Chapter 159: Monstrous Face-Off and Finisher

Chapter 159: Monstrous Face-Off and Finisher

__________ POV Narration__________

Francisco's fight with Kong was also interrupted by a group similar to the one that tried to stop Shiki.

Alas, Francisco didn't really have a devil fruit for them to turn off and weaken, so the agents were forced to take the role of support.

Even then, they were susceptible to any stray flying slash that Francisco sometimes sent their way while clashing with the giant commander-in-chief.

The only agents still standing were a few of the stronger ones, including Kaku and Rob Lucci who got by with a bit of luck mainly.

The two had only recently been promoted and were still not strong enough to do meaningful damage to someone of Francisco's calibre, but they still tried.

Francisco was able just to ignore their attacks, letting them slide off his Armament-clad body as he concentrated on Kong fully.

The Frozen White-Furred Giant had already turned that part of the Holy Land into a frozen hellscape, and Francisco could feel the cold affecting him slightly more with every minute that passed.

The agents on the side weren't strong enough to damage the legendary Swordsman, but that didn't stop them from trying and approaching him.

They were usually killed rather quickly or were forced to retreat with a missing arm or deep cuts. However, none of the agents was getting discouraged, as they were still managing to distract the legendary swordsman effectively, allowing Kong to even land a good hit.

To the agents, killing Francisco was a necessity, so they were more than glad to give their lives away to create a mere distraction.

The hit that Kong had landed managed to cannonball Francisco back into the frozen red line behind him, cracking and fragmenting it with great force and collapsing it instantly.

Francisco still got up, spitting some blood as he took a look at his cracked blade with a scowl. It was close to snapping, and it likely wouldn't be able to take any other hit, or even redirect any other hit before it completely broke like glass.

Francisco's endurance had always been his weak point. The one thing that differentiated him from his former captain, he didn't have the thick skin that Kaido had, nor did he have the iron muscles and bones of Kong.

Xebec had endurance in spades, and his punches could easily snap mountains in half. He would have been a much better match for Kong.

Alas, Xebec was no more, and Francsico knew that well.

Normally, he would have been able to rely on his blade to damage stronger enemies. He was once the wielder of one of the 12 Supreme Grade Blades, but he had lost his blade at God Valley, so now he was delegated to using something subpar.

He was only able to cut Kong thanks to his Haki, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to even put a scratch on the Commander in Chief.

He could've gotten a slightly better sword, maybe he could've even picked up a blade from one of the nearby fallen agents or marines. But a regular blade was not going to cut it regardless.

To fight someone like Kong, only a Meito(Named Blade), would be useful. Only the higher-grade ones would have actually made a large difference in the fight.

That was why Francisco simply didn't think that it was worth looking for a new average blade, as it would've snapped regardless.

The First Mate also relied on his armament for protection, and it was strong, but the defence had never been his forte in the first place.

After Francsico dashed back at the frost giant, he was quickly intercepted again. Now forced to only dodge around Kong's hits as he did his best to put as many cuts into the giant's body as possible.

Rob Lucci to the side sent yet another torrent of flying slashes towards Francisco.

The injured swordsman simply scoffed when sensing the attacks heading his way, only turning around and slashing his blade in the air towards Lucci, sending a gigantic flying slash his way with little effort.

Lucci was taken aback instantly, his world slowed down as a gigantic flying slash cut into the ground with ease and obliterated his attacks instantly.

The flying slash didn't stop, and the human-leopard hybrid was forced to roll to the side, right in the nick of time, but his tail was still severed in the process.

'These ants may not be able to harm me, but they sure are annoying...' Francisco then turned and jumped over Kong's fist, stepping on it and dashing backwards, as he watched Kong slap his own hand in anger, trying to catch his afterimage.

The Commander in Chief was obviously doing his best to use the distractions that the agents were creating, but it seemed that he was losing out when it came to the speed department.

To be more specific, Francisco could move faster than the agents around them could perceive, and not even observation haki could help them get close to him.

Kong was the only one able to keep up slightly, using his body and armament haki to tank as much as he could, and using any opening to score a hit or at least try to.

His body at this point was also filled with shallow cuts from head to toe, many aiming at both his ankles and the back side of his knee.

It was clear that Francisco was trying to force him to kneel, to limit his movement and speed even further.

Kong was actually relatively sure he would've already lost the fight already if Francisco managed to get his hands on a Meito in time.

'If only Sengoku or Sakazuki were still here... Any one of the old Admirals would've been great to have, now that I think about it.'

Kong well and truly felt bad about losing so many comrades at once in Baltigo. But it was in a moment like this that he was truly reminded how important they were for the World Government.

It was the same for Tsuru and Z, who both would have been a great help against Francisco. Gion and Tokikake, two potential Admirals, also left with the Neo Marines.

Gion left because she considered Tsuru to be family. And Tokikake left because he was still madly in love with Gion, and he was painfully persistent, despite being rejected 100 times.

Kong knew all of them personally, and that was also why he didn't want to try and stop them from departing.

That was why he was now alone, facing off against an enemy that would normally require the attention of the entire marine force.

The 5 Elders were also unwilling to help them defend against any threat, as they were the bodyguards of IM specifically.

