As the Seven Star Sword slashed down, the Blood Dragon Slash roared out, Busoshoku Haki forming its tough dragon scales, Haoshoku forming its dragon claws and teeth, and the two Sword Intents making up the Blood Dragon's body.
The wisps of clouds in the sky were instantly split in two before the Blood Dragon Slash, as if the entire sky was forcibly torn apart by the Blood Dragon Slash.
Looking at Nox, who was within reach, Carlo knew he couldn't dodge. He simply used his most powerful strength to clash head-on with Nox's Seven Star Sword!
"Six Styles Secret Technique · Maximum Ring · Six King Gun!!"
Carlo's arms suddenly bulged with muscle, concentrating all his strength onto his fists, and he slammed them violently towards the incoming Seven Star Sword.
The moment his fists met the sword, Carlo felt the Busoshoku Haki on his fists, just like before, was instantly broken through by the Seven Star Sword.
His powerful fists were forcefully broken through by the Seven Star Sword. With a twist of the blade, the Seven Star Sword passed through his fists and swept towards Carlo's chest.
The Seven Star Sword reversed too quickly, and Carlo's fists couldn't keep up with the Seven Star Sword's speed. His body only subconsciously covered itself with Busoshoku Haki for defense.
"Rip!!!"
However, his Busoshoku Haki was completely useless, easily torn apart by the Seven Star Sword.
The ranged attack of Ryuo and the impact of Haoshoku landed entirely on Carlo's chest. Even his sternum was directly severed, and his intestines inside felt like they were about to be squeezed out.
Blood once again splattered across the sky, raining down.
However, Carlo was an Ancient Zoan Zoan-type Devil Fruit user after all. Such a heavy injury would be fatal for an ordinary person.
But for Carlo, it wasn't a fatal injury. Under Life Return, the wound quickly stopped bleeding and was sealed, with the rest relying on his powerful healing ability to slowly recover.
"Damn guy!!!"
Carlo looked grimly at Nox, who was charging at him again. He really didn't want to confront Nox head-on.
But his speed couldn't evade Nox's attacks, so he could only brace himself and clash head-on with Nox.
But every time he clashed head-on, he was the one who suffered.
The opponent's sword was too fast, too fierce, too strange, and too powerful. He simply couldn't withstand it.
He also didn't forget that the opponent possessed a demonic sword, a blood-sucking demonic sword. As time passed, his blood would be quickly absorbed, causing his stamina to drop rapidly.
He had no doubt that the opponent possessed the power to kill him head-on.
But he couldn't run away. If he ran away, the World Government's plan this time would fail.
When he returned, he would definitely face unimaginable punishment.
"Kill!!!"
Thinking of that punishment worse than death, Carlo rushed forward without hesitation and fought Nox again.
Brandon was just one person, and he wasn't Rocks. Under the combined attack of the three Admirals, he should be taken down quickly.
Carlo only needed to hold back Nox. Once the three of them defeated Brandon, everything would be over.
And he was confident that he wouldn't be defeated before Brandon was defeated!
With this belief, Carlo decided to use his body to hold back Nox, this powerful fighter, preventing him from supporting Brandon.
The battle on Sando Island had been going on for half a day. The other Pirates, seeing that Nox hadn't supported Brandon and witnessing him continuously torment Carlo, also understood his intentions.
However, the crowd wasn't optimistic about Nox, because even if Nox could defeat Carlo, he needed time.
Before Nox defeated Carlo, Brandon would likely have been killed by Sengoku and the other two. This was the thought of Golden Lion and the others.
At this moment, they watched as Brandon's stamina rapidly depleted and his injuries became increasingly severe. Golden Lion and the others were already ready to flee at any time.
They hadn't run at first mainly because they didn't want to violate the alliance agreement, and they also wanted to see if there were any other turning points.
As things stood, Brandon was close to collapsing, and no turning point had appeared yet. Therefore, it was only right for them to escape in advance while the three top fighters dealing with Brandon hadn't freed up their hands.
"Damn it, why haven't those three guys taken down Brandon yet!!"
The other Pirates wanted to run, and CP0 Deputy Chief Carlo also wanted to run.
His body was now covered in dense sword wounds, some reaching deep into the bone, even severing bone. His body's blood and energy were severely depleted, and a sense of weakness slowly surged into his heart.
Furthermore, he had the incredibly powerful Nox as an opponent.
Normally, he would have run long ago. He believed that if he wanted to run, Nox definitely wouldn't be able to stop him.
But precisely now was a critical period, and he couldn't run. If he ran, the entire plan would collapse.
