One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

This strike was as swift as the wind and as fast as thunder.

"One-sword style! Iai! Instant slash!"

A dazzling bolt of lightning flashed past him.

"Pfft!"

Garp charged like a savage beast, his thick Armament Haki armor, as solid as an iron wall, shattered. A deep, bone-revealing gash appeared on his chest, and his massive body, like a baseball struck by an iron rod, crashed through the air and flew back, slamming solidly into the towering cliff of Mount Kuja.

"Boom! Crack crack crack!"

Amidst the earth-shaking tremors and explosions, a huge, narrow crack stretched straight up from the massive Nine Serpents Mountain, splitting the entire mountain in two and creating a bottomless abyss in the ground below.

Blood gushed out like a waterfall from the meter-long wound on Garp's body, instantly staining his burly frame crimson.

Garp emerged from the cracks in the shattered mountain, his face expressionless, as if the injured one was someone else, not himself. With his feet moving at an extraordinary speed, he flashed by in a few blinks, almost like teleporting, and rushed in front of Rayleigh, delivering a powerful punch.

"Fist bone! Meteorite!"

"Clang!"

A dazzling flash of fire grazed Garp's fist as Rayleigh, holding a long sword, blocked Garp's right fist, while his bare right foot kicked Garp in the stomach.

His fighting style was also different from those sword masters who only knew how to use a sword.

In fact, when someone of his and Garp's level possesses such overwhelming power, the amount of damage caused by using weapons or not makes little difference.

Swordsmen focus on superior swordsmanship and sharp strikes, while Garp's fists are more inclined towards powerful and explosive attacks.

Rayleigh's right foot kicked Garp in the stomach, leaving a clear dent in the Haki armor covering Garp's body.

Rayleigh's top-tier Armament Haki and ultimate Armament Haki application skills caused the Haki blast from his foot to enter Garp's abdomen, causing him to bleed internally, with blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Despite succeeding in one move, Rayleigh showed no joy whatsoever.

Because Garp's empty left fist struck Rayleigh's right side at almost the same time he kicked out with his right foot.

With a loud crack, Rayleigh spat out a large mouthful of blood. His body was bent to the left by Garp's punch, creating a white shockwave that blew away dust and gravel. He shot out like an arrow, smashing and breaking towering trees.

Two or three of his ribs snapped with a crack under Garp's punch, and his internal organs were also shaken and bled by Garp's Armament Haki, which was no less powerful than, and perhaps even stronger than, his own.

The two men were sent flying backwards almost simultaneously, each traveling dozens or even hundreds of meters before crashing heavily to the ground.

Large amounts of blood seeped out from the pores of their skin.

From the moment they started fighting until now, only a few minutes have passed, yet the battle has already escalated to such a brutal level.

Garp's fighting style seemed to completely abandon defense, disregarding the possible injuries he might suffer, and he fought Rayleigh like a cold fighting machine.

Countless complex emotions, which no one could fully comprehend, churned wildly within his chest.

He felt guilty for not being able to fulfill Roger's promise to entrust Estoril to him.

The helplessness and pain of watching Ace die helplessly and being unable to do anything.

As a marine, a veteran, and a naval hero, he should have taken the lead in this war, just as he had for decades, leading his naval warriors into battle without hesitation. However, due to the pain and struggle in his heart, he hesitated and became confused on the battlefield for a long time, which indirectly led to the navy suffering another unbearable huge loss of life in this war, following the G1 naval battle.

The grief over Ace's death and the deep guilt over failing to fulfill his duty as a veteran were like countless sharp knives piercing the depths of Garp's heart.

During his ten-plus days on Marineford, he seemed to hear the souls of countless dead marines hurling painful, sorrowful, and silent reproaches at him.

No.

Not as if.

I really heard it.

Inside the makeshift hospital in Marineford, the sailors, severely wounded and mutilated from the battle, vented their anger and questioning of their naval hero's indecisiveness on the battlefield as they suffered both mental and physical torment.

That soaring resentment made Garp's soul feel as if it were in a scorching hell.

This made every day he spent on Marineford an endless mental ordeal.

"Boom!"

The earth, trampled by Garp, was as fragile as paper.

Strands of dark red, jet-black, domineering lightning, seemingly endless, continuously emerged from his burly body, coiling around his fists, and he pounded at Rayleigh with one punch after another, like a pile driver.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

The deafening explosions, like a violent storm, relentlessly echoed across Nine Serpents Island.

Garp's fists were like two black and red phantoms, constantly colliding with Rayleigh's demon sword, Raiyu.

Blood and fragments of flesh, like bark falling from a tree trunk after being slashed, flew up continuously from Rayleigh's blade.

Blood stained Garp's burly body red, but his punches grew heavier and faster.

"laugh……"

Large plumes of white steam shot out from his pores, making him look like a high-speed steam engine, frantically spewing out scalding hot steam.

The scalding steam carried the blood that was seeping from his body and rose up, enveloping him in a blood-red mist.

The overwhelmingly tragic atmosphere caused Rayleigh to feel increasing pressure.

Finally, after countless times of slashing his sword to block Garp's punches, Rayleigh's arm muscles finally tore due to the intense exercise.

What seemed like a minor muscle strain became the most fatal weakness in the midst of their intense battle.

The battle-hardened Rayleigh clearly realized this as well, so without the slightest hesitation, he swung his sword at Garp, who was bombarding him like a madman, trying to temporarily stop Garp's fierce offensive so that he could make some adjustments.

"Gods, beware!"

