"My pleasure!"
A dangerous, feral red light flickered in Harald's eyes as he slowly drew the massive longsword from his waist.
Dense Conqueror's Haki violently wrapped around the blade, and even before the physical sword strike was launched, one could clearly, viscerally sense its apocalyptic power—a force easily enough to cleave an entire island in two.
However, York, Harald's opponent, not only showed absolutely no fear of the god-like power radiating from the sword, but after drawing his own massive miaodao, he condensed an even more terrifying, suffocating layer of Conqueror's Haki.
The thick, dense Haki completely blackened the folded steel pattern of the miaodao, and then violently coated its surface with a layer of eerie, glowing crimson light.
Overly condensed Haoshoku lightning escaped erratically from the blade, and the very fabric of space itself seemed to visibly tear into jagged black cracks.
Harald's eyes were profoundly solemn. He gripped his massive longsword with both hands, his muscles bulging, and unleashed Elbaf's ultimate, royal technique.
Black and red Haoshoku lightning violently flowed along the heavy blade, rapidly rotating exactly like a devastating chainsaw made of pure Haki, cutting horizontally toward York's waist.
York also gripped his miaodao with both hands. His Haki flowed like a dark, raging river along the curved blade, before he executed a terrifyingly simple, unadorned vertical slash.
"Caress Slash!!"
The miaodao and the giant longsword collided fiercely. The devastating shockwave of unleashed Haki directly shattered the bedrock beneath their feet, causing the distant, subterranean earth to surge and ripple outward like physical ocean waves.
And after the initial tide of force passed, these compressed layers of earth exploded a second time, violently breaking into thick, flying slabs of shattered rock.
Blinding red light flickered simultaneously in the eyes of both York and Harald as their blades ground against each other.
York's glowing gaze was filled with absolute, cold indifference, while Harald's eyes were full of desperate, unyielding determination.
This apocalyptic clash was not merely a physical collision of raw strength and steel, but a fundamental, ideological confrontation of their absolute wills.
BOOM!!
The devastating black-and-red lightning unleashed by the collision of their blades simultaneously spread violently upward toward the sky.
Above ground, in Elbaf's Sun Realm.
A peripheral area of the island's surface suddenly collapsed and violently shattered. Then, a massive pillar of black and red Haki lightning, as thick as a fortress tower, shot directly up into the sky from the collapsed opening, splitting the clouds.
A passing Giant citizen instantly rolled his eyes to the back of his head, foamed at the mouth, and fainted heavily onto the ground.
In the distant, peaceful Elbaf village, the Giants—still completely unaware of the tragedy unfolding beneath their feet—shivered uncontrollably as a primal fear washed over them.
From the suffocating Haki aura surging violently from that massive opening, the veteran warriors could vaguely, instinctively recognize the presence of their King, Harald. But the other, overwhelmingly demonic presence clashing against him was clearly completely unfamiliar and terrifying.
Many of the proud Giant Race warriors immediately mustered their courage, drawing their massive weapons and preparing to charge down into the Underworld to fiercely support their King.
However, they had barely taken a few steps out of the village limits when they were instantly knocked completely unconscious by the sheer, dissipating Haki pressure radiating from the clash.
Let alone standing and fighting, the number of Giants across the entire island who could even maintain basic consciousness under the crushing spiritual weight were few and far between.
The Underworld.
The devastating kinetic force unleashed by York and Harald's absolute clash caused the fresh, deep wound on Harald's forehead to violently burst open. A large amount of crimson blood erupted from the thick, wrapped bandages, flowing heavily down Harald's face and almost completely staining his vision red.
York watched all of this physical suffering with cold, unwavering indifference.
Harald's cowardly act of kneeling to the World Government and the Celestial Dragons not only made York profoundly disappointed in the Giant King, but it also gave him a deep, burning feeling of personal betrayal.
Harald completely ignored the hot blood flowing down his face, letting his vision turn entirely red. His massive blade remained firmly, desperately pressed against York's miaodao, his knuckles bone-white from sheer physical exertion.
Heavy, ragged gasps rumbled deep in Harald's throat, and the Conqueror's Haki radiating from his body surged even more wildly. Black and red lightning crackled violently, blasting the surrounding, cracked boulders into fine powder.
"York... Elbaf has already faced one massive crisis of extinction relying solely on its own isolated strength!" Harald roared, spitting blood. "If we don't connect with the outside world and the Government, what will we do when we encounter another catastrophic, world-ending natural disaster in the future that could wipe our entire race out?!"
"Do you truly, foolishly think the 'peace' you achieved by groveling like a dog before the World Government is the peace you envisioned?!"
