With the seastone cuffs binding him unlocked, Ace instantly felt relief throughout his body, and he vented by unleashing a massive pillar of fire.
But he then awkwardly realized that his flames, in both spectacle and power, couldn't match Stella fighting Aokiji or Charles fighting Akainu, which dampened his good mood at being freed.
Whatever the case, that move broadcast that he was free. The pirates' momentum surged at once.
Whitebeard swung his naginata, blasting out the quake force on the blade; Sengoku and Garp were both shaken and sent flying.
"Gurararara! Brats, Ace has been rescued—if we make it back to the sea, victory is ours!"
"You won't escape!"
Sengoku roared and charged in his great Buddha form, raising a shockwave-laden palm. Garp followed close, his Armament Haki so strong it made his fist look a size larger.
Whitebeard tossed his naginata skyward, then seized the very air in both hands; it twisted in his grip as if it had substance and was wrenched apart.
As Whitebeard's arms fell, a world-upending scene unfolded before all eyes.
The entire space, up, down, left, and right, was thrown into chaos by quake force, and everything caught in the distorted zone was crushed.
But Sengoku and Garp were not among them; the two old men's bodies were tougher than anything, and they forced their way through the tremors to Whitebeard.
And Whitebeard caught the falling Murakumogiri and, coating it in Armament Haki, slashed up.
That earlier strike hadn't been aimed at Sengoku and Garp; it had disrupted the entire battlefield, giving everyone in combat a chance to disengage.
Even Ace and Luffy were able to link up with the Straw Hats and begin withdrawing while fending off pursuers.
"How could we let scum of the seas like you get away!"
Akainu roared, most of his body turning to magma.
"Meteor Volcano!"
Vast magma gathered on him; he meant to turn the field into a sea of fire, especially the shoreline, cutting off every pirate's retreat.
But he didn't have that luxury now.
"Splitting your focus while fighting me, are you!"
Charles felt slighted and lunged in, a Fire Dragon Talon kick slamming into Akainu's chest.
Never mind loosing the long-windup Meteor Volcano—Akainu himself spewed blood and was sent flying.
"Ice Age!"
Aokiji made the same call Akainu had, but his attack was stopped by Stella as well.
In her draconic maiden form, Stella drove the Feilong Sin Sword into the ground; Burn-the-Heavens, Scorch-the-Earth Dragon King Flame surged out, squarely blocking Aokiji's frost.
With both Admirals' interceptions checked, the pirates' withdrawal went all the smoother.
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard knocked aside Garp's fist with another stroke and caught Sengoku's blow on the hilt, booming, "Nothing can stop a man from rushing to the sea. You two this far along in years still don't understand?"
Sengoku met his gaze. "Don't be absurd. It's because the seas are full of villains like you that so many tragedies occur. How could we let you back out there!"
He unleashed a powerful shock as he spoke. Whitebeard braced to stop it—but his face suddenly changed.
He was no longer young, and in recent years he'd relied on injections to suppress the hidden injuries in his body.
A surge of pain inside made even a tough man like him tense and lose strength; Sengoku's blow knocked him straight back.
"Garp!"
Sengoku sensed something wrong in Whitebeard's body and called to his old partner as he charged again.
Even if all pirates escaped, as long as they kept Whitebeard, the Marines wouldn't have lost.
Without Whitebeard, the Whitebeard Pirates would be a rabble, and the Marines could proceed to pry open the New World as planned.
Garp disliked the idea of an old rival like Whitebeard ending this way, but his duty as a Marine still moved him.
A wry smile touched Whitebeard's face. He'd had this realization on his way to the field.
He felt no regrets about his life, but falling due to injuries was a hard ending to accept.
At the last instant, a torrent of flame fell from the sky, blocking between Whitebeard and Sengoku and Garp.
A dragon of flame spread its wings and loosed a deafening roar at them, forcing both back.
Charles scattered the fire and looked at them. "Villains who cause tragedy? The greatest evil in this world doesn't seem to be on the sea, does it?
If two men who lived through the God Valley incident don't acknowledge that fact, that hypocrisy is enough to make one sick."
At those words, Sengoku and Garp's fighting spirit visibly ebbed.
Even Sengoku, the strategist, could find no retort now.
Thirty-six years ago, in the Celestial Dragons' hunting game, the Marines had acted as accomplices. If Akainu's sinking of the Ohara refugee ship could be "explained," the stain of this one could never be washed from the Marines.
The Marines all knew Garp bore the title of Marine hero, yet few knew how he'd earned it—because this incident could never be made public.
Even buried, the truth could not be hidden from themselves; Sengoku and Garp could never lie to their own hearts, and Garp had never accepted the so-called hero's title.
Whitebeard glanced down at Charles. He felt he had underestimated the youth. As someone who had witnessed God Valley, he knew how tightly the World Government kept it secret.
When that happened, Charles shouldn't even have been born. How he knew such a secret was a mystery.
Sengoku and Garp were men not easily shaken, yet the blow to their convictions made them, for a moment, forget the war wasn't over.
Just then, Marco flew in wreathed in azure flames. "Old man, everyone's almost out. You need to go too!"
Marco was without doubt the dependable sort of first mate. Though Whitebeard was the least troublesome of the Emperors, he still kept Marco busy.
In this war, Marco had led the division commanders in blocking the Marines' main force, clearing many obstacles for Luffy and Little Oars Jr.
After Ace was freed, Marco had directed the retreat—and now he'd come to support Whitebeard again.
Whitebeard threw his head back. "You blockhead sons—it's too soon to worry about me!"
Before he finished, Charles moved—one hand catching Garp's fist, his head bracing Sengoku's palm.
The two iron-willed men reacted, but their attacks were stopped by Charles.
Catching the blows of two legends wasn't easy; Garp's fist was unbelievably heavy, and Sengoku's shock left Charles eating it.
Fortunately, he'd been on guard, Dragon King Martial Body and dragonflame battle gear already active. He staggered back several steps, but still held them.
Whitebeard swept Murakumogiri to drive them back, then narrowed his eyes after glancing at Charles rolling his shoulders.
He planted the naginata beside him and took that distinctive stance.
"You two old geezers—what do you think you're doing to the man who helped me!"
With that, his fist was already driving down on the air, glasslike cracks spreading out.
With that punch, Marineford split like a cookie snapped in half, a chasm of a fissure barring the Marines' pursuit.
Sengoku understood well: it was a warning. If the Marines tried to cross that line, they would be staking their lives.
He knew clearly that the Marines had already lost this war. Continuing would only pile up needless casualties.
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