Moving at breakneck speed, Aeridar suddenly realized that Syrons had vanished from in front of him. His Observation Haki immediately picked up a powerful presence on his right.
Without even turning his head, Aeridar snapped out his right fist, driving a punch toward the source.
The moment he punched, the air around him exploded with force. A visible shockwave burst outward, a pale white ring rippling through space—the signature effect of an Impact Wave.
"That shockwave... just like Sengoku's!"
Syrons' eyes widened in alarm. He tried to evade, but the shockwave was too fast, before he could even react, it had already hit him head-on.
Aeridar's Impact Wave blasted out over a hundred meters with ease, shattering massive slabs of sandstone in its path. Syrons was thrown violently across the battlefield, carving a deep trench through the terrain before being slammed into a towering slab of rock several meters tall and wide. The slab crumbled on impact, detonating into a storm of dust and debris.
"Damn, that hurt... Feels like my whole body's screaming."
When the dust settled, Syrons was sitting on the ground, wincing and rubbing his chest.
"Well, look at that... the creepy old man just threw on a terrifying turtle shell."
Aeridar's tone was teasing, but his pupils shrank. His eyes were locked on Syrons, now clad in black, his entire body shimmering with a metallic gleam—it was full-body Armament Haki hardening, turning him into a human suit of armor. Impenetrable, without a clear weak point.
There were only two ways to break through that kind of defense: one, use Armament Haki strong enough to neutralize the opponent's; or two, combine even a lesser grade of Haki with an overwhelming physical attack, like the kind generated by the Op-Op Fruit's precision cuts, as seen when Trafalgar Law fought Vergo.
"So this is the power of the Impact-Impact Fruit, huh? A casual punch with that kind of force... That monstrous strength you showed earlier must've been fruit-enhanced too. You've brought your Devil Fruit ability to an impressive level. Among the new generation of Marines, there might not be a single one who can match you."
The black-armored Syrons rose to his feet, stone fragments clattering off his body as he spoke with rare admiration.
"Oi oi, creepy old man, don't tell me you came all this way just to compliment me," Aeridar replied with a lopsided grin, playing it cool.
But Syrons' tone turned ice cold as he stared across the field. "You've got shockwaves like Sengoku. Strength beyond even giants. You're a threat that's too dangerous to let live. I'm ending this, now."
That earlier Impact Wave had rattled Syrons badly. If not for his Haki armor, taking two or three more of those bare-bodied would've dropped him cold. Even so, they still didn't quite match the full might of Fleet Admiral Sengoku's shockwaves.
"Well, if you think you can kill me, then by all means... try."
Aeridar responded with calm indifference, face curled into a mocking smirk.
If battles could be won through smack talk alone, what was the point of actual combat? Who did this guy think he was, Naruto? Was he expecting a Talk no Jutsu to turn the tide?
Despite having been on the defensive earlier, Aeridar had no intention of losing. If he, a transmigrator, couldn't beat some crusty old Marine who didn't even exist in the original story, what was the point? He was dead set on victory, no matter the cost.
After all, his opponent was no ordinary foe. This wasn't a spar. It was war.
Syrons' mustache twitched, and with the faintest shift of his foot, he vanished.
But Aeridar had been alert the whole time. The moment Syrons disappeared, he pivoted hard and launched a roundhouse kick behind him. The air howled with the force.
A pulse of distorted air rippled outward as Aeridar's kick collided with a giant black hammer, one of three jet-black legs guarding its face.
But Syrons had two hands. The second transformed into another hammer and came crashing down toward Aeridar's skull, the wind howling with killing intent.
Seeing the hammer descend, Aeridar didn't hesitate. He yanked back his leg and leapt away just in time, the hammer slamming into the dirt where he'd stood a heartbeat before. In that same instant, Aeridar reappeared ten meters to Syrons' left, foot raised high.
A streak of blue-white light carved through the air like a crescent moon.
Syrons turned and took the Rankyaku head-on, letting it crash into his chest. The clash of slicing wind and Haki armor rang like colliding steel. The impact forced him back two steps, but when the light faded, his chest gleamed, untouched beneath the sun.
"Oh, come on! This Haki..."
Aeridar stared, wide-eyed and speechless.
That Rankyaku had enough power to cleave through any stone slab in the arena, hell, it could've scarred steel. Yet Syrons hadn't even bothered dodging. No wonder Crocodile had said Syrons' Armament Haki was so tough that not even top-tier swordsmen could cut through it.
"You call that an attack? Felt more like a tickle," Syrons sneered, cracking his neck.
Then he planted both feet.
The ground split underfoot, deep prints forming where he stood, spiderweb fractures racing outward. And like a cannonball fired point-blank, Syrons rocketed forward, so fast that his very body burned the air, friction heating his armored shell.
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Aeridar again. Twin hammers raised high. He brought them down with a scream of wind that tore up dirt and scorched the skin.
Ghost Hammer: Eightfold Havoc!!!
Aeridar's eyes widened in alarm. That murderous momentum, it was suffocating. His blood surged with adrenaline, every nerve lit ablaze.
From his head to his waist, his upper body flushed red, then instantly turned pitch black, taking on a metallic gleam.
Full-body Armament Haki hardening.
Steam hissed off his shoulders. He dropped into a low horse stance, fists chambered at his waist. And in the instant before impact, he drove both fists forward with all his might.
White shock rings flared out around his fists as they collided with the hammers.
Armament Haki: Half-Body Hardening—Tiger Strike!
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my ——— (.)com/JuanFiction [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are over 100 advance Chapters available for you!
For every 200 PS = 1 extra Chapter.