The battlefield was set on the Jewel Ice Sheet, but they made sure to move far away from the area containing the buried treasure. It would be a complete tragedy if their clash ended up shattering Don Chinjao's prized hoard into a million pieces.
Hearing that Bardock and Moria were about to throw down again, the entire crew had gathered to watch from a safe distance—with the sole exception of Don Chinjao, who was physically incapable of stepping into the sunlight.
Down in his cabin, Chinjao was incredibly frustrated. He desperately wanted to witness this battle, but Moria was obviously going to utilize his shadow during the fight, meaning Chinjao couldn't simply request to borrow it back for a few hours. Fortunately, the invention of the Visual Den Den Mushi existed.
"Moria's pretty gutsy, I'll give him that," Perona remarked, twirling her parasol. "He got beaten half to death last time, and he's already back for more."
She wasn't terrified of the towering Warlord anymore, but she would never forgive him for indirectly causing her to suffer the humiliation of her own Negative Hollow.
"Don't underestimate him. Moria's combat power has likely skyrocketed," Robin said, her eyes fixed on the two figures in the distance. Having successfully awakened her own Observation Haki through the Shadow Training method, she knew exactly how terrifying the results were. "The Shadow Training is incredibly effective. And since Moria is the actual user of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, his compatibility with the training should be astronomically higher than ours."
"Are they going to seriously hurt each other again?" Mansherry asked, clasping her hands nervously.
"Don't worry, Princess! Captain Bardock definitely won't lose!" Leo cheered, patting her on the shoulder. Having successfully awakened Armament Haki and learned the Hasshoken, the dwarf was brimming with confidence. "Right, Daz?"
"Yes. The Boss will not lose," Daz Bonez nodded calmly. He had dedicated his entire Shadow Training regimen purely to refining his Haki. His mastery over both Armament and Observation Haki had reached a very profound level.
Nearby, Sai shoved the Visual Den Den Mushi into his younger brother's hands. "Boo, make sure you keep the camera steady. If you miss a single second of this fight, Grandpa is going to kill you."
Boo's face fell. "Wait, Grandpa gave both of us this mission! Why do I have to do all the work?!"
"Idiot, there's only one camera," Sai laughed, his eyes already glued to the battlefield. "Besides, I refuse to be distracted. I don't want to miss a single microsecond of this clash."
Boo sighed heavily. His older brother really was a battle maniac. "Fine, leave it to me."
Out on the ice, the two combatants faced each other.
"Bardock," Moria began, a massive grin splitting his face. "Ever since that humiliating defeat, I haven't relaxed for a single second. Today is the day I wash away that shame!"
With a flourish, Moria drew a long, straight-bladed sword with a distinctively curved handle—a Cane Sword.
Bardock recognized the weapon instantly. It was a highly famous style of weaponry originating from the West Blue, known for birthing several incredibly lethal fencing styles. 'Humming' Brook and 'Demon Sheriff' Laffitte were both masters of this blade. The swordplay focused on blinding speed, precision thrusts, and lightning-fast parries rather than heavy, sweeping slashes.
"I see you picked up a new fencing style. But big words aren't enough to scare me, Moria," Bardock smiled, drawing White Iron in his right hand and Shusui in his left.
Bardock hadn't been idle either. He had successfully merged the right-handed swordplay he had stolen from Dracule Mihawk with the left-handed techniques he had stolen from Shanks. By weaving his own personal understanding of swordsmanship into the resulting hybrid, he had developed a terrifyingly flawless Two-Sword Style.
A split second later, both fighters vanished from their original positions, violently clashing in the center of the tundra.
Despite Moria's Cane Sword being absolutely massive due to his giant stature, the Warlord still utilized it with the speed and precision of a rapier. His attacks rained down like a torrential storm. Fortunately, Bardock's newly refined Two-Sword Style allowed him to effortlessly parry and weave through the onslaught.
"Piercing Thrust: Moonlight Flurry!"
