"Hoo—!"
Letting out a deep breath, this move was quite taxing for her, even considerably so.
Golden Lion stared at Esdeath; he refused to believe this female Marine could block this move!
The enormous cross-shaped slash flew rapidly towards Esdeath.
"Damn it, if only I could help!" The few people on the Marine warship watched this scene.
How was Admiral Esdeath going to dodge that!
The massive cross-shaped slash nearly covered a range of hundreds of meters and was extremely fast; if hit head-on, Esdeath couldn't guarantee her survival.
"Maha Padma!"
She extended both hands, a smile gracing her lips, and almost instantly, everything was frozen.
Golden Lion was still laughing as he looked in Esdeath's direction, unaware that his life was now in Esdeath's hands.
Esdeath instantly dodged the giant cross-shaped slash suspended in mid-air, appeared beside Golden Lion, and slashed down with Hyōrinmaru!
Swish!
The time freeze ended after only three seconds, which naturally wasn't enough to do too much.
"Nani!"
Before his brain could react, Golden Lion's body instantly responded, lowering his head slightly to dodge the fatal blow, and the ship's rudder on his head was sliced off.
He instantly widened the distance between them, looking incredulously at Esdeath, who had suddenly appeared beside him!
"Teleportation?"
A thought popped into Golden Lion's mind but was immediately dismissed; even with teleportation, his Observation Haki would have sensed something.
But now, his Observation Haki had no reaction at all, as if she had appeared out of thin air.
Thud!
The ship's rudder crashed onto the ice below, and Esdeath looked at Golden Lion in surprise; he had actually dodged her sure-kill blow.
Or rather, it wasn't that Golden Lion's brain reacted, but his body subconsciously lowered his head; it should be said that years of combat reflexes saved him.
"How did you do that?"
Golden Lion frowned; he had almost died just now, although he had experienced such moments of near-death before.
But this was the closest he had come to death; it was too bizarre, even his top-tier Observation Haki hadn't detected Esdeath's movements.
"Actually, I paused time."
After fighting for several hours continuously and using Maha Padma again, even she was a bit breathless from the exertion.
"Gahahaha!"
"Stop lying to children!"
Golden Lion's body slowly flew high into the sky, gradually ascending towards his island; he was done fighting!
As for pausing time, he would be crazy to believe that; he would rather believe that the woman in front of him possessed the power of two Devil Fruits.
The other being a space-related Devil Fruit.
"Are you not fighting anymore?"
It must be said that if they continued fighting, a victor could be determined, and her chances of winning were higher, but if Golden Lion wanted to run, she definitely couldn't stop him.
Just like Whitebeard could defeat one Admiral but would certainly get injured himself; against two, he couldn't win, but if he wanted to run, no one could stop him.
He could even face three Admirals without a problem; he just couldn't win, and might not be able to escape, but he could definitely take one down with him.
Similarly, Akainu could face two Four Emperors; he would simply lose, but he could escape.
This is the nature of battles between top-tier combatants; unless it's a fight like Akainu and Aokiji's where a result is mandatory, there usually isn't any death.
Because if they run, they simply cannot be stopped.
There are no broken combat powers in the Pirate World!
"Gahahaha, next time I will definitely kill you, female Marine, tell me your name!"
Golden Lion, high above the sea, looked down at Esdeath; he admitted that he might not be a match for this female Marine.
But now was not his time to die; his plan was not yet complete, and he could not fight to the death.
Next time we meet, it's either your death or my life!
"Esdeath…"
She answered Golden Lion's question speechlessly; she knew three seconds was too short, otherwise Golden Lion would have died here today.
It was fine for ordinary people, but for top-tier combatants, three seconds wasn't enough.
And why did these old-timers always like to ask for people's names?
"I'll remember you!"
A Marine with ambition and strength!
Golden Lion quickly flew towards the floating island, his gaze still fixed on Esdeath.
"Roger!"
"I'm afraid the World Government is in for a treat! You wouldn't expect that the one to overturn the seas might be a Marine, would you!"
"Gahahaha!"
Swish!
Esdeath landed on the deck, and the several women instantly gathered around her, looking at Esdeath with concern and asking, "Admiral Esdeath, are you alright!"
"Don't worry, it was just Golden Lion."
Seeing their concerned expressions, Esdeath smiled; she should have been able to win this battle, but she had been careless.
If she had been a little closer, Golden Lion would have fallen here!
Golden Lion's past bounty should have been at least five billion, after all, the World Government's judgment of bounty is based on the harm to the world.
At that time, Golden Lion's large fleet clearly posed more harm than Roger's.
Killing Golden Lion would make her soar directly!
Unfortunately, she couldn't do it!
The duck that was within reach flew away!
"Mmm~ Admiral Esdeath~ so amazing~ ah~"
Little Sadi's face was flushed; despite the several hours of fighting, her excitement hadn't diminished in the slightest, reaching continuous climaxes!
They had only witnessed a battle of this level once, which was when Zephyr fought that Whitebeard II.
At that time, it was mostly hand-to-hand combat; it wasn't as visually shocking as this scene, and it was hard to imagine that a battle between two people could change the terrain.
"You all will too, someday."
After her training, Esdeath was confident that she could significantly boost the combat power of the few women; Ain could even aim for the level of a quasi-Admiral.
"You all go get busy; I'm going to report the situation to Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
Sengoku and the others had been searching for Golden Lion for over a decade without success; now, she had fought Golden Lion to a draw and even discovered his whereabouts.
It could definitely be considered a major achievement!
Buruburuburu!
"This is Sengoku, what's up?" Unlike Esdeath, who was a hands-off Rear Admiral, Sengoku was practically dying of worry.
He had just been reprimanded by the Gorosei, and he really wanted to beat up those old men of the Gorosei to vent his frustration!
"It's me, Esdeath, I have some good news for you, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
"Do you want to hear it?"
"Spit it out, hurry up!" Sengoku was practically at his wit's end; for some damn Celestial Dragon, he actually had to exert himself.
Why didn't he choose to be a Vice Admiral like that old man Garp back then?
He regretted it immensely!
"You definitely won't be annoyed after hearing this news, and perhaps the Celestial Dragons' matter will have to be put aside for a bit." Esdeath smiled, listening to Sengoku's impatient tone; it seemed she really had caused quite a bit of trouble.
"Hmm?"
"What is it?"
Sengoku's curiosity was piqued; what kind of matter could make him temporarily put aside the Celestial Dragons' issue?
"I discovered Golden Lion on my way to Shambles, and I even fought him."
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