Chapter 218: Salamis Great Battle (8)
The issue of mutual restraint between Devil Fruit users in this world is indeed quite fascinating.
Fujitora's power is gravity, not attraction. That single word difference makes the effect he can have on Kizaru vastly different. If it were the Dark-Dark Fruit instead, even if Kizaru were light itself, he might not be able to escape that pull.
Aside from the Dark-Dark Fruit, Ian could think of another fruit that could counter the Glint-Glint Fruit: Foxy's Slow-Slow Fruit.
But regardless of which, none of them are present at the moment.
"Old man, how's your injury?" Ian asked Fujitora. "Do you need me to heal you?"
"This little injury is nothing!" Fujitora shook his head. "You'd better conserve your strength for battle. We're about to face a tough fight."
"Yeah!" Ian nodded, helped Fujitora to his feet, and then suddenly had an idea. He asked Fujitora, "Old man, if I were to heal your eyes, would you have no problem dealing with Kizaru?"
Fujitora was taken aback, a look of interest flickering across his face, but then he shook his head and said, "No need. As I've said, being unable to see is also a kind of fortune. Even if you could heal my eyes, suddenly seeing the light might make it hard for me to adapt for a while. Let's talk about it later!"
Hearing this, Ian set the thought aside for now. As they were talking, Kizaru spoke up: "Hey hey, you two, be careful. I'm still here, you know. Is it really okay to talk like that?"
With his words, light shimmered at his fingertip again, and a laser immediately shot toward the two of them.
"Scatter!" Fujitora shoved Ian hard, and the two split apart, dodging the laser.
The laser beam struck the ground behind them, and with a thunderous roar, another massive explosion erupted.
After dodging, Ian and Fujitora immediately lunged at Kizaru, both swinging their swords toward him.
"Using Haki too!?" Kizaru noticed that Ian's blade was also blackened. Not daring to take both attacks head-on, he immediately leaped back to evade.
Ian and Fujitora's attacks both missed, but that was within their expectations. After all, the Glint-Glint Fruit was renowned for its speed.
A sudden warning in his mind, Ian spun around and slashed backward. Kizaru had appeared behind him out of nowhere, wielding the Ama no Murakumo Sword formed from light, and brought it down toward Ian. This spin move just barely blocked his strike.
Kizaru followed up with several more slashes. Ian focused intently, swinging his blade to parry. As they exchanged blows, Kizaru said to Ian, "Speed is weight, Ian-kun. How did that light kick feel?"
Ian had to admit that Kizaru's kick earlier was so fast he couldn't react at all. But after watching Fujitora fight him a few times, Ian understood how to deal with Kizaru's attacks.
Observation Haki! Yes, only by combining Observation Haki could one predict Kizaru's attack movements!
Ian countered with a slash aimed at Kizaru, which Kizaru blocked with his Ama no Murakumo Sword. As they stood face-to-face, inches apart, Ian said, "If you could truly reach the speed of light, you'd be invincible. But are you invincible? No. So you're not really light, are you?"
"Very clever!" Kizaru replied with a note of approval, then spun around to block Fujitora's attack.
Seizing the opportunity, Ian swung his blade upward in a diagonal arc toward Kizaru. Kizaru leaned back to dodge Ian's strike, but at the same time, he kicked out another light kick at Ian.
This time, however, Ian quickly raised his wrist, using his arm at an angle to defend against the kick.
The black Armament Haki hardening on his entire arm enhanced Ian's defense. However, Kizaru's kicks were not only fast but also carried immense force. So although Ian blocked the attack, he was still sent sliding back a long distance.
His arm hurt, but compared to the first time he took a light kick and had his bone broken, this was much better. Ian shook his arm vigorously to relieve the numbness.
Kizaru was now engaged with Fujitora again. He looked at Ian with some surprise and said, "Oh, improving fast, aren't you?"
Ian ignored him and charged forward again.
Kizaru was a man of light, but light itself has no mass. It's like shining a flashlight at an enemy—you can't send them flying. Kizaru's light kick worked on the same principle. If he wanted to land a hit, he had to deactivate his elemental form and turn solid the moment he made contact with the target, using his prior speed and his solid body's mass to create a powerful attack.
If he maintained his elemental form at the moment of impact, it's easy to imagine that his leg would just pass right through Ian.
However, a Logia user's transition between elemental and solid form is so instantaneous, driven purely by thought, that Ian couldn't perceive that split second.
