Shanks panted, his eyes fixed on Kizaru, a look of surprise and uncertainty on his face.
The power the Admiral was displaying in that suit was beyond his imagination.
But he was Shanks.
He would not be intimidated.
"DIE KIZARU!" he roared, and charged again.
Kizaru, his expression unreadable behind his visor, simply shook his head.
He squeezed his fists, and surging, golden power condensed at his fingertips.
He unleashed a barrage of laser blasts.
BOOM!
Shanks met the volley with a massive wave of Haki-infused sword energy.
The resulting explosion tore through the valley, sending Kizaru skidding backward.
But Shanks was already on him as he turn into a red blur of motion.
Kizaru sneered, "You're fast alright."
He raised his palm and fired a point-blank laser.
BOOM!
The energy ripple sent Shanks flying.
He landed hard, spitting out a mouthful of blood, but the insane, battle-hungry look on his face was gone, replaced by an ultimate, chilling calm.
Then, he did something baffling.
He stabbed his own sword into his arm.
The moment his blood dripped onto the blade, Kizaru's pupils contracted.
A strange, black, necrotic energy began to crawl up Shanks's arm from the wound, a dark corruption that seemed to be eating his life force.
"You..." Kizaru shouted, a feeling of deep unease settling over him. "You wouldn't harm yourself for no reason. What's your plan?!"
Shanks raised his head, a cold, terrifying arc on his lips.
"Hehe. It won't affect what's about to happen."
An ominous premonition seized Kizaru.
"In that case," he growled, "I can only send you on your way!"
He shot forward, his Amakumo no Tsurugi of pure, golden light descending for the killing blow.
"Kizaru," Shanks smiled, a cold, hard smile. "In your previous state, I would have been worried. But now? You're asking for trouble."
He raised his sword, and a harsh, tearing sound ripped through the air.
Kizaru spun, his reflexes saving him as a blade of pure darkness, originating from Shanks, shot past his head like a shooting star.
BOOM!
He blocked it with his light-sword, but the force was immense.
As he recovered, Shanks was already there, his own sword slashing across Kizaru's back.
"Pfft!"
A geyser of blood erupted from the wound.
But there was no pain. Instead, a scorching, dark flame began to dance around the gash.
"What is this?!" Kizaru grunted, feeling an unnatural heat spreading.
"Demon Flame," Shanks said, his voice a low growl. "A fusion of my Suzaku fruit and the power bestowed by our lord. It will raise your internal body temperature until your organs boil, burning you from the inside out."
Kizaru's eyes narrowed.
This was bad.
But before he could think, Shanks was on him again.
"Die, Kizaru!"
The red-haired pirate was a blur, his blade a brilliant afterimage.
Kizaru, not wanting to take another hit from that cursed flame, teleported.
But the moment he reappeared, Shanks's blade was already there, piercing through the void and stabbing deep into his side.
Kizaru stared in shock.
'He... he kept up with my light-speed?'
He teleported again, dodging, but it was no use.
Shanks's attacks were relentless, a storm of fire and steel that he could barely avoid.
He was being completely overwhelmed.
BOOM!
As he was parrying a blow, the Demon Flame on his back suddenly exploded.
A cloud of blood mist enveloped him, his face contorting in pain.
Even his elementalization wasn't fast enough to escape the internal explosion.
The flames were like time bombs, and they were still inside him, devouring his very spirit.
Even as the internal flames seared his body, Kizaru was still an Admiral.
He lashed out with his Amakumo no Tsurugi, but Shanks met the blow head-on, the force of his Haki-infused sword sending Kizaru skidding back dozens of steps.
The Admiral's armored arm trembled from the sheer, overwhelming power.
Shanks was on another level.
"It's troublesome," Kizaru muttered, his voice tight. "I didn't expect you to have such a vicious ability."
He could feel it now.
The Demon Flame wasn't just burning him; it was actively resisting his Logia elementalization, like a parasite of fire that refused to be extinguished.
Shanks just grinned. "I didn't expect the first strong man to fall to my new power would be you, Kizaru!"
With a flicker, he was gone.
Kizaru immediately reacted, his arms raised, unleashing a barrage of laser bombs that tore the valley apart.
BOOM!
A wave of fiery sword energy, the spectral image of the Suzaku, tore through the lasers and smoke.
The two clashed, move for move, the entire space trembling from their energy.
But Kizaru was fighting a war on two fronts.
The Demon Flame inside him was getting hotter, making him feel like he was melting from the inside out.
"Now!" Shanks roared.
A strange, black flame appeared on his blade.
The moment Kizaru saw it, he felt a deep, agonizing throb.
The Demon Flames inside his own body leaped violently, as if being called by their master.
The sudden, internal flare-up of agony made his movements slow by a fatal half-second.
"Hmph. Now, I am your final executioner!"
A sky-full of sword slashes, which Kizaru would have normally dodged, enveloped him.
BOOM!
The armored Admiral was blasted from the smoke, his body soaked in blood.
He reappeared from the void, a grim sight
Three new, hideous blood holes were punched through his chest, and from within the wounds, the pitch-black Demon Flames were still burning, now more intensely than ever.
"Haha!" Shanks laughed, landing gracefully. "Didn't expect that, did you, Kizaru? Your light has finally gone out."
Kizaru looked down at his ruined chest, then back at Shanks.
To the pirate's utter disbelief, the Admiral let out a weak, frivolous chuckle.
"Hehe... I'll admit, you have a lot of means, Red-Hair," Kizaru drawled, his voice strained but mocking.
"But it's a pity... I'm not so easy to kill."
Shanks's smile faded.
His eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed on the Admiral, a predatory look on his face.
He began to walk forward slowly, his terrifying coercion pressing down on the wounded Admiral.
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Please Read My new One Piece fic : You call this a Pirate ?