The air had beco so intensely scorched that even light itself warped strangely while passing through the battlefield.
"Huff… huff…"
Shelby stood atop the tallest black rock.
His white suit, which previously only had half a sleeve left, had now been completely burned into ashes, revealing his toned upper body drenched in sweat.
Yet there was not the slightest trace of embarrassnt on him.
Instead, under the illumination of the flas, his muscular physique looked even more like a finely sculpted statue.
Opposite him, Blake still wore his black training uniform, standing motionless with his black blade in hand.
Only now, the edges of his dark clothes had curled and charred from the heat.
"Blake, I admit it. I underestimated you before."
Shelby swept his soaked silver hair back with elegant composure.
His expression had changed.
Gone was the carefree narcissism.
In its place was an almost fanatical focus.
"Your swordsmanship is truly powerful. It's the crystallization of Lord Renzo's wisdom. You can neutralize my attacks with the smallest cost possible, even counterattacking in return. If this were a prolonged battle, I might lose."
Moonlit Beauty slowly rose in Shelby's hand, its tip aid directly at Blake.
"But… this is the finals."
"Lord Renzo is watching. Chief Rehn is watching. The whole world is watching."
"As the protagonist, how can I perform so drawn-out tragic drama?"
"If technique alone can't break through your defense quickly enough…"
"Then I'll use sothing that surpasses everything else in sheer scale to crush you!"
BUZZ!
As Shelby's voice fell, the orange-red flas around him suddenly underwent a qualitative transformation.
The originally violent fire began collapsing inward and condensing.
Its color rapidly shifted from orange-red to dazzling gold,
Then rose in temperature yet again, turning into a blinding pale white!
That was the manifestation of heat reaching an extre limit!
"White Fla Mode!"
Shelby transford into a white sun fallen upon the mortal world!
The surrounding magma pools instantly boiled violently.
Even the obsidian beneath his feet began vaporizing!
"This… is my full power!!"
His body flashed.
This ti, Shelby abandoned all flashy sword techniques.
Instead, he compressed all the white flas onto the blade itself, turning his entire body into a streak of white aurora capable of piercing heaven and earth!
"Fla Emperor Sword: Daylight teor!!"
....
"MY EYES!!!"
Countless spectators scread while clutching their eyes.
The blinding white light on the giant screens was nearly enough to blind everyone watching.
Chief Rehn wore sunglasses, yet tears still stread from his eyes from the brightness.
Even so, he gripped the microphone tighter, voice hoarse with excitent:
"It's here!! That's the legendary ultra-high-temperature white fla!!"
"Rear Admiral Shelby, no! it's gonna be Vice Admiral Shelby! He actually developed the Fla-Fla Fruit to this level in barely a month?! This isn't just talent, it's a miracle!!"
"At this temperature, even Armant Haki would instantly burn through! Can Blake's swordsmanship still hold up?!"
"This is practically a map-cannon-level single-target attack! He's trying to decide the battle in one strike!!"
Inside the noblewon's VIP booths, shrill screams erupted endlessly.
"So handso! That's my sun god!"
"I can't even see his face anymore, but this radiance… ah! I'm suffocating!"
.....
At the center of the battlefield,
Facing this world-destroying attack, a trace of seriousness finally appeared on Blake's face.
The heat wave crashing toward him made even the moisture inside his body feel as though it were evaporating.
His Observation Haki told him clearly: This attack could not be blocked.
Sidestepping, redirecting force, parrying, before that ultimate heat, every technique would lt away like snow.
"So this…"
"Is the violent beauty of a Logia…"
Blake murmured softly.
If it had been the old him, perhaps he would've despaired.
Perhaps he would've fought desperately before losing.
But now…
"Lord Renzo once said…"
Blake slowly closed his eyes.
In his mind appeared that afternoon, the image of that man casually splitting boulders apart with a tree branch.
And the doodles scribbled across that wrinkled notebook.
True strength wasn't loud sound effects.
Nor dazzling visuals.
It was… making the world shut up.
"Haaa…"
Blake inhaled the scorching air deeply.
