Big Mom's words clearly implied that she needed to fight two-on-one just to avoid losing. That alone nearly made Golden Lion Shiki explode with rage.
"Creed, don't think that just because you beat Big Mom, you can look down on me!" Shiki almost jumped in fury. "I, Shiki, am the man who once destroyed half of Marine Headquarters!"
Even though Creed had defeated Big Mom, Shiki absolutely did not believe he was any weaker than her.
That was the confidence of a legendary great pirate.
Even now, with the Four Emperors standing tall, Whitebeard's waning might still shaking the seas, and the new Marine admirals rising in power, the pride in Shiki's heart had not faded in the slightest.
In his eyes, the only man he truly acknowledged was Roger… and half of Whitebeard.
Even the former overlord of the seas, Rocks, failed to enter his eyes.
"Shua, shua!"
With a twist of his wrists, two longswords shining with cold light appeared in his hands. He raised the sword in his right hand and pointed it at Creed, speaking coldly:
"Just like Big Mom, I'll make a bet with you. If I win, Big Mom becomes my subordinate!"
Creed gave him an interested once-over from head to toe.
"And if you lose?"
He had to admit—this Shiki really was just like in the original story: insanely arrogant.
Creed had already beaten Big Mom, yet Shiki still thought he could overshadow him.
This kind of arrogance that bordered on self-delusion didn't earn Creed's admiration in the slightest. Instead, it made him feel a faint sense of contempt.
Sometimes, self-confidence and overestimating oneself looked very similar.
"I'll lose to you?! Hahahaha!!"
As if he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world, Shiki threw his head back and laughed wildly.
Creed swept his gaze over Shiki's status window and shrugged.
"You're not much stronger than Big Mom. Beating me will be hard."
He wasn't lying. Shiki's stats were:
[Attributes]: Strength: SSSS- (SSSS), Agility: SSSS- (SSSS), Endurance (Defense): SSS+, Spirit (Head Injury, Unstable): SS ~ SSS+
[Abilities]: SSSS- grade Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), SSSS- grade swordsmanship, SSSS- grade Kogane no Ken'i (Sharp Gold Sword Intent), SSS+ grade Yontoryu (Four-Sword Style), SSS+ grade Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki), SSS+ grade Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), SSS+ grade physical arts, SS grade Satsu'i (Killing Intent)…
[Devil Fruit / Special Ability]: Fuwa Fuwa no Mi (Float-Float Fruit) – fully awakened
[Overall Strength]: SSSS
Judging from his attributes alone, Shiki and Big Mom were roughly on the same level.
However, Shiki was currently in an aged state. There was no way he could match Big Mom once she went berserk, boosting her giant power to SSSS- level and her Strength attribute up to SSSS.
Even so, the complete awakening of the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi (Float-Float Fruit) still allowed him to display combat power that did not fall short of Big Mom at her strongest.
Creed narrowed his eyes slightly.
Maybe this battle wouldn't be as easy as he'd thought.
Once a Devil Fruit fully awakened, its ability always became troublesome. As for the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, a Paramecia-type, once fully awakened its core was assimilation—turning everything into something that obeyed Shiki.
That was something he absolutely had to guard against.
Inwardly, Creed was also a bit shaken by Shiki's peak form, which had possessed three SSSS-level attributes.
As expected of the man who'd once gone to invite Pirate King Roger to be his right hand.
At his peak, Shiki's overall strength should have been among the very top of SSSS+. Even Kaido would likely be a half-step weaker, and only Whitebeard at his peak could suppress him!
"An…"
Creed drew Reincarnation from his waist, his expression turning solemn.
At the same time, he immediately extracted two of Shiki's abilities: Kogane no Ken'i (Sharp Gold Sword Intent) and Yontoryu (Four-Sword Style).
It was a pleasant surprise. He hadn't expected to obtain an SSSS- grade sword intent from Shiki of all people.
This Sharp Gold Sword Intent was extraordinary. From the way a casual slash could churn up a hundred li of ocean and keep the seawater from falling back for a long time, it was obvious this was a top-tier sword intent.
It might be slightly inferior to Reincarnation's sword intent, but it was definitely not weaker than his ice sword intent.
"Creed!"
Shiki was the first to make a move.
With both hands and both feet gripping blades, he slashed all four swords in a cross, sending out a golden sword aura shaped like the character "爻."
"Shishi Yon-kiri (Lion Four-Slash Wave)!"
He didn't underestimate Creed in the slightest. From the very first strike, he went all out. Four streaks of sword aura roared through the air, and everywhere they passed, even the space itself seemed to be carved with jagged scars by the scattered sharp sword intent.
In terms of raw power, Shiki's slash surpassed Mihawk's by half a step.
"Gara gara…"
Creed didn't move.
About a few dozen meters in front of him, massive ice spikes shot up out of nowhere, unending and densely packed, quickly forming a gigantic sphere of ice thorns.
From this sphere, an extreme chill radiated outward, turning the surroundings into a world of drifting frost and snow. A hundred meters below, a hawk happened to glide through the area; the moment a few flakes brushed past it, its entire body froze solid into ice and plummeted straight down.
A frigid sword domain had already formed in front of Creed.
He was using Kori no Ken'i (Ice Sword Intent) to block Shiki's Kogane no Ken'i (Sharp Gold Sword Intent)!
"Crack!"
"Boom, boom, boom!"
". . Room (Surgical Space)!"
The Gokkan Ken'iki (Extreme Cold Sword Domain) failed to fully block the "爻"-shaped slash. With a sharp whistle, the cross-shaped sword aura pierced straight through, even chopping "Creed" into several pieces.
But Shiki didn't feel any joy at all. Instead, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He suddenly twisted and thrust his sword to his right.
What his slash had cut apart just now was nothing more than Creed's afterimage.
The real Creed had already appeared at Shiki's side in an instant.
"Clang!"
"Boom!"
Their blades collided, and a ferocious storm of sword aura exploded outward, rippling through space in visible waves.
"Creed!"
Shiki wanted to cross all four swords and give Creed a savage counterattack, but his vision blurred for a moment. At the same time, an icy chill exploded behind him, making him instinctively flip in midair and slash upward with the two swords held by his feet.
Two more violent bursts of sword aura rang out.
"Chi!"
Before Shiki could even catch his breath, danger surged from his left!
"Chi!"
He reacted quickly enough to avoid a fatal strike, but Creed's blade still sheared off the sleeve on his left arm, leaving a shallow cut on his forearm. A few drops of blood beaded up and rolled down.
He had been wounded.
And it hadn't even been three proper exchanges yet.
"Shiki, you're too slow. If you don't show your full strength soon, you won't last even ten moves."
Creed's figure appeared above him, and he slashed down savagely.
Shiki hastily raised his swords in a cross to block. The impact sent him hurtling down hundreds of meters before he could barely stabilize himself.
"So this is your Devil Fruit ability? The power of the Ope Ope no Mi?"
Shiki looked around at the massive transparent sphere enveloping thousands of meters of sky, frowning slightly.
This transparent sphere had appeared so strangely. Not only did it not hinder his sword aura in the slightest, it was even more mysterious than a sword-intent domain.
What really unsettled him was Creed's movement inside this sphere. His speed was almost akin to teleportation. If not for Shiki's own top-tier speed, he would have been chopped into a bloody mess in just two or three exchanges.
…Wait. No—he had already been injured!
Staring at the shallow wound on his left forearm, where blood was still slowly seeping out, Shiki's eyes turned completely blood-red.
"Creed, you little brat…!"
(End of Chapter)
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