19 Am I the monarch ?

I'm back to play a dirty trick on you!

ahah, here's a chapter, I hesitated a lot so the quality may not be as good as the others, but the next ones will be back without a problem.

And have you seen Oppenheimer? This film is just incredible, really, and also terrifying.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The island was getting closer and closer, and honestly, I didn't see any other solution than 2:

The first one, having enough strength to split the island in two, which seemed quite difficult at the moment but not impossible, or maybe it was impossible.

The second option was to flee, to jump from the flying island we were on currently. It was probably the most plausible solution, but also the least fun.

"Old man, you should leave. You're going to get crushed by an island again, by the same person, ahahahahah."

"That was years ago, it's past! Now let me handle this! ICE PIC!"

He pointed his sword towards the island, and a thick column of ice rose and impaled the incoming island. It started to slow down, captured by the column. Blocking a small 1 km diameter island was already incredible.

"Jihahahahahahah but can you handle two islands? Huh?"

My observation haki began to detect another island that would crush the first one that fell on us. Karika and I looked at each other, and he smiled before creating two more ice pillars to support the first island. However, this time, the impact destroyed the first pillar, and consequently, the other two pillars couldn't hold. Karika was truly exhausted, and he looked pale.

"Well, let's try to escape then, but I can't believe Shiki has improved so much in 3 years."

"I won't run away. I finally have an entertaining fight!"

I said and propelled myself upward quickly, narrowly avoiding the island that crushed the ground next to me. Then, I flew towards Shiki, using my armament haki to enhance my two daggers and my observation haki to detect any projectiles coming my way. But there was nothing; he was ready to face me. Charging my mana, I prepared a powerful attack, and this time, he also surrounded his sword with armament haki, and the clash followed.

"Jihahaha, get out of here!"

His conqueror's haki still emanated, but I wasn't going to lose at this game.

"What do you think I am?"

I spoke as a violet aura also emanated from me, not mana, just my will to surpass a stupid fake king. I could even see sweat on his forehead as our auras clashed in the air.

"You... what are you?"

He said, not really looking at me but rather at the aura emanating from me. Both of us stepped back a hundred meters, searching for a weakness. Karika was there too, regaining his strength from a distance. Refocusing on the fight, I saw Shiki smile again, surrounding his blades with very powerful armament haki, resembling something I hoped he wouldn't have... advanced armament haki.

"Jihahaha, come at me!"

He flew towards me, slashing one of his swords at me. In response, I coated my weapon with mana and haki to strike back, and the result was more destructive than before. Our strikes collided, creating a massive gust of wind around us, and all the remaining ruins were now on the ground. On my side, I was brought down by this new armament haki force, but I smiled.

"I'll be able to improve a lot."

Even with blood slowly dripping from my mouth, I couldn't help but see a huge opportunity to enhance my haki greatly. Let's do it! I rushed towards him, and this time, my two daggers clashed with Shiki's two swords, several times, for a short moment, generating dozens of gusts, but every time, I ended up crashing to the ground because his attacks were much stronger than mine, and the damage increased as time passed.

"I'm coming, kid"

Karika said as his sword, filled with an unknown coldness but capable of burning even the hottest things, touched Shiki's sword, freezing it and spreading the ice up to his hand. Understanding the problem, Shiki quickly jumped into the air to break the ice covering his wrist.

"Old man... I'm not sure I can beat him after all."

"Actually, me neither."

With that exchange, we both laughed before saying together: "But we must succeed."

"This time, I'll use my full power. Witness the difference between a child and me."

he said as his aura grew larger, his hair whiter and longer, his body becoming slightly paler, and his ears a bit longer. His eyes turned blue.

"This is my complete form, hito-hito no mi model Yaki!"

His sword elongated too, thanks to the ice surrounding it, and in the next instant, he disappeared. My eyes struggled to follow him as he appeared in front of Shiki, who was also surprised. But with a sword strike, he blocked the attack.

"Not bad, old man. I had to use all my strength to block that, jihahaha. Try to block this then."

As Shiki said that, his advanced armament haki returned and struck Karika's sword that had blocked the attack, creating a wave of cold across the island. It even started to snow on the territory, and the battle in the sky was incredible. It was undoubtedly the level of two admirals, or at least, I think so, as I have never really seen the fighting level of an admiral, but for the environment to change so much, it must be the case. For 30 minutes, the battle continued, and I couldn't keep up, so I could only watch, but the damage was remarkable. The island had even been cut into 4, once when Shiki split it vertically and then when Karika cut it horizontally.

"Baran... it's sad to see that we are useless..."

I said to my most loyal shadow, who listened and nodded. Anyway, even if I said anything, my shadows would agree with me, ahahah. As I checked if it was time to cut my nails, the battle stopped, and I finally saw their condition. Shiki was injured, but nothing fatal, the same for Karika, except that it stopped snowing, and his body was back to its previous state, while his sword returned to its original form too. He even said: "Fuck."

"Vice-Admiral Karika, you have my respect. I offer you to join the Rocks Pirates; my captain will welcome you with pleasure. Your strength is not to be underestimated."

"Never, I stand for justice, not piracy!"

As he was about to go back to fight, his knee touched the ground; he couldn't walk anymore, fatigue had taken over, and he planted his sword to support his body from falling.

"Karika!"

I ran towards him to protect him from Shiki's attack, who seemed to have spotted the opening.

"I had forgotten about you, weak kid. Well, actually, you're on the same level as that brat Kaido, jihaha."

It's true that Kaido must be around 15 years old, or maybe more, I don't know; I've never really paid attention to the age of One Piece characters.

"Karika, you should leave here."

"No way I'm leaving a child in the hands of a lion."

He firmly replied. "I have a way to escape without any problem, I promise you, so go."

I replied because, yes, I really have a way, even though I would have preferred to keep it hidden as long as possible because it's a technique that can be powerful offensively if used well.

"Tch, then see you soon, kid."

Using his last strength, he began to leave, running at a slow speed of about 100 km/h. I guess he must have been really tired.

"Now, it's just you and me, stupid lion."

I put away my daggers to draw my lightning sword, while my blue-violet mana emerged from my body, filling the sword and creating storms in the sky.

"My child, to protect this marine, I promise to kill you, execute you, along with this marine!"

The ground began to tremble, the four pieces of the island started to reshape and crush our feet, preventing us from moving, then the tide of earth rushed towards us. I could feel my body on alert because receiving this mass of earth would be deadly; it would block breathing and movement, leading to certain death.

"Damn!"

I used my haki and mana under my feet to manage to escape and fly upward, narrowly avoiding the tide of earth that should have crashed onto me. But when I looked at Karika, who hadn't managed to get away and was beginning to be crushed by the tide, I thought about whether I should try to help him or not... For less than a second, my brain worked at 110%, wondering what I should do, only to be reminded of one thing.

"I am the futur Shadow Monarch... I... don't need living men."

In the end, I decided to leave, letting him perish. But then, during this brief moment of reflection, the earth surrounded me from all sides and crashed onto me before I could do anything. The impact was so violent that my head must have hit a huge rock, making me drowsy.