At the exact mont the white teor was about to swallow him whole,
He opened his eyes.
In that instant, his originally black pupils glowed with rings of dark crimson.
BUZZZZZZ!!!!!!
A horrifying aura capable of changing heaven and earth, capable of freezing magma itself, exploded from his body without warning!
If Shelby's aura resembled a sun that incinerated all things,
Then Blake's aura was an abyss that devoured light itself!
That was, Conqueror's Haki!
And not the beginner-level intimidation used for clearing fodder, but Conqueror's Haki refined to the absolute limit, capable of affecting reality itself, Conqueror's Haki Infusion!!
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Thick black-and-red lightning exploded into existence like wildly dancing black dragons, instantly wrapping around Blake's black blade.
The originally black sword now resembled a black hole, devouring even the surrounding light.
"You're too noisy, Shelby."
Blake gripped his blade with both hands.
His voice was terrifyingly calm, yet it pierced through the roaring explosions of the white flas and entered Shelby's ears with crystal clarity.
"Your light is too blinding."
"Your fire is too loud."
"For the sake of Lord Renzo's afternoon nap…"
"Please extinguish yourself."
Blake stepped forward.
The magma beneath his feet instantly dispersed from the force of his Haki, exposing the glowing red earth below.
No flashy movents.
He simply swung his blade at the incoming white teor.
That single slash contained twenty years of relentless training.
Contained his entire understanding of swordsmanship.
Contained his ambition and tyranny, his desire to climb upward and stand at the summit!
"Ghost Sword Style: Secret Art."
"Great Thousand Worlds Extinction!!!"
BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!
The black abyss and white sun collided head-on in the sky without a single flourish.
Ti itself seed to stop.
Then, there was no explosion.
No shockwave.
Only… annihilation.
Everyone watched in horror as the once-invincible white flas, upon touching the black slash, were rapidly stained black, swallowed, suppressed, like ink spilled across a painting.
Those tyrannical black-and-red lightning bolts not only split the flas, they split the air.
They split space itself!
"What?!!!"
At the center of the collision, Shelby's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
His pride and joy, the white flas capable of vaporizing steel instantly,
Had beco as fragile as paper before that black blade!
That was…
Absolute suppression of rank!
Suppression through Haki itself!
"How can your Conqueror's Haki possibly be this strong?!!"
Shelby roared in disbelief.
But the only answer he received was Blake's cold gaze,
And the descending blade.
"Because…"
"I desire it more than you do."
Blake twisted his wrist.
The black lightning around the blade tripled in size!
"GET DOWN THERE!!!"
BOOM!!!!
A deeply muffled impact echoed like a giant hamr smashing into every spectator's chest.
The white teor was violently cleaved out of the sky by the black slash!
Shelby's entire body beca a broken kite.
The white flas around him instantly extinguished as he, together with Moonlit Beauty, crashed violently into the magma pool below!
BOOOOMMMM!!!
Magma exploded a hundred ters into the air, completely swallowing Shelby's figure.
anwhile, Blake remained suspended in the sky, maintaining the downward slashing posture.
Blake lightning still dripped from his sword.
His Haki burned around him like tangible flas.
The entire arena fell into dead silence.
Even Rehn forgot to comntate.
Everyone stared blankly at that black figure resembling a demon god.
One slash.
Just one slash.
He had directly crushed a top-tier Logia user at full power!
This was… the strength of G-5's newly promoted commander, "Ghost Sword" Blake?!
.....
Behind Kizaru's sunglasses, his eyes had narrowed.
The teacup in his hand remained suspended in midair for a long ti.
"Maa~…"
Only after quite a while did he finally let out a long sigh.
"Renzo-kun~… the amount of Haki in that kid's slash just now…"
"Even within Headquarters… that level is exceedingly rare~."
"No, you could even say…"
"He's already touched the threshold of admiral-candidate level~."
"And that pure sword intent…"
Kizaru turned toward the nearby Mihawk.
Mihawk had also put down his teacup.
Within those sharp hawk-like eyes shone unmistakable admiration.
