Chapter 221

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[Sorry about yesterday, took a sick day off!]

"Yay! Go, Aqua! Let this newcomer see reality clearly!"

The well-informed yet foolish goddess didn't pay any attention to Escanor's transformation at this moment. Hearing about some excitement, her spirits immediately lifted.

However, judging by her insightful comments, she still seemed half-asleep.

Meowth, King, Kanna: "…"

Feeling the bewildered gazes from her companions, Aqua's mouth twitched, and her brain finally started working a little better.

"Ah, huh? Me, a goddess??"

"Change someone else, Zyhark. Judging by his raging aura, he's not an opponent that can be easily dealt with. I'll definitely be exhausted after fighting him!"

The lazy Aqua immediately shook her head repeatedly, looking unwilling as she retreated behind the others.

When the "excitement" focused on her, the useless nature of the goddess was completely exposed.

"So you do realize this is a troublesome task, huh, meow?"

Meowth, already aware of Aqua's bad habits hidden beneath her divine shine, couldn't help but sarcastically comment.

"Little Aqua, how lame. You gave up without even trying!" Kanna frowned, showing full contempt.

Her soft and adorable voice sounded quite cute, but for Aqua, who valued her reputation more than her life, it was extremely damaging.

"Huh? Are you kidding me!"

As expected, Aqua immediately jumped out, full of fighting spirit, pointing at Escanor and shouting, "Come on! Just a little stove! Watch me extinguish you into worthless scrap metal in the deep sea!"

Well, even Kanna could easily manipulate the intelligence of the foolish goddess…

"Nice work, Kanna!" Meowth secretly gave Kanna a thumbs up, letting out a sly laugh.

"Hehe~" Kanna smugly touched her nose.

One could almost forget that this little girl had a hint of a devious streak hidden within her.

"That's quite an arrogant statement, Miss Aqua."

As the sun slowly rose in the distance, the heat wave radiating from Escanor's body grew even more intense.

The temperature was so high that even the plants and flowers nearby began to wither! It was fortunate that the materials used for the Endless Dream were the rarest Adam wood, otherwise, an ordinary ship wouldn't have been able to withstand such heat!

However, just as the heat was about to fully erupt, dense steam suddenly appeared in the surrounding space.

Clear water flowed around Aqua, blue light enveloped the Endless Dream, successfully suppressing the heat and bringing a bit of coolness to Zyhark and the others.

Feeling this subtle change, Escanor's expression turned to one of surprise. Deep in his lazy and calm eyes, flames seemed to be burning and flickering.

"I see, like Miss Kanna, you look like a frail young girl but are actually some extraordinary being…"

As he muttered softly, the muscular Escanor took a heavy step forward.

In that case, there's no need for me to hold back my power.

Buzz! An even more violent wave of heat surged out, like an invisible beast with its mouth wide open, devouring the floating steam.

"I'm the goddess of water, you idiot!"

Aqua wouldn't back down. Her wise eyes lit up with a mysterious, intricate miniature magic circle.

When it comes to issues of reputation, this troublesome goddess always managed to show unexpected determination.

Ice and fire clashed on the deck of the Endless Dream, colliding with each other, neither giving an inch.

Zyhark and the others, standing near Aqua, didn't feel much, but the Endless Dream, caught in this polar environment, was experiencing quite a stir.

Even the figurehead of the goddess at the ship's bow seemed to show a personified, speechless expression: Come on, you two, can't you take this fight somewhere else, you idiots!

It seemed to sense the silent wail of the Endless Dream's ship spirit. Zyhark's eyes glowed with a sharp light, and red lightning representing Haoshoku Haki shattered the fields of ice and fire.

He glanced up at the sun, which had yet to rise fully, and said calmly, "This isn't a suitable battleground. While we wait for noon, let's find a deserted island nearby."

The arrogant Escanor and the equally arrogant Aqua both nodded in agreement, slowly suppressing and restraining their surging auras.

And so, the Endless Dream went full speed ahead, racing toward the nearest deserted island from this sea area.

The sudden acceleration cut through the sea breeze and tore through the waves, the resulting backward thrust nearly knocking Meowth off balance, making him feel puzzled.

