A scarlet mist continuously billowed from Rorschach's body, transforming him from a blood-soaked warrior into a monstrous, terrifying red devil.
With a flick of his long crocodile tail, his two thick, bent kirin's claws shattered the hard rock inside the mountain. His massive body, dragging a long trail of blood-red mist, charged head-on toward Shiki, who floated in the air.
Facing Rorschach, who was crashing down like a blood-red meteor, Shiki flipped up his right hand, which was holding a longsword.
"Lion's Threat! Earth Roll!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The ground below him surged like waves, raising a hundred-meter-high wave of dirt that, like a blanket being tossed aside, swept toward Rorschach's head.
Rorschach, on the charge, ignored the sky-covering wave of dirt and slammed straight into it. He tore a huge hole in the thick layer of earth and rushed in front of Shiki, raising his hand to deliver a heavy punch.
Watching the giant fist come at him, Shiki's expression remained unchanged. He swept his longsword, which was wrapped in a raging storm of Conqueror's Haki.
Pffft!
The thick deep-blue Haki armor covering Rorschach's body was sliced open, leaving another deep gash where the bone was visible.
Then, Shiki heard the Conqueror's Haki-infused slash make a dull, metallic clang, as if it had struck something heavy.
At this moment, no matter how slow-witted Shiki was, he understood that what had stopped his Haki-infused slash was Rorschach's own bones.
The incredible hardness of Rorschach's bones, which could even block his Haki-infused slash, made Shiki think of Charlotte Linlin.
That woman's skin was naturally as hard as Armament Haki Hardening, a top-tier physical talent in the world.
Even Rocks D. Xebec had praised her highly, believing that if that madwoman hadn't gone crazy due to her childhood trauma and started having children without restraint, and had instead diligently trained her Haki and abilities, she would have surpassed Newgate and himself to become the strongest human.
Boom!
The tremendous explosion of air shaking woke Shiki from his soaring thoughts. His vision was then engulfed by a gigantic fist.
Bang!
The azure giant fist, bigger than half of his body, came down. Shiki coughed up blood and was sent flying backward like a cannonball.
Whoosh!
In mid-air, the backward-flying Shiki flipped over. He slashed his sword from below, cutting toward the closely pursuing Rorschach.
Swoosh!
A splash of blood erupted on Rorschach's massive, mountain-like body, but he completely ignored it, as if he couldn't feel the intense pain of being sliced. Like a machine, he raised his thick, giant arm and brought it down.
Clang!
A longsword flew across the sky, deflecting the giant punch. Shiki's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly thrust his 'Kogetsu' sword forward, aiming for Rorschach's chest.
"Since I can't cut your body, I'll pierce your heart."
The howling sword energy tore through the air, coming at him with a wailing, sharp sound.
Rorschach raised his left kirin's claw to shield himself and swept his thick, bent right leg through the air.
"Tempest Kick! Air Splitter!"
A gigantic slash came through the air, sweeping horizontally at his waist, forcing Shiki to withdraw his longsword and hold it in front of him.
Amid the ear-piercing explosions, Rorschach's massive body, with unbelievable agility, flipped over in the sky. He was now upside down, extending his giant kirin's claw, trying to grab Shiki's legs and tear him in half.
Just as Shiki was about to swing his two swords, the sky above him suddenly darkened, surprising him.
"What is that?"
He looked up and saw a ferocious crocodile tail, covered in thick scales and bone spurs, come down and smack him in the face.
This sudden attack caught Shiki, who had been guarding against Rorschach's fists and feet, off guard.
The giant tail came down so fast, several times the speed of sound, that he had no way to block it at such a close distance.
So, with a dull thud, Shiki was sent plummeting from the sky by the wide tail, crashing deep into the ground of Vermilion like a meteor.
A wide, bloody mark was left on his old face and the front of his chest.
The sharp bone spurs and scales on the tail pierced his skin and muscles, creating more than a dozen shocking, bloody holes in his body.
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
The ground exploded, and Rorschach fell with him. He clenched his right fist, and the muscles on his giant arm coiled like a dragon. He brought a punch down with a roar.
Shiki's mind was a little muddled. He let out a mumbled grunt from his throat and slashed his sword.
Swoosh!
A hundred-meter-long giant slash shot out, cutting toward the pouncing Rorschach.
However, Rorschach ignored it, allowing the giant, crescent-shaped slash to cut another deep wound into his body. The punch, wrapped in lightning and Haki, slammed viciously into Shiki's body.
Rumble!
When the heavy punch landed, it was as if thousands of tons of high explosives had detonated simultaneously on Shiki's chest. Centered on his body, the massive floating island of Vermilion shook violently, and the ground cracked like a spiderweb.
Countless huge rocks from the underside of the island came crashing down, causing splashes of water and flying debris in the sea and on the island below.
Shiki gritted his teeth. Blood continuously gushed from the gaps in his teeth, his nostrils, and the wounds and pores all over his body.
