Chapter 30: Duel of Shadow and Flash!

[Swish!]

As a long, shimmering golden leg flashed past, Moonlight Moria's head unexpectedly shattered, dissolving into fluttering fragments of torn black shadows in mid-air.

"Eh—?"

Borsalino looked with confusion at Moria's body, which had turned into a mass of purplish-black shadows.

[Shua!]

Suddenly, the black shadow swung its sharp shadow blade with a violent force, transforming into a streak of black light that slashed horizontally across the former's waist, cutting Borsalino clean in two.

However, there were no wounds or blood at the cut; instead, there was a brilliant golden light. Following a flash of gold, Borsalino reappeared in the exact spot where he had originally been standing in the blink of an eye.

"How scary~"

Borsalino maintained an expression of lingering fear. His gaze bypassed the black shadow to look at Moonlight Moria, who had appeared fifty meters away at some unknown moment, his face filled with confusion.

"Are you also a Logia user? But the records say you are a Paramecia-type Shadow-Shadow Fruit user."

"Hehehe—I'd like to know myself why your elementalization can immunize you against my slashes, even though that last attack was coated in Haki."

Moonlight Moria had no interest in introducing his abilities; instead, he countered with a question. This was his first time facing a Logia user, so he wasn't entirely certain if Haki could harm an elemental form.

"Well, who knows~"

Borsalino's answer was entirely insincere.

"Hmph, we'll find out once we fight. I truly don't believe Haki is useless against you!" Moonlight Moria snorted coldly, then shouted, "Shadow Mage, charge with me!"

[Bang—]

With a powerful stomp on the ground, his nearly seven-meter-tall frame instantly accelerated, easily smashing through the shockwaves produced by the sonic boom, charging forward as a massive purplish-black afterimage.

Simultaneously, a black shadow identical in form to him brandished a shadow blade, approaching Borsalino first to deliver a series of slashes.

"Ama no Murakumo~"

Borsalino was even faster. He casually drew a golden longsword composed entirely of light particles, instantly parrying the shadow blade's attack.

In the next two seconds, the shadow blade and the light sword clashed continuously at a speed so high it appeared blurred to the naked eye. Black and golden lights clashed with a series of clangs, creating continuous ripples of shockwaves in mid-air, while occasional stray slashes carved ferocious, long cracks into the ground.

A second later, Moria's main body closed in, attempting to flank Borsalino from behind, but the latter shifted several meters away in a flash, refusing to give him any opportunity for a pincer attack.

Left with no choice, Moria and his "Shadow Mage" launched rapid attacks from both left and right, swinging dangerous purplish-black slashes with every strike.

Borsalino parried with his sword while observing the situation of the two.

He discovered that this so-called "Shadow Mage" was essentially identical to Moria's main body in terms of strength, speed, and reaction.

The only difference lay in their Haki; the former's shadow blade was only coated in a thin layer of Armament Haki, whereas the latter's longsword possessed an extremely dense aura of Haki, even "hardening" the blade.

However, in terms of pure swordsmanship, he was clearly superior, even though Moria's blade work was quite impressive.

And then, there was the speed!

[Shua—]

Borsalino transformed into a flash of light once again, vanishing from his spot in an instant and reappearing to the left of Moria's main body to deliver a downward slash.

Fortunately, Moria's Observation Haki was decent, allowing him to react immediately, but it was too late to block with his blade.

As for using Armament Haki to harden his body to test the sharpness of the "Ama no Murakumo," that was out of the question—the light sword was clearly coated in a layer of Haki as well.

"Shadow Warrior!"

At this critical moment, Moria once again utilized the power of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit to swap positions with his shadow—the "Shadow Mage."

"Arere~~"

Borsalino raised an eyebrow at the sight, but Moria did not hesitate for a second, immediately unleashing his finishing move.

"Scatter Bats!"

With a roar, the "Shadow Mage" in front of him suddenly exploded, transforming into a dense swarm of shadow bats that lunged forward. They scattered in all directions, enveloping Borsalino like a black net from multiple angles.

Though the move was sudden, Borsalino possessed Observation Haki, and combined with the absolute speed of the Glint-Glint Fruit, he instantly dodged all the biting bats, reappearing high in the sky.

"Yo~ what a troublesome ability—" Borsalino rubbed his chin, looking down with a troubled expression.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Moonlight Moria stared upward with a furrowed brow, cursing under his breath, "This guy is too fast. How am I supposed to fight this?"

In his view, their swordsmanship was evenly matched, meaning neither could gain an advantage through skill alone; it would come down to Haki and Devil Fruit abilities.

In terms of Armament and Observation Haki, he seemed to be at a slight disadvantage, and regarding their abilities, it appeared neither could easily overcome the other.

The coordination between "Shadow Mage" and "Shadow Warrior" was essentially a combination of elementalization and spatial swapping; it provided excellent defense, but making actual damage on Borsalino was far too difficult.

"It looks like this will be a long fight. This battle..." Moonlight Moria thought to himself, when suddenly, he remembered his fellow clansmen.

The fight had escalated this much, and they still hadn't noticed?!

[Pii————]

But Borsalino gave him no chance to check on his kin. The "Ama no Murakumo" in his hand vanished, replaced by a dazzling golden flash igniting at his fingertip.

[Swish! Swish! Swish!]

Three beams of light shot out, approaching Moonlight Moria with such speed they seemed instantaneous. However, relying on his Observation Haki, Moria took a few casual steps, easily dodging the laser rays.

"Hehehe—what good is that?" Moria sneered.

Although Borsalino's Observation Haki seemed more proficient than his, the gap wasn't large enough for him to predict Moria's own predictions.

But in the next second, as the light beams struck the snow behind him, three bright red explosions expanded. The high-temperature flames and shockwaves instantly swallowed a large area of snow and Moonlight Moria.

[Pii————]

Borsalino remained calm in the sky. The light beams at his fingertips continued to fire, sending down another three shots.

*You can swap positions with your shadow clone?*

*Fine, then I'll just blow them both up together. Try dodging that!*

[Shua!]

Suddenly, an anomaly occurred. Amidst the continuous explosions and flames, a massive purplish-black slash appeared, actually cutting through the fire and shockwaves temporarily.

Immediately after, the "Shadow Mage" soared into the sky, flying directly in front of Borsalino. The blackness on its body rapidly receded, revealing a somewhat disheveled Moria himself.

"Die!!"

A three-meter-long greatsword swung down violently. The sharp blade, wrapped in thick purplish-black shadow energy and dense Armament Haki, attempted to cleave Borsalino in two from top to bottom.

However, the result was the same as before. No blood appeared; instead, Borsalino turned into two streaks of golden light that shot off to the left and right, only to merge back into one in the distant sky. That irritating, sly face reappeared once more.

"Yo~ your shadow clone can even fly? What a terrifying ability~~"

Borsalino pouted with an expression of feigned surprise, but seeing Moria descending, he grinned. "I see, so you can't fly after swapping positions."

However, Moria's torn clothes and furious expression clearly indicated that the previous six light-beam explosions had indeed had an effect.

In that case, he would increase the intensity!

Just as Moonlight Moria landed back on the ground, which was now filled with scorched craters, it was as if a sun had appeared in the sky, its blinding golden light covering the entire blue firmament.

"Yasaka no Magatama~~"