Rayleigh's body arced through the air, his golden hair wildly fluttering in the pale shockwaves.
His vision was distorted by the violent tremors, and only a sharp buzzing remained in his ears.
But his sharp eyes remained clear—he saw it.
He saw Gern's figure disintegrate into countless vibrating particles in the sunlight, scattering like stardust into the air.
"So this is your Quake Flash..." Blood foamed at Rayleigh's throat, yet he managed a smile.
"To develop an ability of this level, it's truly terrifying."
The next second, the particles in the sky reassembled directly above Rayleigh.
Gern's semi-elementalized, inverted figure descended like divine punishment, his fists wrapped in flowing Armament Haki, the tips of his fists compressing high-frequency shockwaves that warped space.
"Black Quake: Hundred Styles: Quake Core Barrage."
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
When the first punch struck Rayleigh's abdomen, the shockwaves formed a spiral pattern at the point of contact.
The second punch followed, striking the same spot, superimposing the quake patterns.
The third punch, the fourth punch...
Gern's fists became blurs, each strike infused with a "high-frequency quake core," completing a hundred consecutive punches in an instant!
Immediately, the dull thuds merged into a prolonged roar.
Rayleigh's body continuously trembled in the air, the black light of Armament Haki and the pale shockwaves intertwining into a bizarre light cocoon.
Those on the Oro Jackson saw their First Mate seemingly nailed to an invisible cross, enduring impacts from all directions, unable to fall.
Gern counted silently, his punching speed increasing.
"I've found...the rhythm!" The instant Rayleigh was hit by the third set of a hundred punches, he suddenly twisted his waist.
The fatal blow that should have struck his heart was narrowly parried with his sword hilt.
"Clang!" The metallic shriek echoed through the sky.
Gern's fist collided with the sword hilt, erupting a visible shockwave.
Rayleigh used the force to rapidly descend, the sea surface rapidly expanding in his vision.
"Forget it, since it's like this..." Gern looked down with cold eyes, his left hand spreading its five fingers and pointing at the falling Rayleigh, "Quake Principle..."
Points of light appeared on his palm, corresponding precisely to the locations where quake cores had been injected into Rayleigh's body.
Those latent high-frequency quake cores began to resonate, emitting a dangerous hum.
"Execute."
"Boom!" In an instant, shockwaves simultaneously erupted from within Rayleigh's body.
His body convulsed violently in the air, pale electric light bursting from every pore.
The sea surface was pressed into a thousand-meter-diameter depression by the shockwave, and towering waves like city walls spread outwards.
"Mr. Rayleigh!" Shanks's cry of alarm was swallowed by the explosion.
Buggy slumped on the deck, his divided body uncontrollably trembling: "No...impossible..."
When the light faded, the sea surface returned to calm, and at the center of the explosion, a figure slowly sank.
"Did he win?" Tesoro, on the distant Marine ship, stared wide-eyed through his telescope.
Gern, however, suddenly frowned, his Observation Haki detecting an abnormal fluctuation.
He abruptly turned his head, looking at the sea surface two hundred meters away.
"Splash!" Rayleigh burst out of the water, covered in blood but his eyes burning brightly.
His clothes were already in tatters, revealing his muscular body and bleeding wounds, but the long sword in his hand remained as steady as a rock.
"I almost..." Rayleigh spat out a mouthful of blood, his sword tip pointing at Gern, "...fell for your trick, Gern!"
Rayleigh no longer called Gern a "Navy brat," but instead called him by his name.
"Tsk." Gern narrowed his eyes, drawing black blade eight desolations from his side.
He clearly saw that the wounds on Rayleigh's body were all regular spirals.
Clearly, those were traces of Rayleigh forcibly expelling the quake cores from his body using Armament Haki.
"Under these circumstances, to still be able to use Haki to disperse them the instant they explode..." Gern tightened his grip on black blade eight desolations.
"I can only say, as expected of 'Pluton'."
Rayleigh's golden hair was disheveled, and he looked down at his battered body, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, yet a slow smile spread across his face.
"What a...satisfying battle."
Before his words faded, his pupils suddenly constricted, and an unprecedented aura erupted from within him!
"Boom!!"
Dark red Conqueror's Haki erupted like a volcano, coiling with crimson lightning as it shot into the sky!
The sky was torn apart, clouds receded like a tide, and the entire sea trembled violently under the pressure of the Haki!
Full release, indiscriminate!!
The Oro Jackson's coating instantly shattered, and Buggy and several weaker pirates directly rolled their eyes and fainted.
Shanks desperately gripped the ship's rail, his straw hat blown away by the gale, his red hair wildly fluttering in the Haki's impact.
