Golden Lion did not answer, still panting heavily.
After a good while, he slowly used his hands to prop up his upper body, then immediately used his ability to once again make himself float up slowly.
"Submit?!"
"Brat! Who do you think I am? I am the Golden Lion!!!"
Golden Lion roared loudly, immediately grabbing the ship's wheel lodged in his head with his hand.
"Ah!!"
Golden Lion bellowed, yanking violently, and that wheel embedded in his skull for over a decade was pulled out just like that, bringing with it strands of blood.
This was not all; Golden Lion then used his hand as a blade, swinging it toward his own legs.
The sound of tearing flesh was heard, and the two swords, Kiku and Sakura, flew through the air, accompanied by splattering blood, as they were grasped in Golden Lion's hands.
And the wounds on Golden Lion's legs were tightly sealed shut by him using his Float-Float Fruit ability, with no excess blood flowing out.
A wave of Conqueror's Haki, far stronger than any before, suddenly erupted from Golden Lion, surging toward Kyle continuously like a violent storm.
This Conqueror's Haki was immensely powerful, making Kyle feel as though he were a small boat on the verge of capsizing at any moment in a raging tempest.
This was absolutely the strongest Conqueror's Hirai Kyle had ever felt.
Wild, rampaging, filled with the aura of a king!
This was the lion of the seas from decades ago, the legendary great pirate, Golden Lion Shiki!!
Golden Lion twisted his neck, the bones grinding together with crackling sounds, a hint of intoxication on his face.
"I haven't felt this sensation of overwhelming power in a long time!!"
At this moment, even though Golden Lion had lost his legs and his body bore countless wounds and lacerations, his spirit was soaring.
He turned his gaze toward Kyle and suddenly smiled.
"Kid, I gotta say I need to thank you. If you hadn't pushed me this far, I might never have been able to make up my mind to pull out this rudder that's been affecting me all these years!"
"Because I valued my life, I haven't dared to go all-out for so many years, and as time passed, eventually even my fighting spirit faded away!"
"Now, thanks to you, I've finally figured it out. I am the Golden Lion. My pride won't allow me to lose to some wet-behind-the-ears brat, even if it costs me my life!"
"And lucky for me it's now. I still have the courage to stake everything. If it were another ten years from now, maybe my spirit would've been completely worn down by then, and even if I wanted to explode with power, I couldn't!"
"So, as thanks for helping me find myself again, I'll let you see just what the name Golden Lion really represents!!"
With that, Golden Lion suddenly swung his sword.
"Slashing Wave!!"
A colossal sword aura shot forth from the blade, exuding an utterly terrifying presence.
The air was slashed open, emitting a roaring sound.
It was the same technique, yet now its power was more than a whole level greater than before.
Kyle's gaze sharpened, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes, and he immediately swung his sword with force.
A purple blade beam shot out from Kyle's sword, clashing head-on with Golden Lion's Slashing Wave in an instant.
In that instant, a terrifying shockwave continuously radiated outward, and the ground around them instantly shattered, splintering into countless fragments of rock that flew through the air.
The two forces stalemated like this for a long moment, until Kyle's purple blade beam suddenly shattered, dissolving into countless sword energies that swept wildly through the surroundings.
Seeing this, Kyle narrowed his eyes slightly and unleashed another purple blade beam.
When they clashed, aftershocks spread once more, but this time the final result saw both forces dissipate in succession.
"Kid, this slash of mine…"
"How was its power?!"
The corners of Golden Lion's mouth lifted in a smile as he asked Kyle.
Hearing this, Kyle also revealed a grin.
"Not bad at all. Looks like I can really cut loose!!"
"Cut loose?!"
"Naturally. I'll make sure you get a good bout!!"
Golden Lion emphasized his words, raising both arms in a sword-wielding posture, a calm voice escaping his lips.
"Lion's: Thousand Sliced Valley!!"
Blade shadows flashed, and countless Slashing Waves shot forth from the two swords.
Massive sword auras interwove one after another, all bearing down on Kyle.
This was Golden Lion's signature move, an upgraded version of the basic Slashing Wave technique, a large-scale AOE attack.
Its vast attack range made it difficult for even Kyle to evade all the strikes purely through his speed.
And Kyle had no intention of dodging. He swung his sword once, and purple thunder erupted, forming around him a barrier of dragon-scale-shaped patterns, woven from lightning and curling backwards.
"Thunder Scales!!"
Countless colossal sword auras struck the draconic scale barrier surrounding Kyle.
Some sword auras were shattered, while others were reversed and instead flew back toward Golden Lion. At the same time, countless thunderous lightning bolts shot forth, aimed directly at Golden Lion.
!!!
Shock flashed through Golden Lion's eyes, as if he hadn't expected such an outcome.
But as a top-tier powerhouse, he quickly reacted. Raising his hand, he swept it through the air, tearing up the ground which surged forward wave after wave like a tsunami.
Amid a series of tremendous roars, the sword auras and thunderbolts all vanished, leaving only billowing dust.
As the dust gradually settled, Golden Lion and Kyle both floated in midair, their gazes locked on each other.
"That Sengoku really does have quite a grandson!"
"Kid, for someone your age, sixteen or seventeen, to possess this level of strength—your talent ranks among the very best I've seen in everyone I've ever met!!"
"Sixteen or seventeen?!"
Kyle let out a laugh.
Golden Lion frowned.
"What are you laughing at?!"
"Nothing! Whatever you say goes!"
A faint smile lingered at the corner of Kyle's mouth. He didn't explain that he was actually only ten, just that he looked older for his age. There was no need to clarify.
The Seven Strikes of Violet Thunder was a swordsmanship style with an extremely high ceiling; the stronger Kyle became, the greater the power he could unleash.
Thus, Kyle had never bothered developing other sword techniques—Seven Strikes of Violet Thunder was enough.
A true master never needed too many moves, just like Hawkeye, who always relied on basic strikes.
Mastering one technique thoroughly was far better than dabbling in many.
"You've used your large-scale move. Care to try mine?"
With that, Kyle said no more. He slowly raised his sword, uttering four words calmly.
"Thunderbolts and Serpents!"
In an instant, countless bolts of purple lightning shot forth from the blade, transforming in the air into thunderous dragons and electric serpents, winding and darting through the sky.
As if alive, they all surged toward Golden Lion.
Amid the crackling roar of thunder, Golden Lion was instantly engulfed by those dragons and serpents…
---
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━