"This battlefield is too small," Setsuna looked up at the sky. "Let's fight in the sky."
Before the words finished, his figure had already transformed into a golden streak of light, shooting skyward.
Imu sneered, her jet-black wings spreading violently. The resulting air current wreaked havoc on the ruins of Mary Geoise once more.
The two figures cut through the sky like meteors, confronting each other ten thousand meters above the Red Line.
Beneath their feet rolled a sea of clouds, and above their heads stretched the vast starry sky.
At this altitude, even birds could hardly reach.
"Do you think escaping to the sky changes anything?" Imu's six wings spread fully, each feather flowing with a dark purple energy.
"I'm just choosing a suitable burial ground for you." Setsuna brought his hands together at his waist. Blinding light abruptly erupted from his palms.
"Kamehameha!"
An energy wave dozens of meters in diameter roared forth like a raging torrent. Where it passed, the air distorted, and the cloud layer was forcibly torn open, leaving a vacuum channel.
A trace of disdain flashed in Imu's eyes. "A futile struggle."
She didn't even move, merely slightly raising a finger. A pitch-black barrier condensed at her fingertip.
The energy torrent crashed against it, only to be completely swallowed as if sinking into mud.
Setsuna frowned, but his assault didn't relent.
His arms swung at high speed, countless energy bullets pouring forth like a torrential downpour.
"Haki-Bound Meteor Shower!"
Each energy bullet was sheathed in Conqueror's Haki, smashing towards Imu like falling meteors.
Yet, Imu simply flapped her wings lightly. Jet-black feathers transformed into countless blades, slicing apart the incoming energy bullets one by one. Explosive brilliance blossomed in the high sky, like dazzling fireworks.
"Your strength is indeed formidable," Imu's voice echoed across the firmament. "But with only this level of long-range attack, you cannot possibly defeat me!"
Before the words faded, her figure suddenly blurred, vanishing from the spot in an instant.
Setsuna's pupils contracted. He instinctively dodged to the left.
Swish!
A pitch-black claw grazed past his right shoulder, leaving a trail of torn air in its wake.
Imu's speed was terrifying. The mobility granted by her six wings far surpassed Setsuna's Flight Technique.
Her first strike missing, she immediately reversed direction, closing in again.
Setsuna didn't dare to meet it head-on. He immediately erupted with ki, his body retreating dozens of meters in a burst, putting distance between himself and Imu.
Imu smiled slightly. "After returning, I looked into your records. Your greatest skill should be close-quarters combat, correct? Why aren't you using it? Are you not confident in your Haki?"
"Since you say so, I'll give it my all as well." Setsuna clenched his fists. Conqueror's Haki erupted like a volcano, perfectly merging with his Armament Haki.
Their fists collided ten thousand meters in the air. The shockwave instantly cleared the clouds for several kilometers around.
The stacked state of the Seven Gates and Sage Mode pushed Setsuna's strength and speed beyond their limits.
But even so, Imu's power still surpassed his.
Eight hundred years of accumulation, the boost from [Holy Selection] and [Marching Before the King] was not inferior to the Eight Gates and Sage Mode.
Imu's assault grew increasingly fierce. Her six wings struck like blades, leaving dark trails in the air.
Each beat of her wings was accompanied by a sonic boom… each slash made space tremble.
The two fought fiercely amid the clouds. Each collision triggered earth-shattering shockwaves. Cracks began to spiderweb across the Red Line below.
Setsuna wrapped Conqueror's Haki around his fists and feet, each strike carrying the force to shatter mountains and split the earth. But Imu's speed was superior, and her figure was elusive, difficult to pin down.
"What's wrong? Close combat not working either?" Imu mocked with a smile, her tail tip thrusting out like a spear. "You're too wary of Imu's abilities, to the point you cannot utilize your advantages at all."
"You're right. I don't need to worry about your abilities at all. Rocks D. Xebec lost because his Haki wasn't strong enough!" Setsuna stopped dodging, charging towards Imu with the most ferocious posture.
