"Surround them!"
"For justice!"
"Kill!"
"Annihilate the Roger Pirates!"
The Marines' battle cries shook the skies, crashing over the battlefield like thunder.
On the deck of a battleship, Rayleigh stood with his sword in hand, his sharp gaze tracking the distant figures of Darren and the Golden Lion. A frown creased his brow as he turned toward Sengoku. His voice was calm, but there was steel beneath it.
"Sengoku… are you truly that confident? That boy may be strong, but in a one-on-one duel with Golden Lion, he'll be cut down. If I'm not mistaken, isn't he the Marine's most important weapon right now? Your so-called 'strategic deterrent'?"
Sengoku's eyes narrowed, his voice like frozen iron. "Rayleigh, Dark King… that's none of your concern." His gaze flicked toward the Oro Jackson, now completely hemmed in by Marine warships. "I've waited years for this chance to erase the Roger Pirates. I won't allow anyone—or anything—to derail it."
Rayleigh's words were clear enough. Sengoku knew exactly what he was trying to do: force him to divide his focus, to peel away even a fraction of reinforcements for Darren's sake. If Sengoku took the bait, the pressure on Roger's crew would ease, giving them their only chance to break free.
But Sengoku's resolve was immovable.
Rayleigh exhaled, almost a laugh, though there was no mirth in it. "…Hopeless."
He cast a glance toward the Oro Jackson. The ship was ringed by Marine vessels, grappling hooks and boarding planks locked into place. Marines and pirates clashed in bloody chaos, face to face, blade to blade. The decks ran red.
They had just endured a storm that should have sunk them. Their strength was already drained, and the Oro Jackson herself groaned under heavy damage. The shipwrights fought to patch her wounds, but there was no time. Escape by sail was impossible.
That left only one path forward.
We fight to the last breath.
Rayleigh's aura erupted.
Zzzzzzt!
Crimson lightning crackled and roared around him, twisting the very air until the space seemed to waver and blur. His presence alone pressed down like an avalanche.
"Conqueror's Haki… at that scale!"
Sengoku's eyes narrowed, a flicker of unease slipping through his composure. Rumor had always whispered that the Dark King's strength rivaled the Pirate King's own. Looking at him now, Sengoku wondered if it was no rumor at all.
Rayleigh pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. His sword gleamed, his hair whipped wildly in the storm of his aura, and his gaze was sharp enough to cut. "So tell me, Sengoku… was it you who leaked word of this war to the Golden Lion? To draw him out?"
"No comment."
Golden radiance burst from Sengoku's body, his form swelling into a towering Buddha of light. He sank into an offensive stance, the deck trembling under the weight of his transformation.
Rayleigh's tone turned cold as a blade. "The Roger Pirates as bait to draw Shiki's eyes… Clever. Almost makes me believe this entire war was orchestrated by Marine hands. To quietly pit the two strongest pirate crews against each other…" He let the thought hang, then finished, his words like a blade's edge. "Sengoku the Strategist indeed."
Their eyes met for a single, still moment.
Then both vanished.
The world exploded.
"Red Lotus!"
A roar shook the battlefield as a colossal fist of molten rock erupted—then twisted into the form of a giant flaming hound. Its jaws snapped open, its body blooming like a lotus of fire, blinding crimson light flooding the battlefield.
"Moonlight Double Hunt!"
With a bellow, Gaban's twin axes spun into a storm. Coated in Haki, they cleaved through the magma beast, shattering it into flaming shards that rained across the deck.
The explosion sent plumes of smoke and molten rock splattering across the ship, the heat warping the air. Lava hissed against the deck as Gaban lowered his axes, glaring through the smoke. "Magma, huh… The Marines are raising monsters these days."
From the haze, a figure strode forward, half his body already molten rock. Sakazuki's glare burned hotter than his magma. "If that strike had landed," he growled, "it would've pierced your heart."
"Scopper Gaban, Roger's third hand…" His voice was cold, final. "This is where your journey ends."
Gaban answered with a feral grin, slamming his axes together with a clang that echoed like a challenge. "Don't count me out just yet."
All around, the battle raged.
"Protect the Oro Jackson!"
"Dammit, he's too fast—!"
"Watch out, he's a Logia!"
On the Oro Jackson's deck, Borsalino danced between beams of light and flesh, slipping through blows like a mirage. Sunbell's harpoon crashed against his sword in a burst of sparks, while Spencer, Taro, and Mugren pressed him with unrelenting fury.
Borsalino tilted his head, sunglasses flashing, and sighed theatrically. "My, my… a Fish-Man warrior too? The Roger Pirates really are something. Every one of you a monster."
"Shut up!"
"Like hell!"
"You bastard!"
Their roars answered him, weapons flashing as they drove him back in a storm of blows.
Elsewhere—
"Bwahahaha! Roger, let's see who breaks first!"
"Dammit, Garp! You knocked out my front teeth!"
Above the splintered wreckage of a ship, two titans collided in a storm of red and black lightning. Fist met blade, their blows detonating the air itself, shockwaves tearing the sea into walls of water and rending the clouds from the sky.
The world seemed to lose its color, collapsing into raw force and fury.
Then—
"Hahahaha! Vice Admiral Garp, I've got you covered!"
A new voice rang out, bright with youthful vigor.
From the dog-headed battleship, a tall figure leapt high, an ice spear glittering in his hand. With reckless courage, Kuzan hurled it straight at Roger.
Roger's brow rose in surprise, ready to counter.
But Garp was faster.
"Kuzan, you brat! Stay out of this!" His roar split the sky. "Roger belongs to me!"
His fist blurred forward—
"Huh—?" Kuzan froze, eyes wide.
The next instant, Garp's punch slammed into him, sending him hurtling like a cannonball into the sea.
The ocean erupted.
With a deafening crack, the water froze solid, spreading in a glittering rush until a stretch of sea two kilometers wide lay locked in ice. The waves stilled, ships trapped in gleaming crystal. The Oro Jackson herself sat frozen in place, caught mid-battle.
"The sea's frozen over!"
"Rear Admiral Kuzan is unbelievable!"
"He's secured the field for us!"
"Charge!"
For a moment the Marines could only stare. Then their instincts surged. Swords drawn, they sprinted across the frozen sea, racing toward the Oro Jackson to finish the job.
To be continued...