Time rewinds slightly to the battlefield where Ain faced Shadley.
Shadley looked at Ain, who was left alone, and said, "You're really looking down on me, letting you face me and my Mantra all by yourself. Are you prepared to die?"
The flames of the Rewind-Rewind Fruit ignited in Ain's hands. She touched the incoming balls, making them continuously rewind and disappear.
"For an opponent like you, I'm enough on my own!" Ain shouted. She used Moonwalk and pulled out her twin pistols, launching an attack on Shadley from the air.
"It's useless. With my Mantra, I can read your thoughts. I already know how you make my balls disappear—is it those strange flames in your hands? Then how about this move?" Shadley dodged Ain's attack by controlling the ball she was sitting on.
She strung together all the Surprise Balls in the trial grounds and charged at Ain like she was waving a flagpole. "Surprise Ball Bun: Ball Dragon!" A giant dragon head, followed by a series of Surprise Balls, flew toward Ain.
Ain cursed inwardly. Her Rewind-Rewind Fruit ability could only be used through the touch of her hands, and her current activation speed clearly couldn't keep up. Although she erased the first few explosive balls, she still triggered a chain explosion.
Ain instinctively wanted to use Iron Body to tank the hit, but she remembered Hera's casual complaint during training: "Hardening yourself against a powerful attack—isn't that just asking for it? Even Orga's Whale-Slaying Overlord Fist requires making the opponent hard, and here you are doing it to yourself."
Because of that momentary thought, she switched Iron Body for Kami-e. This caused Ain to drift away like a feather during the first explosion, avoiding the subsequent chain blasts. Although she took much less damage, blood still leaked from the corner of her mouth; the impact had left her quite injured.
Seeing the injured Ain, Shadley laughed happily. "How's that? My explosive balls' damage—is this all you've got? To challenge a god's authority with such meager strength, you really don't know your place."
Ain forced herself to stand up and smiled. At the moment she was blown away, her desire for power reached its peak, and her training on the ship finally bore fruit. She looked at her fist, blackened by Armament Haki. "After that explosion, do you have any balls left? The real battle has just begun."
Hearing this, Shadley quickly looked around. After her Surprise Ball Bun: Ball Dragon, the number of Surprise Balls in the area had significantly decreased. But looking at Ain, who still had blood on her lip, she remained confident. "So what if I'm out of Surprise Balls? Watch me finish off your heavily injured self with just an impact shell."
Ain stood her ground and took a stance. "Come on, Shadley. I'll defeat you with the next strike."
Shadley flew into a rage and charged on her cloud ball. She pushed her Mantra to the limit, trying to sense the timing of Ain's move. But at this moment, Ain's mind was as calm as still water, and Shadley sensed nothing.
"Is this the distance? It's enough." Ain took a deep breath. Shadley felt a surge of killing intent and tried to flee, but Ain had already appeared behind her. Enhanced by Armament Haki, Ain's speed had increased significantly.
"You have no more chances. Shigan: Burial." Her black finger-gun thrust toward Shadley's back. Ain didn't want to kill her, so she didn't aim for the throat, but the powerful impact still knocked Shadley unconscious.
On another battlefield, Kuina was clashing with Ohm.
Their blades constantly collided. Ohm suddenly threw a flash shell at Kuina. Kuina instinctively slashed at it, and the resulting burst of light blinded her. Ohm's Iron Cloud took the opportunity to strike her.
Ohm didn't relax despite the hit. He felt that the sensation of the slash wasn't right—it was as if he had struck a piece of iron. The resulting vibration made Ohm's hand tremble uncontrollably.
The light faded, and Kuina walked out wearing sunglasses. She had realized things were bad the moment she was blinded. The combination of Armament Haki and Iron Body had kept her from being injured. She had put on the sunglasses Hera had given her earlier.
"What an impure swordsman, using such petty tricks in a duel." Kuina was somewhat angry after being flashed.
Ohm retorted, "To win, I'll use any means necessary."
Kuina sheathed her wado ichimonji and took a drawing-sword stance to build power. Seeing this, Ohm knew something was wrong and hurriedly swung his Iron Cloud forward, but it was too late.
"Let me show you a real swordsman's spirit: 'Shimotsuki Sword Style: Iron Cutter!'" A sword qi wave flew out as Kuina swung, meeting Ohm's iron sword. Kuina had already anticipated that Ohm wouldn't just watch her charge up; her Sword-intent Haki had seen the weakness in the Iron Cloud. As the sword qi slashed through, Ohm's sword was snapped in two.
Holding the broken sword, Ohm still wanted to resist, but Kuina wouldn't give him the chance. Her figure followed the sword qi, charging toward Ohm.
Ohm felt the sword qi approaching and closed his eyes in resignation. But what came wasn't a slash, but a heavy blow. In the last second before passing out, Ohm thought, "So it was the back of the blade... what a gentle strike." Then he fainted.
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