The clash of Haki reverberated across the floating islands, as Max and Shiki's energy painted the sky with red and black streaks, rippling through the clouds. Max's Night Sword hummed with dark magic as he met Shiki's gleaming blades, both men poised and ready.
With a single push off the ground, Shiki lunged, his bladed legs slicing through the air with terrifying speed. Max dodged, sidestepping and countering with a swift slash, aiming to disarm him. Shiki grinned, twisting mid-air and using his Devil Fruit to pull rocks and debris toward Max like a storm of sharpened projectiles.
"Night Cloak!" Max muttered, extending a veil of dark magic around him, disintegrating the rocks before they could land a hit. In the same breath, he reappeared behind Shiki, his sword raised high.
"Night Sword Style: Shadow Dragon Fang!" Max's blade plunged forward, leaving dark energy trails that expanded, trying to engulf Shiki. But Shiki twisted, his Observation Haki allowing him to sense the attack, and he brought his bladed legs up to parry, deflecting the attack with a deafening clang.
"Nice move, brat!" Shiki sneered, launching a whirlwind of attacks as he maneuvered with frightening agility, his blades cutting through the air with enough force to slice metal. He whirled into an attack from above, legs aimed straight at Max's head.
Max's eyes narrowed. "Death Chains!" He summoned chains of dark energy that surged up from the ground, wrapping around Shiki mid-attack and holding him in place.
"What's this?" Shiki roared, struggling against the chains, his Haki-infused strength testing their limits. "You think some chains will hold me?"
"Let's see," Max replied with a smirk, channeling dark magic into the chains, making them glow with a sinister aura. The chains tightened, sapping Shiki's energy and making him grit his teeth as the power drained him bit by bit. But with a fierce yell, Shiki broke free, shattering the chains as he propelled himself forward, his leg-blades shimmering with Haki.
"Dereshishishi! You're good, kid, but you're not enough to beat me!"
Shiki shot forward, his foot aimed squarely at Max's chest. Max countered by channeling his own Haki into his sword, bracing himself. Their blades clashed in a storm of black and red sparks, the force of their collision sending a shockwave across the island.
The impact blasted both warriors back. Shiki stumbled, panting, while Max slid to a stop, unfazed and already preparing his next move. He looked up, a dark glint in his eye. "Shadow Dragon's Wrath!"
With a sudden surge of darkness, Max unleashed a powerful wave of dark magic that tore across the island. Shiki's eyes widened as he barely managed to dodge, the energy grazing him as it exploded in the distance, shattering an entire chunk of floating rock into pieces.
Realizing the stakes, Shiki laughed wildly. "So, this is how far you've come! But let me show you what a real legend can do!" He raised his bladed legs, unleashing a cross-shaped slash of Haki-infused air that tore through the space between them, aiming directly at Max.
Max grinned, sidestepping with lightning speed, then closing the distance once more. He raised his sword, dark energy swirling around him as he brought it down toward Shiki.
The clash between Max and Shiki escalated to an entirely new level, both warriors igniting their full potential as they unleashed every trick in their arsenals. The sky above the floating islands was torn asunder by the force of their attacks, thunder cracking as if responding to the sheer intensity of their Haki-infused strikes.
Shiki grinned, his eyes blazing with battle fervor as he levitated massive chunks of the islands around them, the sheer weight of the rocks hovering ominously above Max. "Let's see you dodge this!" he sneered, thrusting his bladed legs forward and directing the massive stones to descend upon Max in a deadly, crushing wave.
Max stood his ground, eyes narrowing. He raised his hand, dark energy spiraling from his fingertips, and called forth a massive shield of shadows. "Dark Magic: Abyssal Wall!" A wave of thick, obsidian energy rose from the ground, expanding to shield him from the incoming rocks. They shattered against the wall, raining down as dust and pebbles.
But Shiki wasn't done. He used the debris as cover, appearing beside Max in a flash, swinging his sword-legged attack with deadly precision. "Take this!" he roared, sending a shockwave so sharp it split the air itself, tearing through the ground and everything in its path.
"Night Sword Style: Shadow Shift!" Max vanished right before impact, reappearing above Shiki, his sword already charged with crackling dark magic. "Shadow Dragon's Fang!" he cried, slashing down with full force. A dark dragon silhouette, formed entirely from shadow and dark magic, erupted from his blade, spiraling toward Shiki with predatory intent.
Shiki braced himself, summoning his Haki to coat his swords, and blocked the dragon's fangs in a fiery explosion of energy. Sparks flew as their Haki clashed, illuminating the islands in a chaotic blend of red and black. The sheer impact sent shockwaves across the floating islands, causing them to shake and fragment, drifting apart and creating deadly gaps in the battlefield.
"Impressive, kid!" Shiki smirked, recovering his stance. "But can you handle this?" He raised his arms, exerting his Devil Fruit power on an even grander scale. His eyes glowed with malevolent glee as he pulled chunks of floating islands together, forming a colossal tidal wave of rock, debris, and sea water. The entire sky seemed to darken as the wave loomed over Max, casting an ominous shadow.
Max felt the immense power crashing toward him, and his expression turned deadly serious. Summoning his deepest reserves, he thrust his sword toward the ground. "Dark Magic: Abyssal Domain!" A surge of black energy expanded from Max, creating a vortex that devoured light itself, swallowing everything within a vast radius. The rocks, debris, and even parts of the wave of seawater were pulled into the swirling darkness, vanishing into the void.
Shiki's eyes widened in surprise but quickly shifted into a smile. "You can stop a wave or two, but let's see if you can handle this!" He pointed his bladed legs at Max, releasing a barrage of Haki-infused slashes, each one moving at blinding speed and strong enough to slice through metal. "Flying Blade Tempest!"
Max spun his sword, channeling dark energy into it. "Shadow Cyclone!" With a rapid twirl, he unleashed a vortex of shadows that met the incoming slashes. The two forces collided in midair, creating an electrifying shockwave that reverberated across the battlefield. Pieces of debris and shattered energy scattered everywhere, carving grooves into the floating islands.
Seeing that Max had parried his attack, Shiki's grin widened with feral excitement. "It's been a while since I've had this much fun! But you'll need more than fancy tricks to beat me!" With that, he kicked off the ground, blurring with impossible speed as he closed in on Max. He launched a rapid combination of brutal attacks, each slash precise and deadly.
***
Support me so that I can buy a Laptop and update faster, at...
patreon.com/boring_world
It's 22 chaps ahead