York's voice was as cold and unforgiving as the ancient ice of the Underworld. The demonic red light on his miaodao suddenly intensified, and York physically forced Harald's massive longsword down by a crucial half-inch.
"What the World Government desperately wants is merely the raw, biological combat power of your Giant Race!" York sneered viciously.
"In the greedy eyes of the Gorosei, you and your people are nothing but the most perfect, expendable war slaves!"
York's eyes burned with white fire. "Just you wait, Harald! In the dark future, the World Government will absolutely send the Giant Race soldiers you've cowardly provided directly to the most difficult, bloody battlefields, making your children chew on the hardest bones! Using their blood and lives to build the World Government's hegemonic, tyrannical rule!"
"Until the bitter end, all the proud men and boys of your Elbaf will become nothing more than frontline fodder and reserve soldiers for the World Government army! Your women will become the purest, enslaved breeding machines! Condemned to giving birth to successive generations of reserve Giant Race meat-shields!"
"Peace?! Freedom?!" York roared, the Haki lightning intensifying. "They have all been completely, permanently abandoned because of your pathetic kneeling, Harald!!"
"You're talking absolute nonsense!!"
Harald roared back as if physically scalded by York's cruel, prophetic words. His massive blade suddenly pushed violently upward, and black and red Haoshoku lightning exploded along the sword's spine, temporarily forcing York's miaodao back by half an inch.
His blood-stained face twisted into a knot of sheer rage and denial, but a deep, terrifying panic he himself was desperately unwilling to admit was clearly hidden in his eyes. At the same time, he seemed to think of a counter and sharply, desperately retorted to the Emperor.
"You say the World Government's true purpose is to turn all of Elbaf into an enslaved barracks! How is your purpose any different from theirs?!"
"Ultimately, York, you are also just fighting for your own, greedy selfish desires! To become the sole King of the World! And you want to aggressively win me over! To win over Elbaf's absolute loyalty! Isn't your ultimate, underlying goal still to exploit our Giant Race's combat power for your wars?!"
Hearing this desperate accusation, York's hand gripping the miaodao paused almost imperceptibly, and then a dark, chilling sneer appeared on his handsome face.
"So... that's truly what you think of me, Harald."
York's cold laughter echoed in the cavern, revealing a complex mix of deep disappointment, profound speechlessness, and dark self-mockery.
However, only a few seconds later, York's glowing eyes suddenly changed, entirely regaining their absolute, unyielding firmness.
"You're completely right, Harald!"
York's aura exploded. "I, Atlas D. York, am absolutely the most ambitious and most desirous man in this entire world!"
"My original, strategic intention in winning over your Elbaf was precisely for your unparalleled combat power! I openly and proudly admit it right now!"
"Not only that!" York roared, his Haki pushing Harald back.
"Including the Pirate Crew I'm ruthlessly establishing now! The Empire I'm founding! The young apprentices I'm taking in and molding! Absolutely all of it is to achieve and flawlessly satisfy my personal, overwhelming selfish desires!"
"I want to intimately hold the absolute power of the entire world while awake! And lie with the most beautiful, powerful women while drunk! I absolutely will become the King of the World! To bring this entire, chaotic planet under my absolute, flawless control!"
"Those who willingly follow me shall eternally prosper! Those who foolishly defy me shall violently perish!"
"I will be even more absolute, even more tyrannical than the current King of the World!"
York's eyes locked onto Harald's terrified gaze. "So Harald, be eternally glad! Be glad you cowardly surrendered to the World Government in time!"
"Otherwise, you and the entirety of Elbaf would also eventually become ruthless war machines under my absolute command!"
"For my unending desires! You would fight for me to the absolute last man! Until complete and utter extinction!"
The exact microsecond these terrifying words were uttered, York's Conqueror's Haki surged to an impossible, god-like level. With a devastating swing, he completely pushed down Harald's heavy longsword, shattering the giant's guard.
SLASH!
The miaodao tore through flesh and bone, leaving a massive, lethal wound on Harald's upper body, stretching violently from his left shoulder diagonally down to his right abdomen.
Crimson blood, like a small, morbid stream, gushed violently from Harald's ruined chest. Without missing a beat, York stepped effortlessly on the air using Geppo and ruthlessly kicked Harald directly in the throat.
The massive, towering body of the ancient Giant King crashed backward down into the rubble like a falling mountain, shaking the entire cavern.
York landed gracefully, stepping heavily on Harald's bleeding neck, pinning the King to the shattered bedrock. He slowly lowered his arm, the razor-sharp tip of his slender miaodao aimed directly at Harald's vital throat.
"You lost, Harald."