One Piece: The user of the Nen-Nen Fruit, who overturned the sea.

The golden lion stood on the floating wreckage, surrounded by fragments of the spaceship and wood chips shattered during the battle.

The sea breeze blows from the east, carrying the salty smell of the sea.

He lowered his head and looked at the two knives in his hands that had been with him for most of his life.

Sakura and Kuki's blades were covered with nicks and chips, left from their earlier clash with Akisui.

These two knives have been with him for decades, ever since he was an unknown nobody, and he still uses them today.

"Old buddy, today might be the last time we fight side by side."

Shiki said something to the two knives in his mind, then looked up at Roy opposite him.

Roy was standing in mid-air, dozens of meters away, the tip of his Autumn Water Blade pointing diagonally downwards.

He neither continued his attack nor offered any further persuasion; he simply waited quietly.

This patience stung Shiki more than any mockery.

As the mighty Golden Lion, when has he ever needed others to wait for him to make a move?

Shiki took a deep breath.

Then he made a gesture that made Roy frown slightly.

He transferred the withered wood from his right hand to his left, and held the two knives together temporarily.

Then free up your right hand and reach it over your head.

Roy's pupils contracted slightly.

"Hey, Shiki, you—"

Before he could finish speaking, Shiki's right hand had already gripped the base of the ship's rudder above his head.

The ship's rudder that had been embedded in his skull for decades, the old wound that had caused him to fall from the peak to the bottom,

That constraint prevented him from reliably using even Conqueror's Haki.

Shiki suddenly pulled outwards.

The rudder was forcibly pulled off from above his head.

Blood gushed from the top of his head, flowing down his white hair and instantly staining half of his face red.

Blood flowed into my eyes, and my vision turned into a blurry crimson blur.

But instead of falling, Shiki roared to the sky.

A surge of Conqueror's Haki, suppressed for over twenty years, erupted like a volcano.

Dark red lightning struck wildly in all directions from Shiki's center, more violent and pure than ever before.

The floating debris was shattered into powder, the air was torn apart, and even the clouds overhead were blasted open by this overwhelming force, creating a huge hole.

Roy responded with Conqueror's Haki in return.

Black and red lightning surged from his blade, colliding fiercely with Shiki's dark red lightning in mid-air.

The moment the two Conqueror's Haki clashed, the entire airspace trembled violently.

The waves on the sea surface below were pushed back by the shock wave, forming a circular wall of water hundreds of meters away.

The shockwave dissipated.

Roy stood still, but his fingers tightened slightly around Qiu Shui.

A hint of seriousness crept into his gaze as he looked at Shiki.

The Conqueror's Haki, undiminished by the ship's rudder, was still intact. A monster who could rival Roger Whitebeard in his prime should possess such imposing presence.

Shiki casually tossed the wrecked ship's wheel aside. The blood-stained, worn-out wheel tumbled a few times in the air before falling into the sea below, splashing up a small spray.

"It should have been done a long time ago."

Shiki grinned, his face covered in blood, laughing like a madman.

"This damn thing has been in my head for decades, it hurts and gets in the way."

"If I'd known it would feel this good to pull it out, I would have done it a long time ago."

Roy didn't speak; he knew what Skeeter was doing.

The ship's rudder suppressed his Conqueror's Haki, but it also stopped the fatal wound.

The reason he survived after the mast pierced his skull was because the rudder happened to block the bleeding point.

Now that the rudder has been removed, Conqueror's Haki will be fully unleashed in a short time, but at the same time, the old wound on his head will also rapidly worsen.

This isn't some kind of last-minute breakthrough; it's a gamble with your life.

"You can't keep this up for long," Roy said.

That's enough.

Shiki returned the withered tree to his right hand, crossed the two swords in front of him, and re-condensed Conqueror's Haki on the blades.

This time was completely different from before—the dark red aura was no longer flickering, but was as stable as a tangible substance.

A uniformly thick film of light was formed on the blade.

Shiki pushed off with his feet, transforming into a dark red meteor that shot towards Roy.

The speed was almost twice as fast as before. Roy dodged the first strike by sidestepping, the blade grazing his shoulder.

The mere wind pressure left a bloody mark on his shoulder.

The second cut followed immediately.

The dead tree slashed horizontally from the side at a tricky angle, blocking Roy's escape route.

Roy could only raise his knife to parry, and the clash of blades produced a piercing metallic clang. This time, the impact even made his hand feel slightly numb.

The third strike, the fourth strike, the fifth strike. Shiki's twin swords rained down like a storm, each strike faster and heavier than the last.

In his hands, Sakura and Kuki were no longer two separate swords, but had become an impenetrable killing machine.

The attack angles were completely unpredictable, relying entirely on Shiki's decades of combat instincts, using whatever tricky tactics were possible.

Roy was forced to retreat; he was truly suppressed.

It took more than a dozen attacks to regain the rhythm.

"strong enough!"

A glint flashed in Roy's eyes, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

He hadn't felt this way in a long time.

Since the Marineford War, there have been fewer and fewer opponents that he can take seriously.

Barrett is one, Hawkeye is another, but sparring with these two is a completely different experience from fighting the Golden Lion.

A friendly exchange is to stop when you've reached a point; a life-or-death struggle is to risk everything.

Shiki is now going all out.

Roy parried the twin swords that Shiki brought down, and the two blades locked in a stalemate in mid-air.

Blood was still gushing from Shiki's head, streaming down his face and dripping onto the blade where it was shaken into a bloody mist.

His face was slightly contorted with pain, but the fighting spirit in his eyes remained undiminished.

"Roy, you just said my abilities are countered by you—!"

Shiki squeezed out those words through gritted teeth.

"And now—without using any abilities—just with your sword and Haki—can you still hold your own against me?!"

Roy looked into Shiki's eyes, which were bloodshot and the pupils were slightly dilated due to brain damage, but the stubbornness and pride were still there.

"I can't hold back anymore," Roy said honestly.

"That's good!" Shiki suddenly exerted his strength to knock Roy away, and then slashed down with his twin swords again.

The two fought from the air to the sea, and then back up from the sea to the air.

A pure swordsmanship duel, without any superpowers involved.

Sakura and Kuki faced off against Shusui, two swords against one, each clash sending sparks flying everywhere.

The surrounding floating debris had long been pulverized by the aftershocks of the battle, and the sea surface was cleaved with deep trenches by the wind from their blades.

Shiki's strength was rapidly depleting; after pulling off the rudder, every strike he made hastened his own death.

The wound on his head was bleeding continuously, his vision was becoming increasingly blurred, and the muscles in his arms were aching in protest due to the high-intensity exertion.

But he didn't care at all, slashing again and again, each slash heavier than the last, as if he wanted to unleash all the power he had accumulated over decades in this battle.

Roy could sense that Shiki's attacks were getting heavier, but also more chaotic.

It's not that my swordsmanship is messed up, it's that my body can't keep up with my mind.

Shiki's every strike was still cunning and deadly, but his speed was slowing down and the continuity of his power was decreasing.

This is a sign that your energy is running out.

But Shiki's expression was changing.

From anger to excitement, from excitement to fanaticism, from fanaticism to a kind of liberating ease.

It was as if the burden that had been weighing on him for decades had finally been lifted off his shoulders.

No more hiding, no more thinking about reviving the Flying Pirates, no more worrying about winning or losing.

All he needs to do is swing his sword, fight, and be the fearless Golden Lion he once was.