"Hah…"
Charlotte Linlin lifted her head and stared at Cyrus, a red gleam flashing through her pupils.
Her scorched left hand also closed around Napoleon's hilt.
"Ikoku Sovereignty!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Charlotte Linlin raised her hand and unleashed one of her strongest attacks.
A massive wave of sword energy surged toward Cyrus.
"Hakoku Sovereignty!"
Cyrus, who already knew Charlotte Linlin was capable of this move, had been waiting for it.
The moment Charlotte Linlin began the motion, Conqueror's Haki wrapped around the blade in Cyrus's hand. Facing the colossal sword-energy shockwave rushing straight at him, Cyrus swung his sword.
Another shockwave erupted.
Two enormously powerful blasts collided head-on.
For a brief instant, the air compressed toward the center of the impact.
Then, with a deafening roar, it exploded outward once more.
Boom!
A violent gale swept over everything nearby.
A storm that seemed capable of destroying all things tore across the whole of Whole Cake Island.
The four people below, as well as Cyrus in midair, were all buffeted by the tremendous storm.
"That's impossible!"
After Charlotte Linlin steadied herself, her eyes flew wide open.
It was a similar technique.
That was a method only the giants should have been able to master.
Why could Cyrus use it too?
But she had no time to think about that any further.
Cyrus, having stabilized himself within the storm, raised his hand and sent countless flaming slashes raining down from the sky, completely enveloping the four below.
An enormous lion's head rose from the ground, meeting the countless descending slashes head-on.
Cyrus's figure vanished into the flames. Then, a sea of fire covered everything around them.
Silver Axe whipped around abruptly.
Before he could make a move, the blade had already reached his neck.
Then the scorching edge sliced into his throat—only to be caught by the sheer strength of his muscles.
By instinct, Silver Axe raised his hand and swung his axe.
The axe cut Cyrus in half at the waist. At the same time, flames erupted from the sword embedded in Silver Axe's neck.
In the next instant, Silver Axe's mouth flew open, and fire sprayed out from between his lips.
Bang!
The blade of a double-edged sword slammed into Silver Axe's stomach, sending his entire body flying backward.
Even as he was knocked away, Silver Axe was still spewing flames from his mouth.
Cyrus raised the sword in his hand and blocked the twin blades descending toward his head.
His left hand shot up and grabbed the double-edged sword stabbing toward his neck.
Thud, thud!
The ground trembled violently.
Charlotte Linlin's towering body lunged forward with an agility completely at odds with her size, Napoleon sweeping horizontally toward Cyrus.
Cyrus glanced at Silver Axe, a trace of disappointment flashing through his eyes. Then, with a soft bang, his body scattered into flames.
When Cyrus appeared again, he was already above Silver Axe.
The blade in his hand pointed downward, its edge glowing with a blinding red light.
Although Silver Axe had suffered a heavy blow, his guard had clearly risen even higher.
The moment Cyrus appeared, Silver Axe had already retreated with explosive force.
Swish.
Cyrus's blade fell.
But it failed to pierce Silver Axe's head.
Because of Silver Axe's sudden retreat, it only stabbed through his shoulder instead.
Once his shoulder was pierced, Silver Axe abruptly lowered his body and retreated again, dragging a spray of blood through the air as he pulled away.
The Golden Lion and the other two, whose previous joint attack had failed, wheeled back around and rushed at Cyrus together.
It seemed his idea of reducing their numbers would not work.
Noticing this, Cyrus transformed into flame and pulled away from the three of them.
Both killing strikes had failed to achieve their full effect.
Still, Silver Axe had at least lost a portion of his combat strength.
As expected, the top fighters of this sea all had bodies like monsters.
And Silver Axe, more than most, had always relied on his physique and Haki to make his name.
At the moment, there was a huge, charred gash split open across his neck, and a massive wound on his left shoulder deep enough to expose bone.
Yet Silver Axe still held his axe in his right hand, staring warily at Cyrus.
"Hey, are you all right?" the Golden Lion asked.
Seeing Cyrus retreat, the Golden Lion and the others did not pursue him.
After stopping, they faintly positioned themselves around Silver Axe, keeping him protected in the center.
"Do I look all right to you?" Silver Axe replied, though his voice was muffled and unclear.
The wound on his neck had already damaged his throat and the surrounding tissues.
Cyrus faced off against the four of them, his gaze constantly moving from one to the next, selecting his next target.
It was not impossible to forcefully kill one of them while enduring the others' attacks.
But if he did that, he would probably have to activate Undying Will ahead of time.
With that thought, Cyrus raised the sword in his hand horizontally before him, then lifted his other hand and slowly slid it along the blade.
The sword, which had originally been covered in flame-like patterns, became clear and brilliant.
It looked as though the entire blade had been forged from condensed fire.
Cyrus lightly moved the long sword, taking his opening stance.
All four of them went on full alert.
Cyrus was dangerous.
That was now the shared understanding of all four.
Silver Axe might not have died, but if they had not possessed the kind of tacit cooperation they had built over the years, Cyrus's previous assault might truly have killed one of them in just two moves.
"Tenchi Kaijin—Heaven and Earth End in Ashes!"
This time, Cyrus did not use the flames spread throughout the area to teleport.
If he wanted to draw out the full power of this technique, he could not do it after teleporting.
His flame-like figure appeared directly in front of the four of them.
The sword in Cyrus's hand swept horizontally, encompassing all four at once.
"Retreat!"
Faced with that slash, all four moved at the same time, retreating in perfect unison to avoid it.
The scorching blade that seemed to cut through space continued to spread and extend.
A terrifying blaze erupted after the slash, swallowing the four as they rapidly retreated.
Cyrus's body shot upward.
The flames enveloping him flowed toward the sword in his hand, gathering along the blade.
The surrounding domain of fire did the same.
The flames that had engulfed the four were blasted apart under the eruption of four different forms of Conqueror's Haki.
Then the four of them noticed something.
The endless flames that had filled their Observation Haki perception had disappeared.
Even the temperature around them was dropping rapidly.
It should have been a good sign.
But instead, all four felt their hearts clench.
Cyrus hovered in midair, raising his sword above his head with both hands. The blade, now infused with an immeasurable amount of flame energy, shone with a blinding radiance like the blazing sun itself.
The dazzling light did not merely blind the four of them. Even the people aboard the ships in the surrounding seas were forced to turn their eyes away.
Cyrus's expression remained calm as he swung the sword down.
The blade cut through the air, then stopped in front of him.
It seemed to have struck something.
And yet, it also seemed to have struck nothing at all.
But in Observation Haki perception, the space before the blade shattered in an instant.
An invisible force descended toward the ground below.
The Golden Lion abruptly raised both hands.
A slab of land beneath the four of them directly lifted into the air.
Swish!
Silently and without a trace, the attack of Kyokujitsujin—the Blade of the Rising Sun—swept across the airborne land.
It swept across the Golden Lion's legs as well.
Fortunately, the Golden Lion no longer had legs.
The land controlled by his ability vanished silently, nearly half of it erased from existence.
The other three standing atop it all retreated, avoiding the power of the strike.
Below them, on Whole Cake Island, one-tenth of the island suddenly disappeared without a sound.
Then a massive fissure stretched from Whole Cake Island all the way out into the sea.