This left Sage slightly stunned.
In a contest of strength, he actually fell at a disadvantage...
Sage suddenly plummeted downwards, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he was ready to move again.
Thud!
However, a loud crash resounded in front of him as William's foot burst out an airwave, propelling him high into the air. His body spun like a black whirlwind, vaguely forming a roaring lion's head, descending rapidly like a meteor.
Crack, crack...
As soon as it fell, the impact it carried made the surrounding debris quiver and rise. In the midst of the rotation, William's body tightened abruptly, flashing with electric light as Haki coiled around the greatsword in a fierce downward slash.
"Lion Fall Flash!"
Sage squinted slightly, aiming at the rapidly falling greatsword. Amidst the coiling electric light, he noticed the black flash blooming outside the blade.
Mastery of Armament Haki to its extremity!
This move is pretty hard to block.
Evasion?
Sizzle!
Sage suddenly clenched his fist, and his Haki swiftly coiled and compressed around his fist, also emitting two black flashes.
"You're not qualified yet!"
Thud!
With a slight squat in his knees, he sprung upwards, bringing out a smoke ring impact from the ground. Without hesitation, his black sparkling fist clashed with the descending blade.
"Galaxy Impact!!"
Bang!!
A loud crash exploded in mid-air, drawing the attention of the crowd still retreating.
Bella turned her head, only able to see Master Sage in the air facing off against that knight from above and below. Strangely, that terrifying greatsword did not completely strike Master Sage's fist, but there was still a tiny gap.
"Be careful."
Stansen quickly swept up Bella, shielding her with his chest, back facing the two in mid-air, saying in a deep voice, "You can't withstand it, that kind of force..."
He had just recently grasped Haki, and for life, the strength of will was about the same. At such times, the larger the volume, the harder it is to cover, because the quantity is insufficient. For humans, the amount of Haki that can harden the whole body can only harden a giant's fist.
But he did not know the 'Coiling' technique, so he couldn't gather it on the fist, resulting in the Haki quantity being quite small once it hardened.
Therefore, many giants possess Haki, but are too lazy to use it, because it is indeed not as handy as their natural strength. Only the strong among giants can use Haki with ease.
Such as the legendary strong among giants, Master Blue Ghost and Master Red Ghost.
But Stansen could see it. In the crevice between the intersection of the blade and the fist, Haki gathered into an extremely unstable small sphere... about to explode!
Boom!!!
Just as he shielded Bella, the ground beneath their feet violently trembled open. Even though they had distanced themselves quite far from the North District, the tremor was still intense.
In the air where both sides faced off, a gigantic air ring visible to the naked eye erupted and rapidly dispersed around from the center, collapsing buildings it touched and shattering wood chips and stones, turning surrounding houses into ruins.
Rumble!
A third of the ground in the North District was shattered, with splintered slabs flying, the land sinking downwards, forming a wide depression.
As the shockwave dispersed, Sage's Haki-wrapped fist collided heavily with William's broad sword.
Bam!
At the moment of contact, Sage only felt his arm sinking, his body beginning to sink as well.
In terms of strength... this guy was really stronger.
"Comparing strength, huh..."
Sage's nostrils sprayed out a jet of white gas like an arrow, his muscles trembled violently, twisting and coiling, rapidly enlarging his body to three meters tall. His cloak unfurled as it expanded, his muscles bursting through his shirt and rings, forming a layer of muscle armor.
"Dragon Transformation Breathing Technique, 80%!"
The descending arm suddenly halted, and a smoke ring erupted beneath Sage's feet, pausing his falling body in the air. He swiftly extended another fist, aiming directly at William's face.
There's only one sword, but fists, there are two of them!
Bang!
The extended fist was suddenly blocked by a leg. As William kicked out, a muffled roar burst from his throat, and the Haki on the blade visibly strengthened, expanding the arm within the armor, forcefully pressing down the power with Sage.
The kicked leg thrust forward sharply, deflecting Sage's fist. In his startled pupils, the descending sword blade crooked sideways, missing Sage's fist, both hands twisted the vertical slash into a horizontal one, striking heavily onto Sage's body.
Wham!!
Like a meteor falling at high speed, Sage was slashed diagonally downward, smashing a huge hole through the outer city wall, embedding into the ground of the ruined harbor town, which had been blasted open by cannon fire.
From afar, it looked like a straight diagonal line had been drawn.
Boom!
In just an instant, the land in the harbor town suddenly shattered open, bringing up a massive whirlwind of spinning black fire. Following the path of the fall, it charged back out, drilling into the broken wall hole, expanding the hole further, blasting a massive breach in the wall, returning in front of William, who hadn't yet landed.
Through a hundredfold movement and a hundredfold rotation, a black fire whirlwind capable of destroying everything was formed. In this rapid rotation, Sage's powerful leg stamped onto William's head, destroying half of the devouring face helmet, kicking his entire face nearly out of shape.
"Hundred-Slit Heroic Spin!!"
Bang!!
As quickly as it came, it was sent back.
A line flew swiftly over from the opposite direction across the sky, and William was kicked down straight, crashing consecutively across two-thirds of the North District, destroying every building along the way, forming a deeply gouged trench, ending with a huge hole at the end.
Thud...
Sage landed heavily on the ground, his body becoming even more ferocious, with muscles twisted like steel cables forming armor, with two shoulder plates, one large and one small, condensing on his shoulders.
100%!
Kuma!
At this moment, the Haki coiling around his body was like black flames, condensing a blazing aura on the surface.
"Let's..."
He extended five fingers towards the direction of the trench, clenching tightly, his mouth curling into a dramatic arc, "begin the second round!"