Chapter 281: Speed and Technique, Lily vs. Tihana
Chapter 281: Speed and Technique, Lily vs. Tihana
Under the moonlit night, the slaughter continued.
As the rising eastern moon reached the western sky, Lily took down the fourteenth squad.
When the moon hung at the midpoint between zenith and west, she eliminated the sixteenth squad.
By the time the moon touched the western fringe, Lily had dealt with the seventeenth squad and was doubling back toward the last team.
Moria stayed behind to deal with Faluga, and the remaining guys were no match for Lily; a burst of King's Haki was all it took to end their lives.
The last one was the team led by the grand noble, Tihana. Unlike the others, this team wasn't at the back but had returned after Lily dealt with the surrounding squads.
Lily didn't have detailed intelligence on the other squads, but regarding this grand noble, Tihana, the information was abundant, indicating she would set off from Michel, a mountainous city on the main island of Garess, heading toward Augustindburg from the center of the island.
Lily had a clear grasp of her movements.
"The last one!"
Under the moonlight, Lily led her subordinates out of the mountainous region, traversing hills and forests until they reached a flatland. From here, one could even make out the colossal outline of Augustindburg.
And within this flatland, in the direction Lily was pursuing, a group of figures could be seen gathering.
Tihana's army!
"About ten thousand people. Everyone, be careful. We must crush them in one strike!" Lily drew out White Thunder and shouted.
The seventeenth squad, totaling about ninety thousand people, had their remnants concentrated with Tihana.
Five thousand against ten thousand. The advantage was ours!
As they drew closer, Lily's eyes glinted with a scarlet hue, and the surrounding air noticeably stilled, accompanied by an unmatched aura, as she charged toward the crowd.
King's Haki wasn't easy to grasp, but she wasn't the first to possess it. Before her, there was Sag.
Although she had awakened King's Haki not long ago and couldn't yet control it precisely or even direct it toward a single target, it didn't matter. Charging forward and releasing it was all that was needed!
Lily took a step, and her figure nearly transformed into an afterimage. With this rapid movement, her large and round breasts violently collided with each other, emitting ripples like water, and immediately afterward, a lightning-like radiance flashed under the moonlight.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just as she moved, sparks suddenly erupted from the crowd in front as gun muzzles fired projectiles.
They were shooting?!
Countless lead bullets rode the night winds, speeding toward Lily. In her high-speed movement, she swiftly swung her sword, and a few lightning-like radiances flashed before her, slicing apart the incoming lead bullets. Just as she was about to continue her assault, her eyes narrowed instinctively, and she looked up.
Under the moonlight, a silver radiance shone above, facing the charging Lily.
"Illusory Moon·Haze."
A voice, firm yet carrying a hint of coldness, resounded alongside the chaotic and disorderly moonlight that poured down like the celestial moon radiance.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.
As the moonlight poured down, Lily swiftly swung the sword in her hand, striking against those shining radiances and sparking a series of fireworks within the moonlight.
"Bird Flight!"
As she struck the last radiance, Lily thrust her thin sword forward, finding the gap between those radiances and bursting out with a bird-like slash that drilled into the opening and shot toward the figure in the air.
Clang!
The silver radiances contracted, transforming into a round moon that resembled the moon in the sky, blocking the soaring slash and also revealing the true appearance of the 'round moon.'
It was a soft blade, coiled like a whip, emitting a chilling gleam.
From the impact, the figure in the air swiftly descended, landing and standing firmly in place, revealing her appearance.
She had silver-colored long hair and a face that was both resolute and stern. Her knight's armor was similar to Lily's battle skirt, wrapping around her slender waist and supporting her firm and plump breasts, which were hidden beneath a layer of black chiffon, faintly revealing an abyssal cleavage.
The last notable opponent.
One of the leaders of the Garess Kingdom's split war, a grand noble with the nickname 'Moonlight Swordsman,' Nikiforas Tihana.
"The power of King's Haki? So that's how it is. So the armies I gathered were defeated by you like this?"
Tihana lowered the soft blade that guarded her chest, transforming it into a whip-like shape, and said, "How despicable. Fitting of your identity as pirates."
At her words, Lily's eyes shifted, and she suddenly said, "Despicable pirates advance toward Garess."
"You're admitting it so easily?" Tihana asked, puzzled by the other woman's sudden agreement. "You don't seem like a mere pirate. Instead, you give off a similar aura to me—one of nobility, an upbringing steeped in education and strict demands."
This woman before her was clearly proud of her noble lineage, and Tihana could sense it. How odd that such a person would not even dare to argue!