Moria's towering figure flickered, instantly appearing right in front of Bardock. The tip of his Cane Sword dissolved into a blinding blur of afterimages, unleashing a lethal barrage of thrusts aimed at every single vital point on Bardock's body. The sheer speed and pinpoint accuracy were something the old, lazy Moria could never have achieved.
"Two-Sword Style: Blade Veil!"
Bardock's twin swords spun into a defensive vortex of steel, seamlessly deflecting every single thrust. It was a flawless defense, designed to be so watertight that not even a drop of rain could pass through.
Suddenly, spotting a microscopic opening in Moria's rhythm, Bardock swung his right blade upward, forcefully parrying the giant's sword, while his left hand launched a lightning-fast flying slash aimed directly at Moria's chest.
"Two-Sword Style: Shadow Strike!"
This was a counter-attacking technique designed to transition seamlessly from the absolute defense of Blade Veil. Did Moria really think Bardock was just going to stand there and take a beating?
But Moria was no longer the Haki-less, overconfident fool he used to be. His newly awakened Observation Haki perfectly predicted Bardock's counterattack. Coating the heavy scabbard of his Cane Sword in dense Armament Haki, Moria violently slammed it downward, completely neutralizing Bardock's flying slash.
Without missing a beat, Moria twisted his massive torso, swinging the heavy, Haki-coated scabbard toward Bardock like a giant steel pillar.
This was the inherent disadvantage of a massive height difference. If Bardock didn't use flying slashes, he was forced to physically leap into Moria's attack range just to reach him. But using flying slashes gave Moria the necessary split-second to react and block.
"Two-Sword Style: Twin Divide!"
Instead of dodging, Bardock leaped directly onto the incoming scabbard, planting his boots firmly on the Haki-coated wood. Riding the momentum of the swing, he swung both of his swords simultaneously, launching two massive, parallel flying slashes at point-blank range, aiming straight for Moria's throat and chest.
Moria instantly raised his sword to block the lethal slashes, while simultaneously jerking his scabbard-arm upward with explosive force, violently bucking Bardock high into the air.
It was a brilliantly unexpected maneuver. Bardock didn't panic, immediately activating Geppo to stabilize himself in mid-air.
"Piercing Thrust: Drill Lancer!"
Moria launched a completely new technique. He thrust his Cane Sword forward with terrifying rotational force, unleashing a bizarre, swirling shockwave that spun like a massive drill bit as it shot toward Bardock.
"Two-Sword Style: Overlap Slash!"
That swirling shockwave looked suspiciously similar to the Giant Warrior's Hakoku (Sovereignty) or Kaido's Vajra Thunder! Knowing it possessed terrifying penetrative power, Bardock didn't dare block it normally. He swung Shusui and White Iron in rapid succession, fusing two massive flying slashes into a single, hyper-dense cross-slash that plummeted toward the drill.
The two attacks collided in mid-air, emitting a deafening, ear-piercing screech of grinding metal before violently detonating and canceling each other out.
"Kishishishishi! How about that, Bardock?! What did you think of that move?!" Moria gloated, immensely satisfied that he had finally managed to suppress the boy.
"That was incredibly creative!" Bardock praised genuinely, his eyes shining. "I completely understand the mechanics of the Hakoku and Kaido's Thunder attacks, but I never once thought to adapt those principles into a sword technique! I should have thought of that sooner!"
"Hmph. Creative? You're giving yourself too much credit, brat. Let's see how creative you get against this! Doppelman!"
Moria's shadow peeled off the ice and stood up, forming a perfect replica wielding an identical sword and scabbard.
Once again, Bardock was facing two Morias. Last time, Bardock had used Soru and brilliant positioning to effortlessly neutralize the numbers advantage. This time, Moria was eager to see if those tricks would still work against an opponent who could predict the future.
Bardock dropped back down to the ice and instantly shifted into his Beast-Human form. A golden aura flared around him.
He had to change tactics. He needed to fight much more aggressively, utilizing wide-area, devastating attacks that encompassed both Moria and the shadow simultaneously. If he tried to single-target one of them, Moria would simply use Observation Haki to anticipate the strike and instantly swap places with his shadow using Kagemusha, turning the fight into an unwinnable game of whack-a-mole.
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