"Aaaahhhh!!!"
Moriah let out a piercing shriek. The light sword had not even fully descended, but already his massive claws were shredded into fragments.
His entire body, once protected by grotesque, hardened scales, was being torn apart layer by layer under that brilliant blade, his flesh parting like shadows dissipating in daylight.
"Damn it!!!"
For a moment, sanity flickered back into Moriah's eyes, but he could only watch helplessly as the radiant blade descended.
Every shred of shadow covering his body evaporated under the radiance, and control of his powers slipped from his grasp as each fragment returned to its master.
Without his shadows, Moriah stood defenseless before this God‑level slash, forced to endure the inevitable.
Bang!
With a roar, Moriah was launched backward, narrowly evading the strike at the last instant.
"Kuma!!!"
He crashed into the distant forest, fists clenched, teeth grinding with raw fury.
"I owe you a favor! I will repay it for sure!"
"…"
Kuma, expressionless as ever, stood his ground. In his hands, he had formed two compressed dark air Bear Paws, the powerful shockwaves he had created while Moriah fought the descending light.
Clap!
The two Bear Paw shockwaves shot toward the falling slash, but the radiance simply cut through them like slicing tofu.
Sizzle, sizzle…
Two piercing cracks sounded as the shocks dissolved, then a colossal explosion followed.
Boom!!!!!!
The shockwaves collided with the light strike, and though the dazzling slash was stabilized in midair, its descent slowed only slightly.
"…"
Kuma's face twitched ever so slightly.
He had not stopped it.
Yet he could not form more shockwaves in time.
"Whoosh…"
Tilting his head back, Kuma opened his mouth and fired the most powerful laser Dr. Vegapunk had stored for him.
"Whoosh-sizzle!!!!"
The concentrated laser pierced through the dissipating shockwave and struck the light slash directly.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…
Kuma continued releasing wave after wave of laser energy.
Swish!
Still, the light strike could not be stopped. It burned through every defense and continued its slow, unwavering descent.
"Let me handle this!!"
Behind Kuma, Hawkeye stepped forward calmly.
He drew the greatest black blade, Yoru, from his back, Armament Haki quietly enveloping its form. With composed precision, he raised it and pointed it toward the sliding slash above them.
"This slash was clearly crafted to target the abilities of the three of us. It's powerful…"
Hawkeye spoke with measured calm, holding Yoru in one hand while stroking the blade with the other.
"However, powerful does not mean unbeatable."
A sudden flash entered his eyes. Gripping Yoru's hilt with both hands, he thrust the sword skyward.
"Yoru: Sword Dance!!!!"
Kuma felt Hawkeye's intensifying sword energy push against his back like a blade‑shaped thorn.
"…!"
He immediately closed his glowing mouth, ceased firing the lasers, and vanished in a blur to avoid the dangerous sword energies converging behind him.
From the black blade surged a swirling black‑green sword aura that took on the form of a massive dark wolf roaring into the sky with unstoppable ferocity.
Meanwhile, the dazzling light sword overhead, having clashed with Moriah and weathered Kuma's attacks, had lost some intensity and now seemed softer, restrained.
The bright slash radiated soft yet profound brilliance like a serene moon, colliding with the black‑green sword energy below.
Sizzle!!!!!!
The two sword powers met, creating an astonishing spectacle overhead: a clash of two opposing lights, one bright and radiating pure brilliance, the other dark and biting with storm‑like ferocity.
For a moment, it was as if daytime and nighttime existed simultaneously in the heavens, locked in fierce opposition.
"Is this the clash of top‑tier powerhouses?"
Hidden in a distant corner, members of the Rolling Pirates stared dumbfounded at the spectacle above.
The scale of power on display defied everything they had imagined.
This battle was rewriting the very weather itself.
How was such strength even possible?
For a moment, waves of frustration rose in the hearts of the Rolling Pirates.
They were only in the first half of the Grand Line, "Paradise," yet already they faced forces that rivaled world‑destroying power.
What awaited them in the New World…
A heavy sense of despair crept into their minds.
"Don't be afraid," Lola, the Captain of the Rolling Pirates, said quietly, sensing her crew's despair. "This is likely a clash of the world's top fighters!"
Though her voice was steady, concern flickered within it.
"These fighters are on a different level. The Fifth Emperor is rightly feared, his strength comparable to the Four Emperors! And Hawkeye is the strongest among the Seven Warlords!"
"But what if we get caught in something like this?" a crewmate asked, trembling.
"…"
Lola paused, then spoke bitterly:
"Then it would be simply terrible luck."
The meaning of her words was clear: even surviving such destruction would be a miracle for ordinary pirates like them.
"…"
The crew members shared solemn looks.
They knew they could neither intervene nor survive easily in such a cataclysmic fight.
As they watched in awe, the sword energies overhead reached a breaking point.
Crack!!
The black‑green wolf of sword aura devoured the bright moonlight slash completely, fragment by fragment, consuming it within its own force.
"A slash both rigid and fluid…"
Hawkeye murmured, turning to look toward Shirogai, who had already returned to his companions and no longer watched the duel above.
"Hawkeye won!!!"
Exclaimed the Rolling Pirates.
In the sky, the once‑radiant bright slash had vanished entirely, consumed by the dark sword aura that continued to climb toward the clouds.
Lola lay on the deck, gazing upward, admiration in her eyes.
"Hawkeye truly is the World's Greatest Swordsman. Though the Fifth Emperor's slash was powerful, it was no match for his mastery."
"Hawkeye won?"
Nami watched the black‑green slash with narrowed eyes, unwilling to accept such an outcome at face value.
"No, it's not over yet!"
Zoro spoke in a low, steady voice.
Crack!
Crack!!!
At that moment, the dark slash began to fracture, its structure breaking apart violently.
Boom!!!
An explosion of turbulent energy erupted in the sky, shredding the surrounding clouds.
Swish!
Within the fractured dark energy, a brilliant white radiance reignited once more, flooding the sky with light.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the light faded.
Aside from clouds stirred by the immense clash, the sky settled once more, serene and still.