Under the surge of Ray's demonic energy, the world suddenly changed.
Nami immediately realized that the unnatural, swirling thunderclouds covering the entire archipelago were related to Ray.
Clearly, Ray was watching her fight from the sky.
'Hehe... i still has quite the charm, huh?' Nami curled her lips into a smirk, feeling proud and pleased by the "assistance."
'In that case... it's time to blow things up.'
She extended her right arm, pointing her Sorcery Clima-Tact straight toward the roiling sky.
Guided by the modified Clima-Tact, the demonic lightning within the clouds seemed to gain consciousness, locking onto targets in nearly fixed directions.
"This is the true Thunderbolt Tempo."
As Nami swung her Clima-Tact down, dozens of thick, blinding purple-blue flashes instantly illuminated the dark Sabaody Archipelago.
KA-BOOM!
Each bolt of lightning was about ten meters thick, piercing through the giant nightmare monsters from head to toe wherever they struck.
Usopp, seeing this apocalyptic scene through his goggles, couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
"It's almost like the El Thor thunderstorms Enel released back then!"
Two seconds later, Nami's mental energy was severely depleted from guiding such massive, unnatural lightning.
Dizzy to the extreme, she leaned back against the ruined ground behind her, closed her eyes, and passed out with a satisfied smile.
Ray, fighting high above, sensed that Nami's breathing was steady and there was no need to worry.
He continued swinging Tessaiga, clashing violently against the Shodai Kitetsu wielded by Nusjuro who was desperately trying to restrain him.
...
Thanks to Nami's screen-clearing ultimate move, nearly half of the giant nightmare monsters had either dissipated completely or temporarily lost their ability to move, soon to be picked off by their remaining enemies.
With just that one move, the Straw Hat Grand Fleet members' pressure was greatly reduced.
Especially on the battlefield where Gunko was fighting, there were no longer any traces of the nightmare monsters interfering.
However, dozens of massive, scorched holes piercing through the island's roots remained.
It was estimated that Grove 13 would not last much longer before sinking into the ocean entirely.
Gunko found her available hiding spots rapidly dwindling due to the devastating aftermath of Nami's attacks moments earlier.
Coupled with Shakky's deliberate, experienced guidance of the battlefield positions during their close-combat exchanges, Gunko was gradually forced out of the shadows and closer to Robin and the others.
At this moment, Gunko was fully exposed within Robin's line of sight.
Seizing the opportunity.
"Cien Fleur: BINDING CHAINS!"
Activating her Hana Hana no Mi ability, numerous rope-like arms suddenly sprouted directly from Gunko's upper body and thighs while she was still exchanging rapid kicks with Shakky.
Once these arms appeared, they were instantly coated with Armament Haki, then swiftly intertwined and took shape, locking her joints.
Just as Gunko was about to be fully restrained by Robin in what could be described as an "island-style binding" manner—
ZING!
A glowing arrow suddenly materialized beneath Gunko's feet, pointing directly at Robin.
Shakky immediately panicked.
'Damn it... Nico Robin can't block this!'
During her intense confrontation with Gunko, Shakky had personally experienced the dire consequences of being targeted by that arrow mark.
That woman had been somewhat playful when attacking Franky earlier, never reaching her maximum speed.
But when Gunko fought Shakky seriously, as long as she followed the arrow's guidance, her speed could reach levels completely invisible to the naked eye.
An absolute, unavoidable trajectory.
Even someone as strong and experienced as Shakky had to execute preemptive defensive maneuvers the exact moment she was targeted by the arrow.
Without the ability to foresee the future, she found it extremely challenging to counter.
Just as Shakky wanted to yell a warning to Robin, Gunko had already launched herself along the arrow's trajectory like a fired bullet.
WHOOSH!
What did being temporarily restrained matter?
She could still use her slightly mobile lower legs combined with her Devil Fruit's high-speed movement to eliminate Robin first.
Once the user was dead or unconscious, this annoying control ability would naturally vanish, and Gunko wouldn't need to evade anymore.
Guided by the arrow, her movement speed was so immense that it created multiple sonic booms in the air, instantly disappearing from everyone's sight.
But everyone knew perfectly well that Gunko would reappear right beside Robin in a fraction of a second.
Robin's thoughts were equally clear and ruthless.
'You can attack me... and I can attack you too. So what if my attack speed is slightly slower?'
'At worst, I'll snap your spine the moment after you kick me.'
'Who's afraid of mutual destruction anyway?'
Just as Robin prepared to shift her binding arms into lethal claw grips, the shockwave of Gunko's approach had already reached her face.
But the arrow's direction abruptly changed at the last millisecond—Gunko's attack target shifted from Robin's head to her arms.
If this kick succeeded, Robin's crossed arms would shatter, and she would temporarily lose the ability to activate her powers.
