After watching Shiki leave, Brian finally looked up at Sengoku.
"Haah—"
With a similar roar, his muscles instantly bulged.
Already a muscular man, Brian's beastly wildness grew even more intense at this moment.
Crack—
Crack—
Around his body, numerous red lightning bolts appeared as space continuously fractured.
The massive, sky-blotting dark clouds above, previously influenced by Sengoku's Conqueror's Haki, underwent a drastic change.
The single mass of dark clouds was suddenly cleanly split into two equal halves, distinctly separated.
The boundary between the two cloud masses was even more spectacular.
At the junction, the clouds churned violently, interwoven with red lightning.
Forming and destroying, weaving back and forth.
Just watching it, those without sufficient strength felt as if their bodies were about to explode.
This scene was one of the top spectacles in the pirate world—the clash of Conqueror's Haki.
Both were Admiral Level, both possessed Conqueror's Haki, equally matched.
Sengoku and Brian stared at each other, waiting.
Below, the onlooking subordinates of Shiki instantly collapsed, nearly half of them fainting with their eyes rolled back.
This spectacle lasted for several full minutes.
During these minutes, the entire sky and sea were eerily quiet.
Apart from the abundant red lightning and the oppressive dark clouds, there was nothing else.
Until the critical point arrived.
With one last exchanged glance, both roared simultaneously and vanished.
"Great Buddha: Buddha's Impact!"
"Beast · Tiger Leopard Double Fists!"
A golden Buddha's light impact and a black tiger-leopard fist intent erupted, colliding at the midpoint of their clashing fists.
Boom—
After the collision, a violent explosion occurred, directly igniting the entire sea.
Even the distant Fiore Kingdom could hear the explosion.
A massive mushroom cloud rose from the sea surface, soaring high into the sky.
A huge crater formed on the sea surface, continuously expanding.
Numerous Sea Kings fled rapidly, scrambling for their lives.
Those too slow were dragged into the crater, instantly crushed into pulp.
The mushroom cloud persisted for a long time, showing no signs of dissipating.
Neither Sengoku nor Brian intended to wait for it to fade; they exchanged another glance.
Their bodies, separated after the initial clash, charged forward again.
Both plunged into the mushroom cloud, engaging in close-quarters combat.
"Great Buddha: Shockwave!"
"Beast: Four Symbols Pinnacle!"
"Great Buddha: Buddha's Impact!"
"Beast: Flying Dragon Claw!"
"Great Buddha: Thousand Hands!"
"Beast: Griffin Whirlwind"
...
Boom—
Boom, boom, boom—
The two fighters inside the mushroom cloud were invisible, only the intense explosive sounds of their collisions could be heard from within.
The explosions grew even stronger, causing the mushroom cloud to intensify further, making it harder to dissipate.
This ultra-high-intensity battle lasted a full ten minutes.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
"Haah—"
"Haah—"
Brian and Sengoku finally emerged from the mushroom cloud, each standing in mid-air, panting heavily.
Brian's previously clean shirt instantly tore into shreds, hanging loosely from his body.
Wounds appeared across his flesh, still bleeding freely.
Within moments, the bleeding stopped as flesh buds formed at the injuries, rapidly scabbing over and shedding.
All of this occurred in mere seconds.
Brian's specialization in physical combat, combined with the powerful constitutions of seven Beast Girls he had accumulated, was now displayed to its fullest extent.
Sengoku fared similarly, his bare torso covered in wounds bleeding freely.
The marine uniform that had endured his battle with Shiki had long since shattered into dust within the mushroom cloud.
White steam continued to rise from Sengoku's body.
In his Life Return state, his wounds were continuously healing.
Within those same few seconds, Sengoku's injuries closed and the steam vanished.
Visibly, Sengoku's aura diminished considerably.
"Hiss~"
After recovering, Sengoku took a deep breath.
He scanned Brian opposite him, then the pirates swiftly clearing the battlefield below.
His Observation Haki particularly detected the Celestial Dragon tied up and discarded on a ship by the Beast Girls.
His mind raced as he resolved to capture Brian—the one fighting him—to use as leverage for the Celestial Dragon's exchange.
This was his only option; he had run out of alternatives.
Otherwise, he could abandon the Celestial Dragon and leave alone—no one could stop him.
But what would happen when he returned to headquarters? Would he no longer be a marine?
He had no choice!
Massive steam erupted once more, enveloping his entire body.
The previously white steam now transformed into a blood-red hue, crackling with red lightning.
"Oh?"
"Pushing Life Return to its absolute limit—going all out, are we?"
"Don't tell me you plan to crush me completely with this one strike."
"You're far too delusional, old man."
"Ha~"
Brian keenly sensed Sengoku's heart pumping like a compressor,
channeling his full power into his palm with intense compression.
He instantly realized the man was betting everything,
even aiming to capture him outright.
Without hesitation, Brian roared in response.
Rare white steam billowed around him, shrouding his form.
Life Return? As if he didn't know it too!
After compressing his power to the extreme, he funneled it all into his fist.
Just then, Sengoku struck first.
"Thousand-Hand Tathagata: Buddha's Palm Paradise!"
The giant buddha, now grown to seventy meters, slowly extended a massive palm.
A sphere of golden light shimmered within it, containing infinite destructive force, and launched.
Sparks and lightning trailed its path as space fractured under the assault, charging straight toward Brian.
"Bring it on!"
"Beast Pinnacle: Four Symbols Stabilize Heaven!"
The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise materialized behind Brian,
each taking position at one of four cardinal points.
A massive magic circle appeared before them, channeling their combined power to its center.
A fist intent, seemingly small but brimming with boundless killing intent, formed at the circle's heart.
Whoosh~
The fist intent shot forth, also trailing sparks and lightning.
Finally, two supremely powerful attacks collided mid-air.
Silence—
Upon impact, unlike previous explosions that erupted instantly,
an absolute, void-like silence emerged first.
In the void, it churned and brewed incessantly before finally erupting.
BOOM~~~~~
BOOM~~~~~
An explosion of extreme intensity resounded, its range more than double that of previous blasts.
A colossal water Tornado connecting sky and sea appeared, towering between the heavens and the ocean.
Countless Sea Kings could be seen swept up into the sky, tumbling violently within the vortex and being sliced into sashimi.
The outer edges of the water Tornado were wracked by continuous explosions.
At this moment, explosion was true art!
The sea surface was blasted open, forming a gigantic crater hundreds of meters wide and hundreds of meters deep.
Even parts of the seabed below were exposed, along with segmented corpses of Sea Kings.
This crater was enveloped by some unknown force, preventing the surrounding seawater from refilling it for an extended period.
The wreckage of surrounding warships had long been pulverized by the massive waves generated by this attack, swallowed by the ocean.
Fortunately, the Celestial Tribute and other valuable supplies had already been collected.
The explosions continued relentlessly, unwilling to cease for a long time.