On the other side of the island, Esdeath suddenly descended from the sky. She landed with a heavy stomp, sending a deafening boom through the area as the ground beneath her cracked, forming a massive crater.
She slowly raised her head and looked into the distance, where she saw Sengoku shining brightly in the darkness of night.
The sight of the golden Buddha form soaring through the air made it appear as if an actual deity had descended.
A moment later, Sengoku—having launched himself into the sky—suddenly dropped down. He landed with such force that the ground exploded apart from the impact, creating a wide rift.
The two were now standing far apart, facing each other.
Sengoku recognized the woman in front of him as Kaos's maid. Not wanting to escalate the situation, he finally spoke in a calm and reasoned tone:
"Let's end this. You are not my opponent."
Sengoku, who stood at the peak of Admiral-level power, could even go toe-to-toe with one of the Four Emperors. In his eyes, the woman before him was at most at the pinnacle of top-tier strength. Although she possessed powers similar to the Ice-Ice Fruit, she was still far behind Marine Admiral Aokiji.
To him, she was not a real threat. But if he seriously injured her, it would be hard to explain to Kaos.
However, Esdeath had already seen through Sengoku's hesitation. She spread her arms slightly and said nonchalantly:
"Relax. Even if you injure me, I won't report it to His Highness Kaos. Besides, the ruckus we just caused—do you really think His Highness Kaos didn't notice?"
Her words struck a nerve.
Even though their clash had only lasted a few seconds, the destruction they caused was enormous. And with Kaos's strength, he would've noticed immediately. Yet he hadn't intervened or sent anyone, meaning he had silently permitted her actions.
This realization felt absurd to Sengoku.
But if Kaos had already given his tacit approval, then Sengoku had no further objections. At that moment, he began slowly floating upward into the air, his body radiating energy as if it were about to explode.
Sengoku's Devil Fruit ability was formidable, and he intended to end the battle quickly to teach Esdeath a lesson in restraint.
He soared into the sky and suddenly swooped down toward her, bringing his foot crashing down with tremendous force.
The impact of his kick was so powerful that before his foot even reached the ground, the sheer pressure from the shockwave had already caused the terrain to collapse. Esdeath, seeing that her opponent's strength was comparable to even Kaido's, felt her blood boil with excitement.
In a blur of speed, she vanished from her original position just before the attack landed. When Sengoku's foot struck the earth, the ground sank with a deafening boom. The resulting shockwave blasted outward, forcing Esdeath back over ten meters.
Despite this, Esdeath's face lit up with excitement—her opponent's strength thrilled her.
She slammed her hands onto the ground, and in the next instant, the earth began to tremble violently.
Sengoku, just recovering from his landing, suddenly felt the ground around him quake. Before he could react further, the entire terrain began to rise into the air.
Massive boulders, each weighing thousands of tons, floated into the sky. Sengoku was stunned. He knew this move all too well.
Wasn't this the Golden Lion's technique?
"Is this... the ability of the Float Fruit?"
He couldn't believe it and muttered under his breath.
Seeing that he had recognized her power, Esdeath smiled and continued:
"Since you already know this ability, do you still dare to look down on me?"
"By the way, if I recall correctly, the original user of this fruit was defeated by you and another old man. You imprisoned him in Impel Down. He only escaped after he cut off his legs, didn't he?"
Her words dragged up Sengoku's old memories, and his expression darkened with a deep frown.
This woman was far too arrogant—it was infuriating. Sengoku was itching to teach her a hard lesson.
Seeing that he didn't respond, Esdeath stopped wasting time. With a flick of her hand, the huge boulders floating above came crashing down toward Sengoku.
The sky was now packed with enormous rocks, raining down like a meteor shower. Sengoku couldn't afford to be careless. Though they were just stones, taking a direct hit at this scale could still deal damage.
So he clenched his fists tightly, and energy began to condense around them. The air swirled toward him, gathering rapidly at his knuckles.
Visible shockwaves formed around his arms.
With a thunderous roar, Sengoku unleashed a barrage of punches like a relentless storm.
Each punch was imbued with devastating power. The white shockwaves exploded outward, smashing into the falling boulders. Under the might of his strikes, the rocks shattered.
Esdeath watched her attack neutralized so easily—and laughed.
But she wasn't finished. She waved her hands again, and more rocks from the island flew into the sky before plummeting toward Sengoku like a hailstorm.
Yet Sengoku remained unshaken.
With power like his, even thousands of falling rocks were no threat.