74 Goodbye Old Friend (Extra Long Chapter!)

Ori no longer bothered with the escaping Oven, he had full confidence in Roman and Shaya's strength.

He turned to face Beliard and the dragon he was stood on, giving the old man his undivided attention.

Beliard was slightly taken back by how quickly Ori got over letting Oven escape.

"Aren't you worried about Oven chasing after your crew, that is a Yonko executive. His strength is without doubt. You not stopping him means that your crew will more than likely be killed by him."

Ori smiled mockingly at Beliard without replying.

[Oven may be strong but he's not as strong as he was in the canon. He's about equal to Rome, maybe a little stronger, but with Roman and Shaya together he can forget about getting what he wants, he'll have a hard enough time leaving with his life.]

Seeing his mocking gaze, Beliard couldn't help but frown.

[Where is he getting his confidence from, does he think that after surviving the attack of an admiral, his crew is now invincible under the sun? The strength of each Yonko and their executives aren't something he can even imagine.]

Seeing the hesitation on Beliard's face, Ori couldn't help but tease.

"You were the one who wanted me to stay here with you, don't tell me you just wanted to stare at me… If so, I'm sorry to tell you, but I have no interest in wrinkled old men with one foot in the grave."

Hearing Ori's teasing didn't annoy Beliard, in fact it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest as he replied with a toothy grin.

"You may not have an interest in me, but this old man is interested in you!"

Between what he said, and the ugly grin plastered to his face, Ori felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

He raised his left hand and pointed his index finger at the old man's head.

"Wind Beam!"

As he said that a compressed beam of wind tore through the air aiming to pierce through Beliard's head. Beliard was still smiling leisurely looking down at Ori as if he didn't notice the incoming attack.

Just as the attack was mere inches from his face, a pitch black tail slapped the silver beam of wind away as if it were a fly.

Ori raised his brows in surprise when he saw the dragon's tail.

[It can use haki? That's quite the pet he's got himself there!]

Beliard who was still looking down leisurely at Ori.

"You'll have to do better than that Mr. Heav…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ori had disappeared from his original position appearing directly in front of the giant dragon. He chopped forth with his sword as if he wanted to take the head of the dragon in one attack.

Despite its size, the dragon was surprisingly agile. As soon as Ori appeared by its neck, it swung it's claw to meet the pitch black sword.

The impact between the two was enough to shatter the ring beneath them. When the dust had cleared Ori was stood in the air in his original position, whereas the dragon had been pushed back 50 meters.

"That little lizard of yours isn't too bad."

Beliard looked at the young swordsman in the sky in front of him weirdly as he replied proudly.

"Lizard?! This is a genuine adult dragon!"

Ori smiled mockingly as he teased.

"Haha, at most it can be called an oversized lizard with a hint of the dragon bloodline. If it were a genuine adult dragon, forget about being my equal in the last attack, I would've been lucky to survive."

"Hmph! How would you know the truth about the power of a Dragon?!"

With an indifferent smile, Ori replied.

"Because my brother is a Dragon!"

As he said that, Ori recalled the raw power behind Roman's attacks when he fully transformed into a dragon.

[When he fully transforms into a dragon, in terms of raw power I can't even begin to compare. Even though he's awakened his devil fruit and is able to transform in to a dragon scaled human increasing his raw strength exponentially, it's still not as powerful as his full transformation. And Rome still doesn't even count as an adult dragon yet.

How can this little lizard begin to compare to a true adult dragon?!]

Thinking to there, he looked up at Beliard and said with a smile.

"Let me show you, the creature you're so proud of is nothing but an overpowered lizard!"

He flew towards the dragon sword in hand. The dragon, refusing to admit inferiority darted towards Ori.

They repeatedly clashed creating shockwave after shockwave which could be heard all over the island.

After a few minutes, a headless dragon had collapsed on the ground, it's body was stained with its blood and it's cleanly cut off head a few meters to the side of it.

Beliard looked down at the dragon beneath him with a frown before looking back at Ori, who was stood in the sky without a care in the world.

"That was my favourite pet you just killed."

Ori shrugged with complete indifference as he replied.

"You shouldn't have had it attack me and I wouldn't have bothered killing it!"

Beliard sighed looking down at the dragon.

"You're right I should've known that it would've taken more than just that to kill you. I guess it's true what they say; if you want something done and done right, you should do it yourself."

As he said that he spread his hands and a black gas was emitted from his body and he opened his mouth wide and took a deep breath.

As he did Ori felt a very gentle tug coming from deep within.

"What was that?!"

Ori was awoken from his distraction by the white lights that flew towards Beliard's body, entering via his mouth.

As each light entered his body, Beliard's life force seemed to increase as his body looked to get younger.

Ori spread his observation haki as far as he could and was shocked by what he discovered. There were hundreds of civilians laying dead where they stood as a white light left their bodies and flew towards Beliard.

