The war continued. As time passed, only a little over forty thousand people were still fighting on the frozen battlefield. Among them, roughly fifteen thousand belonged to the Marine, while the rest were pirates. But these survivors were not to be underestimated. In fact, those who had endured until now were almost all elites. Only war can truly temper warriors. Most of those eliminated early were weak, with very few exceptions.
Naturally, both the Marine and the Three Yonko Alliance had suffered massive losses. On the Alliance's side, Jack was gravely injured with his left arm severed. King and Queen were also seriously wounded. Three of the Tobiroppo had been killed in battle. Other officers and lower-tier combatants suffered heavy casualties as well.
Within the Big Mom Pirates, only Katakuri, Smoothie, and Cracker remained among the Sweet Commanders. The fourth had been killed by Vice Admiral Momonga. Even the surviving three were badly injured. Of the Charlotte Family's more than eighty siblings, nearly half had died.
Elior's side fared far better. Most of the fallen were members of the Germa. The Elior Pirates themselves followed an elite-only doctrine, with fewer than thirty true core members, so most of them were merely injured rather than killed. As for Reiju and the others, they were not considered core members. Their injuries were light and posed no real threat. Moreover, those who had trained repeatedly under Elior were no longer ordinary fighters. They were far stronger than their original counterparts.
On the Marine's side, aside from the deaths of top-tier forces such as Garp and Ryokugyu, most Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals had also fallen. Among the Vice Admirals who once participated in the Buster Call, aside from Tokikake, who was still fighting, the rest had all died in this war. Out of the original twenty-eight Vice Admirals, including Garp, only five remained. There had once been sixty-eight Rear Admirals. Excluding Hina and Ain, who were captured, only around twenty were still alive. As for lower-ranked soldiers, the losses were incalculable.
At this stage, the Three Yonko Alliance's overall combat strength far exceeded that of the Marine. In truth, even if Big Mom and Kaido had merely allied together, they could already contend with the Marine. The Marine might still hold the upper hand, but destroying such an alliance would require a tremendous price. However, once Elior joined them, everything changed.
With only Big Mom and Kaido, the balance of victory leaned toward the Marine. But with Elior's presence, the scales tipped completely and irreversibly toward the Alliance. The Marine had no chance of winning. The reason was simple: the forces behind Big Mom and Kaido were powerful, but still within reason. Elior was different. Both Elior himself and the forces behind him were completely abnormal. Elior alone was terrifying, and under his command were fighters of extraordinary caliber, such as Shiryu at the Yonko deputy level and top-tier monsters like Bullet, World, and Redfield.
Elsewhere, a brutal clash unfolded. Tokikake, transformed into a colossal golden ape, possessed immense size, terrifying strength, and astonishing agility. But Redfield was no ordinary opponent. Redfield had always been a master of both physical combat and swordsmanship. After regaining his youth, his strength had fully returned to its peak. At his height, Redfield was said to rival Whitebeard and Roger themselves, a walking disaster in human form.
Tokikake was not among the strongest Admiral-level fighters. Under Redfield's assault, he was steadily driven back, his injuries worsening by the second. Even with the monstrous resilience and recovery of an Ancient Zoan, no defense could endure damage inflicted faster than it could heal. And his opponent was Redfield, whose swordsmanship was more than sufficient to cleave through Tokikake's defenses.
As pain wracked his body, despair crept into Tokikake's heart. His opponent was a legend from decades past. When Redfield ruled the seas, Tokikake had still been a child. How could he possibly stand against Redfield at his peak? With a roar, Tokikake raised a fist larger than a truck, Armament Haki surging as he hurled it forward.
Redfield's gaze sharpened. He slashed. The strike looked simple, even plain. Redfield did not speak a word, but this was one of his ultimate techniques. Redfield never named his attacks; many of his deadliest moves had no names at all. The slash tore through the air and collided head-on with Tokikake's massive fist. Lightning exploded across the battlefield, and then came the blood. Tokikake's fist, even reinforced with advanced Armament Haki, was split open instantly.
"AAARGH!" Tokikake howled in agony as his arm was torn apart, the pain so intense it ripped through flesh and bone. He wasn't Akainu. He could feel pain, and he screamed. His hardened Haki had been cut clean through.
"Now!" Redfield's eyes narrowed. In the instant Tokikake recoiled in pain, his guard dropped. Redfield stepped forward, launched himself into the air, and charged straight toward Tokikake's exposed abdomen at extreme speed. Sword energy surged violently. Supreme blade intent erupted, with thunder and lightning exploding outward as the surrounding air twisted and collapsed.
"NO!" Tokikake's expression twisted in horror as he tried to retreat and counterattack. It was too late.
BOOM! A colossal slash erupted like a beam of light, tearing through everything in its path. This was Redfield's strongest attack, a technique he had not used in decades. Long ago, on a remote island deep in the New World, this very slash had clashed with Roger's final blow, ending in a draw. Few had ever known of that battle. Later, it was this same attack that had challenged Kong.
Now, it struck Tokikake. His massive body was hurled backward. His abdomen was ripped wide open. Even with reinforced defenses, Redfield's blade tore straight through. Blood sprayed violently as Tokikake crashed into the ice, carving a trench across the battlefield. But that was only the beginning. The slash continued onward, piercing straight through his body and bursting out from his back.
BOOM!
Seconds later, Tokikake slammed into the ground, blood flooding across the ice and staining it crimson. From above, one could see a massive hole in the golden ape's abdomen, nearly two meters wide. It was a wound so severe it defied belief, and one that made survival utterly impossible.