"Mad pirates ravage the free cities," Lily continued, her voice cold and unflinching. "Sea devils slaughter the righteous nobles."
"Greedy calamities occupy the yearning city."
"The mighty Sag rules over Augustindburg, and—"
"The noble Norton I stands tall in his loyal Augustindburg!"
"Even before landing in Garess, I asked Sag about this. I wondered if, as pirates, ruling over a kingdom would invite resistance. And this is what Sag told me."
A frosty determination laced Lily's words as she declared, "First, I see nothing despicable about this. It is war. Second, only the victor has the qualification to decide everything!"
In the past, such words from this woman might have provoked a sense of challenge, offending her dignity and pride. But after spending time with Sag, she had come to understand a crucial lesson.
Only the winner gets to decide everything.
Illiterates might not know how to argue, but they sure knew how to prove their point with actions.
Lose, and they were despicable pirates.
Win, and they became the noble victors!
She remembered standing on the deck, witnessing Sag's confident smile amidst the raging storm as he tightly clenched his fists. And after those words, the supplement Sag had offered.
She raised White Thunder, pointing it at Tihana as she recalled Sag's words, "Might makes right!"
"And who are you?" Tihana's gaze sharpened, her eyes now keen and piercing.
'Calamity' Norton Sag—that name she knew. Aside from the lunatic behavior during the Summit War, she had also received images of Sag massacring the nobles within Augustindburg.
But now, it seemed this woman before her was not one to be underestimated either!
King's Haki was not a rare ability in the New World, and while Tihana herself lacked the qualification for it, she didn't believe that those who possessed it were necessarily stronger than those who didn't.
It was, instead, an unstable factor.
However, that speech was far more powerful than King's Haki! It was...
A source of chaos that must be eliminated!
"Bienda Tata Lily," she introduced herself, her voice carrying a resolute ring as she brandished her sword, slashing out with a fierce bird-like strike. "Finish them off!"
The pirates following behind her roared in unison, charging into the ten thousand soldiers led by Tihana. Under the moonlight, they clashed, blood spraying amidst the battle cries.
Lily's attempt to surge forward with King's Haki had been blocked by this woman, but that was of no consequence.
A swordsman feared not such things!
"Moon Shadow!"
Clang!
Tihana's swift swing of her whip-blade sent Lily's flying strike off course, the silver radiance flashing as it redirected the attack up into the sky. In that moment of opportunity, she surged forward like a striking snake, her afterimage trailing as she closed the distance.
But her attack only cut through air as Lily was even faster, a spark of electricity flickering at Tihana's side as she appeared with blinding speed. The thin sword, a mere two fingers wide, glinted under the moonlight, aiming straight for Tihana.
"You excel in speed," Tihana noted, a red glint flashing in her eyes as her Kenbunshoku sensed and reacted to the incoming strike. Her body sidestepped, and the whip-blade in her hand undulated, forming wave-like shapes as it clashed with the thin sword, a crisp sound ringing out.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The whip-blade vibrated, sending out wave after wave, each collision redirecting the thin sword upward until, with a final flick, it whipped around, aiming for Lily once more.
Swoosh!
Lily's body flashed to the side, faster than the incoming whip-blade. A spark of electricity danced in the moonlight, and the thin sword in her hand gleamed with a silver radiance as it slashed towards Tihana.
"You're skilled in techniques." Tihana's eyes narrowed, a red glint flashing within as she sidestepped the incoming strike, her whip-blade lashing out. It formed wave-like shapes, each undulation slicing through the air with a crisp sound, before finally whipping around towards Lily.
Szzz!
The wave-like attacks landed on two pirates fighting nearby, each undulation cutting half-faced gashes on their bodies as they crumpled to the ground.
Lily, in the same motion, twisted her body, her sword a lightning arc as it slashed through the air, decapitating several soldiers.
"You have the upper hand in strength." She twirled her thin sword, flinging the blood droplets off the blade, her eyes fixed on Tihana.
Swordsmen of the high seas tended to be well-rounded, proficient in techniques, speed, and strength. But they rarely excelled in all three.
Lily had once crossed swords with Roronoa Zoro of the Straw Hat Pirates, and he had been a strength-focused swordsman.
But this woman before her, with her whip-blade, excelled in techniques.
A formidable opponent!
"Must I defeat you to reach Augustindburg?" Tihana scanned the battlefield, her brow furrowing slightly. While her side held numerical superiority, with ten thousand against five, and her soldiers were indeed elite, capable of holding their ground against the pirates, some of the pirates were exceptionally skilled, dominating their opponents in combat.
