Really solid story. While the last chapter was overly predictable for me, this one offered up some nice twists along the way (particularly, that Ryuma was the King, i.e. the greatest swordsman in the world). The double page spread where Ryuma slices off the dragons head was glorious.
Also, since it wasn't already mentioned, it's really cool to see the origins of Ryuma here since he later appears in the Thriller Bark arc of One Piece.