[He's absorbing the life force of the islanders…]

Beliard now looked like a handsome middle aged man. He had a long flowing black hair that reached the bottom of his neck and smooth jade like skin that would make any grown woman jealous.

"Shit, Sabo!"

As Ori was looking at the devastation Beliard had caused, he saw Sabo keeled over on the floor in pain and a white light slowly trying to leave his body. He couldn't afford to hesitate, he had to take action immediately.

He fired into the now middle aged man and slashed down with his blackened sword wanting to bisect the man before the fight even got started.

As soon as the sword neared, Beliard opened his eyes and looked at the incoming attack with complete indifference. He calmly raised the cane in his hand as he hardened it with his haki.

When the sword and cane met Ori was shocked to discover that the cane wouldn't move an inch.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a blur firing towards his rib.

"Zephyr's Evasion!"

As he said that, his body gently dodged the incoming blur before cutting down aiming for Beliard's neck.

Once again Beliard easily blocked his attack and replied in kind. The two went back and forth for over 5 minutes with neither able to gain any definite advantage.

[Physically, he's at the SSS- Rank and his armament haki is far superior to mine. I should be dominated by someone at that level, but for some reason his attacks seem stiff and completely unpractised…]

Seeing that their fight had seemingly come to a stalemate, the two separated and eyed each other cautiously.

"You're far stronger than I originally thought, I guess your bounty isn't just for show."

"You're not too bad yourself, there's just one thing I don't understand…

Why is someone who on paper should be so strong, so pathetic at combat?!"

Beliard shrugged helplessly as he replied.

"My devil fruit allows me to absorb others life force to temporarily increase my strength as you've now seen, but what you probably didn't know was that I can also absorb specific abilities by absorbing someone's soul. That was how I learnt how to use armament haki as well as I have.

Unfortunately, just because I've absorbed their abilities doesn't mean that I can absorb their combat experience."

Ori nodded in understanding, before asking one more question.

"Why did you tell me so much? Don't you think you should keep the abilities of your devil fruit to yourself?"

Beliard grinned at Ori's question.

"Whether you know how my devil fruit works or not is irrelevant. You'll die very shortly and then I'll have my most powerful puppet yet.

Soru!"

As he said that he disappeared from his original position, appearing directly behind the surprised Orion.

"Shigan!"

As he said that the hardened cane in his hand shot towards Ori's heart from behind.

Feeling the dangerous incoming attack, Ori moved with the wind to evade the attack. Just as he was about to counter, he saw Beliard's cane rapidly approaching, aiming to pierce between his brows.

He dodged repeatedly but because of the increased speed of the attacks he could never find the time to counter.

He knew that he was put at a disadvantage fighting like this, so he raised his sword to block the incoming attack and jumped back with the aim use the force behind the strike to put some distance between them.

Ori was successful in putting distance between them, but he frowned when he looked down and saw a crack in the centre of his sword.

[Hawky would be pissed if he saw the state of my sword. His armament haki's even more powerful than I thought. Looks like I can't hold back any more.]

Ori started channeling his heavenly demon qi through his body and his sword.

Beliard scrunched his eye brows when he felt the difference in Ori but couldn't see any physical changes.

"What did you just do?"

"I wonder!"

As he said that Ori disappeared into the wind and appeared behind his target. He swung his sword down aiming to chop the man in 2.

Beliard raised his cane and blocked the attack with relative ease but frowned when he felt the power behind his attack.

[How has his speed and strength shot up by so much all of a sudden?!]

Ori didn't stop there.

"Vanishing Wind Edge!"

As he said that, his damaged sword suddenly vanished with the wind. Beliard was in complete confusion as to what happened. Ori's hand was moving so fast it appeared as a blur but the sword it had been previously holding had completely disappeared.

Although Ori's hand was nowhere near him, Beliard had a bad feeling so he immediately jumped back, but before he could completely escape he felt a searing pain on his chest. When he looked down he saw a giant cut on his chest.

Just as he was coming to terms with what just happened, he heard a terrifying waling sound and his surroundings had completely changed. The sky had turned purple, the ground had opened up and there were hundreds of skeletons reaching out from the abyss beneath him grabbing at his legs trying to drag him down.

"What… What is going on?! Noo, leave me alone… Get away from me!"

He closed his eyes out of fear and as he did he sensed a sword aiming to take his head. He instantly coated his body in haki out of reflex and raised his cane to hurriedly block. The sword he had sensed had been deflected but he still took a deep cut to the shoulder.

He hurriedly escaped from where he was just stood and when he opened his eyes, he let out a breath of relief as he had managed to break free of that hellish illusion. He looked at Ori in fear and apprehension.

Ori who had just used "Demonic Melody of the Wind" was shocked by Beliard, who had just comprehended observation haki at the last possible moment, allowing him to barely defend himself against the attack that would've definitely claimed his life.

After taking a couple seconds to reorganise his thoughts, Beliard smiled at Orion and said fiendishly.

