To be honest, Alucard never truly intended to kill anyone, even Akainu, who he eliminated only after definitively concluding that the Admiral was of no further interest.
The pleasure Alucard sought was joy, was madness. He was tired of the boredom of his previous life, which is why he sometimes deliberately let opponents go, such as the King of Evil Kingdom many years ago, Vinsmoke Judge, whose limbs he severed a couple of years ago, and the Revolutionary Army leader, Dragon.
But at the same time, he had killed many more: Akainu, and the entire Twelve Kingdoms that betrayed him—not just the royalty, but the common people too.
The former were killed because they ceased to be entertaining; the latter because they had pushed Alucard to his absolute limit.
Shanks, at this moment, belonged to the latter category. Letting him go would certainly make the world crazier, because Alucard knew that Shanks had the right to be a Yonko.
Unfortunately, Shanks had gone too far in offending Alucard. Alucard could no longer let him go merely for the sake of enjoyment.
At the same time, Alucard felt a slight pity for Shanks. He was not dying in a battle for the Yonko title. The cause of his death was a mere child named Luffy.
It was exactly as the newcomers who left the Red-Hair crew thought: his death was too shameful.
Yet, this still wasn't a reason for Alucard to spare him. Today, Shanks would either stage a breakout, escaping through his true strength, or he would die right here and become another soul in Alucard's River of Death.
After Alucard released his blood pool to cover the isolated island that Shanks had split in two, the battle quickly became a one-sided affair.
The Red-Hair Pirates were at the end of their rope. With a numerical disadvantage of over a thousand to one, after barely an hour, only a handful of officers remained capable of fighting.
Now, both sides tacitly put aside their struggles and focused their attention on the fight between the two Captains.
The entire ground had become Alucard's domain. Once Shanks landed, he was guaranteed to be at a disadvantage.
"Does it have an effect similar to my ROOM?"
Law, still standing on the battleship, muttered to himself as he watched the scene.
His Surgical Space also had a similar effect. As long as it was deployed within that space, he was virtually invincible. Of course, the prerequisite was that the enemy's strength level wasn't too far above his own—Alucard, who had beaten him dozens of times, was proof of that.
Shanks stood atop a ten-meter-tall tree, looking at the ominous blood pool below. He suddenly exhaled and murmured to himself, "If this is my last battle, I suppose I'll be satisfied. It's a pity I won't be known to the world like Golden Lion Shiki."
After murmuring to himself, Shanks actively jumped, intending to land. The Red-Hair Pirates shouted anxiously in alarm, "You idiot! Why are you jumping in voluntarily?! Now is the time to create distance and engage in aerial combat using the high ground!"
Shanks acted as if he hadn't heard them. When his body was less than half a meter from the ground, the massive jaws of the black hound, Baskerville, opened, just as before, intending to swallow him.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Shanks roared, gripping his saber in a reverse grip. Scarlet lightning erupted, and he spun in an explosive circle less than half a meter from the ground. With a reverse slash, he unleashed a lightning sword strike that split Baskerville's entire face in two.
The massive dog face was cleaved down the middle, with only blood filaments connecting the two halves—an extremely gory sight.
"That guy's crazy! The slightest mistake and he'll become dog food!" Even as an enemy, Law couldn't help but feel a chill for Shanks.
On the Red-Hair side, even those who had already surrendered showed reverence on their faces. That is the man we followed.
Baskerville's corpse gradually sank into the blood pool. Alucard, in his transformed state, slowly emerged from the blood pool, deepening the grave expressions of Shanks, Beckman, and the others. They had only dealt with a pet just now; this was the real master.
Just as Shanks was focusing all his attention, preparing to adopt a reactive stance based on Alucard's next move, Alucard suddenly vanished before his eyes.
When Shanks reacted, he raised his sword to block behind him, but Alucard's finger-sword was faster, striking Shanks's left shoulder. His fingers were inserted almost up to the knuckles.
Splash!
When Alucard withdrew his fingers, blood gushed uncontrollably from the wound in Shanks's shoulder.
Shanks ignored the injuries. In an instant, he coated his entire blade in Armament Haki. The saber, once ordinary, now carried the power and sharpness of a supreme-grade blade beyond compare.
Shanks swung the sword, carving a deep trench into the sea, a slash no less powerful than one from Mihawk. But it did not harm Alucard in the slightest, rendering it useless.
"It really has a lot of similarities with my ROOM," Law thought to himself.
At that moment, Shanks unexpectedly closed his eyes. Two seconds later, he slashed to his right, blocking a bullet that Alucard had just fired.
Following that, new bullets were constantly fired from various locations, but Shanks kept his eyes closed, continually blocking them with his sword.
"He's not trusting his eyes; he's fighting purely with Haki?" Beckman quickly analyzed Shanks's situation.
Lucky Roux, who had returned to his chubby form, frowned deeply. "But how long can he last?" "A remarkable man."
The bullets suddenly stopped. Shanks opened his eyes and looked behind him. Alucard, holding the white pistol, stood several dozen meters away. "The last person I said that to was Whitebeard."
"Oh? So, I should feel honored," Shanks chuckled. "But unfortunately, you will still die here."
Alucard once again made the same vertical rectangular gesture with his hands. "Releasing Restriction System Level One."
Suddenly, the space around Shanks completely changed. The sky and earth vanished from his sight, replaced by endless darkness, and the giant, blood-red pupils that stared fixedly at him, identical to the one on Alucard's chest.
To the outside observers, the two had vanished into the blood pool, and their situation was unknown.
"Red-Haired Shanks!"
Alucard called out his opponent's full name, a mark of respect, as was his habit.
And after expressing his respect, Alucard revealed only endless killing intent. "Your greatest undoing! Is placing everything on the shoulders of a single brat!"