Chapter 226: The Dark Cloud of Defeat
Garp and Aokiji launched a mighty attack on the gradually thinning Big Mom, suppressing her for a moment, but their faces changed drastically.
"Zephyr... he can't hold on anymore?"
"Instructor Zephyr—"
In front of them, Big Mom, looking utterly wretched and several sizes smaller, her messy pink hair replaced by flames, steadied herself and revealed a cruel smile.
"Ma~ma~mamama."
"That guy Zephyr is about to be taken out by that brat Louis!"
"Then again, he was never a match for you or Sengoku in the first place. He's gotten old. How could he be a match for that brat Louis?!"
Big Mom fought back her hunger pangs, raised a hand to break the ice covering her body, and swung Napoleon, wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, to meet Aokiji in mid-air.
"Although that guy is very annoying, he's a Lunarian, and an existence born strong, just like me! Just how long can Zephyr last under his hand?!"
BOOM!
An iron fist wreathed in Armament Haki and the blade of Napoleon collided, tearing the earth apart from a distance. The ground shattered, and countless huge chunks of rock and soil were sent scattering into the air like fallen leaves.
Big Mom exerted her strength with both hands, directly knocking Aokiji back. She then raised her hand, took the blazing Prometheus from her head, and gripped it in her palm.
"Heavenly Fire!"
She wreathed it in Conqueror's Haki and smashed it toward Garp, who had leaped high and was twisting his body to swing a punch.
BOOM!
In the midst of the violent collision, the surrounding earth suffered a devastating blow, and the entire battlefield showed signs of shattering.
Garp gritted his teeth and sent Big Mom flying with a punch, making her kneel as she flew back and crashed into a giant rock. Then, he landed heavily on the earth, his legs bent, shattering the ground in a thousand-meter radius. After falling into the seawater, he leaped high again and headed straight for Zephyr's direction.
After Garp left, Aokiji seamlessly took his place. He raised his hand and released an extreme chill, condensing one after another ice spears imbued with endless cold, and shot them in Big Mom's direction.
BOOM!
A giant rock, a hundred meters in size, exploded, and chunks of debris the size of human heads were sent flying.
Big Mom, looking utterly wretched, coughed as she walked out of the smoke and dust, her long hair, replaced by flames, swaying and burning. Just as she raised her sword with both hands, preparing to counter-attack, one after another, ice spears pierced through the dust and repeatedly struck her increasingly thin body.
Under her defense, which was almost second only to Louis's, even the incomparably sharp ice spears failed to pierce her skin. But the endless chill contained within them erupted in an instant, and in addition to temporarily extinguishing Prometheus, it froze her body from the neck down.
Seeing this, Big Mom's face turned ashen. Her entire body burst forth with a monstrous strength far exceeding that of a giant, directly causing countless cracks to appear on the giant ice crystal that was freezing her.
"ICE AGE—" Aokiji whispered.
The next moment, an endless chill spread from the distance, instantly freezing Big Mom again, who had been on the verge of breaking the ice. Immediately after, Aokiji's body turned into a cold current and arrived in an instant, flying to the top of Big Mom's head.
Aokiji's usually lazy eyes were now incomparably sharp, and his expression had become extremely serious. Aokiji, with his back to the sun, made it impossible for Big Mom, who was once again causing countless cracks to appear on the ice, to see his current appearance. Only his eyes, which were glowing with a strange light, were real.
One after another, Haki lightning crackled around Aokiji's body. It quickly gathered, concentrating on his one remaining fist, which he then swung violently at Big Mom.
The iron fist technique he had learned from Garp, and which he had honed day and night with dilapidated warships, landed unreservedly on Big Mom's ashen face.
BOOM!
The already teetering ground, at this moment, once again split open with countless canyon-like fissures. The covering of ice and snow shattered in an instant, and was sent flying by the terrifying shockwave along with Haki lightning.
