Clang! Clang—clang!
Roger's black blade and Romu's dark-red fists collided again and again in a storm of steel and Haki.
Left—
No, right!
Inside the thunderous clash of abyss-deep Haki, Romu's right arm snapped up in rapid succession, intercepting Roger's chained slashes one after another!
"Didn't expect your Observation Haki to be this sharp," Roger praised.
But the next instant, his eyes narrowed.
His grin turned feral.
"Even if you can read it—"
"Can you take it?!"
"Divine Departure!"
Roger raised both arms high, then carved downward in a sweeping strike.
In an instant—
A blazing red aura burst from the pitch-black Ace.
The pressure alone screamed lethal.
Romu's eyes lit up.
"Divine Departure…"
He knew the technique.
Roger's signature sword strike—
A terrifyingly fast Haki-coated slash born from monstrous physical strength.
The attack didn't just collide—it slipped past defenses to hit the body directly.
Oden himself had once been blown away by the shockwave.
This move was devastating.
But—
He couldn't step back.
Romu stamped forward.
A violent surge of force shot from his feet through his spine into both arms. His Ryuo and Conqueror's coating flared to their absolute peak.
In a lightning instant—
Roger's descending Haki storm met Romu's rising punch.
BOOM!!!
The collision detonated like a cannon blast.
"Romu!"
"Tell me—what are you really after?!"
Roger roared, his curled mustache flattened sideways by the shockwave.
"You getting old?"
"Memory slipping?"
"I told you—I've got a lot of goals!!"
Romu grit his teeth.
"Then—!"
Roger growled low.
He forcibly pulled Ace back mid-motion—
Spun—
And unleashed another slash.
A second wave of coated force tore forward!
BOOM!
Romu's body sank hard.
The rock beneath his feet cratered several inches deep.
Veins bulged across his forehead.
A manic gleam flashed in his eyes.
"I didn't grind my body all these years for nothing!"
"Break!!"
Dark-red light surged across both fists.
He smashed sideways with everything he had—
A peak strike born under double Divine Departure pressure.
The force nearly exceeded what his current body could endure.
Yet—
He punched the twin slashes flat, compressing them sideways and blasting them away!
BOOM! BOOM!
Two distant rock formations exploded into rubble.
"…Divine Departure… deflected?!"
Shock rippled through Roger.
By all logic, Romu shouldn't have been able to stop that.
"Could it be…"
"His unique Conqueror's nature?"
Roger theorized internally.
He couldn't be sure.
He had never encountered anyone whose Conqueror's carried both overlord chaos and kingly majesty at once.
"Zzzzt…"
The clash paused.
But both men remained wrapped in Armament and Conqueror's lightning, arcs crackling around their bodies.
"Romu…"
"Where the hell did you come from?"
Roger finally asked.
"You're being dramatic," Romu shot back casually.
Then his expression sharpened.
He reset his stance.
"If we're fighting—keep fighting."
Roger didn't know what "dramatic" meant—but the intent was crystal clear.
His mustache twitched.
A grin spread.
"Exactly what I wanted!"
His boots tapped the ground—
Then he launched.
Roger's body seemed to shrug off gravity itself.
He kicked the air, darting forward in bursts, Ace flashing left and right in rapid succession.
Every landing became another springboard.
Sword light filled the air like a woven cage.
But Romu wasn't some rookie target.
He narrowed his Observation Haki range to sharpen precision.
His footwork flowed.
Dark-red arms parried, redirected, blocked, and slipped past every lethal strike.
To Roger, it felt like every blow was about to land—
Only for Romu to glide past or catch the strike cleanly with coated arms.
Clang! Clang—clang!
Their speed escalated until their bodies blurred—
Then vanished—
Leaving only two streaks of light tearing across the battlefield.
The sun dipped low.
Evening clouds painted the sky gold and crimson.
Yet the duel didn't stop.
Sword pressure and fist shockwaves carved the island apart.
Trees lay flattened.
Craters riddled the ground.
The once-beautiful island looked like it had endured naval bombardment.
Still—
Neither man stopped.
Did they hate each other?
Maybe.
Roger wanted nothing disrupting his Grand Line journey. He didn't want chaos at God Valley. He came hoping to test whether Romu could be steered away from Rocks.
Romu's goal was simpler:
Grow stronger—no matter what.
And God Valley?
The messier, the better.
Different goals.
So they fought.
But by now—
The reason hardly mattered.
What mattered was the visceral thrill of fists and steel colliding.
Then—
A shrill horn pierced the air.
WOOOO—
Observation Haki expanded simultaneously.
Marine warships.
Four of them.
Emerging from Impel Down.
The two men locked eyes.
And, without a word—
Both disengaged.
Roger looked at Romu, thoughtful.
Today's clash told him everything:
He couldn't change Romu's mind.
And he wasn't getting more answers.
Roger was still stronger—but defeating Romu outright would take days.
Especially against a plant-type fighter built for endurance.
They'd only kept going because the fight was intoxicating.
But Marines arriving changed the equation.
Those Impel Down forces didn't know about his arrangement with Garp.
Now wasn't the time for complications.
Roger sheathed Ace.
His grin returned.
"That was fun."
"But—"
"Kid."
"My real strength runs deeper than that."
"Heh…"
"Next time, I won't hold back."
He turned to leave—
But Romu's voice cut in behind him:
"Don't hold back."
"See you at God Valley."
Roger froze.
God Valley?
How did he—
He spun around—
But Romu was already hundreds of meters away, riding a blooming red vine into the distance.
"…Damn it."
"How does he know that?"
"What else does he know?!"
Roger cursed under his breath.
As he withdrew, he pulled out Garp's Den Den Mushi from his coat.
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