In Blake's manor, the battle continued.
Mandy's kogarasu was enveloped in astonishing cold air, carving out a deep blue trajectory, and where the sword's edge passed, continuously proliferating geometric ice crystals formed.
Koala transformed into a golden stream of light, constantly flickering, the light coalescing at her fingertips burning charred holes in the air.
Rayleigh's silver hair moved without wind; he skillfully dodged Koala's attacks while raising his long sword to deflect Mandy's sword energy.
"Not bad, not bad."
Blake watched the lively scene and couldn't help but comment:
"This scene is called 'Retired Personnel's Rehabilitation Exercise.'"
"Mr. Rayleigh, what do you think?"
"It's quite fitting."
Even amidst the battle, Rayleigh still had the leisure to reply to Blake:
"It's good for elderly people to exercise occasionally."
Just as Rayleigh spoke, Mandy suddenly changed her move:
"Ice Performance: Shattered Crystal Bloom!"
The ice crystals on the ground instantly exploded, flung into the air by the battle's aftermath, forming countless ice crystal fragments, each reflecting Koala's beams of light.
The entire courtyard instantly became an optical weapon, the refracted beams precisely targeting Rayleigh's vital points.
"Underworld Path: Long Night's Dawn!"
Rayleigh's sword strike formed a perfect sphere, and all the ice crystal fragments changed their polarization direction the moment they touched the blade's light.
The refracted beams collectively deflected, riddling the rockery on the west side of the manor like a beehive, and flower petals scattered everywhere in the garden.
One deflected beam flew straight towards Blake, who casually swatted it away.
Blake was heartbroken:
"Take it easy, you two, my tulips are ruined!"
He reached out and picked up a petal carried by the wind:
"But, Mr. Rayleigh, why do you think weeds live longer than flowers?"
Rayleigh scoffed with a smile:
"That's because weeds' desire for life is always above that of flowers!"
Blake tossed away the petal in his hand and took a sip of wine.
The elderly man had already started discussing matters of life and death; it seemed his stamina should be reaching its limit after several hours of exertion.
"Eternal Silence Domain!"
Seven ice crystal monument pillars rose from the ground, reflecting each other, and a bone-chilling wind enveloped the entire manor, growing increasingly stronger.
The cold wind ravaged the battlefield like icy blades.
Rayleigh raised his hand and touched his cheek, where a scratch had already appeared.
He realized that he had to quickly destroy the seven ice pillars, otherwise the temperature on the battlefield would get lower and lower, and he would face pervasive crushing damage.
By that time, no matter how strong his Armament Haki was, it would eventually be depleted.
Rayleigh took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes slightly.
His Observation Haki's ability to foresee the future was fully activated; a moment later, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes:
"Here!"
"Underworld Path: Dawn Song!"
For a moment, Rayleigh's figure seemed to split into several, his long sword precisely striking the weak points of the ice pillars.
Mandy's Haki was always slightly inferior, and the speed Rayleigh burst forth with in that instant exceeded the limits of her Observation Haki.
By the time she reacted, Rayleigh had already appeared before her.
On the blade, Blake and red lightning intertwined, and he brought his sword down with a fierce strike.
"Light Burial!"
Just at this critical moment, Koala descended from the sky.
A super-dense coffin, compressed from photons, smashed down, but was quickly shattered into a sky full of sparks by Rayleigh's sword strike.
However, this was enough; Mandy raised her sword, concentrating all of her Armament Haki on her kogarasu, and resisted with all her might.
Boom!
Mandy was sent flying, smashing through two distant buildings, looking even worse than Kizaru after being kicked by Marco.
Koala didn't have time to think and quickly turned into a flash of light, leaving her original position.
As she vanished, Rayleigh's long sword appeared in her former spot.
Koala continuously flickered between positions, launching long-range attacks with lasers, buying Mandy time to recover.
She knew very well that since Blake hadn't made a move, it at least indicated that Mandy's situation wasn't serious enough to be life-threatening.
When the dust from the collapsed buildings cleared, Mandy slowly emerged from within.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and the spiked armor on her right shoulder had completely disappeared, leaving a bloody mark.
But her eyes were still sharp, and her expression equally cold, not at all intimidated by Rayleigh's previous outburst.
Because Mandy noticed that Rayleigh's slippers had sunk into the ground.
Clearly, that last strike had also taken a significant toll on him.
Further reducing his already disadvantaged physical stamina.
Mandy slowly exhaled a breath of cold air and charged towards Rayleigh again.
Blake, not far away, naturally also noticed this detail and spoke with a light chuckle:
"Mr. Rayleigh, how many more times can you use an attack like that?"
Rayleigh's tone, however, remained unchanged:
"Enough to defeat these two little girls!"
To be honest, Blake was very satisfied with Mandy and Koala's performance.
Although they utilized some ability cards, Blake had not given them any Haki-related ability cards.
This meant that their Haki strength was completely incomparable to the experienced Rayleigh's.
For the two of them, at this age, to fight Rayleigh for so long before getting injured was definitely a pleasant surprise.
And as time went on, Rayleigh would become increasingly overwhelmed.
"Frost Realm: Sky Severance!"
Mandy, who was on the offensive, struck another sword, and Rayleigh's Armament Haki, when blocking, remained as solid as steel.
But after retracting his sword, a barely perceptible tremor appeared in his left ring finger.
This man, who once could fight for several days continuously, now needed to readjust his breathing rhythm after just a few full-power slashes.
Rayleigh's ability to scare off Teach in the original story was actually related to Teach's own personality.
Blackbeard himself was the type—unless it was a gamble where everything was on the line—who would absolutely never take risks.
When he encountered a strong opponent of his caliber, his first reaction was always to run, no matter how many chances of winning he had on his side.
Unless the stakes were high enough, Teach wouldn't gamble.
Even Rayleigh later hinted, during a conversation with Hancock, that he was actually no match for Teach anymore.
Blake took a Tone Dial from Stella's hand, placed it to his mouth, and questioned Rayleigh like a megaphone:
"Mr. Rayleigh, do you need me to contact a pulmonologist for you?"
"Or sending over a ventilator directly is also fine."
Rayleigh burst out laughing:
"Mary Geoise is full of fires; with your Celestial Dragons' current situation, can you still afford a ventilator?"
"It's fine, at worst, the citizens of the affiliated nations will suffer a bit."
Blake shook his head and sighed:
"You all, why did you have to run to Mary Geoise and cause trouble?"
"Now look, next year's heavenly tribute is going to increase again."
The two chatted idly, Rayleigh still able to respond, but his breathing was becoming increasingly heavy.
"Afterglow!"
Koala's figure flickered, kicking towards Rayleigh simultaneously from five directions.
Rayleigh's Observation Haki could still precisely predict each trajectory, but there was a momentary delay when his body executed the commands.
This error caused the dodge amplitude for the fifth kick to change from 30 centimeters to 28 centimeters, and the photon aftershock scorched three silver hairs at his temples.
"Frost Realm: Bone Bell!"
Mandy took this opportunity to activate her ability again.
Ice crystals formed a matrix on the battlefield, and several ice shuttles weaved through it, continuously attacking Rayleigh.
Rayleigh's Armament Haki defense layer showed uneven density for the first time—
The Haki concentration on his right shoulder was slightly thinner than on his left, and three ice crystal fragments penetrated the defense, leaving frost marks on his cloak.