Chapter 242: Breaking Through the Shackles!
Luffy felt his scalp tingle slightly beneath Golden Lion Shiki's blazing stare.
He casually lifted a finger and dug at his ear, sounding completely unconcerned.
"To be honest, I kinda wanna punch you flying too. You seriously look annoying."
"But too bad… right now…"
"Your opponent isn't me."
"Hm—?!"
Shiki's pupils contracted.
For the first time, clear confusion and disbelief appeared on his arrogant face.
And in that tiny instant of distraction—
His battle-hardened Observation Haki suddenly screamed with unprecedented intensity.
Countless fragmented images flooded his mind by force:
A streak of blue-white lightning.
A cold expression.
A heel rapidly enlarging in his vision—
The future itself had been rewritten by overwhelming speed.
But the gap between warning and reality was so short that even the word "reaction" became a luxury.
BOOOOM—!!!
A foot wrapped in violent blue-white lightning crossed the boundaries of space itself and slammed directly into Golden Lion Shiki's face without warning!
"Guh—!!"
His muffled cry of pain and shock was instantly swallowed by the exploding thunder.
The blue-white lightning erupted into the form of a roaring thunder dragon, launching the legendary pirate away like a cannonball through sheer destructive force.
Sanji's figure flickered briefly within the lightning—
Then suddenly exploded into countless arcs of electricity.
The humanoid thunderstorm shattered apart with a loud crack, scattering blue-white lightning in every direction.
Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!
Hundreds—
No, thousands—
Of solid-looking figures wrapped in crackling lightning emerged from every angle.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized.
Their auras identical.
Their cold eyes all locked onto the same target.
Thousands of "Sanjis" charged forward simultaneously like an enraged swarm of thunder bees, intent on completely overwhelming their prey.
"How is this possible?!"
Shiki forcefully twisted his body and halted his momentum midair.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and genuine shock finally surfaced within his proud golden eyes.
"This speed… these clones?! Even my Observation Haki can't distinguish the real one!"
"Heh…"
A cold, slightly hoarse laugh echoed simultaneously from every direction like the whispers of thunder itself.
"So…"
"Is this speed finally enough to catch your eye, old man?"
Before the words had even finished—
One nearby lightning clone had already reached him, raising a thunder-coated kick straight toward his temple!
"Cheap tricks!"
Shiki's eyes flashed sharply as he swung a Haki-coated slash, instantly cutting the lightning clone apart into scattered sparks.
Yet his brow furrowed deeply.
His gaze swept across the endless tide of incoming lightning clones as his Observation Haki expanded to its limit.
"I see…"
A savage grin mixed with excitement spread across Shiki's face.
"So it's neither illusion nor simple afterimages…"
"You've pushed lightning and Haki to their absolute limits, creating temporary physical manifestations through sheer speed itself…"
"A Lightning-Speed Clone technique, huh?"
"To think a brat like you has already touched the threshold of that realm!"
All traces of contempt vanished from his eyes.
What remained was the focus of a predator facing prey worthy of being slain.
"But this alone…"
"Is still nowhere near enough!!"
As his laughter rang out, Shiki's floating body suddenly shifted from extreme motion to complete stillness.
The unnatural halt violated all physical logic—
Yet generated even more terrifying power.
The twin blades Oto and Kogarashi exploded with golden brilliance brighter than the sun itself.
Crossing both swords, he swung toward the entire area ahead of him.
"Lion's Thousand Slice Valley!!!"
Hundreds of shrieking golden sword slashes connected together instantly, weaving into a catastrophic golden net that blanketed the entire sky.
Space itself screamed as it was sliced apart.
The atmosphere was completely expelled, creating a temporary vacuum of death.
SWISH SWISH SWISH—!!!
The thousands of incoming lightning clones were instantly shredded apart like soap bubbles beneath the legendary area-wide slash attack.
They burst apart into scattered sparks and vanished completely.
The sky cleared in an instant.
Yet instead of relaxing, Shiki's expression suddenly changed as he looked upward.
A terrifying concentration of destructive energy was rapidly gathering high above.
RUMBLEEEEE—!!!
The countless scattered blue-white lightning arcs had not disappeared.
Instead, they surged together like rivers returning to the sea, compressing into a single point.
At the center of the blinding lightning sphere—
Sanji's true body emerged.
Head downward.
One leg raised high like a divine executioner's axe.
His entire leg was wrapped in compressed blue-white lightning intertwined with pitch-black Armament Haki.
The lightning condensed into a gigantic blade-shaped phantom dozens of meters long that stretched across the sky itself.
Black spatial cracks flickered along its edges while shrill screeches filled the air.
Sanji's cold voice pierced through the thunderous roar.
"Ifrit Jambe…"
"Thunder King: Guillotine Platform!!"
The instant the words fell—
The massive lightning blade descended alongside Sanji's body, now transformed into a blue-white meteor.
"Excellent!!!"
Shiki's eyes erupted with blazing battle intent.
Facing the heavenly execution descending upon him, he didn't dodge.
Instead, he roared wildly.
Crossing both swords above his head, he unleashed his Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki without restraint.
A solid black-and-gold cross-shaped barrier formed instantly before him.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
A spherical shockwave of black, gold, blue, and white exploded outward from the collision point.
The clouds evaporated instantly.
"GRAAAAAAHHHH—!!!"
The overwhelming lightning surged through the crossing point of the swords like a collapsing heavenly river, flooding into Shiki's arms and torso.
Even the legendary blades Oto and Kogarashi trembled violently, letting out shrieks like dying beasts.
Shiki's eyes widened bloodshot as blood sprayed from his mouth—
Only to instantly vaporize from the electrical heat.
His seemingly invincible defense lasted less than half a second before collapsing beneath the piercing force of the lightning and Armament Haki.
