Kuro's words had barely faded when shouts erupted from beyond the palace walls.
Outside, Golden Lion Shiki's guards had spotted the approaching airship fleet. Some rushed to alert the command center while others mounted a desperate defense.
Elite officers like Edmond, Aramis, and Selkirk abandoned their vessels mid-air, employing Moonwalk to surge ahead of their forces and engage the enemy directly.
The remaining East Blue warriors followed their commanders' signals, leaping from the airships in waves. Within moments, a blossoming canopy of white parachutes filled the skies above Merveille Island.
Edmond descended headfirst, his Moonwalk technique accelerating his fall to frightening speeds. The fierce winds whipped his crimson hair backward as a cannonball rocketed toward him from below. Without breaking stride, he drew his katana and executed a single, precise strike—cleaving the projectile perfectly in two with a mirror-smooth cut.
BOOM!
The explosion thundered only after Edmond had passed through the bisected shell, the blinding flames framing his silhouette as he continued his descent.
Behind him, explosions and screams created a chaotic symphony, but Edmond remained focused. Identifying his target, he channeled the momentum of his fall into a devastating downward slash.
The guard below attempted to raise his blade in defense—a futile gesture. Edmond's strike sheared through both weapon and wielder, splitting the man's torso diagonally in a single, fluid motion.
As the first officer to touch ground, Edmond immediately drew the attention of the palace's perimeter guards.
Fresh from his kill, Edmond radiated lethal intent, yet the guards stood their ground. Suddenly, his vision darkened as a massive figure launched itself toward him with astonishing agility—like a meteor plummeting with overwhelming force.
Narrowing his eyes, Edmond studied the approaching form with momentary surprise. The attacker was an enormous gorilla with jet-black fur covering its entire body. Its arms were disproportionately long compared to its relatively shorter hind limbs.
This was no ordinary primate—its posture was unnaturally erect, its silhouette disconcertingly human-like. Most bizarrely, it wore gaudy, multicolored clothing that, while eye-catching, was aesthetically repulsive.
"A Zoan-type Devil Fruit user?" Edmond wondered, though his movements never faltered. He leapt backward to evade the gorilla's crushing descent while exhaling sharply and swinging his blade to unleash a slashing wave toward the beast.
In truth, this peculiar gorilla was not a Devil Fruit user at all. It was a natural primate with a name—Scarredo.
Scarredo was indigenous to Merveille, a primate inherently more intelligent than other beasts. When Shiki arrived and began extracting the IQ-enhancing element from local flora, Scarredo's natural intellect accelerated dramatically. He soon distinguished himself from other test subjects and mysteriously developed the ability to influence the island's wildlife, earning Shiki's favor.
This phenomenon demonstrated both the remarkable potency of the IQ compound and the desperate shortage of capable subordinates in Shiki's organization.
Despite his massive frame, Scarredo possessed astonishing agility. With a single arm, he propelled himself into an awkward yet effective evasive maneuver, twisting mid-air to avoid Edmond's energy slash. Rolling across the ground to maintain momentum, he continued his charge on all fours with breathtaking speed. When still at a distance, he pounded his chest with one massive fist and unleashed a thunderous roar directed at Edmond.
This roar—the source of Scarredo's control over Merveille's beasts—manifested as an invisible shockwave that struck Edmond with physical force. His ears rang painfully as the concussive blast made even his facial muscles vibrate.
Though Scarredo had seized the initiative, Edmond remained unflinching. His eyebrows arched sharply as he launched his own counter-charge, holding his katana low at his side with its tip aimed directly at the gorilla's center mass.
Scarredo swung a colossal fist toward his opponent—a hand nearly half the size of Edmond's entire body, descending like a sledgehammer driving a nail.
Before the blow could land, a flash of steel illuminated the space between them. In that fractional moment of intersection, Edmond's blade moved with deceptive ease—a motion so swift it appeared almost casual.
SHING!
Scarredo's face contorted in agony as his clenched fist separated cleanly from his wrist. Edmond had already retracted his blade to his side, and without pause, thrust forward again. Before the gorilla could process what had happened, the gleaming steel penetrated deep into his chest. Droplets of crimson splashed across Edmond's face, his jaw clenched in a grimace of focused rage.
The force of Edmond's charge drove his katana almost entirely into Scarredo's massive torso, leaving only the hilt and a small portion of the blade visible.
With deliberate, thundering steps, Edmond continued his advance without slowing, pushing the impaled gorilla before him. Like a living battering ram, he surged toward one of the palace's colossal support pillars—a structure so massive it would require a dozen men to encircle it. With a final, decisive thrust, he pinned Scarredo against the column.
Edmond wiped the blood from his face with a casual gesture, watching dispassionately as Scarredo struggled in vain to extract the blade from his chest.
By now, the East Blue warriors had landed en masse and engaged the palace guards in fierce combat.
After briefly assessing the battlefield, Edmond returned his attention to his embedded weapon. Gripping the hilt firmly, he clenched his teeth and wrenched the blade free with a powerful motion.
CRACK... As the steel withdrew, a network of fissures spread across the massive pillar's surface.
Scarredo released a pitiful wail before losing balance and collapsing to the ground. Showing no mercy, Edmond brought his foot down with crushing force on the gorilla's skull, shattering the marble floor beneath. In a fluid motion, he reversed his grip on the katana and drove it downward with all his strength.
The blade pierced through Scarredo's heart with surgical precision.
BOOM!
Simultaneously, the fractured pillar gave way, collapsing with a thunderous roar that shook the palace foundations.
Completely drenched in blood—his blade stained crimson to match his fiery hair—Edmond emerged from the dust cloud created by the falling structure. His appearance was that of a demon rising from a sea of carnage.
Scanning the battlefield with a calculating gaze, he noted that his forces had gained the advantage, though their position wasn't yet decisive. With a sharp flick of his wrist to clear the excess blood from his blade, he identified his next target and launched himself back into the fray.
Inside the palace command center, Shiki's personnel remained frozen in place, none daring to act while Dr. Indigo remained at Kuro's mercy. The entire operation—Shiki's grand plans, the IQ extraction process, everything—hinged on Indigo's expertise. To Shiki, no one in that room held greater value than his chief scientist.
Meanwhile, Kuro and Don Krieg exchanged knowing glances, their faces brightening with satisfaction as the sounds of battle drew inexorably closer. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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