In the vast North District, with Sage at the center, a large crater formed outward, the buildings in the crater already vanished, and those outside turned to ruins. The central third of what was once a densely built area has completely disappeared.
Sage gazed at the extending ravine, gripping his outstretched fingers tightly. The wounds on his fist and chest from the previous clash with a sword emitted white smoke and gradually healed.
Bang!
From the hole at the back of the ravine, an armored hand stretched out. William quickly climbed out, silently gripping his broad sword, looking in the same direction as Sage.
The left side of his chest armor showed damage, revealing the inner shirt, with half of his helmet shattered, exposing a scarred, resolute side face. Blood trickled down from his forehead, painting half of his face red.
"You're quite impressive," Sage praised sincerely.
Absolute speed brings absolute power; the force from the Hundred Times Speed is immense. He hadn't used the Dragon Transformation Breathing Technique for a while, relying on the power from the Hundred Times Speed alone, making him nearly unstoppable.
But this guy managed to suppress his normal power, and even at 80% transformation, not only equaled him but took the chance to strike him away, forcing him to use 100%.
Strength, speed, technique, this William is incredibly strong. His Haki seems to even exceed Sage's; the rumor of him standing against Kaido probably isn't false.
Winning might not be possible, but combat is for sure. If it were the Gares Kingdom before the division, perhaps they could truly repel Kaido.
But now...
"I won't hold back against your kind of power; dying like this is too wasteful. Pledge allegiance to me."
Sage shouted, "As long as you ensure my absolute ruling power, I will share the wealth and glory with you, how about it?"
"I will not surrender to a Pirate."
William raised his heavy sword and said deeply, "This country will be ruled by us..."
Drip.
Blood dripped down his cheek to the ground, as if activating some mechanism, shattering upon impact, causing William's body to crouch low, like an enraged lion pouncing in the ravine connecting the two.
Whoosh!
William rushed forward to Sage, raising his sword with both hands to strike down. Just as it fell, his body suddenly flickered, leaving only an afterimage of him raising the sword, while he flashed to Sage's side and swung fiercely.
"Shadow Lion Flash!"
Bam!
The sword blade, though only halfway down, was knocked away by a massive fist, the Haki projected from it reached close enough to deflect the sword for a moment.
Only at that moment did Sage turn his head, his fist swung downward, aiming at William and spreading five fingers, he grinned menacingly, "Such tricks won't work on me, Tenha Kassatsu!"
A Haki Bullet, gathering Sage's substantial Haki, shot straight from his palm at close range towards William, blasting a depression into the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
As the dust rose, Sage grinned, eyes glinting red, charging to the left side of the smoke, catching William as he shot out from it, a fist shadowed with black struck fiercely downward.
"Galaxy Impact!!"
Boom!!
The fist hit William's head precisely, the massive impact blasted open the ground behind him, burying him into the ground, forming an abyss-like crater.
"Lion Flash!"
A muffled roar quickly echoed from inside the crater, filled with an electrified Haki Slash, resembling a roaring lion's head, engulfing Sage's form.
Sage crossed his arms, the black flame-like Haki on the surface solidified more, resisting the incoming Soaring Slash, and the ground around the crater collapsed under the strike's pressure, flying debris briefly encircled him.
At this moment, William climbed out of the crater rapidly, the lion mane-devouring helmet on his head shattered, revealing a scarred face, his left eye half-closed, with blood continuously flowing down from above, lining his eyelid to his mouth.
"Lion's Mane Slash!"
As he reached the top, William closed in on Sage, swinging his heavy sword at Sage's crossed arms, producing a semicircular afterimage overhead.
Bang bang bang bang!
Sage quickly reached out, fists moving faster than the afterimage, each strike with it resulted in a blast of impact. Then he twisted his waist, his leg kicked swiftly like a whip to William's side.
Thud!
Crack!
William's waist armor shattered under the brute force, sending him flying in a straight line, crashing into the corner of the outer city wall behind.
Boom!
Even the wall didn't collapse completely; the stones barely fell before being pulverized by a lion-headed shaped slash, blasting towards Sage, slicing his skin instantly.
Bang!
The heavy force from the slash shattered the ground Sage stood on, pushing his body back.
In the moment of moving back, Sage suddenly stepped out of a smoke ring, his body disappearing, leaving a series of smoke rings in the air, his glaring figure appearing above the collapsing ruins, legs combined and kicked downward fiercely against the upright William.