At that moment, several more shells came flying over.
"The distance seems about right."
Roya lightly pushed off with his foot, leaping up from the corridor of the warship's cabins. He once again drew Engetsu and swung it casually. Two slanted sword arcs flew out, cleaving all the incoming shells in midair and dropping the split halves onto the very front of the deck.
If hardly anyone had seen what happened earlier, this time far too many people saw it clearly.
"You…"
Another Marine rear admiral on the deck stared at Roya with eyes wide open, his face filled with shock.
Over the past few days, Roya had been too lazy to leave his cabin. Even when he did come out, it was only to grab something to eat before returning. His cabin was a private one, and since everyone seemed to know he had some sort of background, no one came looking for trouble.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself earlier, but there's really not much to introduce," Roya said calmly to the nearby Marine rear admiral. "What I mainly want to say is that the captain of that Silver Sword Pirates crew up ahead is my prey."
As he spoke, Roya turned his head and smiled slightly at the rear admiral.
"In that case… could you stop the bombardment for a moment?"
"Stop the bombardment? Are you joking?!"
The rear admiral was still reeling from the shock of Roya suddenly revealing strength far beyond that of a trainee Marine. Hearing Roya talk about stopping the shelling, he reflexively widened his eyes and shouted.
"This is troublesome."
"Forget it."
Roya shook his head faintly. The people on this warship—including the rear admirals—had no authority to command him, but likewise, he had no authority to command the warship. After all, in name, he really was just a trainee Marine.
Roya never cared about authority—only about personal strength. In this world, personal strength often corresponded directly to authority. As long as he was strong enough, becoming a Marine admiral, a Marine fleet admiral… or even making the World Government obediently listen was entirely possible.
Whoosh!!
Seeing that he couldn't get the warship to halt its bombardment, Roya abandoned the idea altogether. He stamped his foot, and his entire body suddenly shot forward, charging straight out of the warship into the storm of shells.
"Wait! What are you doing?!"
That rear admiral had been about to ask Roya what was going on when he saw him actually rush out from the warship..out…
Not only him, but the other rear admirals and other officers who were busy intercepting shells all froze, eyes wide in disbelief. Their minds simply couldn't keep up.
Roya did not fall into the sea after leaving the warship. Instead, he stepped through the air itself, as if invisible steps had formed beneath his feet, supporting his body.
Geppo!
Even if they couldn't use it themselves, the rear admirals and officers present had all heard of this technique, so it wasn't what shocked them. What truly shocked them was this—what was Roya doing by charging out now?!
Was he planning to rush straight onto that pirate ship?!
That was insane!
With shells filling the sky and the battle nowhere near boarding range, even if Roya wasn't blasted into pieces by the barrage, charging onto the enemy ship alone—was that confidence in his strength, or a deliberate rush toward death?!
Roya swung his sword casually in midair. Shells fired from the pirate ship ahead and from the Marine warship behind were all effortlessly sliced apart, exploding harmlessly in the air.
Having mastered Observation Haki, he had no fear of the dense artillery fire.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
The pirate ship was already very close. The distance Roya had been judging all along was the point at which he could use Geppo to directly dash through the air onto the enemy vessel.
The reason he came alone was simple—without interference, he could fight at full power.
The Silver Sword Pirates were a New World crew, and their cadres were all experienced. Seeing Roya charge through the barrage unscathed and arrive above their ship, they showed no panic at all.
"Geppo?"
"His swordsmanship isn't bad either. Decent strength. This one's mine—don't fight me for him!"
"Kid, charging over by yourself—should I call that confidence, or are you just looking to die?!"
Faced with Roya's lone advance through the artillery fire, the pirates all wore mocking, carefree expressions, clearly not taking a single man seriously.
"There's a reason I came alone," Roya said.
Wearing a trainee Marine uniform, without any Justice cloak on his back, he held the crimson Engetsu and stood in midair. Behind and below him, artillery fire intertwined, yet an invisible pressure quietly spread outward.
"What reason?"
"The reason is… only this way can I really cut loose."
Roya leveled his sword horizontally while standing in the air, then suddenly swung it down toward the entire pirate ship below.
Ittōryū: Kasō
Even when he fought Lucci at Marine Headquarters, Roya had never fully unleashed his flame abilities, because their area of effect was far too wide.
Even if the actual burning zone was only several dozen meters, the heat itself was unbearable for ordinary people within a hundred meters.
This time, he went all out.
With no restraint whatsoever, Roya's slash erupted into a massive surge of crimson flames, as if the horizon itself had been set ablaze. The flames stretched dozens of meters long, carrying terrifying heat as they came crashing down.
"Not good!"
"Damn it!!"
The Silver Sword Pirates had been watching Roya calmly, assuming that his swing would release nothing more than sword energy. Who could have imagined that what fell from his blade was not a slash—but fire?!
They were completely caught off guard.
They had prepared themselves to face a sword strike and then swiftly eliminate this overly arrogant Marine who dared to charge in alone. But the descending flames caused everyone to hesitate for a split second.
Boom!!
Towering flames crashed down, instantly throwing the pirate ship into chaos.
And almost at the same moment the flames descended, Roya did not pause in the slightest. He suddenly gripped his sword with both hands, raised it high overhead, and brought it crashing down.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
Hum!!
A white crescent-shaped sword wave, dozens of meters long, tore through the air, carrying a terrifying sharpness that seemed capable of cutting through anything as it descended.
This sword wave followed immediately after the flames.
A column of fire dozens of meters long, and a crescent slash of equal length, formed a perfect cross as they fell—leaving the Silver Sword Pirates even more helplessly unprepared.