"Sand..." Rosen prepared to unleash Sand Annihilation. If he could land this move, he believed that even with Kizaru's strength, the Admiral would suffer greatly.

But Kizaru instantly sensed the danger. His Observation Haki was exceptional. He softly said, "Explode."

Boom! The laser didn't fire—it exploded at point-blank range. Rosen's expression changed slightly. At that range, there was no escape, and the blast radius was massive.

The explosion consumed several kilometers, flattening everything and blasting a huge crater into the ground.

Kizaru, now light particles, quickly pulled back. As the dust cleared, part of Rosen's golden sand armor had shattered.

The armor absorbed most of the explosion, but the shockwave still forced Rosen to cough up blood. The source of thɪs content is ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt

As expected of a top-tier Devil Fruit user—his attack power, destructive capability, and speed were terrifying.

Even Rosen's sand armor, with its golden-copper traits and high resistance to heat and force, couldn't fully block the blast. But it wasn't surprising—Kizaru could melt steel with his lasers in the original story.

Kizaru's expression grew a bit more serious. He still appeared laid-back, but that seemed to be his nature.

What made him serious was the moment Rosen grabbed his leg—he had felt a powerful sense of danger, prompting him to explode the light at close range.

Though he withdrew in time and used Armament Haki to both attack and defend, he still took some impact—nothing major, since a light-based body was naturally resistant to light explosions.

"Earth Collapse: Sandstorm." Rosen mentally triggered an enhanced version of Earth Scroll. The area had already been turned into desert.

Centered on Kizaru, massive sandstorms rose over 100 meters high and stretched over ten kilometers, forming a spectacular sight.

Waves of sand surged toward Kizaru from every direction.

"Quite the show, but this kind of speed won't hit me. Yata no Kagami," Kizaru said calmly. With a light refraction, he reappeared beside Rosen, dodging the sandstorm.

"Desert Prison!" As Kizaru got close, a sand-formed cell instantly trapped him. Just as Kizaru tried to turn into light, Rosen quickly shrank the prison, his hand on a sand pillar, Haki spreading over it.

Rosen's overall power boost had greatly improved his Haki.

"Shrink!" The prison closed in further, but Kizaru successfully turned to light and slipped through a gap in the structure.

Rosen frowned. That light-speed mobility was truly a headache.

Kizaru's light form reformed just enough to produce an arm—and he immediately fired a laser. Rosen, already maintaining partial elementality, turned into sand before the laser hit, letting it pass through and detonate behind him.

Swish, swish, swish... But it wasn't just one beam. Seven or eight were fired. Rosen rapidly widened the distance—close range meant less time to react.

Though Rosen wasn't slow, he was no match for Kizaru's speed.

Ssst!

Despite dodging quickly, one beam still pierced Rosen's shoulder—too fast, and reinforced with Haki, even stronger than the earlier light-speed kick.

"Tenken!" Gaining the upper hand, Kizaru instantly pressed the attack. He needed to finish off Crocodile quickly, even if he found Rosen harder to handle than King Landis.

If he couldn't secure this battlefield soon, the Marines would lose their advantage. As a seasoned veteran, he understood this well.

Whoosh!

The next laser was Kizaru himself. Rosen blocked with a golden sand blade, both weapons coated in Haki. The clash shook the entire island—deep chasms split the ground, threatening to tear the land apart.

More accurately, it had already split. The landmass began to separate from the main island, and even the clouds overhead were blown away.

The shockwave was like a carpet of missiles—massive rock and dirt waves rose layer by layer.

"Still not quite enough..." Rosen muttered. "In terms of pure Devil Fruit development, my sand powers have reached Admiral level. But my Haki and swordsmanship still lag behind."

So despite being beyond Vice Admiral-level overall, he only had one area—his Fruit power—at Admiral-level. That wasn't enough to fully go toe-to-toe with an Admiral.

Based on system metrics, if 1000 proficiency points marks Admiral-level strength, then Rosen's sand ability had just reached that.

But his Haki and physical/sword skills hadn't.

Could he truly battle an Admiral? Possibly—if the opponent specialized in Fruit abilities. But Kizaru wasn't just that; his Haki was also formidable.

By Rosen's judgment, his overall power was still far below Kizaru's.

Still, the gap wasn't as wide as between a typical Vice Admiral and Admiral—because Rosen's Fruit could hurt Kizaru. In a straight-up clash, his chance of matching was maybe 30–40%.

Winning? Much lower—even top-tier fighters wouldn't bet on that outcome.

Because Rosen could sense Kizaru had two skills over 1000 proficiency—his Fruit and his Haki.

The power system of this world was split into four main areas: Haki, Devil Fruit, physical technique, and swordsmanship.

Even Admirals didn't necessarily master all four, but generally, the more high-level skills one had, the stronger their overall ability.

As the fight escalated, Rosen could even infer Admiral Akainu's build—likely mastering three: Haki, physical technique, and Fruit ability.

From Rosen's probing, Kizaru's physical ability wasn't much better than his own, but his Fruit control was more advanced—possibly at 1300–1400 proficiency. His Haki was over 1000 too.

Even his swordsmanship neared high-level proficiency. No wonder Kizaru leaned so heavily on his Fruit—it was a huge advantage when developed this well.

Rosen, on the other hand, had just reached Kizaru's level in Fruit power. His physical defense was slightly better, but his swordsmanship and Haki were much weaker.

Physical skills were Kizaru's weak point—but even then, he was stronger than most Vice Admirals. His weakest area still outclassed regular elites.

Overall, Rosen was still no match. A prolonged fight would wear him down—but he could wound Kizaru.

And in battle, proficiency data wasn't everything. Combat was unpredictable. Timing, reading the situation, and mental clarity were key.

Those factors didn't matter with overwhelming power—but when forces were close, they decided the outcome.

Unfortunately, Admiral Kizaru had immense battle experience—he'd fought countless wars as a Marine. He had likely faced even stronger enemies before.

Every Admiral was a living legend—textbook material in Marine training. So in a drawn-out battle...

Rosen's odds of losing were high. His abilities were solid, his physical prowess decent—but not dominant.

(End of Chapter)