"Kehehehehe…!"
"Little girl! This ocean isn't something you puny kids can ever rule!!!"
The flying azure lion howled toward the heavens, under the control of the golden lion, charging straight at Nami!
Nami stretched her arms wide, and the fierce winds on either side immediately roared to life!
BOOM!!!!
The sea lion collided with the raging winds, struggling violently against them.
The waters around the lion were blasted apart by the storm's pressure.
In the clear sky above, sudden sheets of torrential rain began to fall.
The drizzling seawater fell straight down like tears from the heavens.
The Starry Sky crew looked up at the clash of these two immense powers.
Even though Nami's Dragon-Slaying Magic could manipulate the vast air, the golden lion was after all a former supreme ruler.
The whirlwind, once like a stampede of ten thousand horses, was slowly devoured by the thrashing sea lion, dissipating into nothingness within moments!
Watching Nami's attack vanish, Golden Lion seemed transported back to his prime.
His nobility, his honor, his glory… everything he had once possessed!
All returned!
His lion-like mane flew wildly in the wind as Golden Lion laughed arrogantly and swung his arm downward with all his might!
The azure lion burst forth with an aura that seemed to devour the world, surging toward Nami!
"Kehehe… little girl, let the rest of your crew try if you wish!"
"Your strength… is not enough to impress me!!!"
ROAR!!!
A deafening roar erupted, the lion's cry shaking the four corners of the world!
The dark maw swallowed Nami from the sky, seawater soaking her completely.
Under the terrifying impact, the lion slammed Nami toward an island in the sky at a diagonal upward trajectory!
BOOM!!!
The resounding shockwave scattered the sea lion back into lifeless seawater, raining down into the ocean below.
Golden Lion no longer cared about that water.
There would be plenty of chances later!
Right now, all he wanted was to laugh out loud!
"Kehehehehe…!"
His eyes, filled with unrestrained ambition, turned toward the Starry Sky crew, his arrogant aura unleashed without restraint.
"Next!!!"
"Nami!!!"
Koby instinctively shouted toward Nami's flying figure, but his gaze flickered, and he went silent again.
"Next?"
Luffy slowly lifted his head, a calm smile on his face as he faced the brash Golden Lion:
"You go hit my navigator first… then you can talk big."
"What!?"
Golden Lion raised a questioning brow in surprise.
And in the next moment, the answer he sought came!
Whoosh~
From over a thousand meters above, a violent gust of wind erupted.
Pure, charged air swirled turbulently like a storm in the sky, funneling toward Nami's position.
The sudden intensity caused Golden Lion's expression to darken instantly.
He stopped teasing Luffy and the others, flying upward to look down at the island where Nami was.
The wild wind lifted dust and smoke, completely obstructing his view.
Golden Lion swung his arms, and the billowing dust tore apart as if by giant hands, revealing the island below.
Two enormous feathered dragon wings shot up, spreading across the sky.
With each powerful flap, violent gusts surged forth.
Attached to the wings was a colossal form nearly a hundred meters long.
A fierce dragon head emerged from the dust, its enormous eyes glowing a terrifying crimson as they locked onto the floating golden lion.
Golden Lion, surprised by Nami's sudden transformation, murmured under his breath:
"A Mythical Zoan user!?"
Even after years of ruling the seas, Golden Lion rarely encountered Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit users.
They were far too rare.
Every Mythical Zoan fruit granted unique abilities.
The ones he knew best were Kaido and the Whitebeard Pirates' little one with blue flames.
Back then, Marco, not especially strong, had dazzled all high-level fighters purely with his extraordinary vitality, earning a permanent mark in the memory of the top pirates.
However… he had recently heard that little one had been defeated by someone—though whether it was true, he didn't know.
ROAR!!!
Nami, still adjusting to her dragon form, howled toward the sky.
A piercing cry erupted, capable of shattering eardrums.
More than a dragon roar, it sounded like a terrifying bird of prey.
Her sharp, murderous gaze softened back into her bright eyes.
Having endured the violent emotions of transformation, Nami regained full awareness.
Looking down at the suddenly tiny Golden Lion, she smiled and said:
"Our fight…"
"Is far from over!!!"
The dragon's massive jaws opened wide, terrifying yet somehow joyful.
The Sky Dragon's wings stretched upward, blocking the azure dome above.
The shadow of her wings enveloped Golden Lion's body.
BOOM!!!
A cloud of dust erupted as the enormous dragon shot skyward, aiming straight for the clouds.
The upper atmosphere began to break apart into mist, scattered by Nami's wing movements, slowly clearing from the battlefield.
A magical array hundreds of meters in radius appeared before the Sky Dragon.
Its soft cyan light radiated mysterious power.
Golden Lion, shrouded in shadow, showed no fear, his body rising instantly.
The thin air thickened under the influence of the sky magic, slowing Golden Lion's upward momentum.
But!
This former ruler of the seas had never looked up to others in battle!
Golden Lion arched his body mid-dive less than a hundred meters from Nami, completing a backflip in the air.
"Wave Slash!"
Sakura Ju and Kareki, his swords treated like prosthetics, gleamed in the sunlight, forming a bloody "X" in the sky.
Two crescent-shaped blades cut through the heavens with a fierce whistling, aiming straight at Nami high above.
Golden Lion was still Golden Lion!
Even in his twilight years, his foot-powered strikes surpassed 99% of all swordsmen in the world!
The raging sword energy tore through the void, unstoppable, like a descending god.
Nami refused to back down. Her wings spread wide, the magical circle before her burst with dazzling light, like a twin-colored sun slicing the sky!
The wings flapped, creating two wind blades hundreds of meters long.
This was genuine dragon magic unleashed by Nami.
The gusts of wind, infused with magic, cut through the air at unimaginable speed, forming deadly wind blades.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The magical wing strikes launched, rushing through the air like roaring rivers of blue light.
In an instant!
They collided with Golden Lion's full-powered strike.
BOOM!!!
The two attacks were evenly matched, exploding violently in midair.
The terrifying shockwave blew the island Golden Lion controlled outward in all directions.
At this moment, the empty sky had become the perfect battlefield for the two!