Chapter 64: Borsalino vs. Esdeath

'Whoosh!'
A super-giant icicle plummeted with a piercing screech, its mass of hundreds of thousands of tons sufficient to crush any target on the ground.
"My, what a reckless thing to do... Ama-no-Murakumo!"
Borsalino scratched his head with a somewhat troubled expression, reaching out to pull a glowing giant sword straight from the air.
As a Logia-class Devil Fruit user, Borsalino was immune to all physical attacks, but blind dodging felt just a bit too unseemly.
[Kobayashi: Wahhhhh! Isn't this way too exaggerated?!]
[Tony Stark: What the hell, am I still dreaming?]
[A passerby wishing to ride Luo Feng's coattails: Utterly terrifying...]
[Haibara Ai: Hey, hey, hey! Is there really any need to go this far?!]
[Fubuki: S-Class! That woman is definitely at the S-Class level!]
……
The moment the battle erupted, the chat room members were still in the middle of casual conversation.
Yet with the appearance of that super-giant icicle plunging from the heavens, everyone was struck dumb by Esdeath's display of power.
This was a terrifying entity that surpassed the limits of human capability; even through the livestream interface, they could feel that overwhelming, crushing pressure.
"Light Jewel: Bursting Slash!"
Borsalino swung his light sword, instantly unleashing hundreds of blade slashes. The sky was illuminated by crisscrossing beams of light, and the super-giant icicle column began to disintegrate halfway through the air.
The previous colossal monolith was chopped into millions of shattered ice fragments by Borsalino. Although the coverage area became much wider, it completely lost the world-shattering momentum it had before.
'Boom boom boom boom boom boom……'
A massive volume of ice rained down, smashing the mirror-like ice field into a fragmented mess. Everywhere was filled with blinding white mist and scattered, flying ice shards.
"Tch... Just what on earth is the origin of that guy?"
The Three Beasts, who had narrowly escaped with their lives, looked toward the direction of the battlefield with deep awe, utterly unable to imagine that anyone could exist on par with Lady Esdeath.
"Not bad at all. It seems I can finally enjoy myself a little this time..."
The ice mist gradually dissipated. Esdeath stood atop the pinnacle of an ice pillar, looking down at her opponent not far away.
Borsalino remained standing in his original spot without moving. The area centered around him was completely undamaged, forming a stark and obvious contrast with the shattered ice field all around.
"Truly terrifying. She's simply strong like a monster..."
Borsalino surveyed the ice field ravaged by the shattered ice chunks, expressing his genuine admiration.
"The warm-up should be just about over by now. You're ready, aren't you?"
Esdeath wore an excited smile, her palm pressing against the hilt of the sword at her waist, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the light sword in Borsalino's hand.
"So that was just a warm-up just now... Alright, alright, don't look at me with such a ferocious gaze. Come on!"
Borsalino let out a slight tsk and hooked his finger at Esdeath.
The towering ice pillar snapped in half with a loud crack, and Esdeath's figure vanished straight from the pillar.
'Clang!'
A lightning-fast thrust was blocked by Borsalino with an identical thrust. The materialized light sword crossed with Esdeath's rapier, and both their figures vanished once more.
After a few rounds of intense exchanges, Esdeath had already realized...
Borsalino's speed was only ever going to be faster than hers. To gain any advantage against him, she had to slow Borsalino down first.
"Ice Storm!"
As Esdeath's ability activated, a tornado-like blizzard manifested across the battlefield, enveloping both Borsalino and Esdeath within the eye of the storm.
The piercing, bone-chilling frost combined with escalating wind pressure would severely hamper the movements of any enemy caught in such an environment.
What Esdeath hadn't anticipated, however, was that even in such a harsh environment, Borsalino's speed showed not the slightest sign of decay; if anything, he faintly seemed to grow faster the longer they fought.
"Such strong winds, my hairstyle is completely ruined..."
Borsalino complained with a troubled look.
The escalating wind pressure had reached a remarkably impressive degree. The ice shards carried within the blizzard acted like razor-sharp blades, forcing even Esdeath to coat her body in a thin layer of hardened ice to protect herself from being lacerated by the flying fragments.
Yet Borsalino continued to treat the ice storm as if it were nothing at all, even though leaving the storm's coverage area with his speed would have been an effortless task.
Taking advantage of the moment their blades crossed once more, Esdeath delivered an exceptionally fierce whip kick. In swordsmanship, physical combat, and every combat-related skill imaginable, Esdeath was unquestionably absolute perfection.
Borsalino unconcernedly raised his arm to block the kick, then immediately retaliated with a whip kick of his own at the exact same angle.
'Smack!'
What slightly surprised Borsalino, though, was that Esdeath—who had instinctively avoided hard collisions with him all along—disregarded the risk of injury, forcefully took the blow head-on, and used the momentum to create some distance between them.
Esdeath raised her palm to signal a temporary truce, and the ice storm enveloping the battlefield rapidly dispersed.
"What was that just now?"
Acting as if the fierce clashes moments ago had never happened, Esdeath asked with a deadpan, serious expression.
"Hmm? Are you talking about... this?"
Borsalino pondered for a moment, then wrapped a layer of nearly materialized Busoshoku Haki around his palm and displayed it for Esdeath to see.
Busoshoku Haki provided a remarkably significant boost to powerful individuals. When strengths were closely matched, the side wielding Busoshoku Haki could often secure an absolute advantage.
Moreover, Borsalino's strength was only greater than Esdeath's, making the combat effect glaringly obvious.
Still, the fact that Esdeath could detect the abnormality so quickly caught Borsalino somewhat off guard. If this woman hadn't been constrained by her world, she undoubtedly possessed the potential to claim the title of the strongest.
"It's this!"
Esdeath leaped lightly and landed right in front of Borsalino. Unbothered by the fact that they had been trying to kill each other mere seconds ago, she leaned in close to observe the Busoshoku Haki on Borsalino's hand.
She even reached out to grasp Borsalino's palm, attempting to experience and feel this miraculous power firsthand.
Borsalino didn't mind having his hand held by Esdeath; after all, he certainly wasn't losing out in this deal, and this high-angle perspective gave him a great view to appreciate Esdeath's flawless figure.
"I know how to do it now!"
Esdeath's beautiful eyes lit up slightly. The exact same Busoshoku Haki quickly manifested in her own palm, and without a teacher, she intuitively grasped the techniques of Busoshoku hardening and even coating.
"Impressive."
Borsalino raised an eyebrow slightly and couldn't help but voice his praise.