One of those figures was the fastest. Without the slightest warning, he appeared at Kuina's side. With a simple knife-hand strike, his hand chopped straight toward the side of her neck.
Kuina's battle instincts were sharp, but her opponent's speed was too great. She only had time to twist her body slightly when the knife-hand strike smashed into her shoulder instead.
"Crack!"
A clear sound of bone breaking rang out. Kuina let out a muffled groan as her whole body was sent flying, crashing heavily into the ruins in the distance.
"Kuina!" Tesoro shouted in alarm, trying to rush over, but two other suddenly appearing members of the God Knights blocked his way, and he was immediately dragged into a bitter fight.
At the same time, the rest of the God Knights plunged into the ranks of the clone soldiers like tigers into a flock of sheep. Their strength was far beyond that of ordinary people; the battle line that had been holding firm was instantly torn open in several places.
Beth, who had been standing quietly by Ronan's side, moved in the exact instant that Sommers struck at Kuina.
"Vmm—!"
A surge of Yoki exploded out from her as the center. Her figure vanished from where she had stood.
The next heartbeat, she was already in front of Sommers. Her fist, clad in Armament Haki, smashed toward his face.
Sommers' pupils shrank. He had not expected her speed and power to be this terrifying. In his haste he could only cross his arms in front of him to block.
"Boom—!!!"
Sommers felt an overwhelming force crash into him. Pain shot through his arms, and his whole body was blown away uncontrollably, smashing through several half-collapsed walls before he finally staggered to a halt. His eyes were full of shock; he had never imagined the opponent would be this strong.
And at that moment, a red figure stepped in front of Beth.
"Woman, your opponent is me."
His gaze locked onto Beth. He slowly raised his right hand. In it, he held a Western-style longsword.
"To force us to take the field personally is something you can already be proud of, woman," Shamrock's voice was hoarse and icy, devoid of any emotion. "But this is as far as you go."
Before his words had even fully fallen, the longsword in his hand seemed to come alive, transforming before him into a colossal beast.
It became a massive three-headed hound. Each of its heads was vicious and grotesque, fangs bared. Stranger still, clamped in each of those three blood-red maws was a different longsword, each gleaming with cold light and of a different design.
The Hellhound—Cerberus. Beth instantly understood that the sword in his hand had eaten a Devil Fruit.
"Rooar—!!!"
All three heads let out an earth-shaking roar, and six scarlet eyes locked firmly onto Beth.
Beth could feel that this monster, born from the transformed blade, carried a far more dangerous and sinister presence.
"Tear her apart," Shamrock ordered the three-headed hound.
The middle head of Cerberus jerked up, the sword in its mouth chopping down toward the top of Beth's head. At the same time, the left head spewed scorching flames, sealing off Beth's avenue of escape. The right head simply watched her intently, searching for an opening, waiting for the chance to land a killing blow.
Seeing this, Beth's expression did not change. Her body instantly retreated as her greatsword in her hands swung up to meet the descending blade.
"Clang—!!!"
Beth blocked the giant sword.
Having missed its mark, Cerberus only grew more ferocious. The three heads cooperated flawlessly, launching attacks at Beth from different angles, as if each head possessed its own independent combat will.
At this moment Beth had stabilized her Yoki Release at twenty percent. Her golden eyes stayed locked tightly on Cerberus as she calmly analyzed its every movement in her mind.
"Shrrip!"
Suddenly, Beth seized the opening between the flames spewed by the left head. Her greatsword swept out, carving a deep, bone-revealing gash across its shoulder.
However, to Beth's surprise, the wound began to wriggle and knit back together at a speed visible to the naked eye. Its regenerative power was astonishing.
"It's useless," Shamrock's cold voice came again. "Cerberus is an immortal body. Your attacks are nothing but futile struggles to it."
Beth did not let his words disturb her thoughts. Her entire mind was immersed in the battle. She understood that if she could not deal with this three-headed hound, she would have no way to directly threaten Shamrock's true body.
Beth took a deep breath. On the enormous blade in her hands, thin arcs of lightning began to dance and flicker. This was not Armament Haki coating the sword's surface, but Conqueror's Haki manifested, wrapped around her attack.
Shamrock, who had been about to direct the three heads to launch a new wave of attacks, froze the instant he saw this. The cold smile on his face abruptly solidified.
"That's… Conqueror's… coating?! Impossible!!" Shamrock gasped, his eyes full of shock and disbelief. To possess Conqueror's Haki was already one in tens of thousands on this sea—how could this woman possibly have mastered such power?!
In the instant his mind reeled, Beth moved.
She swung her sword in a single stroke, her target the central head of Cerberus, the one that had been responsible for the main offensive.
The middle head seemed to sense the mortal danger as well. The giant sword gripped in its jaws rose instinctively across its body in an attempt to block.
Yet before a slash wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, such defenses were utterly meaningless.
"Ssht—!"
The greatsword, wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, sliced straight through the center of that massive middle head without the slightest resistance.
A fine line of a wound appeared from its brow and ran all the way down to its jaw. The next moment, the entire head split cleanly in two.
After cleaving the middle head in a single stroke, Beth did not slow in the slightest. She drove through the space between the two halves of the head, her greatsword hacking down mercilessly at Shamrock himself, who was stunned for a brief instant.
Seeing that, Shamrock's mind blared with shrieking alarms.
"Not good!"
He desperately tried to retreat, to block, but Beth's speed was far too fast.
"Schhk—!"
The dull sound of a blade biting into flesh rang out.
The greatsword, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, carved across his chest in a single stroke, leaving behind a terrifying wound deep enough to expose bone. One could even clearly see the organs writhing inside with the naked eye.
Blood gushed out in a spray.
"Hff… hff…" Shamrock clutched at the wound, staggering backward in a panicked retreat to open distance from Beth.
At his chest, the torn flesh started to writhe slowly, inch by inch, as if trying to knit itself back together at a speed visible to the eye—though this time, extremely sluggish.
Beth had not expected his body to be able to regenerate as well.
"So he's also a Devil Fruit user?"
(End of Chapter)
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