They had actually moved relatively close to the holy land, somewhere on the Red Line.

IM had already prepared for a devil fruit user attacking, most likely preparing for the newly risen Emperor to make a move after baiting him in.

A lot more than one or two wounds would be necessary to take someone like him down.

"Hmm, doesn't sound fun in any way. We should probably get going..." Shiki then slowly got up, as shrapnel flew right near them, the shockwave of it hitting the ground and blowing the Golden Lion's hair upward.

Shiki was about to scoff and rub his beard, but then he noticed that his hair was still standing up, having frozen in place because of the chilling aura spread out throughout the Holy Land.

"It's unlikely that he'll let us leave the island... He'll definitely shoot us down if we attempt to flee." Francisco slowly stood up as well, his eyelashes and eyebrows both frozen at that point.

The glistening ice shined quite a bit, making his eyes stand out quite a bit.

" We can always cut down his projectiles... Though I think he started using haki on the rocks as well."

Shiki looked at the enraged Ice Giant with a scowl, not quite enthusiastic to face him.

"Oh, he certainly is. Otherwise, they wouldn't be much of a danger to us.

The speed of the projectiles also exceeds his own speed. Fighting him from a distance might actually be more dangerous than otherwise."

Francisco gripped his cracked cutlass with a determined expression.

"So, what you're saying is that trying to flee the island will actually be harder than just taking him down in the first place?" Shiki shook his head, doing his best to manipulate his hair to settle back down.

"Essentially. Together we should be able to make quick work of him though. Remember that combination attack that I used to do with Xebec?" Francisco smiled confidently as he watched the rocks in the distance decimate more and more of the ground surrounding the holy land.

Kong had essentially attacked almost all hiding spots nearby, leaving only a few that were likely going to be hit next.

Francisco knew that their time to rest would end soon, so he was quick to make up a strategy.

Shiki was also aware of that, so he simply nodded when hearing about the combination attack.

"We better get moving then! The faster we finish this overgrown monkey the faster I get to relax on a beach chair!" Shiki immediately grabbed Francisco and flew upwards, the place they had been was swiftly crushed by rocks and debris.

Shiki's speed was good, even with him holding onto Francisco, the two of them were able to dodge projectiles with ease as they got closer to the Ice Giant.

Kong saw them coming already, swinging his arm and creating a great shockwave that aimed to keep them at bay.

Shiki resisted it, holding onto Francisco as the latter swung his blade and sent a flying slash at the giant's arm, which was promptly ignored, only leaving a thin scratch.

Eventually, the two pirates stood close enough to the giant, still slightly out of reach for him, but close enough for their combined attack to land.

"It's been a while since we've done something like this..." Francisco pointed his blade at the ground turning it completely red as lighting seemed to ripple from it.

"Indeed! It's been a long time coming!" Shiki mimicked his friend, pointing both of his blades towards the ground, both of them turning blue as purple and golden lightning danced across them.

Kong noticed that they were preparing something, and he immediately raised his gigantic leg to blow them away with a stomp, but he then felt the ground underneath him rise to hold him in place.

Instead of waiting a few seconds for the ground to break and let go of his leg, he immediately raised his arm and prepared to smash the ground with force, only for a gigantic Lion Head to crash into him from the side, forcing him to stagger slightly.

"Nice distraction, Shiki!" Francisco smiled as the two of them proceeded to pool all of their wills into one strike, the air around them roared as their auras rose and intertwined, gold and red, light dancing towards the sky.

With one motion, the two of them moved in tandem. Swinging their intertwined blades upward and releasing a devastating attack in an instant.

"Hakai!(Supreme Seas/Conquest of the Seas)" Their shouts spelt disaster, as Kong looked at the wave of force travelling towards him with fear in his eyes.

The Wave of Force was a mix of red and gold, rushing towards the Ice Giant at speeds too fast to defend against, and at a range too large to dodge for the Frost Giant.

Shiki and Francisco both laughed loudly as their auras continued to whirl wildly.

Kong punched towards the wave of power with a grave expression, his white Conqueror's Haki and frosted fist clashing against the combined might of the two legendary pirates.

The clash only lasted for a few seconds, as the two Pirates watched Kong get lifted off the ground and blasted away with amused expressions.

The wave of power created a gigantic hole in the middle of the Red Line, spanning as far as the eye could see, Kong had been blown away right till the end of it, his fate unknown.

Francisco then looked at his cutlass, which was disintegrated at that point, with only a small piece of it left, with even the hilt crumbling.

"Gihahihahihahi!" "Jihahahaha!" The two old men laughed for a bit, and Francsico simply threw the crumbling hilt away.

The two of them didn't stay on the island for long after that, quickly fleeing and taking all of the slaves with them.

5 Figures descended on the frozen battlefield a few moments after Shiki and Francisco departed.

The 5 old men looked around and studied their surroundings with curiosity, before piecing together what had happened.

'Well... Shit.'

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Hope you liked the chapter! We are now officially on a funny number, so I felt I should upload cuz I'm also finally feeling slightly better

For those that don't follow my naruto fanfic, I got a bit sick the past few days :))

Some could say I caught a bad case of ligma

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