Charging upward at breakneck speed, Aeridar unleashed a flurry of punches. With each strike, translucent shockwaves exploded from his fists, churning the air and whipping it into a furious gale, so fierce that even the clouds above were torn open, leaving gaping holes in the sky.
"Fufufufufufu~ Not bad at all! I really underestimated you!" Doflamingo cackled, baring his teeth as he weaved through the air. Thanks to his exceptional Observation Haki, he effortlessly dodged the barrage of shockwaves.
Still, Doflamingo was a little surprised. He hadn't expected to encounter such a capable rookie pirate this early into the first half of the Grand Line. Especially the force behind those shockwaves—it was strong enough that even he wouldn't want to take a direct hit.
"Tch, save it. You're just a bastard who likes looking down on people from above," Aeridar growled. His face darkened as he suddenly reached out with his right hand—grabbing seemingly at nothing but somehow clutching something tangible.
With a sharp motion, he hurled it at Doflamingo.
"What?" Doflamingo's expression faltered.
The air around him abruptly detonated, a massive, chaotic current of wind erupting outward, whipping everything nearby into a violent storm that engulfed him completely.
"Die, you bastard!" Aeridar spat, though he knew full well this move wouldn't kill Doflamingo—at best, it might leave him looking a little worse for wear.
A figure burst out from the eye of the storm—Doflamingo, his iconic pink-feathered coat tattered, with many feathers torn off. A few veins bulged angrily on his smooth forehead.
"Not bad, not bad. You're making my blood boil—Fufufufufufu~" Doflamingo grinned, inspecting his ripped clothes with an amused glint in his eyes.
"Tch~" Aeridar clicked his tongue, confirming what he'd suspected.
Even though he'd expected it, seeing Doflamingo emerge basically unscathed—with only superficial damage to his clothes—left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"You're not half bad, brat!"
With a sudden leap, Doflamingo lunged at Aeridar, fingers spread wide. Between each of his fingers, barely visible crystalline threads gleamed ominously as he slashed downward, aiming straight for Aeridar's head.
"Then take this—Goshikito!"
"Rankyaku—Hand Style—Palm Shock Slash!"
Aeridar tightened his fingers together into a vertical blade and slashed forward with a heavy sweep. A blue-white crescent shockwave shot upward, slicing through the sky.
The grating sound of grinding metal rang out as Doflamingo's nearly invisible threads blocked the vacuum blade midair.
"Fufufufufufu~~" Doflamingo sneered, extending his right index finger, where several tightly wound white strings twisted together, launching like bullets.
Tiny streaks of white flashed through the air, so fast they were almost invisible to the naked eye.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Aeridar bent his index finger and locked it against his thumb, flicking it forward sharply in rapid succession—an attack that resembled Rob Lucci's Shigan: Bachi technique.
Minute ripples distorted the air.
The strings collided with something solid, snapping and falling harmlessly to the ground.
At that moment, Aeridar noticed a looming shadow above him. Looking up, his red-lensed sunglasses caught the reflection of a towering figure cloaked in a tattered pink-feathered coat—Doflamingo again, shimmering threads catching the light.
"Not good!" Aeridar's heart clenched in alarm.
The surrounding air erupted with violent force, shockwaves rippling outward.
"Oi, oi, oi~ you gotta be kidding me—rookies these days can already use Haki?!"
Doflamingo stared, astonished, at Aeridar, who had crossed his arms in front of him, blocking the attack with a hardened black sheen.
"You're talking about Haki...? It's not that complicated. You'll pick it up soon enough,"
Aeridar said calmly, his arms still crossed defensively, his blackened skin glinting faintly like polished metal.
Raising his head slightly, a sharp gleam flashed across his crimson sunglasses. Doflamingo's voice dropped, becoming cold:
"You sure talk big for a brat! 'Simple', huh?"
Though Aeridar had indeed unlocked Armament Haki, Doflamingo could tell his mastery was still shallow—far inferior to his own.
A low hum vibrated the air as Doflamingo hardened his hands with Armament Haki, his arms turning pitch black, layered like triple-coated metal.
"Come on—show me what you've really got!"
With that, Doflamingo lashed out again, the nearly invisible threads slicing toward Aeridar.
Aeridar kicked off the air itself to dodge, using Geppo, stepping nimbly aside from the incoming threads.
Then—boom, boom, boom—he rapidly closed the distance, air erupting into white jets under his feet.
High in the sky, two figures clashed fiercely. Every step Aeridar took on the air burst white steam, while each collision of fists and feet created shockwaves that rippled outward like waves across a pond.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!—
Despite being thread against fist and foot, the impacts echoed like the clash of swords, sharp metallic shrieks filling the sky.
"An aerial battle... at this level... they're monsters,"
Arlan muttered, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. His hands clenched the railing so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"This is the strength of a Warlord of the Sea... and he's not even fighting seriously,"
Oliver narrowed his eyes, his left hand trembling slightly on his sword hilt.
"This... this is the summit..."
Backan swallowed hard, staring wide-eyed at the sky where the air itself seemed to tremble under the fighters' power. He knew—he knew—this was far beyond anything he could handle.
Dimitri, Gorbo, Millie, and Mina stood silently nearby, their faces grim as they watched the chaotic clash unfold overhead.
Doflamingo pointed his index finger forward, unleashing a dozen threads from his palm. The threads twisted together into a massive, razor-sharp whip that cracked through the air with explosive speed.
Aeridar kicked off the air again, narrowly dodging the whip—which lashed down and split the ocean itself, carving a trench more than ten meters deep, slicing countless fish in half.
Aeridar raised his arm high, fingers pressed together in a sharp palm blade, and swung it down with all his might.
The air compressed and twisted into a massive pale-white slash, more than two meters wide, hurtling toward Doflamingo.
Doflamingo laughed wildly, flipping through the air with ease, dodging the colossal slash.
"Amazing... you can't even get close without risking getting caught in that chaotic storm of air."
Though the slash missed, it tore open the ocean below, carving a rift dozens of meters long. A giant fish over ten meters wide was cleaved cleanly in two, its blood blooming across the sea.
A visible ripple burst out through the sky. Aeridar raised his hardened right leg just in time to block Doflamingo's flying kick.
But attached to the tip of Doflamingo's sharp-toed shoe were eight nearly invisible threads—deadly thin and deadly sharp. Had they struck directly, even Aeridar's Armament Haki might not have saved him.
After all, Haki wasn't invincible, and Aeridar's mastery was still shallow. His Armament Haki could only harden limited areas—he couldn't even coat half his body yet. His level was closer to Smoker's at best—far below Doflamingo's—and even weaker than Luffy's post-timeskip strength.
Much less someone like Vergo, a true master of Armament Haki.
Without a sound, a slender white thread slipped from the cuff of Doflamingo's left pant leg, trailing down to the heel of his foot. His left leg flicked up behind him, and with a swift, fluid motion, he twisted his whole body around, swinging a powerful inverted kick straight at Aeridar, aiming to catch him completely off guard.
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