Competition Getting Heated

[ Third Person POV ]

Pirate Festival, The Arena.

Mont. Fiore wasn't playing around anymore.

Soon after his first loss to Carla, the next two contestants were immediately knocked out of the fight. He used his Armament Haki to destroy all the weapons that the contestants had brought with them in a single move, the next one immediately incapacitating them.

Currently, he was standing of the fourth contestant. He was a pirate who was slowly beginning to gain a reputation within Paradise, but he still wasn't up to par yet with the likes of Bubble Jack. 

Mont. Fiore remained unfazed. He simply raised his cane rapier and pointed it right at the pirate. Almost as if to taunting him to take the first shot.

The pirate immediately rushed at Mont. Fiore with his sword held high above his head. It was apparent that he didn't take that taunt lightly. 

The pirate immediately appeared in front of Mont. Fiore. He swung his sword down viciously as he tried to split Mont. Fiore in two. However, things weren't going to work out the way that this pirate thought it would go.

With a simple swing of his sword, Mont. Fiore split the pirate's blade, and almost severed both of the mans hands.

The pirate immediately let go of the sword as he screamed in agony. The medical unit immediately appeared in the arena and carried off the injured and defeated pirate. 

Meanwhile, Mont. Fiore simply swung the blood out of his blade and remained in the exact same position that he was before.

The arena had been filled with roars throughout the entire time these events had occurred.

"Did you see that?! He fucking beat him with one swing!!" 

"He's not infamous throughout the blues for nothing, but this is crazy!!!"

"How far do you think he'll last?"

"Does it matter? There's so many good fights coming up! Let's just enjoy them!!!"

Behind the gates that served as entrances to the arena. Ken and Pato stood there as they watched the battle with great interest. Ken was particularly interested in Mont. Fiore and his surprising display and usage of Armament Haki.

"Didn't think someone from the blues would be a Haki user..." Ken muttered aloud.

"He looks tough, I hope we can put him out quickly when we're up," Pato said worriedly.

The last competitor slowly walked up to the arena with a cold look on his face. Mont. Fiore's eyes narrowed as he stared the man down.

'This one can use Haki as well'

The man standing opposite of Mont. Fiore wore a martial arts uniform, he had an imposing demeanor, and he didn't have a weapon like Carla. 

"LET THE MATCH, BEGIN!!!!"

The two, instead of immediately rushing at each other, stood rooted where they were as they continued staring at each other.

The martial artist, finally spoke after a few moments of silence.

"You're also a martial artist.....What school do you learn from?"

"I am self taught, learning from the scriptures of a long lost civilization."

"Intriguing, please educate me then,"

"Likewise."

They both bowed to each other respectfully before taking their respective stances. 

Mont. Fiore's arms slowly darkened along with his blade. While the Martial Artist's arms slowly coated itself with Armament Haki as well.

After a brief pause, the two men disappeared before reappearing right at the center of the ring. They clashed mid-air, causing a massive shockwave to spread around the arena. They didn't stop there, however.

The martial artist kept swinging his fists at Mont. Fiore, while Mont. Fiore quickly blocked the attacks with his rapier. The fight was so quick paced that the crowd that was in the arena had trouble keeping up with the both of them.

Eventually, the crowd spotted them near a wall of the arena. The Martial Artist had somehow managed to get the upper hand, and promptly began to land a series of ruthless punches at Mont. Fiore. 

Mont. Fiore, on the other hand, had cleverly managed to raise his blade so that he could dodge as much of the martial artist's punches as possible. There were some punches that had landed at him, but it wasn't too fatal for him to admit defeat. 

As soon as Mont. Fiore noticed that the martial artist had began to slow down on his punches. He immediately raised his foot and gave the martial artist a devastating push kick that sent the martial artist flying a bit closer to the center of the arena.

Mont. Fiore immediately got out of the wall he was embedded in and lunged at the martial artist. He didn't want to give the man any room for recovery, so he had to get to him as fast as possible.

However, the martial artist had already recovered and was raising his guard as he saw Mont. Fiore approach.

Another barrage of attacks immediately sounded after the two got close to each other. Mont. Fiore was holding his own, even landing some cuts to the Martial Artist's skin. However, it was far from enough to stir the Martial Artist.

'Tsk, his body's too rigid for me to inflict any fatal blows on him. If I'm to win, I'm going to have to switch up my approach'

Mont. Fiore immediately leaped back after dodging an attack from the martial artist. He landed on the ground before sheathing his blade back into its sheathe.

The Martial Artist looked on interestedly as he readied himself for his next attack. He had been feeling like he had the winning edge ever since the battle began, but his current predicament was going about cementing that feeling and making it a reality.

The crowd slowly began to quiet down as they looked at the two individuals and waited for the first one to make a move. The tension was so thick that a butter knife could have easily cut it.

The moment the Martial Artist moved a muscle, Mont. Fiore immediately withdrew his sword before sending a devastating sword slash right at the Martial Artist.

The Martial Artist's eyes widened as he leaped away from the oncoming slash. He hadn't expected that from Mont. Fiore, but he also wasn't expecting what immediately happened next.

Mont. Fiore immediately rushed at the Martial Artist as soon as he sent the sword slash his way. He patiently waited for him to jump to avoid the slash, and immediately appeared where the Martial Artist would appear soon after. 

It was a trick that he had been honing by himself for quite some time. However, it was going to be his first time using it. Deep inside, Mont. Fiore had been proud that his efforts wasn't a bust.

The Martial Artist was stunned at the sudden appearance of Mont. Fiore. He could only cross his arms to defend himself from what would be happening, but he also didn't account for what would happen soon after.

"Ghost blade.."

The blade phased through the arms of the Martial Artist, before making a bloody gash diagonally across the body of the Martial Artist.

"Ugh!"

The Martial Artist's guard immediately broke as he stumbled back from the pain. 

Mont. Fiore's eyes flashed as he raised his blade to perform the finishing blow, but right before he could deliver it-

"I concede!"

Mont. Fiore froze as his blade stopped right at the skin of the Martial Artist. Letting him fall on his rump as he took deep breathes.

Blood immediately began to trickle down the Martial Artist's chest. The scar on the Martial Artist's chest was pretty bad, and the man himself was slowly moving in and out of consciousness as he tried to stand back up.

The arena immediately exploded into cheers as soon as they heard the words of the Martial Artist.