Just as Aokiji was about to swing a second punch, a burly figure like a brown bear was sent flying from the distance, directly smashing into him and sending them both crashing into a giant rock not far away.
Garp stood up, leaning against the giant rock. He pulled out the spear that was crackling with searing white lightning and had shallowly pierced his shoulder. He panted slightly, his gaze falling on the distance, on the scene of Louis splitting Zephyr's chest open. In an instant, his entire being became desolate.
"Zephyr—"
"Instructor Zephyr—" Behind him, Aokiji lowered his eyes, his face half-buried in shadow. At this moment, they both knew that Zephyr's death was now irreversible.
Just then, Big Mom, looking utterly wretched, a fist-print deeply embedded in her face, abruptly stood up and roared into the distance, "That guy... just how long are you going to play with that blind man?! That guy Louis has already defeated Zephyr! Zephyr is about to die! Are you going to lose to that brat Louis?! KAIDO!"
Big Mom's roar made Kaido, who was in the distance swinging his kanabō at Fujitora in a series of seemingly casual but actually incomparably sharp blows, turn the corners of his mouth up slightly.
"Worororo! How unsightly, old hag! To actually get beaten up like this by Garp and Aokiji!"
Hearing this, Big Mom became even more agitated and said coldly, "Aren't you also just playing around with a blind man?"
Gradually, Big Mom's figure had almost thinned down to what it was in her youth, but her face was as ugly as ever. Even her voice had gradually become hoarse, and her eyes had become strange. She didn't even notice that Garp and Aokiji had already come up behind her with grim faces.
"Hm?" In the distance, Kaido, hearing Big Mom's clearly abnormal voice, had his heart sink. "It couldn't be at a time like this, right?"
Then, Kaido no longer paid any attention to Fujitora, turning to rush in Big Mom's direction.
However, with the hum of a swinging blade, a heavy pressure completely enveloped him. Immediately after, a series of footsteps slowly approached.
Kaido turned around and stared with brutal eyes at the gradually approaching Fujitora. "I don't have time to play with you now, old man!"
To this, Fujitora, his clothes disheveled and his forehead bleeding, gripped his cane-sword tightly and replied in a deep voice, "Although I am currently no match for you, I can still delay you for a while longer—"
"CAKE!!!" With a terrifying roar, the members of the Big Mom Pirates subconsciously shivered. The next moment, they realized where they were and instantly became flustered.
"Quick! Find a way to get Mama back to normal!"
"Use your abilities! Quick, think of something!"
"If something happens to Mama, we're finished!"
"Where's Streusen?! Where is he?!"
The series of panicked calls made Louis shift his attention from Zephyr. He turned his head slightly to look at Big Mom, who was being beaten up by Garp and Aokiji.
"Instructor Zephyr!!" Behind him, a group of Marine flag officers were roaring as they rushed in Zephyr's direction, trying to save him with all their might. This action also led to them being surrounded by many of the Big Mom Pirates' ministers.
"We'll take care of these Marines! You guys go and find a way to get Mama back to normal!!"
"Kill them all!"
The siege from the many executives of the Big Mom Pirates made the situation for the group of Marine flag officers difficult. But they still roared as they slowly moved in Zephyr's direction. "FOR JUSTICE!!"
One roar made Zephyr, who was bleeding continuously and gradually losing consciousness, have the light return to his eyes, and he once again clenched his fists.
A red light flashed in Louis's eyes. Everything that was about to happen in the future was fully displayed before him. But as if he hadn't seen the fist that Zephyr had raised again, he walked away toward the distance on his own.
The next moment, Zephyr's once-again-blurry eyes passed over Louis. He concentrated his remaining strength and Haki and swung his fist at the pirates who were besieging the Marine flag officers.
BOOM!
With a huge roar, Haki lightning exploded and combined with a fierce punch-gale, forming a shockwave that was almost like a beam of light, instantly submerging a group of Big Mom's executives.
After doing this, Zephyr, still holding his punching posture, completely lost all signs of life.
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