The high-speed slash, crackling with Conqueror's Haki, descended from the sky. Even Garp, who was at full power at that moment, would have been severely injured if he hadn't defended or dodged.

Rayleigh was betting that Garp would dodge slightly, because in this relentless battle, Garp's frenzied attacks without any defense had already left him with too many wounds and caused him to bleed too much.

If Garp didn't dodge and let the slash hit him, the accumulated injuries would definitely cause him to lose too much blood, which would lead to a decrease in his strength.

At the very least, Garp would have to gather all his Armament Haki and compress it into armor to block his attack.

Otherwise, in this battle, it would be Garp who would have lost his composure and died.

However, Garp not only did not dodge, he didn't even bother to gather Armament Haki to block Garp's attack.

Before Garp's attack even arrived, Rayleigh's Observation Haki, which allowed him to foresee the future, had already predicted Garp's next attack.

As if he had seen something, Rayleigh suddenly shook his head.

"As expected of you, you're a true battle maniac."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard a tearing sound as flesh was ripped open.

The blood-red demonic sword, crackling with Conqueror's Haki, sliced ​​straight through Garp's outstretched hand, cutting between his spread middle and ring fingers. Amidst a spray of blood, Garp's left hand was cleaved open by Rayleigh's blade.

With a resounding clang, the longsword, which Rayleigh had been gripping tightly, cut through Garp's hand and became lodged in front of his wrist bone.

Because he foresaw this scene, Rayleigh drew his sword rapidly without pause, trying to pull back the stuck blood-red longsword. However, Garp's blood-soaked left hand suddenly closed, like a giant vise, tightly locking the blade stuck on his wrist bone.

His right fist, which had been poised for a long time, was thrust towards Rayleigh.

Rayleigh was no ordinary man either. As he drew his sword with his right hand, he also opened his left hand, which was wrapped in thick Armament Haki, and grabbed at Garp's right fist that was about to strike.

But how could his left hand possibly block Garp's right fist?

With a dull, explosive sound, followed by a sharp crack, Rayleigh's outstretched left hand was struck by Garp's right fist, his wrist twisting horribly, the muscles and bones of his entire hand and wrist shattered.

After throwing a punch, Garp's massive fist transformed into a claw in a flash, grabbing Rayleigh's twisted left hand. Under Rayleigh's shocked gaze, Garp flung his body up and slammed it heavily onto the ground like a ball of dough!

"Fist bone! Falling from the seabed!"

Unbeknownst to them, the ground beneath their feet had already been covered by a thick, domineering black aura.

The ground, imposingly armed, resembled a thick iron wall.

When Rayleigh was grabbed by the left arm by Garp and slammed against the dark iron wall, the entire Amazon Lily shook violently.

The royal palace of the Kingdom of Women, which had existed for hundreds of years, collapsed in large sections amidst the exclamations of Mary Grud and others.

The towering Nine Snake Mountain behind it could no longer bear the weight and collapsed with a rumble, sending countless huge rocks tumbling down.

Rayleigh's body made a series of crackling sounds when it hit the ground.

He coughed up a large amount of blood, and a muffled groan came from his throat.

The impact was so severe that it nearly shattered all of Rayleigh's bones and muscles.

But that's not all.

As if he had foreseen something once again, Rayleigh, whose mouth was covered in blood, released the blood-red demon sword that Garp was still holding tightly. With his right hand, he pointed his fingers like a sword and thrust them towards Garp's throat, who was radiating a fierce aura and pouncing at him like a mad beast.

At this moment, Rayleigh had no knife in his hand, but his two index and middle fingers, held together, unleashed a thrust powerful enough to pierce through diamonds, enveloped by top-tier Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki.

As Garp pounced at high speed, he raised his right fist, which was trailing bolts of black lightning, high into the air as if he were swinging a heavy hammer. He smashed the air in front of Rayleigh, causing it to explode in layers, creating a terrifying shockwave that slammed into Rayleigh.

"Fist Bone! Galaxy Collision!"

"Boom!"

The enormous roar and tremors once again reverberated throughout the entire Nine-Shell Island.

At that moment, deep, thick cracks radiated from the ground beneath Rayleigh, spreading and cracking across the entire island.

The calm sea surface outside Snake Island was rippled by an invisible shockwave, instantly creating waves tens of meters high that surged into the distance.

The shockwave, as powerful as a Category 18 hurricane, shattered the fragments of Mount Kuja that had just fallen into the air and hadn't fully hit the ground, turning them into a massive sandstorm that swept towards Hancock and the others.

Houses were uprooted by the massive impact, turning into splinters that were swept into the air and scattered across the calm sea off the island.

The world-renowned Kuja Pirates, faced with this immense catastrophe that seemed poised to destroy the entire Kuja Island, were powerless as ants, forced to watch helplessly as the town was reduced to rubble.

The dog-headed warships anchored on the sea off Nine Serpent Island sailed towards the back of Nine Serpent Mountain, braving the massive shockwave that erupted at this moment.

Hancock, who had been holding onto Granny Newt for a long time, also had a frosty expression. She lightly touched the ground with her feet and hurried towards that direction amidst the earth-shaking tremors.

The back of Nine Snake Mountain.

When Bogard, who had come with Garp, and Hancock, who was furious, arrived at the center of the massive tremor, they saw a huge crater, as if it had been formed by a meteorite impact.

At the bottom of this enormous sinkhole, hundreds of meters in diameter, two old men were locked in combat.

Garp's fist pierced through Rayleigh's chest, entering through his heart and exiting through his back, shattering Rayleigh's heart and pinning him to the ground.