Alucard fired continuously. Though his speed wasn’t exceptional, Rayleigh still rapidly closed in. In just a single exchange, Rayleigh’s keen blade swept out, narrowly missing Alucard’s neck.
"Hehe..." Alucard chuckled softly, suddenly raising his black pistol, Jackal. He didn’t even need to aim; he just fired.
As before, Rayleigh used his sword to block. However, this time the bullet was completely different. He was thrown back several meters.
’What’s going on? That gun?’ A hint of surprise flashed in Rayleigh’s eyes as he stared at Jackal’s dark muzzle in astonishment. He could guarantee that even blocking a cannon wouldn’t make him retreat a single step, yet a single shot from that black gun sent him flying?
Alucard tapped Jackal with Casull. Rayleigh noted this action, forming a prediction in his mind.
’Let’s test it,’ Rayleigh thought to himself. He suddenly moved at high speed behind Alucard. However, the instant Rayleigh successfully repositioned, he found that Alucard had already passed his left hand through his right armpit, and the muzzle of Casull was aimed directly at him.
’As expected, he uses Observation Haki, huh? Not simple.’
Gunshots rang out again, and Rayleigh quickly dodged, thinking to himself that very few people in the first half of the Grand Line knew how to use Haki.
Currently, even within the Roger Pirates, only a select few had mastered this power. He never expected this kid, who was just an apprentice like Shanks and Buggy, to have also learned Haki.
Rayleigh didn’t know that Alucard didn’t use Observation Haki at all. He was using Thermal Vision, an ability to see through a person’s body and pinpoint their location based on the different heat signatures they emitted.
Alucard rapidly closed in, and the two began running along the coastline, sword slashes and bullets clashing repeatedly. Rocks and waves in their path were pulverized.
"That kid can actually fight Rayleigh to a standstill?" Gaban, a combatant of the Roger Pirates, said in disbelief. He then blinked as he witnessed another clash of bullets and sword energy. "And that pistol’s power is a bit too much, isn’t it?"
For strong fighters, pistols were generally auxiliary weapons. Roger was the same; most of the time, he primarily used his sword and Haki for attacks.
After over a hundred exchanges, Rayleigh sharply twisted his body, his sword grazing past Casull. The blade’s tip pierced Alucard’s face, puncturing his entire countenance, a truly gruesome sight.
"Whoa, whoa, he’s just a kid, you don’t need to be so..." Tom muttered, watching the scene. A pierced brain meant he couldn’t possibly survive.
"That’s how battles between pirate hunters and pirates go," Shanks sighed. "He attacked Gaban-san first. If he had only gone after Rayleigh-san, Rayleigh-san probably wouldn’t have taken his life. It’s a shame..."
Shanks felt a touch of camaraderie for this individual who could fight Rayleigh to such an extent and was around his own age. But unfortunately, the first rule of the Roger Pirates was that anyone who attacked a comrade could never be forgiven.
On the coastline, Rayleigh pulled his sword from Alucard’s face. With a slight flick, sending a bit of white, brain-like fluid flying, he sighed, "If your target had been me from the start, I would have spared your life. But regrettably, we lost too many comrades in our last battle. Now, that’s absolutely impossible."
Just as Rayleigh was sheathing his sword and turning to walk back towards the Roger Pirates, Roger, who had been silently observing the battle, suddenly roared, "Partner! Behind you!"
With his Observation Haki and Roger’s warning, Rayleigh quickly spun around. He saw that Alucard had, at some unknown point, produced a sharp knife and was bringing it down in a cleaving motion.
If it connected, Rayleigh’s head would be split in half!
Draw his sword to block? No, his sword was in its sheath; there wasn’t time to draw and block. He could only dodge!
The thought flashed through his mind in an instant. Rayleigh quickly retreated. Though he avoided the fatal blow to his skull, the knife sliced his glasses in half and left a direct, bleeding scar over his right eye.
Rayleigh had no time to cry out in pain. The moment he dodged the fatal wound, he immediately drew his weapon.
Meanwhile, Alucard, with a hole gaping in his face, tossed the knife aside and once again revealed his two large handguns from within his blood-red greatcoat.
To the shock of everyone present, the bloody hole in Alucard’s face was rapidly healing.
Upon seeing this, Seagull Ganz Nozdon, the Roger Pirates’ navigator, his pupils contracting, meticulously observed Alucard’s attire and fighting style. He muttered to himself, "Red greatcoat, black and white twin pistols, and wounds that aren’t fatal, powerful self-healing abilities..."
At this point, Nozdon suddenly shouted to Roger, "Captain! That guy, that guy is Alucard! Dracula D. Alucard! The pirate hunter who’s recently killed countless pirates in the Grand Line!"
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