"Those few might be high-ranking members of the Natural Disaster Pirates, and they probably have bounties on their heads. Their strength is within expectations, but that group of people without any whites to their eyes, who all look completely black from a distance—there are only about two to three hundred of them, yet they're a big problem. They're almost untouched, and with just one move, they took out one of our soldiers."
"If we can't end this battle quickly, by the time we reach Augustindburg, there might only be me left."
She was almost losing the war!
If she didn't even have ten thousand people left, how could she stop William's advance?
She had to end this quickly!
Tihana took a deep breath, tightly gripped her whip-blade, and swung it with incredible speed toward Lily. The whip-blade trembled and transformed into a flowing, silvery radiance, layer upon layer, piling up like waves.
"Chaos Water Moon Radiance!"
Soaring Slash!
Lily tightly gripped her sword hilt, and her thin sword rapidly thrust forward, transforming into afterimages as it thrust, resembling a needle-filled board as it unleashed a flock of birds.
"Bird Flight·Grove!"
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The birds collided with the moonlight, creating a series of impacts as Lily's figure flashed, leaving an electric glow as she swooped low to Tihana's side and delivered a fierce vertical slash.
"Bird Flight·Sweep!"
"Crescent Moon!"
Tihana swung her whip-blade to block, forming a crescent moon shape at her side that blocked Lily's powerful downward slash. As she parried the sword, her whip-blade swayed left and right, deflecting White Thunder to the side and then forming a circle as it lashed out.
"Full Moon!"
"Moon Step!"
Boom! Lily stomped on the air and soared into the sky. She held her sword backward and gracefully leaped, swiftly slashing White Thunder downward, creating three vertical claw-like marks.
"Storm Strike!"
Sssss!
The strike hit the ground, carving out three deep ravines. Tihana, who had already sidestepped to the left, revealed a look of surprise, but she didn't stop her movement, swinging her whip-blade upward and unleashing two rotating, sky-filling moon-like entanglement slashes.
"Double Moon!"
Boom, boom, boom! Lily quickly stomped out a series of smoke rings in the air, and her blade, like lightning tearing through the night sky, arced as she dodged the two flying slashes and rushed toward Tihana.
"This move..."
A smile tugged at the corners of Tihana's red lips, and a red gleam appeared in her eyes as she looked at the approaching afterimage and said, "Can change direction."
Whoosh! Just as Lily was about to stab forward, she suddenly paused, as if sensing something. The stabbing sword suddenly lifted, and with two crisp sounds, the two rotating slashes that changed direction collided with her blade, the impact causing her hand to tremble.
At that moment, her peripheral vision caught a black shadow.
The silvery-white whip-blade, like moonlight, was tainted with a pitch-black aura, and it enveloped Lily at an incredibly tricky angle that seemed impossible to dodge.
"Moon Reading·String!"
Haki!
Lily's pupils constricted, and she gritted her silver teeth, gripping the sword hilt to stop its trembling. She raised the sword high, and the two spiraling trails of blackness entangled with her blade, also imbued with Haki, as she slashed downward.
"Bird Flight·Falcon!"
As she slashed downward, her Haki violently erupted, the outward burst of Haki resisting the tricky whip-blade first and causing it to stagnate for a moment. In that moment of stagnation, Lily took a step back, transforming her slash into a stab, aiming straight for Tihana's chest.
Sss! A tearing sound rang out as the two figures were forced apart.
Lily glanced down and saw that the skirt armor near her waist, close to her chest, had been torn open, revealing most of her slender waist and the pale, slightly trembling skin above it.
Tihana covered her chest, and the water droplet-shaped armor on top was torn apart, only hanging on by two core points, which she covered with her hand. Bright red blood seeped through her slender fingers.
The two women stared at each other for a moment, then moved in unison. Lily's sword flashed with black light as it slashed at the whip-blade, which was as flexible as moonlight and flowing water.
Clang! Clang, clang, clang!
Crisp sounds continuously rang out, and in the midst of the black light's hacking and slashing, the whip-blade flowed like water, protecting its owner while looking for an opportunity to counterattack, but it couldn't capture Lily's speed.
However, Lily's speed couldn't break through the whip-blade's defense, which seemed to not even allow water to splash through. She could only constantly change her direction and angle, moving so fast that almost no afterimages were visible, only the black lightning flashing from her sword as it surrounded the whip-blade, which had almost become a solid spherical shape, and attacked.
Speed and technique.
Offense and defense.
Increasingly tricky angles and near-perfect flexibility.
Woman against woman!
(End of Chapter)
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