The moment the blood droplets fell from Golden Lion's ribs to the ground, his entire body floated up like a feather. His feet spun midair, the cold glint of "Sakura Ten" and "Kogarashi" at his ankles making the moonlight appear bluish-black, the blades wrapped in black Haki.
"If you've learned the sword, you must be prepared to die by it!"
Before the words fully left his mouth, fragments of rosewood from the study suddenly rose into the air. Under the control of his Float-Float Fruit ability, they turned into a storm of wood shards, each carrying a sharp whistle as they sliced through the air, shooting toward Ryan like a downpour.
Ryan pushed off the ground with his toes, his body darting to the left like an arrow loosed from a bow. At the same time, he drew his sword, the Wind Splitter humming as the Dragon Crest along its spine glowed purple. Dark violet Haki spread from his arm to the blade.
"One Sword Style: Wave Breaker!"
With a flick of his wrist, a blue slash wrapped in dark violet light arced like a crescent moon, shattering the incoming wood shards.
"Interesting," Golden Lion chuckled midair, suddenly kicking out with "Sakura Ten" on his left foot. A half-meter-wide Wave Slash tore through the air, skimming the ground as it swept forward, instantly carving a deep trench into the floor.
Ryan abruptly crouched, pressing his left hand against the ground and using the recoil to roll sideways. The slash grazed the tip of his nose, exploding against the stone wall behind him with a spiderweb of cracks.
Before he could steady himself, Golden Lion hurled desks and bookshelves at him, even the thick rosewood hardened like steel by Haki.
Ryan's pupils contracted. His left arm suddenly became covered in peach-colored Scales, his fingers transforming into sharp claws tipped with dark violet Haki as he forcefully deflected the incoming bookshelf to the side.
"One Sword Style: Dragon Flash!"
A faint purple glow enveloped the Wind Splitter in his right hand. Using the bookshelf as cover, he closed the distance in an instant, the blade singing with a roar like a Dragon Roar as it aimed straight for Golden Lion's throat.
"Lion: Thousand Cutting Valley!"
Golden Lion's right foot, "Kogarashi," lashed out in a rapid kick. Three crisscrossing slashes scissored toward Ryan's midsection, the black Haki on them denser than the previous Wave Slash.
Ryan's eyelids twitched, forcing him to retract his blade to block. The deafening clang sent numbness through his arm, but he only swayed slightly—not a single step back.
"Is that all you've got? Still think you're the overlord of the seas from back then?"
The formidable physique granted by the Artificial Dragon Fruit now showed its worth. Though his Haki wasn't as refined as Golden Lion's, his rapid recovery under the Fruit's enhancement more than compensated.
"Just gonna keep dodging, brat?" Golden Lion sneered when he saw Bar standing firm.
This kid's endurance was beyond expectations. An ordinary man would've been floored by that last hit. Seems it's time to get serious.
"Lion's Might: Earth Roll!"
Golden Lion slammed both hands downward. The entire study's floor suddenly upheaved, dirt and stones twisting midair into a dozen roaring lion heads, their momentum enough to crush mountains as they barreled forward.
Ryan took a deep breath, his bones cracking as fine peach-colored Scales emerged along his neck and cheeks, his pupils narrowing into slits.
"One Sword Style: Mountain Splitter!"
No longer evading, the Wind Splitter left afterimages as it cleaved through the lead lion head with brute force, the blade wrapped in dark violet Haki so thick it seemed tangible. The shattered debris struck his body without leaving so much as a white mark.
"Old man, your moves are flashy, but useless!" Ryan shot through the lion heads like a golden bolt of lightning, each swing of his blade tearing the air with explosive force.
"Oh? Now we're talking." A flicker of approval passed through Golden Lion's eyes before being replaced by ice. "But it's still not enough!"
"Lion's Might: Imperial Earth Roll!"
His figure suddenly shot upward, bursting through the roof into the night sky. With arms spread, the surrounding blizzard was instantly drawn toward him, forming a colossal lion head behind him that blotted out the sky, ice particles and frigid winds howling within like countless tiny blades.
Standing atop the ruins, Ryan looked up at the blizzard lion head large enough to swallow the entire castle—and grinned.
