Chapter 425: Sword of the Asura, Peak of the Dao!
「……」
Hawk-Eye’s lip twitched, his hand reaching for Black Blade Yoru suddenly froze, then pulled the dagger from his chest instead:
“What a coincidence.”
“I don’t have a shorter blade than this.”
Huh—!
Cold wind howled.
The audience, moments ago roaring with excitement, fell abruptly silent.
They finally understood.
Everyone standing on the Round Table Arena was no good at all!
In the next instant, the two figures on the Round Table Arena vanished simultaneously.
As the crowd stared blankly, a powerful shockwave surged from the center of the Round Table Arena!
As if ready to overturn everything it touched!
“What’s happening?!”
One spectator stood up against the shockwave, but was blinded by the force, feeling his will nearly collapse under the pressure!
It was the body’s instinctive defense against overwhelming willpower.
“Hey, hey, hey—is this real?!”
“Is this… Conqueror’s Haki?”
Some knowledgeable spectators had already sensed the explosive surge of Conqueror’s Will!
“Is this… that Hawk-Eye’s?!”
“It must be!”
“The World’s Greatest Swordsman—even if only a former one—having Conqueror’s Haki isn’t natural?!”
This judgment immediately won agreement from those around them.
But.
They failed to notice that both the distant competitors’ seats and the nearby Supernovas of the Worst Generation wore expressions of utter shock!
“That’s…”
Hawkins turned his head to look at Drake:
“You felt it too, didn’t you?!”
“That feeling of your soul trembling—there’s no mistake!”
“It’s Conqueror’s Haki!”
“And this Conqueror’s Haki isn’t coming from Hawk-Eye—it’s from Roronoa!”
Drake said nothing, his eyes locked on Roronoa Zoro at the center of the Round Table Arena!
Watching the short blade in Zoro’s hand, pressed tip-to-tip against Hawk-Eye’s, refusing to yield an inch!
Watching the crimson-black resonance stirred in the air!
For a moment,
Drake’s heart wavered.
Were not only the invisible black from the manga, but even members of the Round Table Knights, Conqueror’s Haki users capable of clashing with Hawk-Eye?!
Just how far had Britannias amassed its strength?!
The Marines…
Could they possibly face such monsters?!
Countless questions flooded Drake’s mind, causing his hands to clench unconsciously.
For the first time, he doubted whether the Marines could uphold justice!
As Drake pondered,
The audience erupted in cheers!
The initial probing clash between the two had already demonstrated power far beyond ordinary men—nearly at the peak of the sea!
And this was exactly the battle they had all been waiting for!
Amid the cheers,
The two fighters paused not a moment, launching into another exchange!
Their short blades slashed through the air, sparking in rapid succession, the clang of steel merging into a continuous roar!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Amid the dense, rain-like impacts, streams of sword qi scattered outward.
They tore through the sky’s clouds and carved deep gashes into the arena floor beneath them!
“Incredible!”
“Roronoa, you’re truly incredible!”
“In three years, you’ve walked the path I spent over thirty years on—I acknowledge you!”
Watching the Zoro before him, now capable of matching him, Hawk-Eye couldn’t help but exclaim in awe!
But beneath the stiffness was an uncontrollable thrill!
Three years ago, on a whim, he had traveled from the New World to the East Blue, finding a lump of impure gold and a pure yet immature jade.
Since then, Hawk-Eye had waited, anticipating their growth, waiting for the day they would stand before him.
Now, not only had Gao Wen surpassed him far behind, but Zoro too had begun to realize his potential, gaining strength capable of standing against him!
The seed planted three years ago had finally borne fruit!
The taste of it—save for later!
“You’re worthy to be my opponent!”
“Now let’s see—will you be the one to climb over this mountain, or will I crush you beneath my feet as I march toward that monster at the peak?!”
With a roar, Hawk-Eye shoved Zoro back with a sudden surge of force from his short blade, then drew Black Blade Yoru from his back and slashed at Zoro!
After the initial probing, Hawk-Eye’s battle lust burned fiercely—he had no patience left for this childish game.
He only wanted to unleash his full strength and crush the opponent before him!
Yes!
Opponent!
Zoro, now stepping into the Emperor realm, had been recognized by Hawk-Eye as a true rival!
“Impatient bastard!”
Zoro’s lips curled into a feral grin, his battle aura surging—his katana Murasame, strapped at his waist, had already begun vibrating with excited hums!
To shatter the final obstacle standing between him and that man…
Today!
Clang!
Three blades drawn—Murasame leading—charged head-on into Hawk-Eye’s Black Blade Yoru!
Bang!
A visible sonic wave exploded through the air.
The floor beneath them, forged from special material capable of withstanding attacks from Warlords, shattered instantly!
Spiderweb cracks spread dozens of meters in all directions!
Followed by even more violent shockwaves, overturning everything nearby!
Countless spectators who couldn’t dodge were knocked unconscious by the sheer pressure of their Haki.
But what truly stunned them was that this unknown newcomer under Gao Wen’s command—someone with no record of fighting strong warriors—had already earned the right to stand toe-to-toe with Hawk-Eye!
The obese noble who had bet on Zoro’s underdog odds leapt to his feet, gripping the railing, eyes wide as he stared at the duel—yet could barely make out the afterimages of their movements.
All he could feel was the air trembling again and again, syncing with his heartbeat…
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
“Roronoa… can you really do this?!”
What he didn’t say was:
Three years ago, at the first Everlasting Martial Arts Tournament in Raven Port, he had been there.
It was then that
He had been drawn to Zoro, wielding a toy-like short blade and casually dismantling opponents, waiting for this monster newcomer to reappear.
Now, three years later, he had expected Zoro’s strength to rise noticeably.
But even his most beautiful fantasy had never imagined a scene like this!
“In three years… from an unknown nobody in the East Blue to standing against the former World’s Greatest Swordsman?”
“What kind of monster are you?!”
“Of course!”
“My instincts were never wrong—Roronoa will be the next World’s Greatest Swordsman!”
As they spoke, the fat noble glanced mockingly at the slender noble beside him, and seeing the latter’s dazed expression, felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
In fact, the slender noble was far from the only one lost in shock.
Almost every being watching the battle had been rendered speechless by Zoro’s sudden outburst.
Even those on the competitor’s bench who had felt Zoro’s leaking aura were stunned into silence!
“This guy… is strong!”
End of Chapter
