Chapter 844: Reveal Your Might to the World, Yokai Blade!
Chapter 844: Reveal Your Might to the World, Yokai Blade!
As he spoke, the surrounding air abruptly dropped like a hammer, sending invisible tremors rippling through the atmosphere. With a few violent quivers, the ground began to shake, and gravel scattered across the surface floated upward, hovering in midair like frozen raindrops.
“It’s coming,” Dracule Mihawk muttered.
“Hmph,” Crocodile grunted in reply, his expression slightly sour. “He didn’t have power of this caliber back then.”
*
Before the words had even finished echoing, Bartholomew’s eyes snapped open. Threads of deep blue-black light erupted into the air, weaving into a storm of oppressive energy that howled outward.
Conqueror’s Haki!
The Navy officers who had just regained consciousness moments ago collapsed again, their eyes rolling back as they hit the ground.
“Buggy.”
Mr.3 had just woken up from a nap, and as he opened his mouth to greet Buggy, the shockwave of Conqueror’s Haki struck him like a tidal wave, slamming him back into unconsciousness.
“Huh? Who’s calling me?”
Buggy glanced sideways, only to find his subordinates still sprawled out cold. He frowned, baffled.
Doflamingo stared at Bartholomew, whose Conqueror’s Haki was now raging unchecked, his expression darkening. “He’s at it again.”
“This time, it doesn’t seem like it’ll stop so easily,” Storbery remarked.
Bartholomew had no intention of stopping. To the naked eye, the island appeared unchanged, but to those with perception, the entire landscape now pulsed with a suffocating blue-black tempest. The very air felt dense, pressing down until breathing became a laborious chore.
Within this domain of Conqueror’s Haki, even combat power would be suppressed. This ability didn’t just crush physical strength—it battered the will itself, suffocating morale and preventing power from manifesting freely.
Only another Conqueror’s Haki could resist.
And among them, the sole possessor of this ability—
“I despise this aura,” Boa Hancock hissed through gritted teeth, raising her thumb to her lips as she prepared to unleash her own Conqueror’s Haki.
Dracule Mihawk’s hand shot out, stopping her. “Wait. Your Conqueror’s Haki won’t accomplish anything here.”
While properly controlled Conqueror’s Haki could selectively knock opponents unconscious, Boa Hancock lacked that precision. Even if she did, the only result would be two colliding auras clashing violently, amplifying the chaos further.
*
Behind the mountain peak, the scarlet sun burst into view, rising from the east to cast its crimson glow over Kuro’s silhouette. He looked like a figure emerging from the dawn itself.
Kuro narrowed his eyes at Bartholomew.
Bartholomew returned the glare, his fists tightening until his knuckles cracked. A pitch-black Haki, deeper than the abyss, surged over his body like molten lava. His voice was a guttural snarl: “Aren’t you going to draw your sword yet? Come on—give me more combat, Kuro!!”
The pressure from Conqueror’s Haki always affected its targets. If Kuro’s abilities were limited to what he’d shown before, the outcome was already decided.
Autumn Water, Kuro murmured, glancing at the black blade strapped to his side. He gripped the hilt, sheathing it before drawing the scabbard from his waist.
As Bartholomew watched in confusion, Kuro flicked his wrist. The black blade, Autumn Water, rose into the air. Kuro tilted his head upward, gazing at the sky.
From above, a golden object drifted downward, merging with the ascending sunlight. Beneath the blazing dawn, the golden shape radiated a fiery crimson glow, descending slowly until it hovered silently before Kuro.
A long, slender golden object floated in midair, motionless.
“Gold?!” Buggy’s eyes bulged. “What’s he doing with gold at a time like this?”
He rubbed his chin in thought. “I get it now—does he plan to bribe Bartholomew? That might work on me, but someone like him won’t fall for it.”
Dracule Mihawk’s gaze flicked toward the golden object, his eyes narrowing with sudden understanding.
Famous Blade’s aura, he whispered.
Bartholomew, standing closest, let out a grin. His fists clenched tighter. “I see… I can feel its power.”
Kuro’s palm shifted, and the golden object began to spiral apart, unwinding like an unspooled bandage. The first part to emerge was a dark golden hilt.
The golden strands continued to unravel, revealing a blade of absurd length—slender, pristine, and gleaming with a frosty sharpness. This was no black blade. It was a pale white blade, cold and lethal.
A great katana.
Dracule Mihawk’s eyes widened, his pupils contracting. “Supreme Great Quick Blade?”
The moment the blade was fully revealed, a crimson aura erupted around Kuro, instantly swallowing the oppressive blue-black Haki suffocating the island.
Kuro inhaled sharply, tearing off his tattered shirt to expose his lean yet wiry physique. His body wasn’t as imposing as Bartholomew’s, but it radiated coiled strength.
The Haki surged outward, engulfing his frame in pitch-black energy. On his forehead, a violet cross-shaped mark began to glow. Beneath his eyes, violet tear-like streaks appeared, while a twisted spiral sun emblem materialized over his chest.
“The enemy worthy of fighting you has arrived!”
Kuro seized the long blade, swinging it forward with a thunderous roar. “Reveal your might to the world—Yokai Blade!!”
“Yokai Blade,” Dracule Mihawk murmured, realization dawning. “So it’s that sword after all.”
The moment Kuro gripped the Yokai Blade, the crimson aura exploded outward, shattering Bartholomew’s Conqueror’s Haki like breaking waves.
A pressure equal to a King’s Haki surged from Kuro—a suffocating force that froze the breath. Unlike the blue-black tempest, the crimson aura around Kuro congealed like actual blood, forming a tangible crimson storm. In an instant, the island split into two opposing domains—one blue, one red—locked in a furious stalemate.
“Impossible!” Boa Hancock gasped, her voice trembling. “Conqueror’s Haki?! A King?!
Dracule Mihawk’s voice remained calm. “No. That’s Killing Intent. This brat’s Killing Intent has reached a level that can rival Conqueror’s Haki. So this is a new path… I see.”
Crocodile stared, his face pale. After a long silence, he muttered, “That’s even harder to cultivate than Conqueror’s Haki.”
Conqueror’s Haki required raw talent, but honing Killing Intent of this magnitude was no ordinary feat. Killing Intent was born from murder, but reaching Kuro’s level meant one thing:
He’s slaughtered countless lives!
Could he really be from the Navy?!
No pirate had ever come close to this level of Killing Intent. And even if someone did, wielding it required immense aptitude.
“That blade…” Crocodile narrowed his eyes. “Is it mainly the sword’s power? Dracule Mihawk, do you know anything?”
Dracule Mihawk nodded slowly. “The Supreme Great Quick Blade, Yokai Blade… a Yokai Blade, indeed. Legend says none of its past wielders ever died peacefully. So Kuro is the one who’s obtained it now.”
(End of Chapter)
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