He felt as if his body was about to be obliterated by Rorschach's punch.
His physical strength was being consumed at a rapid rate, and his Haki was also continuously decreasing.
A sense of weakness he had never felt before surged through his heart.
Looking at Rorschach's face, which was so close, Shiki's muddled and dazed mind suddenly conjured up the face of another man.
"Roger..."
He shook his muddled head. His bloodshot eyes suddenly widened, and a hoarse roar came from deep in his throat.
"Roger! Do you want to kill me so badly? In this world, only you can catch my eye! Why didn't you accept my invitation and, together with me, rule this world with our supreme strength!"
"If you and I had joined forces, we could have absolutely surpassed Rocks and completed the ultimate dominance that even he couldn't achieve! We would have driven the Celestial Dragons out of Mariejois and become the kings of the world!"
Drawing on strength from who knows where, Shiki roared and actually broke free from Rorschach's giant arm that was pressing down on him. He thrust his sword forward, which pierced into Rorschach's chest with a pffft.
The sharp tip of the sword came out of Rorschach's back, bringing out a spray of blood.
Rorschach's eyes were blood-red. He raised his big foot and stomped down hard on Shiki's face, stomping his head into the ground.
Shiki's great sword, 'Sakura Ten,' was still stuck in his chest. Rorschach opened his hand in front of him.
Zzzzzzzzzz!
Lightning danced in his palm. A heavy halberd flew from nowhere, landing in his hand. He gripped it and thrust it into Shiki's chest.
Pffft!
Blood gushed out.
Shiki's Haki had been significantly weakened, and he could no longer block the tip of the Dragon Halberd. The black halberd pierced his chest, pinning him to the ground.
Rorschach lifted his big foot, and with a pull of his right hand, he pulled out the blood-stained Dragon Halberd. He gripped it with both hands and furiously brought it down on Shiki's neck.
Boom!
The ground roared. The heavy halberd broke through the rock, cutting a ten-kilometer-long fissure in the ground.
The massive Vermilion island began to tilt. A small part of the island broke away, taking countless sleeping beasts with it as it fell.
Rorschach, who was entirely red and looked like a red-hot iron, billowed with a bloody mist. He looked up at the sky and saw Shiki's hair and beard flared out, his long golden hair dancing wildly in the wind. A see-through hole had been opened up in his chest.
His heart had been shattered by Rorschach's strike.
But he was still alive.
Not only was he alive, but a terrifying, storm-like, explosive aura was endlessly rising from his body.
A large amount of blood was flowing from his body. Shiki's body also began to turn hot and red, and he started to release a large amount of steam.
His face had a sickly, feverish flush. His life force was continuously rising, like a candle that had been suddenly blown bright, burning furiously at a speed ten times faster than normal.
As his life force rapidly surged, a group of giant black shadows began to appear in the sky above him.
They were dozens of floating islands hovering tens of thousands of meters in the sky.
At this moment, as Shiki's life was about to end, these islands, which had lost the support of the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, began their descent.
"Ze ha ha ha! Ze ha ha ha ha!"
Shiki's eyes were bloodshot. He laughed maniacally, swinging the 'Kogetsu' great sword in his hand and delivering a sky-splitting slash toward Rorschach.
"Come on! Roger! Defeat me like you did at the Battle of Edd War!"
"I'm not Roger."
Rorschach shot up from the ground. Lightning burst from the halberd in his hand, and he brought it down in a furious slash.
"I am... Marine Rorschach!"
Boom!
In the sea below.
"Mama! The tide has turned! Let's go back!"
Katakuri, controlling the mochi ground that surged like a white wave, single-handedly held off a large group of Navy officers and shouted at Charlotte Linlin, who was being attacked by Vice Admiral Tsuru, Hina, and Aokiji.
Blood continuously oozed from Charlotte Linlin's mouth, and her body became increasingly gaunt and shriveled.
Her eyes were filled with endless bloodlust, and thick drool continuously dripped from her mouth.
This was because her overwhelming hunger had caused her eating disorder to flare up.
At this moment, in her eyes, everyone in front of her, regardless of whether they were allies or enemies, had become walking sweets, pastries, and delicious food.
The soul-deep hunger made her lose her mind. She reached out and grabbed at a dodging cream puff.
"Mama! It's me! I'm Daifuku! Get a hold of yourself! Listen to Katakuri! We need to retreat!"
When Daifuku saw his mother's drooling, bloodshot eyes, he knew her eating disorder had flared up.
At a time like this, if she accidentally got a hold of him, she might devour him along with his soul.
"Do you want to leave now? It's too late! Die here, Charlotte Linlin!"
Aokiji, with a bloody mouth as well, created a cloud of ice mist under his feet. He took to the air and shot a waterfall-like blast of freezing air toward the crazed Charlotte Linlin.
"Ice Ball!"
A massive amount of freezing air rushed toward her. Oven, who had lost his left arm to Hina, stepped in front of her. His steaming fist shot out toward the freezing air.
