Chapter 196: Cry, Scream, and Then Die
Ian's slash was ineffective, but Vergo seized the opportunity to counterattack. The distance between them was now quite close. He suddenly reached out with his right hand, grabbed Ian's head, pulled him in, and then drove his knee directly into Ian's abdomen.
Although Ian had already covered his abdomen with Armament Haki to defend against the attack when Vergo struck, he was still sent flying by the immense force.
"It's useless!" Vergo said, watching Ian struggle to his feet. "Even though it's the same Armament Haki, your training time is far too short compared to mine!"
This was true. Vergo was at least in his mid-thirties. He seemed to specialize in only one type of Armament Haki. While it might seem monotonous, it allowed him to focus entirely on its cultivation. In terms of pure Armament Haki, his skill was among the most formidable in the Marines. Ian, who had only recently learned Haki, was no match for him in a contest of Armament Haki.
However, upon hearing this, Ian just smiled and said, "Is that so?"
Ian held the Enma sword in his right hand, but his left hand suddenly hooked upward from below. A ball of purple flame shot across the ground at high speed toward Vergo.
Hundred Eight Style: Dark Grasp!
Seeing the incoming flame, Vergo was startled and immediately leaped up, performing a forward somersault toward Ian.
But Ian moved as well, pushing off the ground and charging forward.
Vergo's somersault was meant to launch an attack on Ian, but Ian's forward charge brought him directly beneath Vergo while he was still in the air.
Ian swung his right-hand Enma sword in an arc above his head, and the blade struck Vergo's body.
Vergo landed, and Ian stopped. They stood back to back.
A bloody smell filled the air. Vergo looked down and saw a wound had opened on his waist. The cut was long but not deep—just a superficial injury—but blood was flowing uncontrollably.
He was injured!?
Turning around, Vergo stared at Ian in shock. He noticed that a flame was now burning on Ian's blade. The flame didn't flicker but seemed solid, forming sharp fiery tips along the edge of the sword.
The reason Ian had struggled to break through Vergo's defense earlier was that Vergo had also been using the Iron Body technique. However, the Dark Grasp forced him to jump, and he could no longer maintain Iron Body.
Ian had studied the Six Powers extensively. He had encountered many Marines who used this martial art, so he naturally put effort into researching it. Iron Body was a technique that concentrated all muscle strength to defend against attacks. It could usually only be activated while standing on the ground. Once Vergo jumped, Iron Body could no longer be sustained.
Not only had Ian broken Vergo's Iron Body with the Dark Grasp, but he had also used the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword to enhance his cutting power. This attack naturally wounded Vergo.
However, that was all he could achieve for now. Vergo's defense was still formidable. Even the flame-cutting effect of the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword could only inflict a superficial wound, not a fatal one.
"Ability user?" Vergo asked, somewhat surprised, staring at Ian's Enma sword, deep in thought.
But then, Ian suddenly extinguished the flame on his blade and sheathed the Enma sword.
"Hmm? Planning to surrender?" Vergo asked, puzzled.
Ian waved his hand and said, "No, no, don't misunderstand. I was just trying to save some energy by fighting with swordsmanship. But it seems my current swordsmanship isn't strong enough to pose much of a threat to you, so I've changed my mind."
"Going to fight with your abilities?" Vergo said, gripping his bamboo sword and assuming a stance facing Ian.
"Be careful. If I accidentally kill you, I'm sorry," Ian said as he used his left hand to undo the cursed bandages on his right hand.
As the cursed bandages came off, immense heat began to radiate from Ian's hand. The bells on the bandages chimed crisply, but what gradually emerged was the ferocious black dragon on Ian's arm.
The cursed bandages were gone, meaning the exclusive treasure of the Flying Shadow card had been removed. Black flames danced around Ian's right hand, and the hot air currents caused his hair to flutter.
Even from a distance, Vergo felt the immense heat. He seemed to recall something and exclaimed in surprise, "Black flames!? You're the one who burned down Mary Geoise!?"
Ian ignored him and suddenly thrust his right hand high into the air!
A black fire dragon immediately flew from his hand, roaring above the G5 base!
At the main gate of the base, Fujitora had already dealt with the Marine soldiers. A large number of groaning G5 soldiers lay scattered within a hundred-meter radius around him.
He had been resting, sitting on a rock with his staff sword propped up, when the black fire dragon appeared above the base. Fujitora looked up in surprise!
"So much energy! What is that!?" Fujitora couldn't see, but his powerful Observation Haki sensed the black fire dragon. However, as pure energy, it appeared to him as just a large mass without a clear shape.
"Could Ian-kun be in trouble?" Fujitora thought, startled, and quickly got up to head toward where the energy had appeared.
Meanwhile, the black fire dragon in the sky, after ascending for a while, suddenly turned and dove downward!
Vergo had witnessed the dragon's appearance. Seeing it dive, he thought Ian was attacking him and quickly used Shave to disappear and dodge.
But he never expected that the fire dragon wasn't aimed at him—it was aimed at Ian!
The black fire dragon descended, opened its massive mouth, and swallowed Ian whole!
"What is he doing?" Vergo, hiding far away, watched in astonishment.
How could a fire dragon with such high temperature swallow its own master?
Before his surprise could subside, the black fire dragon's flames suddenly vanished completely, as if absorbed into Ian's body in an instant!
Devour!
Yes, the Black Dragon Wave Ian released wasn't meant to attack Vergo. The distance between them was too great, and the intense heat of the Flame Slayer Black Dragon Wave had already alerted Vergo. Ian wasn't sure if releasing it would hit Vergo, especially since he might dodge with Shave like Aokiji had. So Ian decided to devour the Black Dragon Wave to increase his Psychic Power!
