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The air seemed to freeze. Everything went silent.
Bullet and Crocodile stared in shock at the severed arm on the ground, then back up at the two figures in the sky.
For some reason, fear crept into their hearts.
"So strong," Kyle murmured.
He stared at Roger as he descended slowly, landing on the ground.
He looked down at the bloodstained arm, then suddenly grinned.
"I'm getting more and more excited."
Then, to everyone's disbelief, he raised his remaining arm, clenched his fist, and slammed it into his own head without hesitation.
Bang!
His skull exploded like a smashed watermelon.
Roger's pupils shrank. Crocodile and Bullet felt their hearts lurch.
Had he lost his mind?
After losing an arm, Kyle had chosen to blow his own head apart.
But in the very next second, something happened that nearly stopped all three of their hearts.
The fallen arm, the spilled blood, the shattered skull all vanished without a trace.
In their place stood Kyle, whole and uninjured.
"R-revived?!"
Crocodile shouted in disbelief.
He had never realized that this powerful officer might be a Devil Fruit user.
No, that wasn't right.
The gauntlets on Kyle's fists were still seastone.
Which meant he wasn't a Devil Fruit user at all.
Then what was that eerie, undying phenomenon?
Crocodile wasn't the only one stunned.
Bullet and even Roger stood there, momentarily at a loss.
"You really do have an incredible bloodline."
Roger landed lightly on the ground and spoke in a low, grave tone.
At this moment, he fully grasped how troublesome the young Marine before him truly was. Impossible to kill. Even when fatally wounded, the man could recover completely through what was essentially suicide.
In a sense, this guy was born standing on unbeaten ground.
With such a physique and bloodline, paired with that overwhelmingly violent strength, there were very few enemies in the world he couldn't crush.
Kyle smiled, tilted his head, and twisted his neck. A series of sharp cracks echoed from his spine.
He clenched his fists, feeling the explosive power surging through his fingers and palms. Excitement flared in his eyes, burning with raw battle intent.
There was no doubt about it. Being killed by Roger again had pushed his physical stats, strength, and reaction speed even higher. But it was also obvious that as he grew stronger, the rate of improvement was slowing down.
Like a parabola. Once it reached its peak, the curve inevitably began to fall.
"Come on, Roger," Kyle said, grinning. "Let's go all out."
Roger studied him closely for a moment. Then his expression suddenly relaxed.
"Let's change locations," he said."If you really want a proper fight."
Kyle didn't hesitate. He nodded.
"There's a dense forest near the coast to the northwest," Roger added.
They took off at the same time, instantly pushing their speed to the limit.
Moments later, Kyle arrived at the forest Roger had mentioned.
He slowly raised his head and looked at the man standing opposite him.
Their gazes met, and it felt as though sparks crackled in the air between them.
Almost simultaneously, both moved. Their figures collided in an instant.
Blades flashed brilliantly. Their clashing presence howled like a raging storm, shaking the surrounding trees. Dark clouds above churned and followed their movements, thunder rumbling endlessly as lightning flickered unpredictably.
Crocodile and Bullet stood at a distance, watching as spectators, their expressions tense.
From the very first moment, the battle had already reached its peak. Brutal. Merciless.
Roger's sword was fast, precise, and lethal. His attacks shifted unpredictably, always perfectly locking onto Kyle's position.
Within the first breath, Kyle's neck was pierced clean through.
Yet it didn't slow him down in the slightest. He swung his fist violently, reverting to the same ferocious style he had once used against Dark King Rayleigh.
But this approach no longer worked against Roger.
Roger was simply too fast. The instant Kyle threw a punch, Roger vanished, only to reappear and strike again.
The immense pressure crashed down on Kyle, forcing him to confront a hard truth.
He was still not on Roger's level.
In Haki, speed, experience, technique, and every other aspect of combat, Roger was like a flawless hexagon with no weaknesses.
Even at the very start of the battle, he had already entered his absolute peak state. There was no sign of the illness ravaging his body. Every swing of his blade sent chills through the air.
But there was one upside.
Death.
Relentless, storm-like death, crashing down again and again.
Roger crushed him mercilessly, cutting him down repeatedly. Meanwhile, the points on Kyle's system panel skyrocketed.
By the third hour, his Armament Haki was fully maxed out.
Every inch of his body could now be coated in Armament at will. Advanced Ryuo flowed effortlessly, completely unhindered.
By the seventh hour, Shave reached its maximum level. His activation speed bordered on teleportation, with a range extending to five thousand meters.
After ten straight hours of nonstop combat, their battlefield became perfectly confined to the small forest they stood in.
Kyle's eyes shone brightly. Each death made him more familiar with Roger's fighting style. His experience and technique were improving at an absurd pace.
He was advancing rapidly through death itself.
"Is this kid a monster…?"
"How can someone grow this fast in the middle of battle?"
Even Roger was shaken.
Now he truly understood what Rayleigh had described before.
Death wouldn't kill this boy.It would only make him stronger.
Time flew by as they fought through the night.
By dawn the next day, fierce winds roared out of the forest. The spectators had grown. Alongside Crocodile and Bullet now stood T-Bone, Rosinante, Ivankov, and others.
"So strong…"
"This is insane…"
Kyle was equally stunned by the power of the mustached man before him.
An entire night had passed, and he couldn't even count how many times he had died. Yet Roger remained completely unscathed.
In other words, even now, Kyle still couldn't break through Roger's Observation Haki suppression. He hadn't managed to leave a single wound on him.
This was power far beyond Rayleigh's, separated by an almost unbridgeable chasm.
Over that night, he had maxed out Shave, Rankyaku, and Finger Pistol.
True max level. Their power had undergone a qualitative transformation.
And still, he couldn't hurt Roger.
The man was like someone with absolute evasion, as if he could see the future itself.
The battle continued. Kyle poured his entire focus into this fight, unlike anything he had ever experienced.
Another full day and night passed. The points he earned were enough to max out Iron Body, Moonwalk, and Paper Art.
"Tough kid," Roger praised aloud, his voice full of admiration, his spirit burning brightly.
The fight went on until the morning of the fourth day.
Suddenly, Roger's movements faltered.
"Pfft—!"
A mouthful of blood burst from his lips.
His overwhelming aura vanished in an instant. The high-energy battle state collapsed, and his body swayed. His face turned pale.
Kyle froze, his attack stopping mid-motion.
"Cough… cough…"
Roger shook his head and sighed softly.
"Guess I really am getting old."
A trace of disappointment flickered through his eyes, but it quickly vanished. He smiled again.
"Kid," he said."Do you want to learn swordsmanship?"
"I don't have much time left, but I can teach you everything I know."
He paused, then burst into laughter.
"I can hear it," he said."That ambition burning inside you."
"You need power."
"Don't you?"
"..."
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