"Lightning Sword Technique!"
At the moment when Kizaru dodged Faraday's attack, Faraday did not continue to elementalize. Instead, he suddenly exerted force with his legs and rushed in front of Kizaru in an instant, drawing his supreme great knife, Thunder Slash, and slashing towards Kizaru's head.
Kizaru's pupils constricted, and he immediately dodged Faraday's sword at the fastest speed, then transformed into light, breaking through the roof and shooting towards the sky.
"What a fast sword!"
Kizaru touched his cheek, which was still tingling and slightly painful, where a shallow sword mark had appeared, leaving a few drops of blood.
He had only heard of Faraday, the president of the Quicksand Guild, knowing that he was reputed to be the strongest natural-type user of the Thunder Fruit, but he had no idea about his actual combat power. He never expected to encounter him today! Faraday also understood that with Kizaru watching from the side, it was impossible to obtain the Surgery Fruit. He had to defeat Kizaru first; otherwise, if Kizaru couldn't get it, he might destroy the Surgery Fruit, which would be troublesome.
"Heavenly Cloud Sword!"
Seeing Faraday charging up with lightning and a sword from below, Kizaru also condensed a light sword and slashed back.
"Bang!!!"
The forces of light and lightning collided in the air, but it was evident that the power of lightning was superior. Kizaru was knocked back over a hundred meters by Faraday's first strike.
This was inconsequential for Kizaru. As Faraday closed in, the two began to clash in the air once more.
"Crack!!!"
However, after Kizaru's Heavenly Cloud Sword clashed with Faraday's sword a few times, it was instantly shattered, dissipating into light points in the air. Kizaru was also struck by Faraday's sword, leaving a charred wound on his abdomen.
"You are far behind when it comes to swordsmanship compared to me!"
"Thunder Slash!"
Faraday sneered, and then the Thunder Slash on his blade flickered violently, compressing and carrying the force of a thunderstorm as it slashed down.
In an instant, the heavens and earth roared, and the sky was engulfed by lightning, making it difficult for even light to penetrate this layer of thunder.
"Yata Mirror!!"
Seeing Faraday unleash a powerful move, Kizaru dared not confront it head-on. He quickly condensed a light mirror, and the next moment, the mirror split and flew in all directions. Kizaru transformed into light, swiftly darting among the several mirrors, ultimately managing to evade Faraday's Thunder Slash.
Kizaru instinctively looked behind him; the massive Thunder Slash tore through the sky, shooting straight into the clouds. The distant clouds were instantly split apart by the enormous Thunder Slash, dividing into two, as if the entire sky had been cleaved open by that sword.
"Thank goodness I dodged it; otherwise, it would have been troublesome!"
Kizaru swallowed hard and thought to himself. His explosive power could not compare to that sword; only he would suffer in a head-on clash.
Just as Faraday had said, Kizaru's swordsmanship was not impressive at all. In front of Faraday, the Thunder Swordmaster, it was simply inadequate. Thus, Kizaru chose to respond with his greatest strength—speed! "Lightning Flash!!"
As Faraday's sword missed, he transformed into lightning and charged towards Kizaru, who also turned into a flash to evade, then waited for an opportunity to counterattack with his flash energy.
Both were natural-type users and incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, they had already exchanged hundreds of blows.
The sky was filled with rampant lightning, and endless flashes filled the air, as if two deities were engaged in a divine battle in the sky.
Even the mere aftershocks made Balelus below feel a suffocating sense of danger.
He never expected that the Surgery Fruit would attract such powerful monsters, each of whom disregarded the rules of combat, coming here solely to snatch the Surgery Fruit from him, unwilling to even offer Beli.
This made Balelus feel both angry and sorrowful. He finally understood what role he played in the eyes of those people—just a dispensable ant, the kind that could be crushed at any moment.
Only someone in the sky would dare to recklessly seize the Surgery Fruit.
"No, I absolutely cannot give up the Surgery Fruit!"
Balelus gritted his teeth, climbed up from the ground, and then went outside to a tree where he had buried the Devil Fruit, digging it out.
This Devil Fruit was buried by him, and no one else knew about it. Now, he just wanted to take advantage of the two monsters fighting, while they were too busy to pay attention to him, to escape the island with the Devil Fruit.
Next time, even if he sold the Surgery Fruit again, he would resolutely avoid putting himself at risk.
On the other side, after seeing Kizaru and Faraday start their battle, Aramaki and Doflamingo rushed towards the island even faster.
However, when Aramaki spotted Doflamingo, he directly blocked his path.
"Doflamingo, I have accepted the orders of the Five Elders to seize the Surgery Fruit. As a Warlord of the Sea, you should cooperate with my mission, don't you think?"
Aramaki said to Doflamingo.
"Fufufufu, since it's the Five Elders' order, I will naturally cooperate. Now let's hurry over and see what's going on; we can't let someone else get there first!"
Doflamingo suppressed his dissatisfaction and said. He had not yet seen any trace of the Surgery Fruit and did not want to fall out with the guy in front of him, but when he actually saw the Surgery Fruit, whether or not he would fall out would be another matter! "Very well, at least you know your place!"
Aramaki said, then flew with Doflamingo towards the center of the island.
However, they had not yet reached the center of the island when they had to stop, as someone was blocking their way—a woman dressed in ice-blue attire, exuding a chilling aura. This woman stood there, making the entire winter feel warm in comparison.
"Princess Esdeath of the Infinite Pirates!!!"
The moment they saw this figure, both Aramaki and Doflamingo immediately recognized her. They never expected that the visitor would be Esdeath, the infamous Ice Witch.
In seven years, Esdeath had built a formidable reputation; almost no pirate in the New World was unaware of her name. Esdeath had carved her path with the sword in her hand, and since her debut, the number of people who had died at her hands was at least in the hundreds of thousands!
More importantly, Esdeath had become a core member of the Infinite Pirates five years ago, becoming a core cadre at the age of 21, which represented boundless potential.
No one knew exactly how strong Esdeath was now, but everyone understood that her future was limitless; she might even become the next Li Yuan! The moment Doflamingo saw Esdeath, he felt a chill run down his spine, and the intense desire for the Surgery Fruit seemed to freeze under Esdeath's icy presence.
Although he had been gaining strength through the development of his Devil Fruit over the years, he had long since given up on the idea of chasing after monsters like Esdeath; that was simply beyond what a human could pursue!
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