This old bastard still had some fight left in him. The question was, were his bones just as tough?
He leveled the Wind Splitter across his chest, the blade reflecting the raging storm—and the burning battle lust in his eyes. "Old man, all you can do is snipe from the sky."
Before the words faded, pale golden Flame Clouds suddenly erupted beneath his feet—one of the Dragon Fruit's innate abilities. Though not finely controlled, they provided stable footholds midair.
Propelled by the Flame Clouds, he shot upward, dark violet slashes wrapped in draconic silhouettes clashing against the blizzard with deafening roars.
Golden Lion's pupils contracted, his sneer freezing for an instant as he watched Ryan charging toward him on the clouds.
"You—"
"One Sword Style: Meteor!"
Ryan gave him no time to speak. The Wind Splitter straightened like a spear, dark violet Haki flaring like flames as he descended with the momentum of the Flame Clouds. The slash carried a shriek sharp enough to rend the heavens, cleaving a gap through the blizzard lion head.
Golden Lion crossed "Sakura Ten" and "Kogarashi" into an X, black Haki instantly forming a shield.
"CLANG—!" The moment the two blades met the Wind Splitter, an overwhelming force traveled down his swords, numbing his ankles.
"You've mastered the ability to this extent?" Golden Lion's expression darkened, a vein throbbing at his temple. "Since when could you tread clouds?"
Ryan twisted his wrist, the Wind Splitter grinding along "Sakura Ten" with a shower of sparks.
"Had to keep some tricks for your funeral." His Flame Clouds abruptly accelerated, letting him sidestep "Kogarashi's" upward slash as his left hand fully dragonized, dark violet Haki-clad claws aimed straight for Golden Lion's heart.
"Had to figure out some survival skills during those two years you threw me into the coliseum to fight beasts."
Golden Lion retreated several feet from the recoil, a cold sweat breaking on his forehead as he eyed the torn kimono where the claws had grazed him.
This kid's progress was terrifying. Two years ago, he could barely hold a sword without trembling. Now, not only had he fused Haki with his Fruit abilities, but his swordsmanship carried a life-for-a-life ferocity.
"Lion: Consecutive Slashes!"
Golden Lion's feet lashed out in rapid kicks, "Sakura Ten" and "Kogarashi" becoming two black streaks weaving an impenetrable net of slashes, each precisely targeting Ryan's openings.
Yet Ryan didn't dodge. The Wind Splitter swung in broad, unrefined arcs, relying purely on his Fruit-enhanced strength—boosted further by two years of Ferocious Medicine "IQ"—to clash head-on with Haki reinforcement, forcibly carving a path through the net.
"This brat…" Golden Lion's shock grew with each exchange.
Ryan's swordsmanship wasn't refined, but he'd found his own path—overwhelming skill with sheer force.
With strength far beyond normal limits and an absurdly durable body, he disregarded defense entirely. Every slash carried mutual destruction's intent, forcing Golden Lion's exquisite techniques into constant retreat.
"CLANG!" Another direct clash sent Golden Lion stumbling back three steps, his ankles aching. The Wind Splitter in Ryan's hands felt heavier than the greatswords he'd wielded in his youth.
Ryan advanced step by step on his Flame Clouds, the dark violet Haki on the Wind Splitter growing denser. "Old man, I practiced the swordsmanship you taught me every single day—just used your beasts as training dummies."
Golden Lion's head snapped up, a flicker of complexity in his eyes.
He did recognize traces of his own teachings in Ryan's moves, but the kid had honed them into something far more savage, more lethal—like a blade he'd forged himself, only to find it had grown a will of its own.
"Seems I've raised a true beast."
Golden Lion slowly straightened, crossing "Sakura Ten" and "Kogarashi" before his chest as black Haki surged around him like tidal waves. "Then let's see if this beast has what it takes to tear out my throat!"
Ryan bared his teeth in a grin, half his face now covered in peach Scales. "Why not find out?"
Flame Clouds and blizzard collided between them, detonating as dark violet and pitch-black slashes crisscrossed, fragmenting the night sky.
This reckoning, two years overdue, had only just begun to boil.