21 Ō Wazamono

With the shared physicality and Haki, Apophis is quite a bit weaker than Longinus in this capacity.

After all, swordsmanship relies entirely on the invitation to battle and thorough training. Still, Garp and Zephyr's physical technique is this kind of big brother to take turns instructing, who is more substantial and who is weaker naturally is self-evident.

Of course, to say that it's weak is only relative; at the very least, Apophis's identity is so much stronger than Eric's current.

Eric and these slavers made miscalculations and even actively delivered them, which was primarily the result of faulty intelligence.

After all, in their perception, how strong could a mixed-up swordsman in Paradise be? They wouldn't have even been prepared to make such a big show in the first place if they weren't worried that Apophis would go after them when they grew up in the new world.

...

The ancient and straightforward longsword and the heavy saber were crossed with a "ten" in the arena.

The scarlet sword mane collided fiercely with the violet-black thunder, the ground cracked like a spider's web, and the surrounding door walls were streaked with needle-sized holes from the escaping sword aura, and even the blood mist was blown away.

After a few moments of stalemate, Eric was violently blasted off into the beam, spitting out a large mouthful of blood, but he was not worried, but happy.

"This guy is not much stronger than me. The only tricky thing to count is his Fruit Ability, which will accelerate the consumption of our Busoshoku Haki, so we must kill him in the shortest possible time!"

Eric bellowed loudly, apparently thinking of the blood mist as Apophis's fruit ability.

And this collision also gave those slavers hope. Although the other party was indeed powerful, it wasn't invincible at this level.

After hearing Eric's call, they quickly covered their entire body with Busoshoku Haki and grabbed the time to rush into the blood mist.

"Wake-up, Apophis, the honor of beheading I will receive you, Fischerman, the Fraud!" The small, giant-like Fischerman, while Apophis was engaged with the others, came around to sneak up from behind and slammed down with a club of wolf teeth.

After noticing Fischerman's small movement, Apophis swung his sword at a steep speed, blocking the others' attacks completely while striking Fischerman with a single blow.

Fischerman's chest armor was shattered, his heart parts were pierced, and his eyes were dazed as he was dying, "Why did he get so much stronger all of a sudden when it was my turn? It... it is not fair ..."

Apophis's eyes were cold, he was merely planning to engage Eric, and these other miscellaneous fish had absolutely no value in keeping their hands to themselves.

Seeing Fischerman get spiked, the others' attacks slowed down. What's the deal? Didn't they say the other side wouldn't be too strong?

Even Eric's eyes showed a hint of bewilderment at the right time, was the pirate named Fischerman too weak, or was he too strong?

"I see, it must be that Sir Eric's thunderbolt just happened to restrain the evil power of Apophis!" One of the pirates who had been repelled by Apophis dawned on him.

"Makes sense, oh! No matter how strong Apophis is, there is bound to be a nemesis, and that nemesis is Sir Eric!" The other pirates were also dreamy.

"Sir Eric, come on! Everyone's hopes are on you!" The pirates have started paddling openly. Fighting is impossible, the battle is too dangerous, and it's the only thing like paddling that can barely sustain a semblance of life.

"So that's it? It turns out I'm the only way to defeat Apophis!" Hearing the comments of the pirates around him make Eric's confidence grew, and the desire to fight in his eyes grew more assertive, "Come on, Apophis, I, Thunder Swordsman, am not a man to be trounced!"

Apophis, who had felt that those pirates were a bit noisy and intended to destroy them with a single sword, saw that Eric was inspired by those pirates to explode into a powerful mid-two, so he let them go.

"Cutting Thunder - Polar Star!"

The lightning wrapped around Eric's blade grew more blazing, and even the clear sky outside was abruptly thundering.

Apophis tried his best to suppress his power and met it purely with his sword.

Eric's swordplay was primarily fast, and with the super-natural power that his conviction personified, it wasn't impossible to cut through thunder in the extreme.

Apophis's swordplay, on the other hand, was fierce and violent, overwhelming with momentum.

The two sides fought evenly, and from time to time, sword energy escaped and blasted the surrounding ground into pieces, the meeting hall had collapsed halfway, and the battlefield between the two had moved from the room to the courtyard.

"I didn't expect that you, a newcomer who has just stepped into the new world, could be this strong, in terms of swordsmanship, no one who has fought me is better than you, and I, Eric, would like to call you the strongest!"

Eric breathed heavily and held his knife above his head with both hands, "So, I'll send you to hell with the strongest stance I've ever seen, with a blade that once cut through the thunder in the sky!"

Boom!

As if to corroborate Eric's statement, a dull rumble of thunder suddenly sounded in the sky.

Eric stepped violently on the ground and came galloping in, with the thunder dragon following close behind him, the blasted electric snakes making Eric's skin tingle.

"It turns out that in the end, it's still the self-inflicted attacks that are prevalent in the Land of Thunder!"

Apophis accelerated steeply and crossed with Eric's form.

Between the lightning and thunder, a broken blade fell from midair.

Then Eric fell straight down.

Just then, a roar burst out.

"Do it now while you can!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The scope of the terrifying blast enveloped the entire courtyard, apparently intending to blow up Eric along with it.

The explosion in the courtyard lasted for a full half-minute, the searing waves of air carrying dirt and blowing the crowd of pirates and slavers in the marginal lot to dust, but they didn't care at all, just laughed wildly and recklessly.

"Ooh, la la! Thank you so much, Sir Eric, for helping us attract that fellow's attention. Otherwise, the attack wouldn't have succeeded so easily!"

"That's for sure, so let's cheer loudly for Sir Eric. His sacrifice is undoubtedly worth it!"

"I said ..." a calm voice sounded from behind the crowd, but to the ears of those pirates, it was like the sound of a Robo-magic, and they turned around stiffly, only to find Apophis standing intact behind them, even Eric lying on the ground in the same posture.

"... Shouldn't your orgy be over?"

"A ... Apophis! Not good, run away!"

Without even attempting to ask Apophis how he did it, these pirates fled outside on their hands and knees. It didn't matter how they did it. All that mattered was how to escape from this demon.

Not even a blast of this magnitude could kill the other side, and with even a force as powerful as Erik's defeated, they no longer dared to fight.

Apophis casually waved the Seven Star Sword, no longer suppressing his strength, cutting off attacks as if they were a storm that strangled all those pirates, limbs and flesh spilling like rain.

Then Apophis turned and crouched, pressing his right hand to Eric's forehead.

Eric, who was still conscious, naturally knew it was Apophis who had rescued him from the blast range and was grateful, "Thanks ..."

Bang!

The head exploded.

Eric died wondering why Apophis would kill him in pain after rescuing him. Could it be to take his head?

Apophis stood up unconcernedly and said quietly to himself, "I didn't expect to find such a reward other than the memory of swordsmanship, and the fugitive from Wano Country and carrying the 21 Ō Wazamono, Izumi Mori Kenzo!"