Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

"Slash Wave!"

The next instant, another soaring golden slash shattered a large number of cherry blossoms, clearing a path to Yann for "Golden Lion" Shiki amidst the falling cherry blossoms.

Facing the arrogant "Golden Lion" Shiki, who was solely focused on close combat, Yone let out a long breath and said, "Actually, I also know a little about swordsmanship, but my sword..."

Immediately, a liberating chant came from Yann's mouth.

"Roar, divine retribution!"

As soon as Yann finished speaking, a colossal giant arm, resembling one clad in armor, suddenly appeared behind him, wielding a massive sword tens of meters long.

The next moment, as Yann assumed a swordsmanship stance, he suddenly slashed at the void in the direction of "Golden Lion" Shiki.

The colossal giant arm that appeared behind Yann, wielding the giant sword, brought a world-shattering shockwave as it slashed down at "Golden Lion" Shiki.

"What's this?!"

Shiki the Golden Lion stared at the massive sword, dozens of meters long, completely unprepared for its existence.

Isn't this brat, Yann, some kind of "Sakura-Sakura Fruit" user? And what is that giant sword that suddenly appeared?

Before the giant sword even arrived, the shockwave it generated during its movement swept towards "Golden Lion" Shiki like a level 10 gale, causing Shiki's long, golden hair, which was as tall as a person, to fly wildly.

This level of shockwave and aftershock reminded Shiki the Golden Lion of the situation when the strongest warrior of Elbaf, the Land of Giants, made his move.

Even though Shiki the Golden Lion is a legendary pirate, he is no match for the giants in terms of pure brute force.

Therefore, when faced with the giant sword formed by "divine retribution," Shiki the Golden Lion, with his rich combat experience, instinctively wanted to dodge.

However, before anyone knew it, cherry blossoms had already filled the sky.

As Shiki the Golden Lion moved, his face accidentally brushed against a cherry blossom petal, instantly creating another gash on his body, from which blood continued to seep out.

"Damn brat, are these cherry blossoms covering the sky not to stop me from getting closer, but to restrict my movements and prevent me from suddenly approaching him like before?"

Almost instantly, Shiki the Golden Lion realized the purpose of these seemingly harmless endless cherry blossoms.

Perhaps it would be extremely difficult to stop Shiki the Golden Lion from getting close by relying solely on these cherry blossoms, which are less destructive and aggressive, but it would be easy to hinder Shiki the Golden Lion from dodging.

At this moment, Shiki the Golden Lion was like a lion that had fallen into a forest full of thorns, with a hunter brandishing a butcher's knife and closing in on him.

If the lion tries to escape from the surrounding area, it will be scratched all over by thorns and eventually collapse from the accumulation of numerous injuries.

"What a cunning brat..."

"Golden Lion" Shiki roared as he charged head-on into the "Divine Retribution" giant blade.

"However, such tricks will not work in the face of absolute power."

The next moment, Shiki the Golden Lion raised his twin swords in a cross shape and slashed at the giant sword "Heaven's Retribution".

"boom!!"

The collision between the "Heavenly Punishment" giant sword and the "Famous Sword: Sakura Ten" and "Famous Sword: Withered Tree" caused a huge shockwave to suddenly erupt in the sky.

"How foolish! To actually confront 'Soul-Slaying Blade: Heavenly Punishment' head-on!"

Astonished by Shiki's behavior, Yann muttered to himself.

"Zanpakuto: Ame-no-Kage" and "Zanpakuto: Senbonzakura" are two Zanpakuto that have been perfected in different ways.

The essence of Senbonzakura is to disperse the blade into hundreds of millions of tiny blades, using an infinite number to deliver an absolute cherry blossom blade hell to the opponent;

The essence of divine punishment is to abandon speed and create a huge spiritual body and blade, maximizing strength and size, so that every casual strike can unleash a powerful blow.

Even while maintaining the "Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi" state, Aon could only use "Heavenly Punishment" in its Shikai state, but its power was still... enormous!

The next moment, under the immense power unleashed by "Divine Retribution," Shiki, the "Golden Lion" who was as small as an ant beneath the giant blade, was blasted away.

However, as the "Golden Lion" Shiki, who had been blasted away, raised his hand and suddenly pulled.

Several enormous air lions instantly formed around the "Heavenly Punishment" giant sword, baring their fangs and biting down hard on it.

Immediately, Shiki the Golden Lion shuddered, forcefully resisting the enormous inertia, and suddenly turned around, heading straight for Yone along the giant sword "Heaven's Retribution".

Originally, Shiki the Golden Lion's wound, which had been bleeding profusely since the ship's rudder was pulled from his head, was healed after a head-on collision with the giant sword "Divine Retribution".

Under this violent tremor, the blood inside Shiki the Golden Lion's body gushed wildly out of the huge gap, to the point that Shiki the Golden Lion had almost completely transformed into a blood lion.

[Chapter 42. Blood Drained]

Shiki the Golden Lion was in terrible condition. Even Yann could vaguely sense that Shiki the Golden Lion was like a dying lion roaring its last at the sky and the sea.

"Is this your final attack?"

"In that case," Yann murmured. "Let me see you off one last time!"

Bankai: Black Rope Heavenly Punishment Myōō!

As Arn chanted, the cherry blossoms that had covered the entire sky quickly disappeared, and a black-armored warrior, taller than an ordinary giant, began to appear behind Arn.