The pure aesthetics of violence were fully displayed at this moment… fist, elbow, knee, foot. Setsuna's entire body became a weapon.
His Conqueror's Haki boiled like a tangible substance. Each attack caused cracks to appear in Imu's defenses.
Under this absolute violent suppression, Imu was briefly forced into a disadvantage.
Though suppressed by Setsuna, Imu wasn't worried. Instead, a faint smile touched her lips as she inwardly sneered, 'How foolish. Falling for such a simple taunt.'
The battle lasted nearly an hour. Imu's injuries accumulated, but she wasn't impatient. She waited patiently.
Another hour passed. She finally caught that fleeting instant… a 0.01-second disturbance in Setsuna's breathing.
"Now!" Imu's tail stabbed out like lightning.
The pitch-black tail tip pierced through the Haki defense, aiming straight for Setsuna's chest.
"Got you!" A flicker of excitement shone in Imu's eyes. Yet, the next second, her smile froze.
Clang!
A crisp metallic clash rang across the sky.
Her tail seemed to have struck impossibly hard diamond, unable to advance a single millimeter further.
"What?!"
A slight upward curve appeared at the corner of Setsuna's mouth. "Surprised? Or unexpected?"
Before the words finished, his right fist, now sheathed in dark golden Haki, smashed into Imu's abdomen with earth-shattering force!
"Haki-Bound Mountain Crusher!"
Boom!
Terrifying power penetrated her body. Imu was sent flying backward like a meteor, smashing through several floating clouds before barely stabilizing.
Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, she looked incredulously at Setsuna's chest… it was covered by a layer of earthy yellow crystal armor.
"What is this?"
"This is the Earth Release Chakra Mode I specifically developed for you," Setsuna smiled. "I knew your Haki mastery surpassed mine. How could I entrust all my defense to Haki alone?"
If it were just ordinary Earth Release Chakra Mode, it naturally couldn't have withstood Imu.
But outside the Earth Release Chakra Mode, there were two additional layers of defense… Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki. Even Imu found it difficult to break through.
Imu was utterly baffled, 'What Earth Release Chakra Mode?'
"Now—" Setsuna's figure vanished, reappearing right before Imu. "It's my turn!"
'He was actually hiding such a trump card. Was everything he did before just to lull me into a false sense of security?' Imu's eyes were filled with shame and fury.
Her raw power surpassed his. If she had fought steadily, she would never have been forced into this passive position.
But out of greed, wanting to enslave him, she had instead been tricked.
She swiftly beat her wings, retreating to create distance, but Setsuna's offensive had already arrived like a storm.
Each punch was heavy as a mountain… each kick sharp as a blade.
Imu's six wings frantically blocked. Jet-black feathers shattered continuously in the fierce collisions.
"What's wrong?" Setsuna's fist, wrapped in earthy yellow crystal armor, smashed heavily onto Imu's cross-blocking wings. "Where's the composure from earlier?"
Imu gritted her teeth, a ruthless gleam flashing in her eyes. "Don't get too cocky!"
She abruptly erupted with a terrifying pressure. Pitch-black energy spread like a tide, dyeing the entire sky a dark purple.
Under the turbulent energy, the clouds spun wildly, forming a massive vortex several kilometers in diameter.
"Divine Punishment: Starfall!"
Countless pitch-black energy spheres materialized at the vortex's center. Each one compressed destructive power, dark purple lightning dancing across their surfaces.
The energy spheres poured down like a torrential rain. Where they passed, the air ionized, leaving blinding trails.
Setsuna's hands came together once more. The ki and Haki within his body surged madly, finally condensing into a dazzling golden sphere of light between his palms.
"Haki-Bound Kamehameha!"
A dark golden energy torrent shot upward, meeting the falling rain of stars head-on.
Indescribable explosive light engulfed the firmament. A second sun seemed to rise over the Red Line.