The beam of light that Kizaru had transformed into shot straight toward the town adjacent to Marine Headquarters after sending Blackbeard flying.
Boom—!
The beam blasted through seven or eight buildings in succession, triggering violent explosions.
Meanwhile, Blackbeard's burly frame crashed heavily to the ground, rolling several meters before finally coming to a stop.
"Aaaargh! Damn it, that hurts like hell…!!!"
Blood trickled from the corners of Blackbeard's mouth as he screamed in agony, clutching his stomach while writhing on the ground.
His hurried attempt at defense had prevented the beam from piercing through him, but he had taken the full brunt of its concussive force.
The damage was considerable.
To an uninformed onlooker, Blackbeard's thrashing and agonized screams might have seemed as if he had suffered some inhumane torture.
In reality, this was a side effect of his unique constitution, which caused him to feel pain twice as intensely as normal.
Given that, his reaction was only natural.
On the other hand, while this trait came with its disadvantages, it also granted Blackbeard immense benefits beyond the comprehension of an ordinary person.
He never needed sleep, yet his energy remained abundant—effectively granting him at least one-third more time than others.
More importantly, his bizarre body structure allowed him to harbor multiple Devil Fruit abilities within himself.
After catching his breath, Blackbeard finally ceased his wailing, lying on his back as he gasped for air.
"Damn you, Bacardi Maude!!!"
His face contorted with rage, and his voice was squeezed through clenched teeth.
In the mere seconds he had spent screaming, he had already cursed Maude a thousand times over in his mind.
"One day, I'll make you pay for this!"
Still looking rather disheveled, Blackbeard pushed himself up from the ground.
Ignoring the Marines converging around him for now, he first glanced at the town now engulfed in thick smoke before turning his ferocious gaze toward Maude, who was lowering his leg after his previous strike.
If circumstances allowed, he would have given Maude a taste of true cruelty right then and there.
Maude noticed the menacing glare Blackbeard shot his way, but he chose to ignore it.
The priority was to leave this battlefield; he had no time to waste on unnecessary skirmishes.
After kicking Kizaru away, Maude didn't spare even a glance at Shiki, instead heading directly toward Kuma's position.
Being blatantly ignored by both Kizaru and Maude ignited a fury in Shiki's heart.
"Lion's Storm—Earth Scroll!"
Wasting no more words, Shiki raised his hands, manipulating the sand and rubble around him to form five roaring lion heads, which lunged toward Maude from multiple angles.
Hearing the disturbance, Maude instinctively reacted as if he had eyes on the back of his head. Without turning around, he swung his blade, sending five flying slashes toward the incoming lion heads, slicing them clean in half.
However, less than a second later, the bisected lion heads instantly reformed and continued their charge.
"Troublesome."
Maude muttered to himself.
The Fuwa Fuwa no Mi's ability allowed its user to manipulate objects freely, and even if those objects were shattered, they could instantly be reconstructed.
Understanding this, Maude decisively sheathed his blade, unwilling to waste any more energy on the lion heads.
"Are you just going to run the whole time?!"
Seeing Maude showing no intention of engaging, Shiki's bloodshot eyes burned with fury as he summoned four more Earth Scroll lions.
With their numbers increased and under Shiki's meticulous control, the lion heads began sealing off Maude's escape routes.
Maude noticed but remained unconcerned.
While the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi's ability to control objects remotely was indeed troublesome, it had a glaring weakness—Shiki couldn't imbue those objects with Haki.
After all, unlike Maude's shadows or Doflamingo's strings, Shiki's constructs were external objects manipulated indirectly through his Devil Fruit power, making them fundamentally different.
To Maude, attacks from the Lion's Storm technique, without Haki reinforcement, were nothing more than empty threats.
The only commendable trait was their ability to endlessly reform.
That said—
If he wished, Maude could at any moment deactivate Twin Fish Circulation and use his shadow to replicate any of Shiki's attacks.
In terms of both power and versatility, he could easily surpass Shiki's techniques.
Such was the difference Haki made.
Maude glanced briefly at the lions soaring through the air before disregarding them entirely, focusing solely on closing the distance between himself and Kuma.
A few seconds later—
Only 100 meters separated Maude from Kuma.
Meanwhile, the nine Lion's Storm constructs had positioned themselves, converging from all angles toward Maude.
Under Shiki's precise control, the lion heads sealed off all possible escape routes.
Yet—
Faced with this overwhelming attack, Maude, who had already reached his destination, had no intention of retreating.
Shadow Flow—Twin Blade Wheel Slash.
Maude raised his arm, positioning the blade of Shusui horizontally before his eyes.
The pitch-black shadows covering his palm and forearm silently transformed into dozens of small, razor-sharp blades, intertwining in a jagged spiral around his wrist and arm.
Wheel Slash!
With his arm now wreathed in countless bladed tendrils, Maude planted his foot firmly, twisted his waist, and unleashed a dazzling circular slash.
Shhhhk—!
Countless micro crescent slashes separated from the circular strike, slicing outward in all directions, reducing the incoming lion heads to dust in an instant.
"!!!"
Shiki's eyes contracted sharply at the sight.
At that moment—
A golden radiance suddenly flared behind him.
Unbeknownst to him, while he had been focused on Maude, Sengoku had taken advantage of the opportunity to close in.
"Huh?!"
As the blinding light cast his shadow onto the ground, Shiki's heart clenched in shock. He barely had time to manipulate the terrain beneath him before a crushing fist, imbued with an explosive shockwave, struck him square in the lower back.
The sheer force of the blow sent Shiki spewing blood as he was launched like a cannonball—
Right toward Maude and Law.
"Oh? Well, that's convenient!"
Maude's eyes gleamed with excitement as he instantly deactivated Twin Fish Circulation, freeing his shadow.
He swiftly manipulated the shadow into the form of nine Lion's Storm constructs.
"Law, the heart!"
Using the shortest command possible, Maude signaled Law.
"Room."
Law's gaze sharpened as he conjured a small Room domain.
Swoosh!
With a flick of his blade Kikoku, he instantaneously extracted Shiki's heart with minimal effort.
Shiki, caught off guard by the seamless coordination between Sengoku and Maude, realized—too late—that his heart was gone.
Holding Shiki's heart in his fingers, Law wasted no time. With his dwindling strength, he immediately retreated to Maude's side.
"Nicely done."
Maude swiftly took the heart from Law, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
His words were not only directed at Law—but also at Sengoku, who had provided a flawless assist.
This outcome…
Was quite sudden.
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