Chapter 176
As Roger's conviction grew firmer and firmer,
the Conqueror's Haki inside him also began to grow steadily stronger.
Streaks of blood-red electric arcs immediately erupted from his body and spread outward.
Seeing Roger continuously growing stronger even during their fight,
even Shiki felt tremendous surprise — but he didn't take it to heart. Instead, his interest in Roger deepened even more.
"Jie hahahahaha!"
"Then let me see exactly where your limit truly lies!"
Lion · Senkiri Valley!
Shiki laughed wildly as he swung Sakura Ju and Kushi in his hands. His body instantly leaped into the air and unleashed dozens of massive golden slashes that burned like blazing suns toward Roger.
Facing Shiki's attack,
Roger's Observation Haki immediately went into frantic overdrive with warnings.
He didn't dare hold back at all, continuously releasing Divine Avoidance to defend.
As the battle between the two entered a white-hot phase,
the entire port began to tremble violently under their onslaught.
While Roger was fully exerting himself to deal with Shiki's attacks,
Elio and several crew members had already successfully boarded the deck of the Oro Jackson.
Seeing the Roger Pirates' situation becoming more and more dangerous,
they immediately weighed anchor and sailed the Oro Jackson out into the open sea.
Rayleigh saw their ship finally reach open water and let out a heavy sigh of relief before shouting toward Jabba:
"Jabba, take the crew and board the ship first. Leave this place to me for now."
Hearing Rayleigh's words,
Jabba — who knew Rayleigh very well — did not hesitate.
He immediately led the crew members, jumped into the sea, and swam toward the Oro Jackson.
Seeing the Roger Pirates preparing to escape,
the Lionheart Pirates crew immediately rushed toward Rayleigh with ferocious expressions, intent on keeping him here.
Feeling the surging killing intent all around him,
Rayleigh had no choice but to grit his teeth and continuously unleash one massive light-blue slash after another, sending these fearless pirates flying.
"Roger, prepare to retreat!"
"We can't hold on much longer!"
Hearing Rayleigh's call,
Roger — after blocking Shiki's attack — shouted back toward Rayleigh:
"Rayleigh, you guys retreat first — I'll catch up with you later."
Hearing Roger's words,
Rayleigh thought for a moment, then clenched his teeth, dove headfirst into the sea, and disappeared.
Seeing his crew members finally escape safely,
Roger also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
He continued using Divine Avoidance to clash head-on with Shiki.
Under their all-out exchanges,
fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on Roger's cheeks,
after repeatedly unleashing his full power multiple times,
Roger's stamina was starting to fall behind Shiki's.
At this point, he was already thinking about how to escape.
But what gave him a headache was that Shiki's attacks were far too dense.
There was simply no opening for him to escape.
The opponent was like a killing machine without limits — every single sword strike required Roger to go all out just to block it.
Feeling Roger's strength steadily declining,
a satisfied look appeared on Shiki's face.
Although his Devil Fruit ability didn't have the destructive power of Newgate's,
it granted him stamina far beyond ordinary people.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Roger, just give up already!"
"With your current strength, it's impossible for you to defeat me!"
"You'd better obediently join the Lionheart Pirates and become my vice-captain!"
Hearing Shiki's roar,
Roger simply focused on blocking his attacks and didn't respond to the invitation.
Seeing Roger refuse him for the second time,
Shiki's patience finally reached its limit.
"In that case, I have no choice but to destroy you."
As an icy-cold voice rang from Shiki's mouth,
a powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki immediately erupted from his body, condensing into tangible golden lightning that rapidly wrapped around the long swords in his hands.
Feeling an unparalleled, overwhelming aura explode from Shiki's body,
cold sweat immediately broke out on Roger's forehead.
But he wasn't intimidated by Shiki — instead, he was extremely interested in this new way of using Conqueror's Haki.
After realizing this was a new application of Conqueror's Haki,
Roger immediately closed his eyes and carefully listened to Shiki's Haki.
As a spark of insight flashed in Roger's mind,
he suddenly understood something.
"So that's how it works?"
Roger's mind moved,
and streaks of blood-red Conqueror's Haki instantly transformed into blood-red lightning that wrapped around the long sword in his hand.
However, this lightning was extremely illusory and lacked Shiki's solidity.
Seeing Roger actually use Conqueror's Haki Infusion,
even Shiki's composure cracked a little.
"Impossible?"
"How did you master that power?"
Seeing Shiki's furious expression, Roger's lips immediately curved into a happy smile.
"Hehe, it was pretty simple to figure out!"
Hearing Roger's words, Shiki's blood pressure instantly skyrocketed.
In the end, he still managed to suppress his killing intent.
"Hmph, even if you've mastered that power, you'll still die by my hand."
Lion King Slash!
Shiki stared fixedly at Roger's figure, turning into a streak of golden light and instantly appearing in front of him. He swung his sword down fiercely, the powerful sword energy crushing the ground in front of him into pieces.
Feeling the immense energy contained in the golden slash,
Roger showed no retreat at all. With a resolute expression, he gripped his long sword tightly and clashed with Shiki's sword.
BOOM!
Under their all-out attacks,
streaks of golden lightning and red lightning instantly intertwined and erupted in front of them.
Under the erosion of Haki,
the ground beneath them immediately cracked inch by inch.
Seeing such a horrifying scene, the Lionheart Pirates crew all scattered in terror.
Only after getting far away from the battlefield did they let out long sighs of relief.
Seeing the pale-faced Roger still holding on,
a cruel smile immediately appeared at the corner of Shiki's mouth.
As he increased the force in his hand,
the golden lightning instantly pierced through the red lightning and sent Roger flying.
It left a crisscross X-shaped scar on his chest.
Feeling the intense pain from his chest, Roger didn't sit waiting for death. Instead, he used Shiki's attack to propel himself toward the sea.
Soon he leaped into the sea.
Seeing Roger escape into the sea,
the smile on Shiki's face immediately froze.
He immediately swung dozens of golden sword lights that shot explosively toward Roger's location.
As water pillars shot into the sky one after another,
to Shiki's regret, Roger's figure was nowhere to be seen among them.
"Damn it, that guy actually got away!"
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