The two swords clashed, emitting a sound like ringing metal. Countless light particles scattered outwards, and a fierce gust of wind kicked up dust from the ground.
"This is truly troublesome, ne I came to this island with a cheerful heart, you know~" Borsalino grimaced, a small, bleeding cut appearing on his cheek.
"Life is full of unexpected complications, Kizaru," Rayleigh chuckled softly.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Immediately after, Rayleigh and Borsalino engaged in a fierce exchange. The real sword and the light sword collided violently, sending sparks flying and iron ringing.
"It seems he really is the 'Dark King'! That's the first time I've ever seen ojiki's attacks blocked." Sentomaru's expression was grim. He looked at the retreating Zoro and muttered, "But we were only one step away from capturing Roronoa, who has a bounty over a hundred million…"
Unwilling to let the opportunity go, Sentomaru commanded the Pacifista behind him, "PX-1, Roronoa is almost on his last breath, take him out first!"
As soon as Sentomaru gave the order, the Pacifista immediately locked onto Zoro nearby and rushed towards him.
Meanwhile, Backan and Benson were also locked in a fierce battle. One intended to stop or eliminate Benson, while the other sought to hold Backan off, buying Mando time to recover his stamina.
Without orders from Backan, Nazwe and the others did not dare to move, only watching as the remaining three Straw Hat members struggled under the attack of the Marine Pacifista.
Rumble!
Suddenly, a figure plummeted rapidly from high in the sky and slammed heavily into the ground. The earth instantly shattered and caved in, with dense, intricate cracks spreading outwards.
"Hehehehe~ Good job, Backan! You almost let them get away again!"
A man in a black coat with a white wave pattern walked out of the deep crater. His face was pale, and large beads of sweat dotted his forehead, but his expression was contorted with a frantic madness.
"Damn it! You bastard!"
Releasing a large amount of chilling air to force Backan back, Benson involuntarily gritted his teeth, a hint of despair in his eyes.
"Hehehehe~ Mando looks completely spent. Benson, what are you going to do now? Hehehehe! Hahaha!" Aeridar laughed maniacally.
"Damn it. If not for that insane Observation Haki, it wouldn't have come to this; such a cheat ability!" Benson said, his face sinking.
"That's right, I never expected my Observation Haki to reach this level. It is indeed a cheat ability, hehehehe~" Aeridar spread his hands, a mocking sneer playing on his lips.
Ever since Aeridar discovered his ability to glimpse a fragment of the future, he had trained his Observation Haki even harder, almost going into seclusion.
Unlike the usual, uncontrolled glimpses of the future, Aeridar could actively predict a person's immediate future if he focused on the sounds emanating from their body and their aura. The greater the stamina consumed, the longer the predicted time, though it was still limited to less than ten minutes.
Benson's Devil Fruit power allowed him to swap places with a marked object anywhere within a hundred-mile radius. However, the greater the distance, the more stamina Benson consumed. He couldn't swap that far every time, and he also didn't have marked objects scattered all over the world.
So, Aeridar's ability to track Mando the entire time relied entirely on this power. But the ability consumed a great deal of stamina. Even with Aeridar's monstrous physical conditioning, he was already more than halfway drained after predicting the future only four times, which was why he looked so fatigued.
"Backan, forget about Straw Hat kid. Go deal with that 'ghost' who likes to run everywhere," Aeridar ordered.
"No problem, Captain!" Backan sneered, clenching his fists, his knuckles cracking loudly.
The moment the words left his mouth, Aeridar and Backan attacked simultaneously.
"You bastard! Frost World: Cold Killing Array!"
Knowing this might be their final stand, Benson instead became calm. He touched the ground with both hands, and the surrounding temperature plummeted sharply. White, transparent frost quickly spread outwards. In a few breaths, it froze everything within a hundred meters, and it continued to expand.
Backan was instantly frozen solid, standing erect like a running ice sculpture.
Meanwhile, Aeridar flew through the air, appearing before Benson in an instant and delivering a horizontal kick to his head.
Boom! Rumble!
Benson was sent tumbling backward, turning into a black blur as he flew away, smashing through several houses and a large tree, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that instantly permeated the area.
Benson's body flew for hundreds of meters before crashing onto the ground and sliding back a long distance, leaving a dented track tens of meters long…
Crack!
A fissure appeared on the ice sculpture and rapidly spread.
Innumerable shards of ice burst outwards. Backan stretched his body and shivered involuntarily. "Hiss! So cold!"
Whoosh!
A small black blur rapidly streaked toward Backan's face.
"Metal Rust!"
Backan grabbed the small black blur—a small, dark arrow about four inches long—but in a single breath, it crumbled into a pile of rust.
"How could I not be aware of your ability!" Backan sneered, looking at Mando, who had raised his arm, and scattered the rust in his hand onto the ground.
"I was just testing you!"
Mando miserably unhooked the crossbow launcher from his arm and threw it to the ground. He had no more arrows.
All the marked items he carried were exhausted. There were two marked items left on Sabaody Archipelago, but they were too far away, and he no longer had the stamina to use his ability.
"Hmph. Prepare to die!" Knowing his opponent was powerless, Backan pushed off the ground, rocketing forward and leaving behind a footprint an inch deep.
"Rust Fracture!"
Backan instantly closed the distance to Mando and smashed his fist down, the whistling wind of the strike so sharp it made the skin sting.
Thud! Crunch!
Mando crossed his arms over his chest to block, but as Backan's fist slammed into his forearms, a horrifying, immense force erupted. The sound of bones cracking was heard, his sleeves shredded, and his arms and chest simultaneously caved inward, with the exposed skin instantly turning to brown rust.
"Pffft!"
Mando spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered back several steps.
"Die!"
Then, Backan roared, delivering another punch straight to Mando's head.
Thud! Rumble!
Backan's fist imprinted on Mando's head, knocking him downward, and continuing to slam him into the ground. The immense force caused the ground to collapse into a deep crater instantly, with over a dozen cracks rapidly spreading outwards. A circle of white air pressure immediately expanded, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Tch~ As expected, he's all out of strength. Why don't you turn into a real ghost already!" Backan clicked his tongue, looking at Mando bleeding from all seven orifices in the deep pit. Damn it, that wasn't satisfying!