Chapter 10: Sun God's Wrath!!

The intense heat radiated outward in an instant, melting the ground beneath Ian's feet and igniting the scattered pieces of wood around him.

Flaming wings unfurled behind him, revealing the agility he had lost in his Sphere Mode. Ian transformed into a blazing whirlwind, a fiery tempest that incinerated everything in its path!

The scorching air currents from the flapping wings alone were enough to set the wooden houses ablaze.

"What?" 

Hyougoro, sensing the searing heat from behind him, turned around in shock.

What he saw was a man with wings of fire! This temperature was even more terrifying than the previous flames! Hyougoro hesitated to advance, realizing that if he allowed this opponent to return to the battlefield, it would spell disaster.

His left hand, shaped like a tiger's claw, was covered in a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki..

"Die!" 

With a powerful thrust of his left hand, he unleashed a fierce shockwave of Armament Haki, striking Ian's body with the force of a heavy cannon.

This was the result of advanced Armament Haki Emission; with such mastery, a punch could generate a powerful shockwave covering a wide range, akin to Garp's mighty blows.

Ian was momentarily torn apart, transforming into a cloud of flames.

However, before Hyougoro could even revel in his apparent victory, the flames reconstituted, and the fiery-winged figure reappeared!

It was futile.

Even the force of his Haki could not extinguish the divine flames! 

Hyougoro gritted his teeth. Covered in Haki, he swung his blade repeatedly, and in a flurry of cuts, his powerful slashes sliced through the flames, but they did nothing to halt Ian's advance.

Ian retaliated with a punch aimed at Hyougoro.

The punch became a pillar of fire, a brilliant fusion of red and gold flames roaring forth.

Hyougoro's heart sank. The intensity of this flame was like magma! Even with his advanced Armament Haki, it would be challenging to completely shield himself from such extreme heat!

He swung his fist again, and the clash of the shockwave against Ian's fiery punch resulted in a massive explosion, sending flames flying everywhere.

Where the flames descend, the earth melts, the wood burns, and the scene is nothing short of apocalyptic.

The searing heat was so intense that Hyougoro couldn't even afford to take a deep breath; it felt as if his lungs were about to ignite.

Ian's attack was blocked.

It wasn't unexpected.

The Armament Haki proved troublesome, particularly the Advanced Armament Haki users.

He would need to employ a larger move.

Ian's wings flapped behind him as he accelerated, closing the distance to Hyougoro in an instant.

Hyougoro's reaction was equally swift, and with a powerful wave of his Haki, he managed to shatter Ian's form.

Amid the resulting flames, more fire erupted, and the conflagration, a blend of gold and red, quickly consumed everything around them.

The Armament Haki that Hyougoro had hastily unleashed could not completely dispel the torrent of flames.

In the midst of the inferno, Hyougoro cried out in pain.

It is important to note that this doesn't mean that Emission is necessarily stronger than Hardening.

Whether it is Imbuement, Hardening, Emission, or Internal Destruction, these techniques are essentially methods of applying Haki to achieve greater effect. The core strength of Armament Haki itself remains unchanged.

Hyougoro has indeed mastered advanced Haki techniques, but his Armament Haki isn't as formidable as Moria's was three years ago!

In the intervening three years, Ian has grown stronger, and his flames have become even more formidable.

Hyougoro's Armament Haki couldn't fully withstand Ian's dual-color flames, and his flesh writhed in agony amidst the flames.

However, it wasn't enough to defeat him outright.

Although Hyougoro's body was scorched, he was far from being incapacitated.

Naturally, a retreat was the sensible option. Simple elemental attacks have limited effectiveness against masters of Armament Haki users.

If I could, I would avoid using this trick entirely.

But there was no choice; the Immortal Phoenix form couldn't last much longer.

In the midst of the flames, Ian suddenly appeared before Hyougoro.

"Bastard!!"

Hyougoro, cloaked in dark, powerful Armament Haki, roared in fury and hurled a punch at Ian.

The principle of using advanced Armament Haki is to channel the energy from all parts of the body and release it in a concentrated burst to achieve immense power.

However, with Hyougoro using his entire body to shield against the flames, he couldn't unleash his full strength.

Without an Armament Haki Emission, his punch passed right through Ian's chest.

Ian, meanwhile, had already raised his right hand, pointing it directly at Hyougoro.

"Sun God's Wrath!"

A pillar of fire, predominantly bright red with a golden flame coating, erupted from Ian's palm, enveloping Hyougoro in its inferno.

The brilliant flames cut through the surrounding fire, piercing through several floors and rushing into the courtyard.

"Wow!"

Yamato, who had just shattered a samurai into icy fragments with a mace, saw the fire pillar streaking past her. She couldn't help but shout in the direction of the fire, "Ian! Seriously, be careful! It's dangerous to be hit by your attack!"

"... I'm sorry."

Ian's faint voice echoed as he slowly walked through the hole in the melted wall.

At this point, Ian had reverted from the Immortal Phoenix Form back to his Sphere Mode Human-Beast Form.

Rubbing his head and feeling a bit disoriented, he muttered, "But fortunately, this is one of my best skills."

His voice was weak, but he wasn't the one who had fallen.

The ronin samurai stood in stunned silence.

They gazed at the battered figure before them.

Hyougoro was half-kneeling on the ground, his body scorched and radiating intense heat. His hair had been burned away, and his original appearance was barely recognizable.

"Is it... over?"

Fukurokuju almost choked on the words.

The first ronin leader of Wano Country, Hyougoro of the Flower, was being beaten down by a mere child? Fukurokuju had originally thought that this kid might at least be able to drag Hyougoro into a prolonged fight!

But now...

"So, what's the situation?"

Hyougoro struggled to his feet, his voice hoarse as if he had swallowed shards of glass.

Why? Why can't my One Sword Style of the Flower be stopped? 

Although the temperature has indeed risen, it's just heat, and it shouldn't be this powerful.

It should have been completely blocked!

"It's ruined."

Ian approached slowly, "I've broken through your Armament Haki."

The Blaze Cannon is Ian's second most powerful move.

But his strongest move isn't the Immortal Phoenix.

The Immortal Phoenix is Ian's third form, and his strongest attack is the one unique to this form.

He calls it the Sun God's Wrath.

It's the manifestation of the Immortal Phoenix's ability to incinerate everything in the original work.

It consumes vast amounts of physical and mental energy, unleashing flames that obliterate all in their path.

In terms of sheer power, this flame isn't much stronger than the flame in the form of the Immortal Phoenix.

However, this flame has one crucial trait.

A trait that "destroys" everything.

Things that can't be blown up or burned by normal flames are annihilated by this quality.

Haki is no exception.

"Alright,"

Ian, feeling a bit dizzy from the exertion, spoke softly, but to the ronins, his words sounded like thunder,

"Samurai, it's time to surrender."

Wouldn't it have been better to listen to me earlier?

Hyougoro staggered, his voice dry yet resolute,

"Samurai, never surrender!"

Ian sighed. Is that so?

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