"It isn't over yet," Zephyr suddenly stated.
The crowd gasped and turned their eyes back to the spot where Hansa stood. Sure enough, just as Zephyr finished speaking, several crescent-shaped slashes erupted from the dust cloud, tearing through the air and hurtling toward Loya. The trajectory of the slashes was calculated to cut off every possible escape route.
But why dodge?
"Engaging in a skill-check with —are you really so reckless, Hansa!"
Loya grinned, slamming his hands together in front of his chest.
"Ice-Make: Overlord Halberd!"
CRACK-CRACK!
With a crisp sound of freezing air, a massive halberd, dozens of ters long, materialized beside Loya. The weapon was so gargantuan that even though Loya's height had shot up to two ters after his training in the Six Styles, he looked like a re ant standing next to it.
Loya gripped the shaft of the halberd and swung it, slamming it down like a pillar supporting the heavens. Along the path of the swing, the incoming sword-qi shattered upon the slightest contact. The sheer force, hardness, and weight of the ice construct created a thunderous roar as it struck the ground, causing a localized earthquake. Windows in the nearby fortress shattered under the violent vibration.
In the stands, Zephyr held his forehead, listening to the cacophony of chaos inside the fortress. He sighed helplessly, "Can't you use a move that makes a little less noise?"
Momonga leaned in close, whispering, "Teacher, Loya's 'Ice Bombs' make even more noise. Instead of worrying about this, we should consider the cleanup costs."
Zephyr glared at him, his face as dark as if he had coated it in Armant Haki. "...Get lost!"
Loya paid no mind. Before checking his results, he wrenched the halberd from the earth and swept it horizontally. For anyone else—even most Vice Admirals—swinging such a massive construct would be impossible, and even if they could, the speed would be slow enough to dodge easily. But Loya's strength was his defining difference.
After a month of training, his energy reserves had only grown by 1%, but his "Dragon Body" had hit 9%! A re 1% more and he would break into the third stage. During the Elite Camp examinations, that 9% multiplier allowed him to trade blows with a Silver-Back Giant Ape without losing ground. Now, his strength was practically unrivaled. With such freakish power, he swung the massive ice halberd as easily as a twig, with the force of a thunderbolt.
Hansa was forced to abandon his offense and leap into the air. Had he stayed on the ground, he would have been pulverized—a broken bone would have been the best-case scenario.
As Hansa hung in the air, Loya spotted him. He hooked the halberd with his left hand and held it at his side, while his right hand splayed out, palm aid directly at the airborne swordsman.
"Ice-Make: Ice Bombs! Rapid-Fire!"
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Dozens of diamond-shaped ice bombs flew out, sealing off Hansa's movent.
"You bastard!" Zephyr roared, seeing the overkill.
Hansa's eyes narrowed. He swung his long sword horizontally.
"One-Sword Style: Severing Waves!"
HUM!
A blue sword-aura, dozens of ters long, descended like a waterfall, cleaving the ice bombs in half. Tony felt a sting in his heart, watching Hansa mirror his own signature technique one last ti. Under that single swing, the earth cracked; the bombs and the great halberd were severed, and a deep trench was gouged into the stone floor.
"Oh! Now that's more like it!" Loya grinned. He discarded the ice pole, flashed, and appeared directly before Hansa. "But... you've left an opening!"
His hands pulled back into claw shapes, a mad smile spreading across his face.
"Shigan: Yachiru (Finger Pistol: Eight-Child Maiden)!"
The next second, endless shadows of claws filled the air. The sound of explosions mixed with the sharp tallic ringing of his claws striking Hansa's blade. Faced with Loya's blindingly fast assault, Hansa, still recovering from his previous burst of strength, could only barely block.
CRACK!
The sound of snapping steel echoed through the arena. Hansa sighed, his face calm. "Is the gap truly this large?"
As his long sword shattered, his body was swallowed by the storm of claws.
"Hansa!"
"Hansa-san!"
Tony and the others cried out in alarm. They tried to rush forward, but the razor-sharp air currents generated by Loya's assault were enough to shred anything that ca near, let alone interrupt him.
Zephyr sensed Hansa's fading life force. He vanished and reappeared in front of Loya, his arms coated in black Haki, grabbing Loya's wrists. He knew this move well—he had watched Loya develop it. Once activated, it couldn't stop until the montum faded, unless blocked by brute force.
Zephyr gripped Loya's hands tightly, shouting, "You could have used this move from the start! You know the state Hansa's body is in!"
Loya, his attack interrupted, let out a breath and gave a bitter smile. "Hey, hey, Teacher Zephyr. Let's be reasonable here! If Hansa hadn't left that opening, there's no way this move would have landed!"
Zephyr was silenced. It was true—aside from swordsmanship, Hansa's greatest skill was Soru. His mobility was peerless among his peers. Loya's peak speed was no faster than Hansa's, and he couldn't have caught him otherwise.
But this wasn't the ti for debate. Zephyr tossed Loya aside, jumped into the air using Geppo, and caught the falling Hansa. He checked his pulse. He's alive. But seeing the deep, bone-exposed claw marks on Hansa's body, Zephyr let out a sharp, pained breath.
"Doctor! Get a doctor here, fast!"
That evening, in a bedroom in the Elite Camp.
Loya sat on his bed, ditating. He used a thread of ice to pull open his door, looking impatiently at Tony, who had been pacing outside for half an hour. "If you have sothing to say, spit it out! Are you going to let sleep or what?"
Tony stared at him in shock, thinking: I have never seen such a brazen, shaless man in my life! How can you have the gall to say that?
However, he composed himself and walked inside. Hansa's behavior today had been strange, and Tony had his suspicions but no certainty. He had asked Zephyr, but Zephyr had told him to wait until Hansa woke up and ask him himself, before kicking him out. The uncertainty was eating Tony alive. He hadn't been able to sleep, so he had co to Loya.
But before he could speak, Loya said, "Don't ask about so things. Even if you ask, I don't know. The business of you swordsn... as an outsider, I really don't understand it."
Loya paused, seeing the disappointnt in Tony's eyes, and advised, "Instead of that, you should think more about how to improve your own strength. Which of the moves I used against Hansa today could you have blocked? This sea is ruled by strength. Without that strength, stop worrying about things beyond your control."
Tony bit his lip, his nails digging into his palms until blood dripped. He's right. I'm just too weak.
Both Loya and Hansa were entities he could not hope to rival. Even ignoring those two, he was still near the bottom of the Elite Camp. Knowing the truth wouldn't change that.
Tony stood in silence for a mont, bowed to Loya, and turned to leave, closing the door behind him. A single drop of blood fell onto the threshold, causing Loya to glance at it montarily before closing his eyes.
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