful figures throughout the story, age still clearly affected their bodies.
Shiki's body had already reached its peak. Improving any further would be extremely difficult. But Yemu, young and full of vitality, was different.
If the battle dragged on, who would win and who would lose was truly hard to say.
Not to mention, Yemu still had the trump card of his fused Fruit abilities left unused.
***
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