Kane hovered in mid-air, his expression indifferent.
That thrilling confrontation seemed, in his eyes, to be truly nothing more than a pre-meal activity.
He looked down upon the two panting legends below, his gaze holding no reverence, only scrutiny.
The gloomy sky overhead had, at this moment, completely transformed into an abyss.
A super cyclone covering the entire island, even extending to the distant horizon, took shape out of thin air!
At the center of the cyclone was where Kane stood, a place of calm winds and still waters, like a slumbering lake.
But beyond that silence were terrifying air currents rotating at speeds surpassing the sound barrier, frantically spinning and rubbing against the atmosphere, emitting a grating, teeth-chilling screech.
"What in the world... is that thing?" Rayleigh pushed up his cracked glasses, his pupils behind the lenses contracting to their limit.
Roger clutched his chest, coughing violently twice, a glaring crimson stain appearing in his palm.
Yet the light in his eyes grew even more intense, the excitement of encountering a powerful foe. "Rayleigh, be careful! This kid's Devil Fruit ability... it's not right!"
Kane did not respond to their shock.
He merely slowly raised his right hand, spread his fingers, and then gently clenched them.
One action, one thought.
Declared the beginning of judgment.
"Wind's Zenith: Eternal Descent"
Hum—!
In an instant, from the periphery of the raging cyclone, countless billions of microscopic wind blades, invisible to the naked eye, separated.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
There was no earth-shattering roar, only the faint, mournful sound of the air being densely sliced.
The entire world was pulled into an invisible shredder!
Countless wind blades, from all directions, from the sky and the earth, every angle, every crevice, swept toward Roger and Rayleigh!
These wind blades were as thin as cicada wings, yet possessed a sharpness capable of cutting diamond. Even more terrifying was that they generated astonishing high temperatures from friction as they spun at high speeds.
"Rayleigh! Back to back!"
Roger's Observation Haki foresaw that despair-inducing future. He roared, his previously somewhat hunched figure instantly straightening.
At this moment, illness seemed to be forcibly suppressed by this king's will.
Armament Haki, black as ink, mixed with suffocating Conqueror's Haki, erupted from his body like a volcanic eruption, firmly protecting a three-meter radius around the two of them.
"Alright!!"
Rayleigh also dared not hold back in the slightest. The Named Sword in his hand instantly transformed into a silver curtain of light. As a peak non-Devil Fruit user, he pushed "technique" to its limit.
The next second, destruction descended.
The area where Roger and Rayleigh stood became a glowing cyan cocoon of light.
Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak—!!!
A grating, teeth-chilling friction sound pierced the heavens.
It was the sound of wind blades cutting against Haki.
Like countless saw blades cutting into a piece of hard steel.
"This intensity... what a joke!!" Rayleigh's arm muscles bulged. Every second, he had to slash thousands of times, each strike precisely shattering the vacuum slashes closing in on his vital points.
"It's not over yet."
Kane indifferently watched the struggle below, gently flicking his finger.
BOOM!!!
Above the cyclone, the thundercloud layer, having accumulated violent lightning for so long, finally found its outlet.
Hundreds of purple-black lightning pillars, each over five meters in diameter, pierced through the cage formed by wind blades.
The world instantly turned stark white.
Followed by the delayed, ear-shattering roar.
The island's foundation groaned under the unbearable strain, rock layers cracked, and seawater flooded in.
The wind blades' torment had yet to end, and the thunder bombardment followed immediately!
"Damn it!!"
Roger roared at the sky, swinging his Named Sword Ace to unleash a flying slash condensed with his unyielding will, trying to carve a path to survival.
Rayleigh also fought back desperately, his sword flashes shattering several lightning pillars.
But their resistance seemed so feeble in the face of this true natural disaster.
For every lightning pillar shattered, ten more filled the gap.
The wind blades were endless, the thunder unceasing.
The relentless bombardment lasted a full minute.
Only then did Kane slowly withdraw his hand.
The surrounding violent air currents gradually calmed, turning back into gentle sea breezes.
The ground below had vanished.
In its place was a giant crater dozens of meters deep.
The bottom of the crater was charred black, rocks melted into glass-like crystals by the high heat, emitting faint wisps of smoke.
"Cough... cough..."
A weak coughing sound came from the crater's bottom.
Rayleigh leaned on his longsword, kneeling on one knee.
His once neat hair was mostly singed, his clothes tattered, exposed skin covered in burns and slash wounds. Blood dripped from his arms onto the scorching ground, sizzling.
Beside him, Roger's condition was even more dire.
Half of the Pirate King's body was stained red with blood, his iconic captain's hat gone, his mustache half-burned away.
He gasped heavily, each breath accompanied by bloody foam spilling from the corner of his mouth.
But he still stood.
That was the final stubbornness of a "King."
"This is... too reckless..." Rayleigh forced a bitter smile. Just one move had reduced the two of them to such a wretched state.
They looked up at the figure slowly descending from the sky.
Kane remained spotless, his pure white Justice cloak fluttering gently in the sea breeze.
On his face, there was even a hint of a satisfied smile.
"Kid..." Roger struggled, trying to stand straighter, but his legs had no strength. "What... kind of monster are you?"
In just three years.
That young man he could have finished with one Divine Departure during the Edd War.
Now, he had grown to a level where even the two of them combined stood no chance.
This rate of growth could no longer be described as "genius."
Kane walked up to them, Tensa Zangetsu reflecting a coldlight under the sun.
"I'm not a monster, Mr. Roger."
"I'm just a Navy man... who loves Justice and is willing to give everything for it."
His voice was calm, yet carried a pressure that made the two legends feel a chill.
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