"I must thank you, without you, I probably never would've been able to comprehend observation haki on my own.

To show my appreciation, I'll kill you using my strongest abilities.

As he said that his body doubled in size and the haki that he had previously coated his body in had seemingly reinforced itself. But the thing that shocked Ori the most was that his cane grew a pitch black curved blade, transforming his cane into a sickle.

"You created something from nothing purely using haki? That's the highest level of armament haki!"

Beliard nodded as he let out an evil cackle.

"You really are knowledgeable. Seeing as you know so much, you should have realised that you now stand no chance at winning!"

Ori let out an emotional sigh as he looked at the now towering man before him.

"I didn't think I'd meet someone who'd force me into such a difficult position before even reaching the new world…

I was planning on using this for the first time to fight against an admiral or Yonko, but now I can't afford to hold back any further."

As he said that he closed his eyes gently and suddenly the wind on the island had completely stopped.

Beliard felt a chill when he sensed the wind stop. As he looked at Ori again, even though he could see him he couldn't sense him.

[I need to put an end to this right now!]

As he thought to there he shot at Orion and swung his sickle down. Ori didn't move a single muscle as the sickle approached. Suddenly a giant silver sphere stretching over a kilometre appeared with Ori at the centre.

"Haha I don't know what you were trying to accomplish but you lose… Now die!

What just happened? How's this possible?!"

Beliard was looking at Ori in shock. His sickle had phased right through him!

[How did my attack not hit him? I was using Haki!]

"Wind Domain!"

As the domain appeared the wind that had previously disappeared, reappeared with a vengeance. It was so powerful that Beliard who had fully coated his body in haki was almost swept off his feet.

Beliard looked at Ori in shock as said.

"You… Awakened… You awakened your devil fruit?!"

Ori finally opened his eyes and replied indifferently.

"Not yet but almost."

[After my battle with Akainu, I took a giant step forward. To be honest I feel like I could easily take that final step and awaken my devil fruit but at the same time, I feel like I'm missing something.]

Beliard managed to regain his footing. He stared at Ori in fear and asked.

"How can my attack phase through you, even when I'm using haki?!"

Ori smiled as he said.

"Phase through me?"

Suddenly Ori appeared directly in front of Beliard without him even realising how he did it. Beliard swung his sickle wanting to take Orion's head but before he could raise his sickle, Ori had appeared back in his original position as if he had never moved.

"You…"

Ori let out a little chuckle as he thought to himself.

[I am the wind and the wind is me. In my domain the wind is everywhere, so I can choose to appear wherever I please!]

Ori vanished from where he was stood, instantaneously appearing directly above Beliard's head swinging his sword down.

Beliard didn't see him move but he sensed his attack and swung his sickle to meet the incoming sword. As the attacks met, the shockwave generated completely destroyed the colosseum. Thankfully everyone had escaped when Ori had started his battled against the dragon.

Ori looked down at his sword and frowned as he saw the new crack on the edge. He knew that in terms of raw power he wasn't the match of Beliard and with the help of his newly awakened observation haki getting the drop on him using speed became that much harder.

Ori disappeared again and appeared behind Beliard attacking once more. Beliard turned and moved to meet Ori's sword with his sickle, but he realised that the wind was now moving in the opposite direction to him slowing his movements down.

By the time Beliard's attack had travelled half the distance, Ori's sword had already reached Beliard's neck.

But the scene of Beliard's head rolling which he had expected didn't appear. Instead, the sword which had accompanied him for the passed 9 years was the one to break.

Beliard used the moment when Ori was surprised by the breaking of his sword to retaliate. Just as the sickle had reached Ori's neck and had just drawn a trace of blood, Ori moved appearing 50 meters away.

He looked down at the sword in his hand in melancholy.

"I'm sorry old friend, I wasn't strong enough to keep you safe…"

Beliard shot towards the unfocused Orion wanting to put an end to this fight before any further unforeseen problems arise. Orion paid no attention to the approaching Beliard, he stared down at the half a sword in his hand with a gentle smile.

"If this is as far as we travel together, let's end our journey together on a high!"

As he said that he raised the broken heavy sword in his hand above his head and closed his eyes. As his eyes closed all the wind that was pressing against Beliard disappeared. He recalled the day he bought it from Bai Kitetsu and all the times he had used it since.

He took a gentle step forward and chopped forward with his sword for the final time.

"Sword of the Wind: A Fallen Sword!"

As his sword tore through the air, Beliard's body froze where it was. Suddenly a deep gash starting at the top of his sternum and ending at his navel appeared. As the wound appeared, the wind that disappeared returned as it fired into Beliard.

Beliard who was just frozen in mid-air flew backwards, the further he went the more speed he picked up, until he appeared like a shooting star flying through the sky.

Ori paid no attention to the disappearing Beliard, as he stared down at the sword in his hand.

"Goodbye old friend!"