It could be said that he was now using his life to buy time, and he could be killed by Nox with a single sword strike at any moment!
"It's about time!"
Sensing Brandon's state with Kenbunshoku Haki, and also sensing the despairing thoughts surging in Carlo, Nox's eyes became deep.
"Life Return · Limb Limit Enhancement!!"
The next moment, Nox's already enhanced limbs, their muscles surged again on top of the original size, the blue veins looked like they were about to pop out, and streaks of blood continuously overflowed from his pores.
At the same time, Nox's third Sword Intent, Sea Abyss Sword Intent, also emerged, attaching itself to the Seven Star Sword.
In this past year, he had been able to barely use three Sword Intents simultaneously. He hadn't revealed it before, waiting for this moment.
At this moment, Sword Intent soared from Nox's body. Limitless Sword Intent was in the center, while Bloodlust Sword Intent and Sea Abyss Sword Intent circled around Limitless Sword Intent like the two opposing forces of Taiji.
The three Sword Intents merged together at this moment, unleashing a terrifying Sword Intent power that achieved a 1+1+1 > 3 effect.
Even just looking at Nox, Carlo felt a stinging in his eyes. Nox's sharpness was too intense at this moment, even he couldn't look directly at him.
Nox sped through the sky, and the next moment, he was above Carlo.
Carlo wanted to dodge, but he couldn't!
"Limitless · Bloodlust · Sea Abyss · Three Elements Return to One Secret Technique: God Slayer!!"
The Seven Star Sword erupted with unprecedented light. The power of three Sword Intents and two types of Haki merged into one, and violent, blood-red lightning raged from the blade.
This one sword strike gathered all the power Nox could currently utilize. It was his most powerful move.
In this past year, he hadn't just learned to merge three Sword Intents, but had also developed his own ultimate killing move.
As a swordsman, how could he not have his own unique killing move?
Those previous sword techniques were just ordinary sword techniques, but as for a killing move, he currently only had this one!
God Slayer, even a god before me can be slain. That is the meaning of this move!
Facing this sword strike, Carlo felt there was nowhere to hide. He could only subconsciously raise his hands, mobilizing all his strength and Busoshoku Haki to block this sword.
"Impossible!!!"
However, when that sword strike fell, he realized that the power of this strike was far greater than any previous one.
His hands, which were blocking the very top of the blade, were struck with such force that his bones shattered. The impact that passed through his hands and hit his body also shattered countless bones in his upper body.
This single strike was simply adding insult to injury to his already broken body, nearly tearing him to pieces.
Furthermore, under the incredibly powerful impact, his body fell towards the island like a meteor.
"I must escape, I absolutely cannot fight anymore!"
Such severe injuries made it hard for him to imagine how strong that attack just now was. At this moment, he completely dared not continue fighting Nox. He couldn't guarantee that Nox didn't have even stronger sword techniques, and if he was caught off guard, he would die!
"Fortunately, there's an island below!"
The moment he fell, Carlo was extremely grateful that there was an island below. If it were the Sea, he might be finished.
When Carlo looked at Nox, he found that Nox had a strange smile on his face, and the bulging muscles in his limbs had returned to normal.
However, the other party was still covered in Busoshoku Haki and was rushing down using Moonwalk.
"Does he want to pursue the victory?"
Regarding this, before Carlo even hit the ground, he was already using his wings to slow his descent. With his body's physique, landing wouldn't cause him much damage.
So, while falling, he had already decided that he must run away later.
He didn't know when Brandon would be killed, he only knew.
If he was slashed by Nox like that again, he would truly die.
In the face of true death, everything else was secondary!
However, just as Carlo was thinking this, just as Carlo's body was about to touch the island ground.
"Boom!!!!"
At the location where Carlo fell, fire suddenly surged into the sky, and a violent explosion, like a small modern atomic bomb exploding, shot up into the air.
Nox, high in the sky, clearly saw how terrifying that crimson mushroom cloud was.
There, Nox had had an unknown amount of explosives buried, and that spot had always been directly below where Nox and Carlo were fighting.
So, no one else had come to fight in this area, after all, no one wanted to fight on land while others fought above their heads.
And the explosives buried here had never been discovered.
Just now, Nox had pressed the switch, instantly detonating the explosives buried there.
The sudden explosion left Carlo no time to react, and his body was swallowed by the blast.
Completely unprepared, Carlo bore the full brunt of the explosion's damage. He was already severely injured, his body covered in dense sword wounds.
The moment he was swallowed by the explosion, his entire body was blasted into a rotten mess. If it weren't for the vitality of an Ancient Zoan, he would have directly breathed his last!