"Mr. Rayleigh...he's getting serious!"
Roger stood at the bow, his arms crossed, a hint of solemnity flashing in his eyes.
...
On the island, Gern's pupils slightly constricted.
Rayleigh's Conqueror's Haki was completely different from before; it was no longer a restrained sharpness, but a full-blown rage!
Crimson lightning coiled around him like dragons and snakes, and the reef beneath his feet cracked inch by inch under the Haki's pressure.
"Since it's like this..." Gern grinned, and black blade eight desolations suddenly vibrated violently, the dark purple patterns on its blade glowing with dazzling light.
"Then come on!" Gern also held nothing back, and his dark purple Conqueror's Haki erupted with a roar!
Space warped under the collision of Haki, crimson and dark purple lightning intertwined, illuminating the entire sea as if doomsday had arrived!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The clash of Haki triggered a series of explosions, creating countless deep pits in the sea surface, and towering waves shot into the sky!
Rayleigh's figure suddenly blurred, and the next second he appeared directly in front of Gern, his long sword wrapped in crimson lightning, slicing down!
Before the sword edge even arrived, the terrifying sword pressure already stung Gern's skin!
This sword was the perfect combination of Rayleigh's peak Conqueror's Haki and swordsmanship; wherever the sword light passed, it arrived in a flash!
Gern dared not be slow, blocking with black blade eight desolations, the dark purple electric light on the blade fiercely colliding with the crimson lightning!
The weapons did not collide, but an energy wave exploded between them.
In an instant, the shockwave spread in a ring, and the sea surface around the island was forcibly pressed into a thousand-meter-diameter depression!
In just an instant, both figures were shaken back dozens of meters by the aftershock, and the air beneath their feet exploded in a wave.
"It's not over!" Rayleigh's voice boomed like thunder, and his figure approached again!
His sword speed was faster than before, the crimson lightning on the sword edge tearing through the sky, each sword strike carrying intense power!
Gern raised black blade eight desolations to defend, but Rayleigh's offensive was relentless like a storm, the sword light intertwining into a net of death, gradually tightening!
In an instant, Rayleigh's sword light split into hundreds of strands, attacking Gern from all directions!
Each strand of sword light was wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, making it impossible to distinguish between real and fake!
Gern's Observation Haki wildly warned him, but Rayleigh's sword speed was too fast; he could only instinctively swing his blade to block!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Sparks flew, and Gern's body instantly gained a dozen blood marks, the deepest one almost severing his collarbone!
Blood gushed out, staining his justice cloak.
"Cough!" Gern coughed up a mouthful of blood, but his eyes grew even fiercer.
Seeing this, Rayleigh gave him no chance to breathe, turning his sword edge, the crimson lightning condensing into a dazzling point of light, aiming directly for Gern's heart!
"You lose!!"
At the brink of death, Gern's pupils suddenly constricted, followed by a strange, ferocious smile spreading across his lips.
Gern suddenly retracted his sword, then abruptly raised his left hand, his five fingers slightly bent, his palm facing forward and pointing at Rayleigh!
And in Rayleigh's vision, a distorted mass of white energy was violently vibrating in his palm!
The energy mass wriggled irregularly like a living creature, and as Gern's five fingers closed, the vibration frequency suddenly intensified, emitting a teeth-grinding hum!
"What is this?!"
"I didn't lose."
"Instead, it's your Game Over." As he spoke, Gern's fist suddenly clenched—"Heaven Quake: Spatial Disintegration."
In an instant, the world was silent for a minute, as if listening to the sound of a famous sword shattering!
"Crack!" The space centered on Rayleigh instantly collapsed, the world within a thousand-meter radius seemingly shattered like glass by an invisible giant hand; air, seawater, and light all twisted and disintegrated!
In the dazzling white light, the entire sea was forcibly blasted into a vacuum abyss several thousand meters in diameter, the exposed seabed pulverized by the shockwave!
Greedy Rayleigh directly took the full force of a top-tier high-damage ultimate move head-on!
The Oro Jackson and the Marine ship were tossed like fallen leaves by the giant waves, everyone on deck desperately clinging to the mast, feeling the shiver of death brushing past them amidst the deafening roar of the explosion.
When the white light dissipated, the sea surface presented a strange calm.
On two floating reefs, Gern and Rayleigh confronted each other across the distance.
The former's left arm hung limply, while the latter's sword-wielding right hand was slowly oozing blood.
"A draw?" Shanks's voice trembled with disbelief.
"No, rather..." Roger slowly shook his head, his gaze deep as he looked at Rayleigh's slightly trembling sword tip, calmly stating with high emotional intelligence,
"Rayleigh, he didn't defend against it."