"You think that just by stalling for time, you can slowly restore your power?"
Gabard's flexible sword was entangled by the black hair, its tip still pressing firmly against Liam's throat. She chuckled softly, "It's adorable that you'd even think that."
"Can't I?" Liam was surprised, both in voice and in his heart.
Robin-sis's aura… why has it separated from B.I.B.?
According to their plan before landing on the island, they were supposed to split up: Liam would cause a commotion throughout the Kingdom of Sikeal to draw Heina's forces away, while Robin would move with Ross on her own mission.
Just to be safe, Liam had his Stand, B.I.B., accompany Robin as a bodyguard…
Now that Heina's subordinates had shown up, it was exactly what Liam wanted; he could toy with this so-called "Knight of the Four." From the aura's intensity, this soft-sword wielder was clearly one of them and also a Devil Fruit user.
But for Robin to suddenly separate from Ross and B.I.B., that was unexpected. Did something happen?
Liam tried to move his limbs. Nothing. His body was still completely drained of strength.
Using sheer "willpower" to command his hair to coil around the enemy's soft sword, preventing her from slitting his throat, was already a testament to how far his Life Return (Seimei Kikan) mastery had come.
After all, hair didn't rely on muscle tissue to move, so even though his opponent's abilities sapped his bodily strength, it couldn't restrain his hair.
"Naturally, it can't, cough!"
Gabard pushed up her glasses, tightened her grip on the soft sword, and smirked. "How cunning. Trying to trick me into revealing information?"
"Not talking, huh?" Liam lowered his eyes, gazing at his reflection in the mirror-bright blade. "Then forget it!"
Gabard chuckled again and thrust forward!
Clang!
Liam's neck was as hard as iron, apart from the small cut that had already broken skin, the blade couldn't pierce even a millimeter deeper.
"What, impossible!" Gabard gasped in disbelief. "You shouldn't have the strength to use Rokushiki, "
"Looks like…"
Thanks to the time he'd spent with Goldenweek Mari, Liam had become quite skilled at self-hypnosis.
Using the reflection from the sword's surface, he hypnotized himself in an instant.
Just like he once did to Hancock, Liam, whose strength had been completely drained by Gabard's Devil Fruit ability, suddenly expanded in size. His arms and legs swelled with muscle; his long black hair tightened around the soft sword, yanking Gabard toward him.
Liam surged to his feet, clenched his fist, and, bam!, sent the stunned Gabard flying with a decisive punch.
"You don't know me as well as you think."
…
Bang!
Gabard was blown away by the punch.
Liam stomped down; a golden-iron staff bounced from the ground into his hand with a sharp spin.
Impossible!
Gabard spun through the air, blood spraying, nearly losing consciousness from the impact.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Liam charged forward in heavy strides, his muscular arm gripping the golden staff now coated in a layer of Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), swinging it toward Gabard.
He's faster than before?!
Gabard was shocked. She barely regained her footing before hastily parrying with her soft sword. The two Haki-coated weapons clashed, and hers was instantly blown aside.
That strength, it's not the same as before!
Gabard's palm trembled; her hand throbbed in pain from the shock through her hilt. She could hardly believe it. In this terrain, she should have held the absolute advantage.
Liam had lost his strength. My ability clearly worked on him… When he rushed into this forest, his defeat should've already been sealed!
But Liam didn't care about her shock or confusion. After self-hypnosis, he had completely unleashed his physical potential, his speed and power exploding beyond control.
Swinging the golden staff, he sent the soft-sword woman flying again and again through the trees, her figure crashing through the forest in a blur of chaos.
Gabard still had the ability to fight back, of course she did, but her strength, her swordsmanship, her speed… None of it gave her any advantage against this man.
Her sword couldn't block his iron staff. Her movements couldn't escape his speed. Even her proudest sword technique, when it occasionally struck, could only leave a shallow cut on Liam's monster-like body.
And in the blink of an eye, those sword wounds closed up, healing visibly before her eyes.
Boom!
Gabard was flung down like a ragdoll, crashing into the ground as cracks spread outward like a spider's web.
"He's just… a rookie pirate from Paradise…" Gabard lay at the center of the crater, coughing up blood. "Yet I don't even stand a chance against him alone…"
Liam landed on a tree branch, his body now swollen with muscle, at least twice or three times its usual size. The branch creaked under his weight, nearly snapping.
Holding his golden iron staff in one hand, he looked down at the woman in the pit below. Then, suddenly, he reached up and touched his messy black hair.
"So damp?"
His normally sleek black hair was now clumped together, sticky and wet.
"And… slippery too?"
Standing tall on the branch, Liam smiled down at the bespectacled swordswoman lying motionless below. "I think I've figured out what kind of ability you're using. If I'm not mistaken… the air in this forest is filled with countless tiny water bubbles, invisible to the naked eye, right?"
"…" Gabard's pupils contracted slightly. Lying in the cracked pit, she suddenly spoke: "Now, Coyatel!"
Without him realizing when she'd appeared, a large-busted blonde woman had leapt high behind Liam, both hands cupped forward.
"Maximum Power…" Coyatel's voice was soft, but her tone carried force. "Grand… Shock!!"
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!
A terrifying shockwave burst from Coyatel's delicate palms, engulfing Liam, engulfing the entire tree, A destructive force like a roaring dragon tearing through the forest, annihilating everything in its path.
…
"She's not chasing us anymore…"
Ross was being pulled quickly along by Robin as they fled the ruins of the old city.
Robin glanced back. "Because someone stayed behind to hold her off."
Ross suddenly remembered Heina's earlier look of shock, when she mentioned a "black shadow." Her eyes widened in realization. "The ghost! That ghostly companion of yours, was it following us all along?"
Robin only smiled faintly, not bothering to explain that the "ghost" was actually B.I.B.
Ross continued following Robin, still curious and awed. "So Heina could see your ghost companion too?"
"If she couldn't sense it at all," Robin replied, "she wouldn't have ever earned a bounty of 790 million Berries."
Ross murmured, "That's incredible…"
She meant both Heina and Robin, and Liam. They must be able to see their ghostly companions too. Otherwise, how could they truly fight side by side as comrades?
"By the way," Ross asked suddenly, "why did Heina say she wanted you to be her woman? Don't tell me Heina is actually…"
"…a man?"
(End Of This Chapter)
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