The Whitebeard Pirates immediately suffered heavy casualties, though the stronger division commanders emerged largely unscathed from the impacts.
BUZZ! CRACK!
A vibrating sound echoed from the battle's center, followed by a clear shattering noise that seemed to signal something ominous.
An unstoppable shockwave formed, instantly clearing all the magma within dozens of meters.
Simultaneously, Whitebeard locked onto Sakazuki's position.
"MAGMA BRAT!!!"
Whitebeard's hatred for Sakazuki had now reached its peak.
The Conqueror's Haki emanating from him grew increasingly terrifying, and the blade in his hand swung with formidable power.
He caught sight of Sakazuki's figure and abruptly cleaved through a pillar of magma.
Sakazuki's figure had only half-emerged when he saw Whitebeard.
'Too late to dodge.'
These words flashed through Sakazuki's mind.
Whitebeard's reaction speed was simply too fast.
At this moment, Sakazuki couldn't evade through an Elemental Transformation or any other means.
"Magma Sword!"
His hands swept fiercely through the magma pillar, grabbing and pulling a large mass of lava.
A massive cleaver over three meters long rapidly took shape in his hands.
The magma quickly cooled, its surface turning into pitch-black hardened rock before being coated with Armament Haki.
Clang!
Their weapons collided, spraying countless sparks.
Sizzle.
A deep wound suddenly appeared on Sakazuki's upper body.
He glanced at it with furrowed brows, then expressionlessly continued matching strength with Whitebeard.
This demonstrated the unreasonable aspect of Conqueror's Haki—as long as the opponent lacked Conqueror's Haki, they could only take the hit when facing Conqueror's Coating.
Sakazuki had no time to apply Armament Haki nor perform an Elemental Transformation, leaving him no choice but to endure the strike.
Neither man relented in their contest of strength, their eyes filled only with killing intent toward the other.
Both Sakazuki and Whitebeard had abandoned all other attack methods at this moment, engaging only in humanity's most primitive test of strength.
Veins bulged one after another, their muscles swelling to exaggerated proportions.
However, under these circumstances, Sakazuki's disadvantage became increasingly apparent.
Even with his magma enhancement, he couldn't withstand Whitebeard's assault.
"Magma brat, you're going to die." Whitebeard looked mockingly at Sakazuki.
The muscles in his arms swelled dramatically as a dazzling white light erupted between their locked weapons, and then—
BOOM!!!
Another mushroom cloud rose skyward, and scorching air currents swept across everything on the island.
Members of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines had long retreated to safe locations protected from the shockwaves.
At this moment, they all prayed for their respective top combatants.
"Pops!" Marco had already transformed into his phoenix form.
Ignoring the violent air currents, he flew through the sky, searching for Whitebeard's figure.
Finally, everything calmed down.
At the center of the battlefield, a burly figure emerged.
It was Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
Apart from some dirt on his clothes, he hadn't sustained any serious injuries.
Opposite him stood Sakazuki, whose condition wasn't nearly as good as him.
Whitebeard's sudden outburst of pure strength had prevented Sakazuki from utilizing his Devil Fruit advantages.
The deep blade wound on his chest was left by Whitebeard moments before.
"Hmph, still not dead yet eh," Whitebeard noted, quite surprised.
This Marine officer's physical resilience was truly formidable—no matter how he was struck, he just wouldn't die.
That last slash was clearly aimed at his head, yet Sakazuki had still managed to dodge at the final moment, leaving only a body wound.
But everything was over now.
Given Sakazuki's current state, the next attack under Whitebeard's assault would certainly claim his life.
"You're a powerful Marine no doubt. Your only mistake was harming my family!" Whitebeard's expression showed neither sorrow nor joy.
Even if he personally eliminate Sakazuki, so what? The dead won't come back to life.
"Cough."
"Do you think you can take me down?" Sakazuki spat. "Great Eruption!"
Sakazuki suddenly raised both hands, launching an attack toward the approaching Whitebeard.
Whitebeard's expression tightened slightly as he snorted coldly, and his Conqueror's Haki erupted once again.
The overwhelming Conqueror's Haki brought unparalleled pressure—anyone below Vice Admiral rank would find it impossible to move freely under such immense force.
"Die, you magma brat!"
The blade, coated with both Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki and enhanced by Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, effortlessly split Sakazuki's Great Eruption in two.
Whitebeard activated his Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability once more, controlling the shockwaves generated from spatial fractures to target only Sakazuki's direction.
BOOM!
Sakazuki proactively used his Elemental Transformation to evade before the shockwaves reached him.
Whitebeard furrowed his brow, seemingly troubled.
Though defeating Sakazuki was easy, killing him would undoubtedly be difficult.
Logia Devil Fruits were always among the best for survival.
In an environment filled with magma, Whitebeard would need to expend considerable effort to finish off Sakazuki.
However, having fought in the New World for so many years, Whitebeard naturally had his own methods.
He gripped his blade tightly with both hands, channeling his ability to cover the weapon.
As the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit continuously poured in, even Murakumogiri began to strain.
The space around its edge twisted deeply.
The muscles in Whitebeard's arms swelled dramatically, veins bulging like earthworms.
"Heh, try this, you magma brat!"
After charging for a long moment, Whitebeard violently plunged the blade into the ground.
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit surged into the endless magma underground and erupted!
Rumble!
Within dozens of kilometers centered on Whitebeard, magma was forced up from deep underground.
Simultaneously, the ground fractured under the subterranean shockwaves, shattering into countless fragments that were blasted skyward by the magma.
The entire island shook violently; the continuous roars making it fearfully apparent that the island might disintegrate during this battle.
Amid the intense tremors, Whitebeard's expression remained unchanged. He stared intently at the soaring magma pillars.
Sakazuki's figure emerged from one of the magma pillars.
Even with his Elemental Transformation and hiding within the erupting magma, he had still suffered a severe impact from the earlier attack.
Elemental Transformations only made users harder to kill—if faced with attacks that breached their defensive thresholds, damage couldn't be avoided.
Clearly, Whitebeard's attack had exceeded that threshold.
In this assault, Sakazuki's body was severely wounded.
His Elemental Transformation became temporarily unusable, and his mobility was restricted.
"Any last words, magma brat?" Whitebeard's towering figure loomed over the fallen Sakazuki.
Sakazuki gasped for breath, coughing up blood intermittently, but didn't answer Whitebeard's question.
The blade descended!
Clang!
The blade that should have beheaded Sakazuki had instead struck the empty ground.
Whitebeard stared grimly at the two figures in the distance.
One wore a yellow-striped suit, while the other was Sakazuki—coughing up blood, having been nearly beheaded by his hand.
"Vice Admiral—Borsalino!"