But—note this "but"—Kizaru's light kick was a kicking process. Since he was going to kick someone, he had to make the starting motion of a kick, which meant lifting his leg. This motion could be sensed and predicted by Observation Haki.
Not just Fujitora, Ian also remembered the fight between Kizaru and Rayleigh. Aside from using Armament Haki to catch Kizaru's solid form, both of them kept up with Kizaru's speed by relying on Observation Haki.
The only difference was that Fujitora, due to his blindness, had a deficiency in his perception when facing Kizaru, while Ian could combine his eyesight with his Psychic Field to accurately sense Kizaru's attacks.
With just a little reaction time, Ian could face Kizaru without being completely helpless.
Ian's Psychic Field had improved significantly. From initially maintaining only a five-meter radius, he could now sustain a hundred-meter radius. This was thanks to his physical training under Fujitora's gravity suppression. Greater physical strength and endurance allowed his Psychic Power to recover faster, and maintaining a larger Psychic Field was no longer a problem.
The only real trouble now was that Ian and Fujitora had no good way to deal with the force of Kizaru's attacks. Although they could defend against them, the impact was too great. One misstep could send them flying or trigger an explosion.
So even though the two were teaming up against Kizaru, Kizaru still held the upper hand. A Marine Admiral at his peak was not someone to be trifled with. Through their frequent exchanges, Ian gained a deeper understanding of his earlier fight with Aokiji. Back then, besides the elemental advantage, Aokiji had definitely been going easy on him.
But Kizaru was different. He showed no mercy at all, going all out from start to finish.
"Tch, opponents who use Haki are really annoying!" After fighting for a while longer, Kizaru spoke up. Then, with a sudden backflip, he leaped out of the combat circle. While floating in the air, he spread his arms wide.
A dazzling light flashed between his arms, then scattered into countless glowing dots!
"Yata no Kagami!"
"Not good!" As Kizaru's voice rang out, Ian immediately realized what was coming. He grabbed Fujitora beside him and leaped backward, shouting to Fujitora, "Weightlessness!"
In Fujitora's perception, he sensed countless clusters of light energy. He couldn't see, so he didn't know what was happening, but when Ian pulled him into the jump, he reacted instantly, using his ability to nullify their gravity.
Without gravity, Ian and Fujitora's leap carried them to an incredible height.
Kizaru had unleashed his ultimate move. As Ian and Fujitora jumped, the countless light dots he had transformed into immediately turned into a rain of beams, blasting down at the spot where Ian and Fujitora had just been standing!
This attack was true light—a downpour of beams falling from the sky. They struck the ground continuously, and the energy within them exploded on impact, sending a chain of explosions rising from the earth.
Some beams shot past just beneath Ian and Fujitora's feet. If they had jumped even a moment later, they would have been hit.
The barrage of light bullets came and went quickly, subsiding after a short while. But the entire ground had been blasted into a terrible mess.
Kizaru landed on the ground at almost the same time as Ian and Fujitora. He chuckled and said, "Lucky, you managed to dodge! But Ian-kun, don't forget, I'm not the only Marine Admiral here this time!"
As if to confirm his words, a commotion arose. Ian turned to see that Zeke and the others, who had been carrying the wounded earlier, were now retreating back the way they came!
Behind them, a large number of Marine soldiers appeared. A chubby little man carrying a huge axe was leading the Marines onto the island.
"Not good, Captain!" Zeke shouted from a distance. "The Marines have blockaded the entire harbor and are shelling all the ships! We can't get out!"
Many Marine soldiers were chasing after Zeke and the others. Sardine and Dorry were fighting a retreating battle against them.
Ian wasn't too concerned about ordinary Marine soldiers. He knew the Salamis Duchy's army would arrive soon, which could offset the Marines' numerical advantage.
What Ian was really worried about was Zephyr. If Sentomaru had appeared, then Zephyr was likely accompanied by Ain and Binz, both ability users.
No, he had to force Kizaru back quickly and carve out a path to escape.
Although Ian knew the Marines had blockaded the harbor, once they got out to sea, he wouldn't be afraid. Incoming cannonballs could be blocked with a wind wall. If they got close enough, Fujitora could bombard the Marine ships with meteors to open a gap.
And if Kizaru dared to chase them out to sea, they could find a way to throw him into the water!
In an instant, Ian made his decision. He planned to force a breakout to sea.
Just as Ian was about to unleash a big move, he suddenly heard a voice.
"Fire Fist!"
Boom! A massive ball of blazing fire suddenly swept in from behind the Marine soldiers...