"Heat Wind Punch!"
The searing hot fist and the freezing air collided, instantly creating a large amount of mist that filled the battlefield for hundreds of meters.
"Hurry up and go, Katakuri!" Oven roared with great effort. "Get Mama out of here!"
Katakuri raised his right leg high and stomped down. The mochi on the ground shot up with a roar. He sent out a barrage of pitch-black arms toward the dozens of charging Navy officers and charged forward with gritted teeth.
"Oven! Let's go together!"
As he spoke, he pressed his right hand onto the ground in front of him.
The ground rolled like waves. Under the effect of the awakened Mochi-Mochi Fruit, it was assimilated again and turned into mochi ground, which surged up in white waves, covering Oven, Daifuku, and Charlotte Linlin, who were being surrounded.
As for the others, he could no longer care about them.
The entire battlefield was now completely under the control of the Navy.
The remaining pirate alliance was retreating in defeat under the Navy's cannon fire.
The pirates, who had suffered heavy casualties, had long since lost the courage to continue fighting. They either started running or surrendering.
Just a moment ago, Cracker, whose arm had been cut off by Rorschach, was ambushed and had his head cut off by a Navy Vice Admiral in the chaotic battlefield.
For the Big Mom Pirates, this war was a complete failure.
They had not only lost the tens of thousands of affiliated pirate crews they had recruited but had also lost more than twenty of their siblings, as well as Cracker.
This also made Katakuri realize that the Navy was not as weak as it appeared to be.
The Navy was the strongest ruler of this sea!
The white mochi wave came down, forming a giant dome that covered Charlotte Linlin and Daifuku.
But Oven, who was desperately holding off Aokiji, was not able to escape.
The waterfall-like freezing air gradually enveloped him.
His glowing red body froze rapidly, turning into an ice sculpture.
Looking at the frozen Oven, a hint of bloodlust appeared in the eyes of the normally calm Katakuri.
Bang!
Aokiji fell from the sky and punched the ice sculpture of Oven.
After a crisp thud, small cracks began to spread from the top of Oven's head.
"Oven!!"
Katakuri's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets, and his tall body trembled uncontrollably.
Then, he watched as his brother, Oven, was shattered piece by piece under Aokiji's punch, turning into shattered fragments that scattered all over the ground.
"Aokiji!"
He glared at Aokiji with immense hatred. He gritted his teeth, pulled out a huge bronze mirror from his chest, and shot it directly at Charlotte Linlin, who was chasing after Daifuku.
This mirror had been connected to his sister Brûlée's Mirror-Mirror Fruit ability. As long as he entered the mirror, he could enter the mirror dimension to escape.
"He's using his body as a storage space."
Looking at Katakuri, who had pulled out a mirror from his body, Aokiji raised his hand to shoot a blast of freezing air, but it seemed to be too late at this distance.
Half of Katakuri's and Charlotte Linlin's bodies had already disappeared into the huge mirror.
And Charlotte Daifuku was right behind them.
But perhaps because he was afraid of Charlotte Linlin's eating disorder, Daifuku was a little behind. He seemed to want to wait for Charlotte Linlin to completely enter the mirror before retreating.
This one moment of delay was all it took for a huge bolt of lightning to suddenly strike. It hit Daifuku, causing him to grunt and fall forward.
And the direction he fell was right into the mirror that Katakuri was holding out.
The Navy officers were stunned. Just as they were wondering who was helping Daifuku escape, they heard Daifuku, who had fallen headfirst into the mirror, let out a terrified scream.
"Mama! No!"
And then, there was no 'and then'.
Because a shriveled, emaciated hand reached out from the mirror, grabbed Daifuku's head, and lifted him up. It then threw him into the bottomless pit of a mouth.
"Delicious~ Sister Carmel, I'm so happy. Eating delicious food with everyone is the greatest happiness~" Charlotte Linlin's delirious voice floated out of the mirror, startling everyone.
Aokiji looked in surprise at the petite girl who had fallen from the sky.
"Hibari, well done!" Hina gave her a thumbs-up.
Hibari pursed her lips and smiled. She then looked up at the sky.
Seeing this, everyone also looked up.
As the fighting on the entire battlefield gradually subsided, all the noise and chaos fell silent.
The only things left in the world were the ever-growing black dots in the sky.
"Disperse! Get the warships out of here! Get away from this sea! The islands are going to fall!"
The officers were using their Den Den Mushi to tell the surrounding warships to get away.
And the many other Navy officers and soldiers on G1 island, who were covered in blood, looked up at the massive islands that were slowly tilting and beginning to fall.
Everyone was waiting for something.
As time passed, the black dots in the sky grew bigger and bigger.
Finally, those black dots became islands.
And at this very moment, on the edge of the largest island in the sky, a silver-haired young man with a sword in his chest and a black halberd in his hand, who was completely covered in blood, appeared.
In this moment, everyone saw that in the young silver-haired man's hand, he was holding a head with long golden hair.
End of Chapter)
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