The raging waves swallowed the sky.
Stars and moon vanished behind storm clouds.
One of the giant lions snapped its jaws shut, tearing through a thick vine in a single bite. Its massive forelegs hammered forward, smashing apart the trees blocking its path. The ground trembled under each impact.
But the forest answered.
Controlled like extensions of Romu's own body, spears of wood shot upward. They pierced straight through the lion's torso and kept going, drilling into the earth and leaving bottomless craters behind.
Neither side yielded.
Lion and forest collided again and again—
and within seconds the island was reduced to ruin.
BOOM—
Seawater burst upward from the fissures, surging dozens of meters into the air.
"Crazy… they're both insane!"
"Get to the ships! This island's collapsing!"
"Damn it… Romu can really fight Shiki head-on… he's absolutely commander material!"
"Newgate! Tell us the truth — was it Romu you clashed with earlier?!"
"Gurararara… judge for yourselves!"
Even Newgate and the others were forced to retreat, leaping and dodging toward their distant ships as the battlefield tore itself apart.
As for the unlucky pirates caught nearby—
many were crushed or swallowed by the chaos.
But neither Romu nor Shiki spared them a glance.
Their world had narrowed to one thing:
Each other.
Blade and fist
Shiki's twin blades — Oto and Kogarashi — were coated in jet-black Armament Haki, golden light flickering along their edges as they slashed toward Romu's dark-red Ryūō-reinforced arms.
This time, Shiki was prepared.
He reserved part of his Haki to neutralize Romu's internal shock force.
Romu's eyes sharpened.
His arms surged again with dark-crimson Ryūō—
and he grabbed the blades head-on.
CLANG!
CLANG—CLANG!
In the span of heartbeats, they traded hundreds of blows.
Steel against fist.
Haki against Haki.
Like the battling lions and forest around them, neither gained ground.
Shiki sprang backward.
"Kid! That Conqueror's clash with Newgate… that was you, wasn't it?!"
Romu slid away as well.
"So what?"
Shiki's grin widened.
"Then let's see whose Conqueror's spirit is stronger!"
He launched upward—
Conqueror's Haki erupted around him, coating his body in crackling blue light. His blades sparked with electric arcs.
Then he shot downward like a missile.
Romu's lips curled faintly.
"So this is it…"
Scarlet lightning crawled across his bronze skin. His eyes flared red.
He stepped forward—
a nearby lion's head exploded from the pressure.
His presence deepened like an abyss.
His fist pulled back—
then fired forward like a cannon.
Victory?
Defeat?
Neither cared.
Only one truth mattered:
This was their full power.
The impact
From the pirate ship hundreds of meters away, Newgate and the others stared without blinking.
BOOM—
A thunderclap split the night.
Black-purple energy bloomed in the sky—
then crashed down.
The island convulsed.
Lions and forests were blown into dust.
At the epicenter—
Romu braced both arms upward, holding Shiki's descending strike.
They were still locked in struggle.
Red and blue Conqueror's Haki collided in violent waves.
The sky darkened.
Storm clouds churned.
The pressure crushed stone into sand.
The already shattered island sank another dozen meters.
CRASH!
They blasted apart in opposite directions—
shockwaves tearing upward into the heavens.
On the distant ship, the surviving pirates stared at the devastation.
"The sky— no, the sky split!"
"And the island… it's lower than before!"
"Who won?!"
"No idea! The center's still chaos!"
At the rail, Wang Zhi stroked his beard.
"…Draw."
Silver Axe nodded.
They could feel it.
Neither aura had weakened significantly.
John took a pull from his wine bottle.
"Win or lose doesn't matter anymore. That commander seat is his. A monster like that under twenty? No captain would pass him up."
He exhaled slowly.
"If they keep going… it won't stop until one dies."
Newgate barely listened.
His eyes stayed locked on the battlefield.
"So this is your real power… Romu."
After clashing Conqueror's Haki with him earlier, Newgate had wondered how deep Romu's strength ran.
Now he had his answer.
Even with Shiki.
But just as the energy storm began to settle—
it surged again.
And everyone felt it.
The battle… wasn't finished.