Battle Against Marines Part 4

"Humph! Don't think you can defeat me that easily."

Knowing that Liam was getting serious about this battle, Smoker didn't dare to be careless. But, he truly underestimated Liam.

When Liam wore those gloves, he instantly decided to go all out.

[Sonic Steps]

Liam kicked on the ground more than twenty times in less than a few seconds. His speed was so fast that his body instantly dashed toward Smoker appearing in front of him before even he could attack.

[Paragon Sonic Blast]

He clenched his fist and smashed Smoker's chest. Although he didn't put all of his strength, it was more than enough to knock out Smoker.

These Iron Gloves were made out of fifty percent leather, forty-eight percent iron, and two percent sea stone.

After knocking out Smoker, Liam instantly used Sonic Steps once more and appeared in front of Luffy. At this moment, Luffy was sitting on the ground with a careless expression even though there was a sword coming towards his head.

Ding!

The sword and the iron gloves collided, creating sparks of fire. Yamakaji found his hand shaken a bit as he quickly pulled his sword and retreated a few steps.

"Alright, Luffy! Let me fight for a while." Liam spoke without even looking back.

Luffy nodded his head and slowly backed down. He didn't go far though. He knew that Liam alone wouldn't be able to defeat Yamakaji. But, even he doesn't have the strength to defeat Yamakaji.

It's just that his Haki has run empty and more importantly, he was also low in stamina.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, several pieces of bags appeared next to Luffy. It was none other than Usopp who threw these next to him.

Seeing these bags, Luffy excitedly opened them and found several pieces of meat. Without any hesitation, he started devouring them.

Yamakaji was able to see all of this. His lips twitched and anger burst out of his eyes.

"What do you take a Vice Admiral for? You brat!"

Yamakaji charged his sword with Armament Haki and slashed forward. A powerful flying slash moved toward Liam but this didn't even make him faze a little.

Liam clenched his fist and tried to focus on his own Armament Haki. Unlike Luffy, he had an easier time figuring out Armament Haki because of his previous encounter with it.

But, it didn't mean he could release it as easily as Luffy does.

Haki requires a proper flow. Luffy had an amazing talent for Haki so it shouldn't be surprising that he was able to use it after learning once.

But, Liam didn't have that kind of talent. He had to feel it through and through. These two days, he tried it a lot but he could barely feel his Haki.

After seeing that he couldn't feel it directly, he launched his fist. But even at this moment, he didn't give up.

[Paragon Hammer Punch]

Bang!

"Humph! It's just iron. I am a swordsman who can easily cut Iron. How dare you challenge me with just these gloves?" At this moment, Yamakaji no longer cared if Luffy was the grandson of Garp.

He just wanted to kill them.

Just as he said, those iron gloves got quite a cut when they collided against his sword but he underestimated Liam's physical strength.

A strange ripple of energy flowed through the sword and entered his arms. If he hadn't used Armament Haki all this time, his arm would've been bleeding.

Suddenly, he couldn't help but remember the injuries that Hina suffered after fighting Liam.

He instantly used Shave and made a swing with his sword. This time, he slashed his sword from afar, releasing a powerful flying slash.

Bang!

Liam once again thrust his fist forward and broke the flying slash but at the same time, it also managed to tear apart his Iron Gloves.

"Tch! I knew they wouldn't last long."

Although Liam said that, there was not a single trace of fear in his eyes. He quickly gathered his energy into his fist once more and charged forward.

"Humph! Brat, let's see how you take this."

Yamakaji turned his sword black with his Armament Haki and slashed forward. Liam struck the ground more than twenty times once more and used 'Sonic Steps'

[Paragon Sonic Blast]

Bang!

Although the blade managed to cut his skin, he didn't back down but instead forced Yamakaji back.

"Tch! I underestimated your physical strength. But, so what? In this world, Haki is the strongest power."

Yamakaji took a deep breath and once again slashed against Liam. His sword covered in Armament Haki carried a massive amount of attack power.

Whereas, Liam's glove was already torn apart. His hand was bleeding and there was still no trace of Haki in his arms.

"Indeed! So, I must master it." Liam's eyes turned red as he thrust his fist toward the blade without any care for his injuries. His fist carried an immense force that created ripples upon the collision.

Bang!

Although Yamakaji was using Armament Haki on his blade, it didn't manage to destroy the ripples completely. The blade didn't even pierce his skin.

Yamakaji's eyes widened when he saw that. He didn't understand why Liam was able to create such a strange force with nothing but his physical strength.

In fact, this was the main reason why Liam didn't use the Sand powers. Otherwise, he could easily fight against Yamakaji. He also didn't want to rely on Sand's powers since he wanted to awaken his Armament Haki as soon as possible.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The next moment, they started smashing each other. Yamakaji didn't have time to retreat. He kept slashing while Liam kept punching. The fist and the sword collided several times.

Even though his sword was covered with Armament Haki, it was turning red with Liam's blood.

But, Liam wasn't simply going to bleed all the time. He quickly tried to use the Observation Haki as well. Although it wasn't working properly like Sanji's, he wasn't as bad as Zoro either.

He quickly found the slash coming toward him and this time, he changed his position moving to the right. He raised his left arm and smack Yamakaji's hand with his elbow.

Upon pushing his arm away, Liam thrusts his right fist from the side and struck his face. But just before his fist could land on his face, Yamakaji covered his face with Armament Haki.

Bang!

Even though Yamakaji managed to save his face, he was also struck hard. He flew away and landed on the ground hard. But, how could Liam let him rest at this moment?

He quickly used 'Sonic Steps' and jumped toward Yamakaji.

Using his Observation Haki, Yamakaji saw this coming and immediately moved to the side and stood up.

Bang!

Liam's fist struck the ground. He stood up and turned his head at Yamakaji who seemed to be ready for the next round. Of course, unlike Yamakaji, he was very much injured.

His fist was bleeding so much that he would suffer blood loss at this. But, he didn't care. He wanted to feel Armament Haki and become better at using Observation Haki.

He used Sonic Step and moved toward Yamakaji. But, this time, using Observation Haki, Yamakaji was able to see his future move. So, he quickly moved the sword and slashed it.

This slash moved just in the place where Liam appeared. It was so fast that Liam was able barely able to dodge it with his Observation Haki.

Yamakaji took this as an opportunity and attacked Liam. Because Liam had barely dodged it, he was still stumbling back so he knew that he couldn't dodge this second strike.

"Damn it! Then, let's fight."

Liam's expression got ferocious as he clenched both of his fists. His body was falling back but he quickly controlled it and used the momentum to throw it forward.

Both of his fists moved forward like a slingshot and struck the sword.

[Double Paragon Hammer Punch]

The Armament Haki inside his body bloomed at this moment. There was a momentary pause on his face but his body was still moving forward. The Armament Haki burst out of his arm, releasing a black gas out of his skin.

Bang!

A powerful impact burst out when his double fists merged with Armament Haki and collided against the sword coated with Armament Haki.

Unlike Liam's fist, that sword was much stronger and shaper due to Armament Haki coating. But, Liam's strike could create a powerful ripple force that could break all of its power, thus creating a balance between their attacks.

For a moment, Yamakaji was shocked. He didn't expect Liam could release Armament Haki outside his body all of a sudden. In fact, Liam had already reached the standard to release Armament Haki.

It's just that he didn't release it because he couldn't flow his Haki properly.

Just when Yamakaji was distracted, Liam took this as an opportunity and another punch at him.

Bang!

Unable to dodge this punch, Yamakaji used his sword to block it. But, Liam's target was his hand when the strike landed, Yamakaji couldn't hold his sword.

Thud!