"Not bad."
Mihawk nodded and gave an extrely rare evaluation:
"Still sowhat rough."
"But that aura of extinction already has a certain flavor to it."
"Seems those few acres of farmland weren't tilled for nothing."
As for the mastermind behind everything, Renzo rely yawned lazily and pulled the blanket up slightly.
"Not bad." Renzo spoke calmly. "At least…"
"He didn't embarrass ."
"Though…"
Renzo glanced at the screen.
"That fire-playing brat probably isn't dead that easily, right?"
...
At the edge of the magma pool.
"Cough… cough cough…"
A charred black hand trembled as it grabbed onto the obsidian shore.
Shelby crawled out while smoking from head to toe.
His clothes were completely gone, with only a few scraps remaining.
That face that once made countless girls scream was now half-charred and half-swollen.
His hair had exploded into a giant afro.
"Pain… this hurts like hell…"
Shelby painfully climbed ashore, rolled over, and lay flat on the scorching ground while gasping for air.
He had lost. Completely and utterly.
At the instant of that clash, he had clearly felt the difference between himself and Blake.
It wasn't a gap in Devil Fruit ability.
It was… a gap in willpower.
That Haki.
That determination to cut through every obstacle.
It was sothing this naturally gifted "chosen one," who had always lived smoothly, simply lacked.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps approached.
Blake sheathed his sword and walked over, looking down at Shelby from above.
"Still fighting?"
Blake's voice remained calm.
His Haki had already faded, making him look like an ordinary neighborhood youth.
Shelby painfully lifted his eyelids to glance at him.
Then, "Fight my ass!"
Shelby cursed irritably and pulled out that familiar little mirror from his pocket.
But the instant he did, CRACK.
The mirror shattered.
"My hairstyle… my face…"
Shelby let out a despairing howl.
"Blake, you bastard! Don't you know you're not supposed to hit the face?! I'm docking your salary!!"
Blake's mouth twitched slightly.
'This guy… his priorities were always this bizarre?'
"A loss is a loss."
Shelby tossed away the broken mirror.
Though miserable-looking, he showed no intention of cheating.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out all his gold tokens, fourteen in total.
"Take them."
Shelby threw the tokens toward Blake with a pained expression.
"That's my hard-earned private savings…"
Blake caught them.
But he didn't take all of them.
After counting them, he took seven, then tossed the remaining seven back onto Shelby's chest.
"?"
Shelby froze.
"What's this supposed to an? Humiliating ?"
"No."
Blake shook his head and turned toward the other side of the battlefield,
Where Issho and Aramaki's battle was also nearing its conclusion.
"Lord Renzo said…"
"This is called sustainable developnt."
"If I take everything from you, you'll be eliminated."
"Then the finals lose one more capable fighter."
"If I leave you half…"
"You can still continue causing trouble for those two monsters."
Compared to facing them alone…"
A sharp glint flashed through Blake's eyes.
"I'd rather this beco a chaotic free-for-all."
Shelby stared at the gold tokens on his chest, then at Blake's back, stunned for several seconds.
Then suddenly, he burst into laughter, though it hurt his wounds terribly.
"Haha… what a sustainable developnt!"
"Blake, you thick-browed bastard, turns out you're this scheming too!"
Shelby grabbed the tokens and shakily stood up.
Though his flas had weakened considerably, they reignited once more.
"Fine! I'll accept this favor!"
"Since you didn't kick out of the tournant…"
Shelby looked toward the battlefield where forests and gravity collided in the distance, fighting spirit blazing once again in his eyes.
"Then I'll help you…"
"See this show through to the end!"
"Before those two monsters decide a winner…"
"I'll make sure they know…"
"This Fla Emperor isn't soone to ss with either!!"
.....
Watching this scene, Rehn beca so emotional he tore apart his own red tailcoat.
"A reversal! Another reversal!!"
"This is the bond of G-5! This is the romance of n!!"
"Blake didn't finish him off, instead, he chose to preserve the fla itself! What magnanimity! What tactical awareness!"
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