Gunko's reasoning for this choice was simple: Rather than gambling on killing you with one kick while you snap my neck, it's better to directly destroy your ability to use skills, then finish you off safely.
In this critical moment, Robin desperately tried to coat her own real arms with Armament Haki for defense.
But clearly, she was too slow.
Just as Gunko was gloating over her imminent success and Robin's impending failure, a sudden change occurred.
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted directly on Gunko's lower leg mid-flight.
The blast's shockwave sent both Robin and Gunko flying in opposite directions.
Simultaneously, a massive, grotesque tentacled monster plant had rapidly grown on the large tree in the exact direction Gunko was flying.
SNAP!
Hundreds of thick vines and tentacles shrouded in demonic energy instantly wrapped Gunko up tightly like a rice dumpling the moment she was blasted into them.
Meanwhile, in the direction Robin was flying backward, a soft, cushiony plant mattress sprouted from the ground, catching her steadily and placing her gently on her feet.
Usopp, standing atop a high vantage point on a ruined building, removed his sniper goggles and let out a long sigh of relief.
"I, the brave warrior of the sea, the great God Usopp... have done it! Robin, you should thank me!"
Hearing Usopp's praise-seeking voice, Robin responded with a warm, genuine smile.
"You're truly amazing Ussop!"
"Hahaha! Robin, you really have an eye for talent!"
Of course, Robin could probably guess how Usopp had managed it, though she was still somewhat surprised by his monstrous natural talent as a sniper.
Advanced Observation Haki includes not only foreseeing the future but also extreme dynamic perception and spatial awareness.
It seemed Usopp had mastered both simultaneously in the heat of battle.
By foreseeing the future, he detected in advance that Gunko would shift her attack to Robin's arms.
Through dynamic perception, he perfectly calculated and controlled the trajectory, timing, and anchor points of his dual-seed attack.
So, before Gunko's attack even landed, Usopp had already launched an Impact Wolf explosive seed toward the exact coordinate where Gunko's leg was about to appear.
At the exact same time, he fired different Demon Realm plant seeds in the opposite directions to catch Robin and trap the blasted Gunko.
Seeing Usopp's rapid growth, Robin felt deeply happy.
This way, the Straw Hat Pirates now had two incredibly reliable main control and support DPS roles: her and Longnose.
Meanwhile, Shakky and Mikita were also stunned by Usopp's flawless preemptive prediction.
They couldn't help but marvel at his terrifying talent for Observation Haki.
'To think that cowardly sniper had this in him...'
But admiration aside, there was still work to be done.
Building on the restraint provided by Usopp's demonic tentacle plant, Robin further immobilized Gunko using her Armament Haki-enhanced sprouted arms, locking every single joint.
She didn't choose to kill her directly.
Because Robin had noticed that Gunko's leg, broken by the impact explosion, had instantly healed in the blink of an eye.
'Since you likely have an immortal recovery ability... why not just permanently control you instead?'
Perfectly restrained by joint locks and demonic power tentacles, Gunko completely lost the ability to move a single muscle.
All she could do was let out muffled, furious whimpers through the vines.
Brook ran back to the scene, his bones rattling, and upon seeing Gunko's bound state, fell into deep thought.
'I wonder if the powers of my Revive-Revive Fruit or Franky's Soul-Soul Fruit could help free her mind?'
Although Gunko had repeatedly attacked Brook at the beginning of the fight, every time she kicked him away, she seemed to hesitate or be in pain?
It was almost as if she wanted to kick Brook far away from this dangerous battlefield to save him.
But Brook, being loyal, always came running back.
After all, if Gunko hadn't held back her strength on those kicks, Brook's brittle bones would have been shattered to dust long ago.
As for Bon Clay? Aside from briefly fighting the nightmare monsters and getting kicked away once by Gunko, he contributed almost nothing to this specific boss fight.
[Gunko Battle Contribution Ratings:]
Bon Clay: 3.0 (Slacker, moral support).
Mikita: 4.5 (Injured, basically only cleared mobs).
Brook: 5.2 (Dedicated damage sponge).
Franky: 6.0 (Lots of poking, but not very effective against her speed).
Nami: 9.3 (Main AOE DPS, elite mob clearing).
Robin: 10 (Main control, vision, joint restrictions).
Shakky: 10 (Frontline combat, held off the boss single-handedly for several minutes).
Usopp: 10.99 (God-like prediction, clutched the save, secured victory).
…
Meanwhile, Bonney had quietly switched battlefields under the cover of Nami's lightning storm.
Transformed into a small child, she positioned herself precisely between the two main battlefields: Ray vs. the Five Elders in the sky, and Luffy vs. the nightmare monsters and Saint Killingham on the ground.
"Hehe." She giggled, preparing her trap.