Chapter 279: The Fall of the Golden Lion

The sun rose and the moon set, three days have passed since then.

Adrian's aerial battle with the Golden Lion has been going on for three days and three nights.

On the first day, the Golden Lion was full of confidence and vigor, believing that White Ghost would soon exhaust himself from such continuous high-energy bombardments.

On the second day, doubts began to creep into the Golden Lion's mind, his energy waning. He wondered if the opponent was just barely holding on and would soon be unable to fire another shot.

On the third day, the Golden Lion was utterly exhausted, his face ashen, realizing that the one who might not last wasn't the other guy but himself.

Boom!

The faintly golden flying slash attack collided with the dense barrage of ghostly energy, once again causing a loud explosion.

Adrian's slightly weary eyes flashed with red light. His fully mastered Observation Haki keenly detected a sudden fluctuation in the Golden Lion Shiki's aura!

Seize the advantage!

The phrase flashed through Adrian's mind.

He rallied his spirits, once again mobilizing the Thousand-Handed White Buddha in the sky, unleashing another torrential storm of ghostly energy cannon towards the Golden Lion Shiki.

"..."

Although the Golden Lion quickly regained his composure, the flying slashes he released still had a few gaps, penetrated by the ghostly energy cannons.

Even though he quickly filled in a few more slashes, it was clear that his condition was deteriorating!

"Damn it… this ship's wheel!"

A flash of resentment and frustration appeared in the Golden Lion's eyes.

Ever since he single-handedly attacked the Marine Headquarters in Marineford years ago, Shiki knew that as long as he had that damned ship's wheel stuck in his head, he could only maintain his full-power burst state for three to four days at most.

{Isn't this like really amazing though? If it was some one else with a ship's wheel, he would have just died… but aren't there some cases where people have continued living a normal or some sub normal lives with things stuck in their head. Like Homer, whose intelligence was suppressed by a pencil, I think.}

After three days and three nights of high-intensity battle with Adrian, that damned ship's wheel had finally begun to exert its deadly influence on the battle!

"Damn thing!"

The Golden Lion's eyes narrowed, as if he was about to unleash his Haoshoku Haki again, but a sudden wave of pain from the ship's wheel in his head interrupted his attempt.

Adrian crossed his arms over his chest and did not take advantage of the situation to attack.

Or he could take advantage of the opponent's misfortune.

These are two seemingly similar but fundamentally different ways of doing things.

Although Adrian had already decided to kill this old, crippled, legless lion, he wasn't despicable enough to attack someone suffering from a sudden headache, that was capable of rendering him to his knees. {Does… he have knees? If not I have to pull brook's joke here!!}

As the dizziness and pain gradually subsided, Shiki, who had expected a relentless barrage of ghostly energy cannons, prepared to unleash the Lion's Thousand Slice Valley again, only to find the Ghost White standing still.

An indescribable sense of humiliation surged within the Golden Lion.

"Ghost brat, are you pitying me?"

Bloodshot eyes glaring, the Golden Lion let out an angry roar, dropping Oto and Kogarashi, and reached for the ship's wheel embedded in his head.

"I am... the Golden Lion!!"

Violent black and red lightning erupted with his seemingly final roar.

Thud—

Shiki yanked out the ship's wheel from his head, his aura surging wildly.

The legendary "Flying Pirate" finally showed his full form in this moment. His overwhelming Haoshoku Haki surged forth, shaking the heavens and causing the clouds in the sky to scatter!

Shiki held the ship's wheel that had accompanied him till now in his right hand, with dark red blood condensed at the bottom and dripping down drop by drop.

And the bright red blood that was constantly gushing out from the top of his head pictured Shiki as terrifying and awe-inspiring as a bloodthirsty god.

This scene was both gruesome and awe-inspiring.

"Jihahaha—"

Between heaven and earth, the Golden Lion's wild laughter echoed once more, filled with relief and exhilaration!

"This is the true power of the Golden Lion!"

"Slash Wave!" {斬波, Zanpa}

Armament Haki infused the brilliant golden flying slash, blending it into a dazzling black-gold color.

This hundred-meter-long, crescent-shaped black-gold slash wave flew toward Adrian at an unprecedented speed.

Ghostly Energy Cannon

Adrian frowned slightly, summoning the Thousand-Armed Buddha in the sky, extending a thousand arms to counter the brilliant slash.

{Arm or hand, you guys decide.}

Boom——

A series of faint sounds echoed as the flying slash shattered the Ghostly Cannon, which flowed like a galaxy in reverse, into pieces as fragile as glass, scattering blue light fragments.

The power of this flying slash was incomparable to anything before!

Shock flashed in Adrian's eyes.

Is this the kind of slash that only a fully powered Grandmaster Swordsman can perform?

The Golden Lion swung another slash, sending another black-gold flying slash surging forward.

Adrian's eyes narrowed, and a pale blue spiritual sword appeared in his right hand. The muscles in his arm bulged, and he used the power of the giant dragon.

Spirit Pressure: Mighty Nation!

Boom——!!

Black-gold and pale lights clashed and exploded with a thunderous sound, sending violent shockwaves in all directions.

Before the shockwaves dissipated, the Golden Lion unleashed another slash, sending another hundred-meter-long black-gold sword energy forward.

Adrian countered with another powerful Spirit Pressure: Mighty Nation.

Thunderous crashes filled the air continuously.

The sun set, and night fell.

Adrian and the Golden Lion Shiki, in his peak state, had been battling for more than half a day.

"Ghost kid… you're something else… ha…"

Shiki was breathing heavily, and even after all this time, he still hadn't been able to defeat Adrian. Meanwhile, Adrian's movements were as precise as ever, like a machine.

This battle, reminiscent of his glory days, lifted the Golden Lion's spirits.

Even though he couldn't avoid the massive loss of stamina and life force, the Golden Lion remained unfazed.

Lion's Thousand Slice Valley!

A more violent slash than before was sent out by Shiki. His arms were almost a blur of distorted light, and it was impossible to see the speed.

"A final burst of strength before death?"

Adrian's eyes narrowed, and his right arm, which had been using the Spiritual Pressure – Mighty Nation for a long time, was red and swollen, looking quite terrifying.

"Then let's end this battle with that move!"

Boom!

A lightning bolt illuminated the dark sky as fine rain began to fall.

From within the clouds, the lifelike head of a Dragon gradually appeared, its lantern-like eyes fixed on the Golden Lion Shiki below.

"White Ghost! Is this your strongest move?"

Shiki's face was full of excitement as he swung his swords and flew toward the pale blue dragon.

"Indeed, it's strong! But I am the Golden Lion!"

Roar!

The Dragon raised its head and let out an earth-shattering roar, charging straight at the Golden Lion, who was singing the final verse of his life!

Pop!

It was as if someone had placed their hands over your ears. You could see the destruction happening right in front of you but the sound was gone.

A bright light, like the sun reappearing, lit up the surrounding sea, making it bright and clear. The sea within a few kilometers around suddenly evaporated into thin air, and the sea level dropped by several meters, causing huge waves to roll and surge.

After a long time, the intense explosion subsided.

The Golden Lion Shiki's tattered body floated in mid-air, covered in fine cracks from which pale spirit pressure continuously erupted.

"I've failed..."

"My era…"