Chapter 214: Repelling
"Rhodes... he wants to challenge Whitebeard?"
Hawkeye's eyes narrowed slightly.
Regardless of the outcome, that courage alone was enough for him to remember the name Rhodes.
"Be very careful..."
Hancock bit her red lips, her face full of worry, but she could only remain above to broadcast Rhodes's battle.
Because she understood that with her strength, descending would only hinder Rhodes.
"This kid..."
Doflamingo's eyes flickered, gradually revealing a ruthless and calculating expression.
He hadn't expected Rhodes to overestimate himself and challenge Whitebeard. Though respectable enough, it also presented him with an opportunity.
An opportunity to eliminate a future threat!
"Kid, you'd better die at Whitebeard's hands."
Doflamingo stared at the white-clad figure rapidly approaching Whitebeard, his expression cold and filled with killing intent.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Rhodes was rapidly closing the distance to Whitebeard. Before even reaching him, he suddenly slashed horizontally with his blade.
Heavenly Thunder Slash!
BOOM!
As Rhodes unleashed his sword strike, a sharp blade wave—powerful enough to defeat a Vice Admiral—burst forth instantly.
But that wasn't the crucial element. Even more astonishing was the overwhelming lightning that followed the sword energy.
Silver lightning, seemingly forming a vast sea of thunder, surged forth toward Whitebeard.
"Heh, child's play."
Whitebeard's lips curled into a smirk. His massive, imposing body remained motionless—only his left hand clenched into a fist, which he then thrust forward with devastating force.
CRACK! CRACK!
The void itself trembled, then shattered and crumbled like broken glass.
An incredibly terrifying shockwave spread outward, causing the ice surface to vibrate and crack with jagged fissures.
BOOM!
When the lightning collided with the shockwave, an unprecedented explosion resounded throughout the battlefield.
Almost instantly, at the collision's epicenter, the ice surface—tens of meters thick—shattered inch by inch, revealing the azure sea beneath. The collision's periphery also displayed a dense network of spider-web cracks.
BANG!
The stalemate lasted approximately two seconds.
Whitebeard's shockwave force tore through the lightning, rushing forward—only to miss its target completely.
Rhodes had already vanished.
He'd never intended to compete with Whitebeard in wide-range attacks.
Whitebeard, having mastered the Gura Gura no Mi to its absolute limit, was virtually unmatched in area-of-effect destruction.
Whoosh!
Using the lightning as cover, Rhodes instantly materialized before Whitebeard from another angle, then slashed toward Whitebeard's chest with his blade.
It wasn't that Rhodes didn't want to strike vital points like the neck or heart—but Whitebeard's size was simply too imposing. Facing such an opponent, Rhodes dared not leap recklessly.
CLANG!
Witnessing this, Whitebeard remained composed despite his surprise. His speed wasn't exceptional, but his bisento directly intercepted Rhodes's attack.
Large sparks erupted.
Both combatants' weapons were imbued with Armament Haki, and taking advantage of the surprise assault, Rhodes temporarily forced back Whitebeard's bisento.
Empowered by lightning, the unparalleled sharpness of his sword relentlessly carved through Whitebeard's Armament Haki coating, producing a hissing sound.
But soon, white luminescence flashed across Whitebeard's bisento.
"Hmm?!"
Rhodes felt Yubashiri in his hand begin vibrating continuously, and this power was spreading throughout his entire body.
The vibration resembled the impact force Rhodes had faced before from Don Chinjao—both forces capable of directly affecting the body's internal structure—but their intensity existed on completely different levels.
Rhodes dared not withstand the force head-on, using it to propel himself backward. After flying some distance, he steadied himself.
"Powerful..."
Rhodes felt his arms were slightly numb from the impact and couldn't help but smile. He flexed his arms, confirming it didn't affect his combat capability, and charged forward again.
Before even closing the distance, he unleashed another sword strike.
BOOM!
A lifelike lightning dragon, carrying an aura of annihilation, bared its fangs and claws as it charged toward Whitebeard.
"Flashy tricks."
Whitebeard gripped his bisento with both hands and casually slashed downward, simultaneously unleashing a burst of white luminescence that struck the thunder dragon's head directly.
BOOM!
An incredibly terrifying shockwave erupted, tearing the thunder dragon apart inch by inch with unstoppable force—its ferocity unbelievable.
"This attack power... while not much stronger than Garp's raw force, it's large-scale destruction. Too overwhelming."
Rhodes contemplated, a hint of seriousness entering his eyes, but it didn't hinder his assault.
Thunder God's Spear!
Taking advantage of the few seconds Whitebeard spent shattering the lightning dragon, he manipulated electricity, condensing over a dozen lightning spears while simultaneously coating their tips with Armament Haki.
This number represented his control limit—any more, and he couldn't unleash the spears at maximum velocity.
It sounds lengthy, but Rhodes completed this entire sequence in mere seconds.
The aftershocks from the collision between shockwave and lightning dragon hadn't even dissipated when the dozen lightning spears roared toward Whitebeard.
Crackle crackle crackle...
The air itself was pierced through.
In an instant, the lightning spears reached Whitebeard.
Witnessing this, Whitebeard snorted coldly and threw a punch.
CRACK!
The area-of-effect capability of the Gura Gura no Mi was simply too exaggerated—the invisible shockwave almost blanketed the entire area before him.
Although the lightning spears, due to their extreme compression and Armament Haki coating, weren't shattered outright, their terrifying velocity was inevitably reduced.
Though still fast, it became manageable for Whitebeard.
He swung his bisento, preparing to deflect the threatening lightning spears, when his expression suddenly changed.
The lightning spears, within several meters of Whitebeard, trembled slightly—then detonated.
CRACK!
Thunder exploded like miniature suns bursting open, intense lightning raging through the void. What should have dispersed in all directions was instead, under Rhodes's remote control, concentrated and accelerated toward Whitebeard at point-blank range.
Caught off-guard, Whitebeard had no time to gather his full strength and could only manage a hasty punch.
BOOM!
The two forces collided again.
This time, however, it wasn't a decisive victory for Whitebeard. Instead, the silvery-white lightning barely broke through the hastily erected shockwave barrier, impacting Whitebeard directly.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Under the impact of this concentrated force, Whitebeard's majestic body trembled slightly, inevitably being forced backward.
Each step he took carved a deep crater into the ice, cracks spreading like spiderwebs—the result of his effort to dissipate the overwhelming force.
"I underestimated you, brat."
Whitebeard plunged his bisento into the ice to steady himself, a faint trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, and burn marks visible on his skin.
Whitebeard wasn't a superhuman Marine like Garp—a pinnacle of both offense and defense.
While his attack power surpassed Garp's, his physical durability... was far inferior.
Moreover, he was elderly, with numerous hidden injuries—even a minor wound could trigger cascading complications.
Witnessing Whitebeard forced back three steps by Rhodes, the battlefield—engulfed in flames and chaos—fell into an instant of stunned silence.
Everyone stood dumbfounded, as if witnessing the most unimaginable event of their lives.
"That monster... was actually pushed back!"
Cannon fire ceased, battle cries stopped, and everyone—Marines, pirates, even Impel Down prisoners like Buggy—stood frozen in shock.
(End of Chapter)
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