Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates

While Zoro's battle was ending, Sanji's battle had just begun.

"I didn't expect my fellow vice admiral to lose so easily. He was too negligent to his swordsmanship and received a retribution." Momonga spoke with some disappointment in his tone.

"I don't understand you, swordsmen. How is it that every one of you must speak with such a tone as if everyone owes you something?" Sanji lit up his cigarette and asked.

"A swordsman must keep his attitude in check. There are times when a swordsman loses his concentration and loses his battle. I am not like my colleague."

"I have followed the Way of the Sword for as long as I can remember. I would've loved to fight your crewmate, but I will be satisfied with what I get." Momonga spoke while holding the hilt of his sword.

Hearing his words, Sanji squinted his eyes, and a curve emerged on his lips.

"Then, you aren't going to go any further. Although I don't like Marimo, one thing that he has that I envy the most is his Will to push forward. He will never be satisfied until he gets what he wanted."

"That's why he will become the World's Greatest Swordsman."

Momonga was stunned for a moment. Then, he realized something.

Hawkeye, Shanks, and Gion- all of them were swordsmen, but what makes all of them formidable isn't their devil fruit or exceptional power.

It's their Sword skills.

While Shanks might not be the best at sword skill, he is by no means a weakling. His sword skills were only surpassed by the likes of Mihawk, which just shows the power of his swordsmanship.

Then, there is Gion, whose strength might not be at that level, but her sword skills are enough to make her an admiral candidate despite not having the devil fruit.

The reason why Admirals were known as the highest combat power of the Navy is because of their strength. And unlike emperors, whose advanced conqueror haki can increase their strength, admirals rely on their devil fruit.

It's not that to say that Emperors don't have devil fruit. Three out of four emperors are devil fruit users, but that's also the reason why it requires more than one admiral to fight one emperor.

So, for Gion to have sword skills comparable to that of devil fruit power reflected her swordsmanship.

For a moment, Momonga paused. His heart was shaken by his own defeated Will. But the justice that he had followed for years burned that fire inside his heart.

The defeated Will was slowly getting burned and reborn through the flames of his Justice.

When that happened, Momonga's sword began to vibrate. Armament Haki began to spread around his sword, and the black-clad armor of armament boosted his overall strength.

"I just had to make my enemy stronger." Sanji couldn't help but feel speechless. Despite that, he didn't disturb Momonga.

He could use this rare moment when Momonga wasn't focusing on the battle to finish it quickly. He didn't want to win like that. He wanted to win against Momonga with his full strength.

And Momonga realized that. When his defeated Will was reborn from the fires of his determination, he raised his sword and said.

"Thank you for waiting! But my Justice will end your journey here."

"Now, I wouldn't be so sure." Sanji's body began to glow with lightning bolts. As he transformed into lightning and moved toward Momonga, his speed caused a ripple in the air.

The dash caused the ground beneath him to shake as he wasn't flying but running. His speed was so fast that Momonga had to put extra effort into his Observation Haki to simply catch his movements.

Bang!

Sanji's leg swept toward Momonga's head. It was extremely fast, but Momonga didn't dodge it. Instead, he used his sword to block Sanji's kick.

At that moment, he quickly stomped his foot and then dodged to the side. As Sanji raised his other leg, it was brought straight down with the lightning covering his ankles and feet.

Boom!

His feet struck the ground as Momonga had already dodged them. But Sanji didn't care. He moved forward, disappearing in front of Momonga with his lightning speed and appearing behind him.

Once again, Momonga quickly turned around and used both of his hands to hold the sword as he used it to block Sanji's kick.

Due to the presence of Armament Haki, Sanji's lightning kick wasn't able to melt the sword or electrocute him through the medium of the sword.

"This meal is very troublesome to cook. It's time to cook the entree."

Sanji's body suddenly disappeared, and he reappeared in mid-air. His body began to spin crazily until his lightning legs were covered with flames.

"The heat of the lightning wasn't enough to cook this meal. So, I added an extra layer of heat. The seasoning of devils will cook this meal perfectly."

Sanji's voice sounded from the air. The fire of his passion and the heat of his lightning began to merge at his feet. When they merged into a singular being, it turned the blue lightning into red lightning.

[Wheel of Recipe]

Sanji suddenly disappeared from mid-air. When he reappeared, he was above Momonga. Sanji spun himself like a wheel in mid-air and launched a kick at Momonga's head.

[One Sword Style- Pillar of Justice]

Momonga's sword stabbed forward, pushing all of his strength and armament into the tip of his sword.

Boom!

The red lightning feet and armament-clad sword tip clashed. This clash created a spark of red lightning and black energy.

The ground beneath them began to split in several pieces, and a large crater emerged underneath Momonga's foot.

Momonga didn't feel anything until he found the armament at the tip of the sword slowly breaking apart.

"My armament. It's getting burned. But, how?"

Momonga couldn't believe what he was seeing. At this moment, Sanji's foot temperature had risen to such a degree that it would burn his armament haki.

Whoosh!

Sanji suddenly disappeared above his head and reappeared next to him. This time, he landed a roundhouse kick. But Momonga was easily able to perceive his movement and used his sword, coating it with more armament Haki.

Bang!

When the sword and the feet collided, the intense heat coming out of the collision started creating flames around them. The armament was once again getting burned.

Sanji didn't continue to pressure him; instead, he disappeared once again and reappeared from another side to kick him.

Despite that, Momonga was easily able to perceive his movements. And, their clash began to go wild. The sparks of red lightning would destroy his armament haki and the ground he was standing on.

His sword wouldn't be able to pierce Sanji's Armament Haki. Combined with these two factors, Sanji began to press him quite easily.

Until Momonga finally realized something. He threw the blade from his right hand to his left hand and swung it toward Sanji, who came to attack him.

This causes Sanji to back off.

It wasn't just Momonga who realized it. As soon as he made that move, Sanji was able to figure it out as well.

"So, you finally realized it."

"I can't believe there is someone as intelligent as you in a pirate crew." Momonga couldn't help but feel depressed. His sword was fine.

"I thought you would call me scumbag or lowlife." Sanji chuckled while picking up his cigarette and lit it up with lightning.

Momonga shook his head.

"I am a swordsman, and you used that against me. You knew that I would do anything to protect my sword. And I realized your powers a bit too late."

"You lost, marine." Sanji slowly made a serious face, and the red lightning emerged on his foot once more.

Momonga glanced at that red lightning.

"Was it your first time using this power?"

"If I say yes, will you believe it?" Sanji asked.

"I will believe it." Momonga replied.

"Damn!" Sanji rolled his eyes.

"You are being too friendly to a pirate. I need to finish this quickly."

Saying so, Sanji instantly appeared in front of his chest. This time, Momonga didn't use his sword to block it; instead, he used all of the Armament Haki he could muster into his chest.

[Final Shot- Lightning of the Sun God]

His body spun in mid-air, creating a drill with the red lightning. The lightning around him formed a drill that ended at his right foot as he smashed into Momonga's chest.

Boom!

That little bit of armament Haki was burned instantly. The moment his feet contacted his chest, the armament Haki was burned easily.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Momonga's body flew like a pebble on the water. He collided with the ground a few times before he finally struck a large piece of rock and stopped in front of it.

At this moment, a blue lightning sparkled in front of him, and Sanji appeared with a sword in his hand.

He put down the sword next to Momonga and stood up.

"Thanks for helping me grow stronger! Next time we meet, I hope you can show me new sword moves."