37 Chapter 37 - Victor versus Sakazuki, Part 1
The sun rose high from the sea while casting its golden hue before illuminating the broken clouds. Its strength scaled as it moved following the laws bound to it, higher, well above the horizon, to once again announce the beginning of another ordinary day.
However, today, the said beginning would turn out anything but, ordinary.
It was, after all, the day of the final. The day that the Marines had announced, their most powerful elites would show their power to the world.
Marines had chosen the same venue as the previous, — Sakazuki versus Borsalino's battle, — the island located not too far from the Marineford.
Before long, the entire arena became jam-packed, — one should know that they consist of only marine soldiers, and their civilian relatives, — and their loud echoes roared spread everywhere.
Simultaneously, similar scenes occurred all around the world, as civilians gathered in thousands in front of the screens which were broadcasting the footage of the battle stadium.
Regardless of their location, they all agreed on one thing. The following battle, — the real monster showdown, — would be something most extraordinary.
The hum of people discussing was present in all directions, with everyone debating about the impending fight, the two participants, and some even arguing about who would come out victorious.
Until finally, the time of battle arrived.
The referee, Sakazuki and Victor came out from a door at the north east corner of the stadium, and the crowd present, moreover watching from the big screens around the world, all went wild.
Victor and Sakazuki separated into opposite directions before walking towards the ring in the middle. One stepped from east, and the other from the west, then finally, they walked towards each other.
The referee felt more nervous than the contenders, being unable to control his shivering, but he somehow mastered the courage and notified the two to his left and right to prepare for battle.
However, the latter's did not respond, and simply released their fighting intent, followed by an invisible pressure. And feeling this uncomfortable heaviness, the Rear-Admiral referee twitched the corner of his mouth before letting out a sigh.
He now did not want to spend a second more in the middle, — where the pressure was the highest, — therefore quickly executed *Geppo*, and hurried back to the stands.
Victor and Sakazuki faced each other, their eyes crossed, Sakazuki with his still expression, and Victor with an indifferent smile on his face.
"This will be as far as you go. I will beat you, take the first place, and receive the highest rank." Sakazuki's said pulling out the sword on his back.
Victor did not respond, and only returned a confident grin. He too unsheathed his sword, the 'Rain,' and stood in a battle-ready position, waiting for the go-ahead announcement.
Meanwhile, [Power level 61,952], Jaya reported her reading.
"Hmm… It's higher… Not bad…" Thought Victor.
Undoubtedly, they had become stronger in the past seven months, however, Sakazuki was still about a thousand points higher in power level compared to Victor's physique power.
But this is only compared to Victor's physique coupled with this world's Haki. If Victor were to fully utilize his Saiyan physique, — it's affinity for pure energy, — then Sakazuki would be outnumbered in Power-Level, by a great margin.
Moreover, the destructive capacity of magma, is nothing compared to the ridiculous destruction Pure-Energy can bring about.
However, Victor was determined not to use Pure-Energy in this battle.
Their accumulating suppressive momentum spread to the surrounding venue, and the audience, — mostly civilians, — started reacting, as if an invisible hand was pressing from overhead, making them feel heavier than usual.
Until.
"BEGIN!" The narrator's loud voice rang spread all over the venue.
Immediately, Victor and Sakazuki both burst forth at each other, with extremely fast speeds. Those with weaker vision were simply unable to follow the movement. It felt as if they both disappeared in a flash!
With the sound of a loud, *CLANG*, their figures became visible, to once again disappear the next moment.
*CLANG*
*CLANG*
Their swords collided, sparks and dust blasted from the center of each collision.
After the initial few collisions to test each other's strength, both Victor and Sakazuki distanced themselves for a short moment.
Their eyes narrowed momentarily before, *BOOM! *
Sakazuki moved with a *SORU* first, holding the sword with his right hand.
Victor followed, similarly holding his sword with one hand.
*CLANG*
Immediately after their swords collided, Sakazuki clenched his free fist. It instantly glowed red then started dripping molten lava.
Simultaneously, Victor also had his free hand clenched and imbued with a thick layer of Armament Haki.
*BOOM*
The Haki imbued fist perfectly countered the boiling fist of lava, however, the follow-up shock-wave from the clash separated them a couple of meters away from each other.
It mattered little.
Their attacks did not stop, Sakazuki blasted out more chunks of molted magma toward Victor, who dodged them without much difficulty by executing *SORU* left and right.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
*SORU* *SORU* *SORU*
Like a game of tag, the bombardment and dodging continued, and stopped only after more than a minute.
"What's the point of your sword…?" Victor asked suddenly.
The manga did not show Sakazuki to be a swordsman, since he had become a ranked marine. So, he must have gotten rid of it at some point during training, or right after, in the original plot.
With a "Hmph" Sakazuki threw it to the ground, "Whether I use a weapon or not is none of your concern," he said then started bombarding magma blasts, and this time from both hands.
"Haha…" Victor only chuckled in the face of Sakazuki's attacks, now doubled, from many directions.
His Observation Haki's intuition had no problems perceiving them, so he dodged, but also deflected some with the Haki imbued sword.
And just when Victor felt the frequency of Sakazuki's bombardment seemed to have increased a bit, his Observation Haki suddenly perceived something wrong.
Within the cover of his own magma blasts, Sakazuki had sneakily arrived dangerously close, and was already arm swung for the punch.
Fortunately, and by a hair's breadth, Victor was able to hurriedly dodge sideways, then back a couple of steps distance.
"Nice try, but my Observation Haki isn't weak." Victor tried to intimidate, only to receive another "Humph".
Then followed even more assaults of magma fists.
However this time, he did not dodge, nor retreat, and rushed forward directly towards the barrage of molten rocks.
*BOOM*
*SLASH*
*BOOM*
*SLASH*
He dodged, punched, and deflected everything, with his sword and fist, both imbued with Haki.
Sakazuki was simply a monster genius, in terms of both Devil-Fruit power development and physique. However, Victor continued to counter them with his speed and swordsmanship.
From left, right, above, and even from below, continuous *BOOMS* like small eruptions spread, while similar *BOOMS* of breaking the sound barrier, also echoed throughout the field, as the battle continued for six more hours.