His entire body was covered by thick black armor, his face was covered by a red mask, and the giant sword he held had become increasingly large and heavy.

As Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King and Arn moved in sync, with a slight tremor, the power erupting from the giant sword tore apart the air lions that were biting the sword tightly.

Immediately, with a single spin, the giant sword was raised high by the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King, its blade pointing directly at the "Golden Lion" Shiki, whose body was as small as an ant.

Having witnessed this scene firsthand, "Golden Lion" Shiki couldn't help but laugh even more heartily. "Hehehe, brat Yann, you didn't eat two Devil Fruits, did you?"

"Who would know about something like that?"

Yann casually replied, and then, with a gesture of loosely holding the Zanpakuto, suddenly made a slashing motion towards "Golden Lion" Shiki.

At the same time, the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King, whose body was comparable to a colossal giant, also made the same gesture, and the exaggeratedly large sword, carrying almost immeasurable power, slashed down towards "Golden Lion" Shiki.

"Jie ha ha ha..."

Despite the overwhelming force of the attack, Shiki the Golden Lion continued to laugh wildly, as if he were looking down on everything, with a dense Armament Haki covering his twin swords.

"Lion·Gosho Kiriya"

Instantly, an almost endless barrage of flying slashes bombarded the giant sword.

Each one possesses the power to cut through the ocean!

As Ya'en's senses and damage were synchronized with those of the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King, he instantly felt the pressure and vibration coming from his hands.

Of course, this pressure and vibration are equivalent to what a Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King of this size would feel, and then synchronized to Arn.

Otherwise, if Arn were to use his physical strength to take the almost endless flying slashes in place of the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King, his body would be shattered almost instantly.

"but……"

"Even I, once I unleash a strike, will not abandon it halfway!"

Yaen's gaze sharpened, and he almost went all out to synchronize with the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King's movements, the giant sword slowly pressing down under the bombardment of countless flying slashes.

As they drew closer to "Golden Lion" Shiki, the frequency of attacks on the giant sword became increasingly terrifying, to the point that even the immense power of the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King was becoming difficult to control.

"Hehehe, kid, can't take it anymore?"

Even now, Shiki the Golden Lion, who has almost completely turned into a bloody mess, is still laughing wildly.

The next moment, Shiki's voice stopped abruptly, his movements paused, and the seemingly endless flying slashes vanished instantly.

"boom!"

Just as the unhindered giant sword, carrying immense wind pressure, was about to utterly pulverize the suddenly motionless "Golden Lion" Shiki, Yann abruptly stopped, manipulating the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King to halt the giant sword in time.

Even so, the terrifying shockwave generated by the giant sword still caused "Golden Lion" Shiki to fall downwards like a tattered rag.

Yann frowned slightly, then moved his hand, manipulating the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King to bend down, and his huge hand reached out in time to catch "Golden Lion" Shiki in his palm.

Yann kept a safe distance and was ready to crush "Golden Lion" Shiki with his fist at any moment. He looked at "Golden Lion" Shiki, who was lying motionless in the palm of the Black Rope Heavenly Punishment King, and shouted.

"do you died?"

"You little brat, you're the one who's going to die, I..."

"Golden Lion" Shiki suddenly opened his eyes and shouted at Yann, "If I weren't bleeding out, I would have killed you just now!"

After Shiki the Golden Lion said that, Yann finally realized the exaggerated amount of blood Shiki the Golden Lion was bleeding.

Before the battle, "Golden Lion" Shiki had many injuries, with both legs broken at the knees. He also sustained numerous wounds during his battle with Yann.

Under these circumstances, Shiki the Golden Lion was constantly performing extremely violent movements and had no time to treat his wounds, which continued to bleed.

And then Shiki the Golden Lion even pulled the ship's rudder off his head, the huge, bleeding wound accelerating the process.

So much so that, without realizing it, Shiki the Golden Lion had almost bled out all his blood!

Upon realizing this, Yann couldn't help but feel a bit more admiration for "Golden Lion" Shiki.

"Shiki, you truly live up to the old man's repeated praise of you as a 'heroic' pirate. You are indeed extraordinary."

"Who...who is your old man?" Shiki the Golden Lion asked weakly.

"Oh, didn't I just say that?"

After thinking about it carefully, Yann realized that he had indeed forgotten to mention this important person, so he immediately spoke up.

“My old man is an old acquaintance of yours. He is the one who imprisoned you in the underwater prison and is known as the ‘Buddha Warring States’ marshal.”

"What? That bastard from the Warring States period is actually your old man?"

Shiki, who had seemed to have come to terms with it and was quietly waiting for the final moment, suddenly became extremely agitated again, struggling to get up and roaring.

"Even if I die, I will make the Warring States period taste the pain of losing a son!"

And just then...

"Chirp."

Little Gold, perched on Yone's shoulder, barked twice, then jumped onto Yone's palm, opened its mouth, and released a Den Den Mushi.

"Bru bru~"

Yann looked at the constantly ringing Den Den Mushi, picked it up, glanced at it, and said.

"Tsk, the old man's information network is really good. He contacted me so quickly?"

Immediately, Yann moved the "Golden Lion" Shiki, whose voice was constantly shouting excitedly yet weakly, further away, and then connected to the Den Den Mushi.

"Moshi moshi?"

On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, a long sigh of relief immediately came through, followed by the voice of Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who asked.

"Ya'en, are you alright?"