Clang, clang...
One piece after another of gold light armor fell to the ground, making pleasant sounds.
Golden Lion's pupils shrank slightly, his face grim as he watched the scene before him, but a wide grin spread across his face.
Finally, things are starting to get interesting...
...
At this moment, what appeared before Golden Lion's eyes was indeed an unusual scene.
Sand filled the air, forming a sandstorm that blocked vision.
It wasn't violent, but like a thick fog, it gave others a sense of the unknown.
The swirling sand made people vaguely feel that something should emerge from within.
In fact—
Something did emerge.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound of air being torn apart rang out, as if something extremely fast pierced through the sandstorm, heading straight for Golden Lion!
"Ugh!"
Golden Lion's pupils contracted sharply, and he suddenly tilted his head back to dodge.
In the next instant, a black fist emerged from the sandstorm, grazing Golden Lion's nose and missing its target.
Even so, Golden Lion still felt a burning, sharp pain on the tip of his nose.
"Hiss..."
Golden Lion sucked in a cold breath, and the remaining force of the fist made the skin on his face ripple upwards.
So fast!
Golden Lion's pupils trembled slightly.
Defense wasn't his strong point, and if that fist had actually hit him, Golden Lion was almost certain that he could have been finished off in one blow!
Immediately afterward, an even deeper chill washed over Golden Lion's heart.
The follow-up action to "throwing a punch" should have been "withdrawing the fist," but the black fist showed no sign of stopping.
After the force of the punch had passed, the fist suddenly opened its five fingers, reaching down to grab Golden Lion below.
For ordinary people, this would have been an unavoidable move, but Golden Lion was no ordinary person.
In the instant the dark fingers descended, Golden Lion suddenly straightened his legs, activated his Float-Float Fruit ability, and transformed from a reclining posture into a horizontal float.
With a quick thought, Golden Lion shot backward, away from the black hand.
Whoosh!
Golden Lion flipped over in mid-air, then landed firmly on the ground not far away, his two swords planted in the ground.
His eyes narrowed, trying to see what was happening in the swirling sandstorm.
...
A scene that slightly surprised Golden Lion appeared.
The black hand, having missed its attack, turned to stir up the surrounding sandstorm.
The sand swirled, and the black hand opened a gap.
A foot landed firmly on the ground, and the figure of Ryan Rowan stepped out of the sandstorm.
His delicate gold light armor had been completely removed. Shoulder pads, chest armor, leg guards, and even the helmet were scattered around.
Now, Rowan was bare-chested, with a purple sash around his waist. His lower body was covered in coarse cloth pants, and his arms were wrapped in dark purple ribbons with intricate patterns.
If Rowan's original attire gave people a sense of composure, the current Rowan was the definition of "unpretentious."
But this unpretentiousness was too heavy. Combined with Rowan's own aura, it gave an even more suffocating feeling than before!
Rowan wearing light armor felt like an abyss, with no visible bottom and impossible to stir up waves.
But now that Rowan had removed his armor, he was like a statue standing in the wilderness.
The wind and rain had left countless scars on his body, but they could never bring him down.
He was the only existence standing tall in the endless wilderness!
This aura, so different from before, made Golden Lion hesitate for a moment.
But it was only for a moment.
Then, Golden Lion spread his arms and grinned widely, laughing:
"Tsk ha ha ha ha, Conqueror's Haki? Do you think I'm scared!"
Golden Lion snapped his fingers, and in the instant the sound landed, a giant lion's head rose from the ground, rushing towards Rowan.
He was waiting to see how Rowan would respond.
But suddenly, an extremely clear and standard breathing sound rang in Golden Lion's ear.
"Hiss... Hooo..."
It was a truly standard breathing sound, perfectly matching everything the human brain could reasonably imagine.
And the one making the sound was Ryan Rowan!
He was breathing slowly, each breath so clear and standard that there wasn't a single flaw to be found.
As Rowan breathed, the Armament Haki on his fist slowly spread until it completely covered his body.
Full Body Armament Haki!
This was, of course, not a common technique, as there were only a handful of people on this sea who could train Armament Haki to such a degree.
But for Golden Lion, such opponents were not rare.
And his two famous swords had cut through countless bodies covered in Armament Haki!
"Show off, it's just Armament Haki, let me see what you're really made of!"
Golden Lion roared and kicked out a sword towards Rowan.
The blade was wrapped in a terrifying force that could split an entire floating island in two!
Clang!
Rowan threw a punch, meeting Golden Lion's sword.
A crisp sound rang out, and the clash ended in a draw, each side taking half a step back.
But the smile on Golden Lion's face was even wider than before.
"Tsk ha ha ha ha, I felt it cut in a little..."
Golden Lion muttered, looking up.
Sure enough.
On Rowan's dark right fist, there was a clear, deep red mark.
He was bleeding.
This was, of course, not a surprising result. To meet a top swordsman's strike head-on with Armament Haki, and only suffer a shallow wound, was already quite remarkable.
But if he could cut in once, he could cut in a second time, he could cut in a hundred times!
Even the most resilient person would be in a lot of pain after being cut a hundred times!
That's what Golden Lion thought.
So, he did just that.
Golden Lion activated his Float-Float Fruit ability and charged at Rowan again, slashing out a second sword.
This slash was blocked by Rowan's forearm.
Golden Lion looked up and found a wound on Rowan's forearm. The smile on his face grew even wider.
But the smile only lasted for less than half a second before it suddenly froze.
Questioningly, Golden Lion faintly saw that this wound was much shallower than the previous one, barely scratching the surface and not even drawing blood!
Did I miss?
Golden Lion was momentarily stunned.
It was obvious that he hadn't hit it head-on!
But... something still felt off...
To confirm his thoughts, Golden Lion tested the tip of his sword again, leaped up, and then struck down with his sword!
Slam!
This time, Rowan used his palm to slap the blade of Golden Lion's sword away!
Golden Lion adjusted his body in mid-air and landed back on the ground, but his body was trembling slightly from Rowan's force.
Finally, Golden Lion was certain of the almost "exaggerated" guess he had in his heart.
With just three sword strikes, Ryan Rowan had already figured out his fighting style and was able to negate the slashes that would have injured him!
What terrifying analytical ability to see through an opponent's style in such a short time!
Looking carefully, Golden Lion suddenly noticed that there were two small sandboxes in Rowan's pupils!
The two sandboxes were spinning rapidly.
But Golden Lion couldn't see what they were specifically because they were too small and too "fast."
Only Rowan himself knew.
"Hiss... Hooo..."
"I see..."
Rowan muttered.
He really saw it.
He saw all of Golden Lion's "possibilities."
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