BOOOOM—!!!
Golden Lion Shiki was blasted downward like a spear hurled by a god, trailing lightning and blood as he crashed into the devastated earth below.
A deafening impact followed.
Dust, debris, and thunderous flames exploded skyward into a miniature mushroom cloud.
Above the battlefield—
The lightning slowly faded.
"Cough… GAH—!!"
Rubble and smoke were blown apart by invisible force as Shiki's blood-covered body slowly floated upward from the crater below.
"What an endless bunch of brats!!"
His savage laughter echoed through the ruined battlefield, filled with the fury of an old-era tyrant repeatedly challenged by the new generation.
But before his words fully faded—
Crackle… crackle!
A sudden change erupted.
Countless crimson-gold lightning arcs burst violently from below like dragons breaking free from chains, tearing through the smoke and surging toward the darkened heavens.
"Hm?!"
Shiki's grin instantly froze.
His pupils shrank violently as he stared downward.
The smoke dispersed beneath the storm of lightning.
A figure slowly straightened his back at the center of the crimson-gold thunderstorm.
His body was covered in blood and wounds.
Yet his right eye blazed with terrifying intensity, like molten magma boiling within it.
"That level of Conqueror's Haki…"
"Jihahahaha!! Another arrogant brat dreaming of becoming king?!"
After the initial shock, Shiki burst into even louder laughter.
Yet the veins bulging along the hand gripping Oto and Kogarashi betrayed his tension.
"What else would I be…"
A low, hoarse voice echoed upward like something emerging from the depths of hell itself.
Roronoa Zoro slowly raised his head.
Dark green demonic aura surged around him like a living creature, resonating with the three legendary swords in his hands.
Wado Ichimonji.
Shusui.
Sandai Kitetsu.
Green ghostly flames ignited along all three blades.
CRACKLE—!
The crimson-gold Conqueror's Haki lightning pouring into the sky seemed to find its destination as it converged wildly onto Zoro's swords.
Lightning and ghostly flames intertwined, granting the blades a primordial power capable of splitting heaven and earth.
"I already swore…"
Zoro shattered the remaining rock beneath his foot.
His body vanished instantly.
A straight line of crimson-gold and dark green tore through the atmosphere at speeds beyond vision itself, shooting directly toward Golden Lion Shiki in the sky.
"Jihahahaha!! Interesting! This is getting interesting!!"
Shiki laughed wildly as his golden hair danced violently.
But even faster than his laughter—
Black-red Conqueror's Haki lightning erupted outward.
"Under MY sky…"
"You dare bark so boldly?!"
"Flying Slash: Lion Fang Heavenly Fall!!"
Both swords slashed downward simultaneously.
Two gigantic golden slashes erupted forth, large enough to split apart the clouds themselves.
The spiraling torrents of sword energy intertwined and transformed into a dazzling golden lion with exposed fangs and flowing mane.
It opened its massive jaws wide enough to devour the heavens themselves as it lunged downward toward Zoro's ascending strike.
Yet facing an attack capable of swallowing entire islands—
Zoro's trajectory never shifted even slightly.
Under the overwhelming pressure, his aura instead entered a terrifying state of calm.
His three swords aligned into a single perfect line.
"I'm putting…"
"Everything into this one strike…"
The whisper vanished beneath wind and thunder.
Then—
His eyes exploded with killing intent.
"King of Hell Three Sword Style…"
"Purgatory Oni Giri: Flying Dragon Samurai Extreme!!"
A concentrated emerald beam erupted from Zoro's blades, piercing through heaven and earth itself.
Crimson-gold lightning sharpened it with pure destruction.
Dark green ghostfire infused it with the resolve to sever destiny itself.
—SHING!!!
There was no stalemate.
Only an impossibly sharp ringing sound.
The emerald beam pierced directly through the forehead of the roaring golden lion as easily as a heated blade cutting through butter.
The lion froze instantly—
Then exploded from within.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!
It was as though hundreds of volcanoes erupted simultaneously in the sky.
The golden lion transformed into a blazing sun of destruction before detonating violently.
The shockwave formed a colossal visible ring that swept away every cloud within thousands of meters.
And at the center of the explosion—
Two figures.
Two different-colored lightning storms.
Finally collided head-on.
—CLANG!!!!!
Oto and Kogarashi locked violently against Zoro's three blades.
Black-red and crimson-gold Conqueror's Haki lightning tore into each other like rabid dragons, exploding upward into a colossal pillar of dual-colored lightning that illuminated heaven and earth alike.
Zoro's arms trembled violently under the overwhelming pressure.
Blood sprayed from his torn palms before instantly evaporating.
Yet his gaze remained cold and calm like eternal ice.
Only the battle lust and killing intent deep within his eyes burned hot enough to destroy even the legend before him.
The laughter vanished entirely from Shiki's face.
Through the exploding lightning, he could clearly sense it—
The young swordsman before him was evolving at an unbelievable rate.
This was not mere growth in power.
The walls of a higher realm were cracking apart beneath Zoro's desperate blade.
"This brat…!!"
Alarm bells screamed wildly in Shiki's mind.
BOOOOM—!!!
Zoro let out a thunderous roar as the Conqueror's Haki Infusion around his three swords surged even further.
The crossed blades blocking him were slowly—
Forcefully—
Pushed backward.
"GRAAAAAAHHHH—!!!"
Golden Lion Shiki was sent flying through the heavens by the overwhelming slash.
His body crashed through multiple gigantic floating mountains in the distance one after another.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sounds of collapsing mountains echoed continuously as massive clouds of dust rose like tsunamis, swallowing the path of his defeat.
And high above the battlefield—
Only the lingering afterglow of that crimson-gold and dark-green slash remained, refusing to fade.
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