Chapter 392 - A True Swordsman, Who Can Cut Even Light!

As Admiral Kizaru finished speaking, his body was suddenly severed into two parts, without any warning. The one who attacked was also one of the Supernovas on the island.

Scratchmen Apoo, with a bounty of 198 million Belli, ranked sixth among the Supernovas, was the captain of the On Air Pirates. He was a user of the Sound-Sound Fruit, capable of launching invisible sound-based attacks.

However, his sneak attack proved ineffective. Since Kizaru possessed the Logia Glint-Glint Fruit, his body could turn into light particles, allowing him to easily reform after being split apart.

Realizing that his sneak attack had failed, Apoo followed the rule of "show off, then run" to the letter, immediately turning to flee without a moment's hesitation.

But no matter how fast Apoo could run, could he really outrun the speed of light?

Having already dashed several hundred meters away, Apoo barely had time to check whether he was being pursued when golden particles materialized in front of him, forming the shape of Admiral Kizaru.

"Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"

Kizaru, the master of relaxed combat, lived up to his reputation as the Marine's biggest slacker. When fighting Hawkins earlier, he kept firing deadly light beams, and now, even though he could easily have struck Apoo down with a beam from a distance, he chose instead to flash-step to Apoo's position to show off his leg.

A golden flash moved across the air—not the entrance of a ninja with a kunai—but rather a size 45 boot that planted directly into Apoo's face.

Without any resistance, Apoo's body flew backward like a kite without a string, speeding past Hawkins and smashing through a building.

"Wow, that was scary. I almost died just now," Kizaru remarked.

Kizaru had effortlessly taken out another Supernova, yet he made a show of pretending to be scared, as if he had barely survived.

"Hey, if you have any tricks up your sleeve, you'd better use them now. If this keeps up, we'll all die here," Apoo said to Hawkins, who stood nearby.

As one of the members of the Worst Generation, Apoo knew that while the Supernovas hadn't yet fully grown, they weren't weak enough to be taken out by Kizaru with one casual kick.

"It seems that even if there's an 80% survival chance from staying put, that remaining 20% chance of death still requires my own effort to avoid.

Devil's Contract!"

Hawkins' body began to transform, with straw wrapping around him and rapidly expanding. Soon, his small frame grew into a massive straw figure towering tens of meters tall.

Holding a large sword, the massive scarecrow swung down, creating powerful air pressure that formed a shockwave, causing the ground to split apart.

However, it was all in vain. Despite gaining a giant's size and strength, Hawkins, lacking Armament Haki, was unable to harm Kizaru, even if the Admiral stood still and let him attack.

Kizaru's body, split in two by the shockwave, reformed rapidly, and several light beams shot forth, easily piercing the massive scarecrow's vital points.

The scarecrow form did not make Hawkins invincible. Every time the scarecrow took damage, Hawkins' real body shared the consequences. Hawkins wasn't immortal—he merely transferred damage to other individuals who served as substitutes.

The small straw figures that fell from his body were the unlucky recipients of the damage meant for him.

But under Kizaru's relentless assault, Hawkins, in his giant scarecrow form, grew increasingly worried.

He wasn't a Logia-type Devil Fruit user; he still had a physical body, and the number of substitutes he could use was not limitless.

With Kizaru's continued attacks, Hawkins' stock of straw men was dwindling rapidly. Once they were all used up, it would spell his demise.

"My prediction said there was an 80% chance of survival, but this situation feels like certain death..."

With only two or three straw men left, Hawkins finally began to panic. His once unwavering faith in his own fortune was now wavering.

Just as Hawkins hesitated, wondering if he should try to escape before his substitutes were exhausted, a massive shadow suddenly fell from the sky, crashing down onto Kizaru's location.

BOOM!

When the dust settled, Apoo and Hawkins could see the giant figure clearly—it was Bartholomew Kuma, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, famously known as the World Government's most loyal servant.

However, this "Tyrant Kuma" was lying battered in a crater, his body exposing mechanical parts and sparking wires.

"So this is the so-called 'Pacifista'—a human weapon developed by the Marines using Bartholomew Kuma as the prototype? This thing's really only good for its tough exterior and laser blasts. It can't even dodge attacks, and it's basically just a glorified target," a voice called out from nearby.

Three figures approached the area where the Kuma-like robot had fallen. Besides the gothic-lolita girl holding a black parasol, the other two figures were immediately recognizable to Hawkins and Apoo.

It was none other than Nico Robin, known as the "Devil's Child," and the infamous Navy deserter Wood, who was associated with the ancient weapon title.

Seeing Wood arrive, Hawkins immediately understood where the supposed 80% survival chance had come from.

There were not many people in the world who could go toe-to-toe with a Marine Admiral, but Wood was definitely one of them.

BOOM!

A golden flash appeared in the air, followed by a powerful shockwave that blew everything in the vicinity apart. Standing before Wood was Kizaru, wielding a massive golden lightsaber, clashing against Wood's cursed sword, Tenku.

Their clash instantly caused the ground beneath them to collapse, and a circular shockwave spread out for hundreds of meters around them.

"Admiral Kizaru, you're a Marine Admiral, right? Isn't it a bit much to ambush a lowly pirate like me?"