"Strange, by normal power standards, the Endless Dream shouldn't have this level of explosive power, right?"

Kanna, who had somehow appeared at the ship's bow, tightly gripped the figurehead with her little pink hands.

Under the oncoming gust of wind, her finely crafted hairstyle was blown into a complete mess.

"Charge! Little boat!!" Kanna cheered happily.

Good thing, good thing, this regularly exercised body managed to hold up.

In the corner, King, who was holding onto a wooden plank, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Unknowingly, his single-arm strength had surpassed a hundred kilograms, which, in the realm of ordinary people, would be considered quite the "monster"!

With the Endless Dream's sprint, they soon reached the sandy beach at the edge of the deserted island.

High above, the sunlight bathed the calm and tranquil island, with the tide rising and falling, reflecting tiny, dazzling sparkles.

It was now morning.

The massive Escanor and Aqua, covered in her goddess's feather robe, landed on the island simultaneously, facing each other across the desolate shore.

'There's a human presence on the other side of the island, so it's not uninhabited?'

Zyhark pondered to himself, expanding his Kenbunshoku Haki to detect, immediately catching a hidden factory inside a cave.

The sealed factory door bore a conspicuous pirate symbol.

Is it that guy's factory? Then there's no problem.

Zyhark dismissed his unnecessary worries and turned his attention back to the confrontation between Aqua and Escanor.

Escanor's muscular body radiated intense heat, melting the ground beneath his feet visibly, causing it to sink.

Scalding steam surrounded him, amplifying the imposing presence of his already towering figure! In contrast, Aqua, draped in her goddess robe, seemed much smaller.

Especially those wise-looking eyes, they didn't seem to match the word "strong."

"Be careful, Miss Aqua. I will quickly move to your left front and strike your side with a heat-filled right punch."

Escanor, confident in the morning sun, revealed his move before attacking.

"Am I really being underestimated like this? Divine Water Armor!"

Recalling Zyhark's earlier battle with Whitebeard, Aqua's eyes sparkled, and she mimicked him, manipulating a large amount of holy water to enclose her body, forming a rushing, towering water armor.

In terms of water manipulation, Aqua certainly wasn't inferior to Zyhark's mastery of lightning.

She was simply too lazy to seriously consider techniques and moves!

Splash, splash, splash.

The rapidly flowing holy water armor significantly enhanced her delicate appearance. Thanks to this, Aqua's overall height matched Escanor's.

Indeed, she's a goddess who, when serious, doesn't want to lose in any aspect...

The moment Aqua's technique took shape, Escanor, who had been waiting, burst into action, sprinting forward at high speed.

In an instant, the massive right fist, imbued with heat energy, occupied Aqua's entire vision! With a dull "thud," Aqua was sent flying cleanly, drawing a graceful arc in the air before crashing headfirst into the sand.

Seeing her legs twitching twice in the sand, Escanor, who was prepared for his attack to be blocked, was dumbfounded.

He had given a good-natured warning, so how did he hit so easily? Could it be that Miss Aqua, who seemed impressive on the surface, was just an ordinary person with no real strength?

Oh no, oh no, what if she's dead? Escanor, fearing his own strength, began to panic, remembering all the troubles his power had caused in the past.

As Escanor worriedly moved forward to check on her, the foolish goddess wobbled and emerged from the sand.

Thanks to the surging water around her, her face showed no obvious injuries, and her spirit seemed intact.

"Ouch, ouch, you jerk! You were telling the truth! What a cunning bastard!"

Aqua raised her hand to point at Escanor's nose, angrily accusing him of being deceitful.

Escanor: "…"

Everyone watching from the deck of the Endless Dream: "Sigh…"

After a brief silence, Escanor suddenly tilted his head back and laughed loudly, "Ahahaha! Miss Aqua, it seems we are the same kind of people."

In his eyes, Aqua's behavior of ignoring warnings and taking the hit head-on was the epitome of arrogance! "I apologize deeply for my foolishness earlier."

At this moment, Escanor's gaze changed completely, as if endless flames were burning fiercely.

"Miss Aqua, I will now go all out, adding a little weight to this sincere apology!"

