"Just some broken stones, that must be your Devil Fruit ability!" Dingman immediately recognized the Enliven creatures. His movements were just as quick as his words, and with a clang, he parried the incoming slash with a swing of his long scythe, Gyakurin.
"Guess again!" Cross grinned playfully, swiftly closing the distance. Kagehide in his hand became a black lightning bolt, heading straight for Dingman's neck.
Dingman reacted quickly, raising his long scythe to block. He managed to use the metal handle to parry Kagehide's sharp edge.
Clang—!
The collision exploded with a resounding metallic clang. The impact of their immense strength made the air tremble, then kicked up a visible, powerful gust of wind that spread out in all directions with a whistling sound, stirring up a thick cloud of dust.
"Such strength!" Dingman's expression was startled. He felt a massive jolt in both hands, and his long scythe almost slipped from his grasp. The ground beneath his feet couldn't withstand the force, caving in to form a crater.
"Ha~ To be able to block this strike from me, your 260,000,000 Berry bounty is indeed well-deserved!" Cross's tone was light, as he gripped Kagehide's hilt with both hands and pushed forward forcefully.
"When I was roaming the seas, you were still drinking milk at home. Aren't you a bit too arrogant, brat?!" Dingman tightly gripped his scythe, Gyakurin, but instead of matching Cross's strength, he skillfully redirected it. The long blade slid along the scythe's handle, creating a shower of sparks.
Then, Dingman swung his long scythe, tracing a semicircle in the air, slashing downwards diagonally like the basic sword technique, 'Kesagiri,' in Kendo. The sharp, dark-red scythe seemed to cleave the very air, aiming to slice Cross in half.
Clang—!
However, before Dingman's move fully descended, Cross raised Kagehide high, cleanly deflecting his opponent's long scythe aside. The clash of their weapons once again stirred up visible air ripples.
"Old man, if age determined who won or lost, then the Giant Tribe should be ruling this world, shouldn't they?" Cross sneered.
"Sharp tongue." Dingman's face turned cold. He thrust the handle of his long scythe forward, aiming its sharp tip at Cross. With a clang, a circular gust of wind spread out as Cross, parrying with his long blade, was pushed back several meters.
"Let me drain the blood from your body and turn you into a corpse. Let's see what else that mouth of yours can say!" The next second, Dingman took the offensive, swinging his scythe, Gyakurin, like a giant windmill, slashing horizontally at Cross.
"Haha~ That move doesn't look like it's trying to drain my blood!" Cross laughed loudly, leaping into the air, letting the scythe pass harmlessly beneath his feet.
Whoosh—!
Rumble—!
In an instant, a visible, sharp scythe-wind exploded outwards, instantly severing a large tree in the distance. The upper half of the tree trunk, over a dozen meters long, crashed down, stirring up dust. The cut was perfectly smooth, without any ragged edges.
"One-Sword Style: Meteor!"
In mid-air, Cross held Kagehide upside down, falling rapidly. Dingman looked up, feeling the biting wind approaching him like knives, making his skin sting. Without a word, he dodged to the side.
Boom!
Then, Cross, like a falling meteor, slammed heavily into the ground. The long blade in his hand plunged into the earth, making the ground tremble. The impact created a crater over five meters in diameter, with more than a dozen cracks extending outwards, and a surging blast of air swept forth, kicking up thick, pervasive dust.
"Cough, cough~"
Dingman, who had dodged to a safe distance, coughed twice from the dust, quickly covering his face with his hand to prevent sand from entering his eyes.
Through his fingers, he saw the large crater blasted into the ground and couldn't help but be slightly astonished. If that attack had connected, his body would surely have been pierced clean through.
Cross slowly stood up, pulling Kagehide from the ground, then met Dingman's gaze.
"Attack him!"
The next moment, Cross roared and then dashed towards Dingman.
Caw—!
At this moment, a long eagle cry echoed in the sky. A sudden black shadow obscured the sunlight on Dingman, causing him to look up. He saw a massive silver eagle descending from the sky, hurtling towards him like a silver arrow.
"What a huge eagle!" Dingman's eyelid twitched. He suddenly swung the long scythe in his hand, bringing up a fierce, protective wind above his head.
"Blood Moon Crescent!"
A crimson crescent moon flew out, whistling towards the silver eagle.
Boom!
In an instant, the silver eagle was struck by the crimson crescent moon. However, almost simultaneously, Dingman suddenly crouched down and touched the ground, muttering, "Blood Devour!"
Roar—!
His palm touched the blood-soaked ground. Wisps of blood rapidly converged towards him, instantly forming a nearly ten-meter-long giant blood python. It roared with a ferocious, gaping maw, swiftly lunging to bite at Cross.
"...So fast!" Cross felt his vision blur, realizing the giant blood python had already shot in front of him. He instinctively stopped, and without thinking, swung his sword to strike.
Whoosh—!
The lightning-fast slash instantly cut off the blood python's head, but his chest clothing was still torn away, a truly perilous close call. If he had been even half a second slower, a piece of his chest flesh would have been bitten off.
"Brat, I admit you have some skill!" Dingman curled his lip in slight regret, softly saying, "But as a Paramecia-type Blood-Blood Fruit user, the blood flowing on the battlefield is my greatest aid! It's absolutely impossible for you to win against me in a battlefield like this!"
As he finished speaking, the blood on the ground coalesced again, and three thumb-sized blood spheres floated around Dingman.
After hearing Dingman's words, Cross lowered his head, raising a hand to touch the exposed skin on his chest, muttering, "Paramecia-type Blood-Blood Fruit... the ability to manipulate blood, huh... That's certainly tricky..."
"However, when it comes to who's more suited for a place like the battlefield, my ability isn't inferior to yours!"
As his voice fell, Cross suddenly crouched down, placing his hands on the ground as well. He roared fiercely, "Enliven: Inorganic Reincarnation!!"
Rumble—!
In an instant, the surrounding ground vibrated violently. Under the control of an unseen force, the earth surged upwards. Countless mud and rocks, along with green grass, were kneaded together to form several thick mud-and-rock tentacles, as if a gigantic deep-sea octopus had come ashore. They flailed their massive tentacles, striking towards Dingman's position.
"Nani?!" Dingman's eyes widened, his expression astonished at the scene before him.
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanPiece [remove the parenthesis ( )]
There are 100+ advance chapters available for you to read!