As sparks flew between Kizaru's Ama no Murakumo Sword and the cursed blade Tenku, Wood smiled wryly, his relaxed stance belying the strength with which he was meeting the force of a Marine Admiral.

"How terrifying. If I recall, you graduated a few years after me from the Navy Academy, didn't you? I heard you were one of Instructor Zephyr's star pupils. I didn't believe it back then, but now I see you are indeed as fearsome as they say," Kizaru remarked casually.

Despite his relaxed words, Kizaru was giving no quarter. The two figures, one in golden light and the other dark as shadow, collided repeatedly, each clash resulting in massive damage to the surrounding area.

The Sabaody Archipelago was formed by the giant Yarukiman Mangroves—trees so large that their roots, intertwined, made up entire islands.

Yet the battle between Wood and Kizaru was not just fast; the sheer destruction was immense. Underneath the massive trees, the two figures moved faster than the eye could see, their fight carrying them from the ground to the treetops.

"Hundred Demon Sword Style - Wind Element, One Sword Slash: Kamaitachi!"

With a swift stroke, Wood swung the cursed blade Tenku, which shimmered in a metallic black. A fierce gust of wind was unleashed, forming a crescent moon that grew to hundreds of meters as it approached Kizaru.

Since the attack was imbued with Armament Haki, Kizaru chose not to risk letting his body become light particles. Instead, he used his Glint-Glint Fruit ability to instantly relocate elsewhere.

The massive black crescent, missing its intended target, hit one of the Yarukiman Mangrove trees. What happened next shocked every Marine and pirate watching.

The tree trunk, with a radius of almost a kilometer, was cleanly severed by Wood's slash.

To put this into perspective, the Sabaody Archipelago is made up of 79 Yarukiman Mangroves, and Wood had just sliced one of them in half with a single attack.

Watching the fight between Wood and Kizaru, Hawkins and Apoo, two of the Supernovas, were left with their mouths agape.

The true power of the Grand Line's strongest far exceeded their expectations. Any arrogance they had felt as Supernovas was shattered entirely.

Judging by the scale of the fight, it was clear that Kizaru had been holding back when dealing with them. If he had fought them with even half the intensity he was showing against Wood, they wouldn't have stood a chance.

One of the Yarukiman Mangroves had fallen, and as the battle between Wood and Kizaru continued to escalate, the entire island began to quake.

Golden light beams and sword energy burst forth from the battle zone, destroying buildings and leaving massive craters in the ground and deep gashes as if carved by a canyon.

"Yata no Kagami!"

Kizaru used reflected light to move at near-light speed, appearing behind Wood, swinging the Ama no Murakumo Sword down at him. But Wood parried the strike with a different sword—Asatsuyu.

"Hundred Demon Sword Style - Fire Element, One Sword Slash: Phoenix Fire!"

Using Asatsuyu to block the golden blade, Wood swung Tenku with his other hand, unleashing a fiery attack that morphed into a blazing phoenix, aimed straight at Kizaru.

The Glint-Glint Fruit was one of the most powerful Logia types, excelling not just in attack and defense, but also in speed.

Due to this, Kizaru often relied heavily on his Devil Fruit abilities in combat. He knew that the natural counter to Logia users was Armament Haki, which could nullify his intangibility. That's why he wouldn't risk turning into light when he saw Wood imbuing his blade with Armament Haki.

But when the flaming slash approached, Kizaru was sure he saw clearly that Wood hadn't used Haki to coat his sword.

Kizaru intended to use his light-based form to endure the attack, certain that without Haki, not even the most skilled swordsman could harm his intangible form.

That was the logic of this world, the established rule acknowledged by all. Yet, as the uncoated fiery slash approached, Kizaru felt an inexplicable sense of danger.

In the last moment, Kizaru trusted his instincts. The stronger the fighter, the more they trusted such inexplicable feelings.

It was too late to evade fully, and the slash grazed him. Blood sprayed into the air as the flaming slash crashed into the harbor of Sabaody Archipelago, slicing through several pirate ships attempting to flee and evaporating large swathes of seawater.

But Kizaru wasn't concerned about the destroyed ships. Covering his bleeding arm, he looked at Wood, stunned. "You didn't use Armament Haki. How were you able to injure me?

Even if your sword were made of seastone, it wouldn't work unless it directly touched my body!"

Kizaru's shock was understandable. Until now, it had been accepted that only seastone and Armament Haki could counter a Logia user's intangibility.

If Wood could harm a Logia user without using either of these, it meant he had discovered some new power or perhaps developed a new technique altogether.

After all, the Wood Weapons Company was known for being the most advanced weapons manufacturer on the seas. If Wood had invented something new, it wouldn't be entirely unexpected.

"A true swordsman has no limits on what they can cut—not even light can escape!" Wood declared with a smirk, waving his blade to extinguish the remaining flames, exuding an aura of confidence.

Kizaru's expression shifted, his usually aloof demeanor now touched by a hint of intrigue and concern. The power to harm a Logia user without seastone or Haki? It was beyond any conventional understanding of the world's fighting capabilities.

All those witnessing the fight—Marines, pirates, and the Supernovas alike—began to realize they were witnessing something new, something that could change the established rules of power on the Grand Line.