Confirming that Aqua wasn't fragile like his previous opponents, Escanor raised his index finger, fully converting the blessing of the sun.

Buzz! Flames flickered, heat spread, and the scorching, violent heat wave consumed everything around it.

The temperature of the entire island soared, resembling a desert.

The Sun!

At Escanor's fingertip appeared a highly compressed, dangerously radiant miniature sun! "Take this, Cruel Sun!!"

Escanor stepped heavily forward, the sand beneath his feet melting into molten firewater.

With a low roar, the miniature sun shot forth, heading straight for Aqua.

Before the attack even reached, the water armor around Aqua began to sizzle and shrink.

Aqua, accustomed to grand scenes, remained calm and swung her goddess staff.

Blue divine power intertwined, forming a slowly rotating magic circle in front of her.

"Holy Water Summon!"

Swoosh! A continuous torrent of water erupted like a high-pressure fountain, its scale so vast that it completely enveloped the miniature sun! The blinding flames extinguished, the restless heat gradually subsided, and the island's climate returned to normal.

"Hehe, that move isn't so great, Escanor. Your power might be better suited for lighting cake candles~"

The foolish goddess, having successfully neutralized the attack, resumed her taunting mode without changing her ways.

"Is that so? My sun isn't something so useless."

Escanor, expressionless, stood proudly amidst the overwhelming flames, his massive body like an embodiment of the sun.

It was a testament to his confidence in his power.

Because at this moment, it was already noon! Buzz!!

As his words fell, the scorching fire once again illuminated the entire coast.

The "sun," which should have been extinguished, reignited with boundless flames, continuing to advance against the surging water.

Steam continuously spewed from the contact point of the two elemental forces, obscuring the view of those on the ship.

"Ah, huh?"

In the blink of an eye, the Cruel Sun had broken free from the water's constraints, crashing directly into the blue magic circle in front of Aqua! Crack, crack.

Under the limitless heat, the magic circle inevitably cracked, revealing fissures until it completely shattered.

In front of Aqua, flames soared into the sky.

Boom!

The sun exploded, and the vast coast turned to ash instantly, disappearing without a trace!

Even the island behind Escanor was affected, with lava flowing and melting the ground.

Half the island had turned into a backdrop of flames!

And this was with Escanor holding back his power! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…

The surrounding sea water surged toward the vanished coastline, causing the nearby Endless Dream to sway.

After several seconds, the turbulent motion slowly calmed down.

Looking up, the sea was empty. Apart from the burning Escanor, there was no sign of the foolish goddess!

"Meowth, move the Endless Dream a bit further away."

Zyhark had been monitoring the battlefield the entire time to prevent any unexpected situations.

Knowing well what might happen when the foolish goddess got serious, he had already decided to leave the area.

Notably, he was holding a well-behaved Kanna in his arms—she had been flung from the ship's bow to him during the earlier turbulence.

"No problem, Meow!"

Seeing Zyhark so calm, Meowth naturally didn't worry too much either. He used the remote control in his hands to steer the Endless Dream away from the nearshore waters.

Just as the Endless Dream moved away, the calm sea suddenly surged violently, rising into a towering wave hundreds of meters high! A dark shadow covered the entire island, and Aqua stood at the top of the giant wave, looking disheveled.

The goddess of water had turned into a coal-digging goddess.

Thanks to her tough body, she withstood the Cruel Sun, but this disheveled appearance was unacceptable to her.

(Even though she never really had much of an image to begin with.)

"Hey, hey, hey, Miss Aqua, are you really human?"

Escanor watched the near-apocalyptic scene with shock in his eyes.

At this moment, he had absolute confidence in withstanding the attack, but he couldn't help but be amazed at Aqua's power.

Without a doubt, she was just like him, a "monster" capable of causing great disasters with ease! "I told you! I'm a goddess, super noble, super powerful, super wise, and worshipped by countless devoted believers!"

Standing on the giant wave, Aqua rebuffed loudly.

"A god… huh?"

Escanor lowered his head in thought. When he looked up again, his eyes were ablaze with flames.

Behind him, a giant sun, the size of a small island, slowly rose.

"What an admirable arrogance!!"

(End of Chapter)