This was his first time attempting this devouring effect. Over the past two days, training under Fujitora's gravity suppression had allowed him to break through to advanced physical combat skills. He felt his stamina had increased significantly, so he dared to use this move.
However, he underestimated the burden of this surge in Psychic Power. After the devouring was complete, Ian felt a splitting headache.
Devouring the Black Dragon Wave tripled his Psychic Power. Combined with his original power, Ian now had over six thousand points of Psychic Power!
If he weren't worried about his body's limits, he could have activated the Evil Eye Master skill to further amplify his Psychic Power!
But this was Ian's ultimate trump card, and he wouldn't use it lightly.
Even so, Ian felt surging Psychic Power filling his entire body. Suppressing his headache, he only wanted to release this power.
Spreading his hands, fingers pointing downward, several bright bolts of lightning shot from his fingertips, striking the ground with a crackling sound.
The ground began to tremble. To Vergo's horror, within a hundred-meter radius around Ian, countless black sand particles burst from the earth.
These black sand particles floated in the air, rapidly spinning around Ian's body like a violent sandstorm, gradually expanding its range.
By the time Vergo snapped out of it, the iron sand storm had already surrounded them both. When Fujitora arrived, he saw this scene from afar.
Escape... impossible!? Vergo finally understood Ian's intent.
But it wasn't over. Ian spread his hands and drew some iron sand from the storm's barrier, concentrating it on his hands.
The iron sand quickly formed claw-like gloves on his fingertips under his control.
A low, buzzing sound filled the air. Vergo saw that the iron sand claws on Ian's hands were vibrating—at an extremely high frequency.
Vergo's instincts screamed danger. He didn't know what move Ian was planning, but it felt very threatening.
"It seems a bit lacking," Ian muttered, looking at the high-frequency vibration. Then, in the next second, solid flames erupted from his iron sand claws!
Flame claws? Ian was finally satisfied.
Since he had devoured the Black Dragon Wave and had enough Psychic Power to spare, Ian wanted to go all out. His current three cards were Flying Shadow, Iori Yagami, and Misaka Mikoto. He wanted to see if he could combine the abilities of all three cards!
"Moon Step!" Vergo tried to break out of the iron sand storm, but the storm's rotation was too fast, and he was bounced back. So he looked up and tried to escape through the top.
But Ian wasn't about to let him escape easily. Under his control, the iron sand at the top instantly formed countless swords, stabbing toward Vergo in midair.
Vergo tried to dodge these swords by changing his Moon Step direction, but there were too many. Soon, he was hit!
Although the iron sand swords couldn't harm Vergo's Armament Haki-hardened body, the force knocked him down.
Now!
Ian suddenly raised both hands, and a blinding light flashed in his palms. For a moment, time seemed to freeze.
The next second, Ian's body shot toward where Vergo was falling!
Forbidden Thousand Two Hundred Eleven Style: Eight Maidens!
Ian had considered using a sword for this move but found it impractical. So he improvised. He didn't have Iori's powerful finger strength, but he could use the iron sand sword skill to gather iron sand into similar claws. At the same time, to break through Vergo's Armament Haki defense, he applied the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword ability to the claws.
As Vergo fell, Ian grabbed him. His clawed hands began to swing wildly, slashing fiercely at Vergo's body!
Cry, scream, and then die!
Vergo tried to break free when Ian grabbed him, but he couldn't. An invisible force held him, preventing any countermeasures. He could only maintain his Armament Haki defense as best he could.
But when Ian's first claw strike landed, he realized it was useless. His Armament Haki couldn't defend against Ian's claws!
Intense pain hit him, accompanied by blood spraying!
Swish, swish, swish, swish! The sound of tearing air and flesh filled the air. Ian's claw strikes were so fast that no one could see his movements clearly. In just one second, Ian had left countless wounds on Vergo's body.
Outside the iron sand storm, Fujitora sensed the situation through Observation Haki. Even he was shocked by the madness of Ian's move.
Finally, Ian grabbed Vergo with both hands, lifted him, and slammed his head into Vergo's forehead!
This was the finishing move of the Eight Maidens. As Ian's head struck, violent purple flames exploded across Vergo's entire body!
Vergo spat out a mouthful of blood, severely injured. When Ian released him, his body flew backward.
Burning with flames, Vergo didn't see that as he was sent flying, the iron sand claws on Ian's hands instantly gathered into a small, egg-sized pellet floating at Ian's right fingertip.
An even stronger lightning power erupted from Ian's right hand, and the pellet was instantly launched!
Boom!!! A deafening roar echoed. All the windows in the buildings around the G5 branch base shattered!
Even Fujitora had to cover his ears.
This sonic boom was unprecedented. With his enhanced Psychic Power, Ian fired a Railgun at the flying Vergo!
This was a combo Ian had devised. Normally, the Eight Maidens was followed by the Hyakka, but Ian couldn't use that yet, so he substituted with a Railgun!
With his current Psychic Power, he could afford to be reckless!
This Railgun was immensely powerful. It blew away half of Vergo's body in an instant and continued as a massive beam of light, shooting forward. The ground along its path exploded, debris flying everywhere. The Railgun flattened all obstacles in its way, even blasting a huge hole through the iron sand storm barrier.
The direction Ian faced was toward the sea. In Fujitora's perception, the Railgun traveled over a kilometer before hitting the ocean!
Sensing the massive waves kicked up on the sea surface, even Fujitora couldn't help but call Ian a monster in his heart.