The violent explosion raged on for quite a while before finally subsiding.
At that moment, the Charlotte family members slowly raised their heads, only to see that the center of the blast had been hollowed out into a massive crater.
The top floors of the Whole Cake Chateau looked as if they had been ravaged by a cataclysmic storm—completely unrecognizable.
"Where's Mama?!" Owen asked urgently.
Everyone immediately began scanning the area for Charlotte Linlin. With just a glance, they spotted her enormous figure.
There she stood, perfectly unharmed—one hand gripping the long sword Napoleon, the other clutching the thundercloud Zeus.
Seeing that Charlotte Linlin was safe, the crowd let out a collective sigh of relief. They all knew Mama's strength was unmatched, but that explosion had been terrifyingly strong, enough to make even them worry.
Katakuri also exhaled in relief—after all, Charlotte Linlin was his mother. But then another thought struck him. What about Rosinante? His eyes immediately shifted toward the center of the explosion high in the sky.
The other Charlottes remembered Rosinante as well, turning their gazes toward the blazing inferno.
The center of the blast was still a sea of rolling flames, burning furiously without pause.
"What's the situation? Is he dead or not?" Opera muttered.
"I see someone in the flames!" Daifuku pointed out.
"If there's someone in there, then it must mean Rosinante didn't escape! He's probably been burned to ashes by Prometheus!" Owen declared.
"No… this is bad. Rosinante's still alive—he's charging up. His aura is growing stronger and stronger!" Perospero's voice was tense.
Through his Observation Haki, he could clearly sense that Rosinante was building up his power inside the flames, his presence swelling more and more with each moment.
"Zeus—lightning!" Charlotte Linlin barked, shoving a massive amount of soul energy into the thundercloud.
"Yes, Mama!" Zeus answered, his fluffy form crackling as arcs of electricity danced within.
Suddenly, a gigantic pillar of lightning shot down from the sky, slamming into Rosinante in an instant!
"Ahhh!" Rosinante's pained cry echoed as the bolt struck.
When the blinding light faded, his figure was revealed.
He looked utterly battered—his clothes were little more than charred rags, and his skin was scorched black from the lightning strike.
Yet he moved. Slowly, Rosinante lifted his head, a glint of icy resolve flashing in his eyes.
He had just taken Prometheus's explosion head-on, followed immediately by Zeus's colossal lightning strike.
The combined might of those attacks was overwhelming. The power of Silence could not nullify everything; Rosinante had only been able to cancel part of it. The rest, he had endured with his own body.
"No way I'm taking a beating without hitting back. This punch… is for you! Release—Extreme Critical!" Rosinante roared.
He lashed out with a devastating punch, compressing an enormous amount of force into a single blow. All that gathered power erupted, forming a massive column of energy shaped like a fist, streaking toward Charlotte Linlin like a beam of light.
"Elbaf's Spear—Ikoku Sovereignity!" At the very same moment, Charlotte Linlin swung, unleashing a gigantic slash.
While Rosinante had been charging his attack, so had she—and this strike was several times stronger than the Ikoku Sovereignty she'd unleashed earlier.
"Not good! Get out of here, now!" Katakuri's face changed drastically. Without hesitation, he leapt out of the chateau.
The Big Mom Pirates instantly understood the danger. Faces pale, they all withdrew at once.
The two colossal attacks collided, and the shock of their clash shook not only the Whole Cake Chateau, but the entire Whole Cake Island.
All over the island, residents felt the violent tremor. Panic spread as they looked around in confusion, not yet knowing what had happened.
Inside the chateau, the overwhelming powers slammed together and instantly erupted.
Sensing the blast about to engulf him, Rosinante's face darkened.
A monstrous force crashed into him, sending his body hurtling uncontrollably into the sky.
The explosion obliterated everything in its path.
The island's inhabitants, who had just been glancing toward the castle, now saw a cataclysm unfold—the top of the Whole Cake Chateau erupted in a destructive blast that wiped away nearly a third of its height.
The unleashed shockwave swept outward like a raging hurricane, flinging citizens through the air.
Katakuri and the others had barely jumped away when the explosion's force tore through the upper floors. Even so, the gale-like pressure tossed them around violently, slamming them into the ground.
Perospero, already weakened after having part of his Silence injury lifted, was knocked completely unconscious by the impact.
When the winds finally died down, they looked up to see the devastation—one-third of the Whole Cake Chateau was gone, reduced to ruin.
"Mama!" Daifuku shouted in alarm.
The Big Mom Pirates, stunned at the sight, scrambled to their feet.
"Go! We need to check on Mama!" Daifuku urged.
"And get Perospero to treatment!" Owen added.
"Pff—pff!" High above, Rosinante's body was still being carried upward by the force. Blood poured from his mouth with each cough.
When the shock finally subsided, he was left covered in injuries, his breathing ragged. The wounds were so severe that even his Healing Seal couldn't erase them immediately.
Even so, the only reason he was still alive was because of the Healing Seal—without it, that impact might have killed him outright.
"Damn… went too far again. Nearly got myself killed. Damn it, I've been pulling reckless stunts way too often lately," Rosinante muttered between gasps.
"My stamina's nearly gone… if I push it any further, I'll have to use the Life Seal. I'd better link up with Katakuri and get out of here fast," he thought grimly.
Rosinante avoided using the Life Seal unless there was absolutely no other choice.
Unlike the Healing Seal, once the Life Seal was unleashed, it would be destroyed.
Carving a new Life Seal was a painstaking process, costing him tremendous time, effort, and Silence power.
It was his final trump card—and he had no intention of wasting it unless the situation demanded it.
The top third of the Whole Cake Chateau was nothing but rubble now.
That punch Rosinante had thrown was no weaker than the one that erased Ohara from existence, and Charlotte Linlin's slash was easily on par with Sakazuki and Kuzan at full strength.
Thankfully, the clash had detonated in midair—if it had been at ground level, the entire Whole Cake Island might have been devastated, the chateau certainly reduced to nothing.
Even so, the midair blast had been enough to annihilate a third of the towering fortress.
"Sister… Sister…" A childlike cry rose from within the ruins.
"Sister, where are you?" Charlotte Linlin's voice called as she shoved aside the debris covering her.
Her body was marred with numerous wounds.
Even a monster like her couldn't emerge completely unscathed from such a blast.
Still, it was precisely because she was such a monster that she had survived with only superficial injuries.
"Linlin, semla delivery!" A voice suddenly rang out as a figure darted into the wreckage.
It was a man carrying a towering platter stacked high with semla buns. He leapt into the air and landed beside her, shoving the entire mountain of pastries into Charlotte Linlin's mouth without hesitation.
The towering pile of semla vanished into her maw as she chewed furiously.
"So happy…" she murmured, tears sparkling in her eyes as bliss spread across her face. Then she lay back on the ground, utterly content.
The man was none other than the Big Mom Pirates' second-in-command—Streusen.
His expression turned solemn as he looked toward the sky.
Up above, a lone figure was descending slowly—his gaze equally heavy—as he looked upon the short, elderly man of seventy or so who stood below.