"What is this?!" Aokiji asked, shocked.
This light-wave attack seemingly without power, was able to slow his Admiral-class Seraphim down so much.
'Could it be a Devil Fruit ability?'
"Hahahaha, Aokiji!" Shiki looked up at the sky and laughed.
"Do you still see us with the eyes of the past? We are no longer what we used to be! We have even developed Seraphim with Devil Fruit abilities!"
"And that's not all!"
As soon as the words fell, the young Golden Lion Seraphim's changed again.
Sharp fangs and claws grew out as it transformed into a humanoid lion.
"WHAT?!" A horrified expression appeared on Aokiji's face.
The light was definitely a paramecia ability, and now this transformation was clearly a Zoan power.
'Could it be...'
"That's right! My Seraphim has two Devil Fruit abilities!" Shiki grinned, his eyes full of arrogance.
"This one is the Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Lion. Didn't expect that, did you? Your Admiral-class Seraphim is already outdated, hahahaha!"
While he was speaking, the Seraphim who's now a lion-man, had already attacked.
The tyrannical power of its Zoan fruit, combined with its agile speed and the slowing effect of its other ability, left the Marine Seraphim with no way to fight back.
BOOM!
Several punches bombarded the Admiral-class model, sending it crashing to the ground like a cannonball.
Seeing this, Aokiji narrowed his eyes, a dangerous aura emanating from him.
In the end, however, he didn't make a move.
He knew that if he attacked, Shiki would definitely intercept him, and it would just be a two-on-two fight.
Taking action himself would have no real effect on the outcome of the battle.
"Seraphim, try to entangle him," Aokiji ordered his machine. "The rest of you, take down the others as quickly as possible!"
"Hahahaha, Aokiji, I'm afraid I won't give you that chance!" Immediately, the massive boulder Shiki was standing on came crashing down.
"Golden Lion!" Aokiji was taken aback and repeatedly used his ice powers to defend.
He didn't understand what Shiki hoped to achieve here.
BOOM!
The moment the boulder hit the ground, a massive cloud of dust and smoke was stirred up.
"Ice Age!" Aokiji hastily shot a wave of cold, freezing everything on the ground.
However, just as he did, he heard a rumbling sound.
A new boulder, split from the ground, rose into the sky.
"Hahahaha, Aokiji, I won't play with you this time! Goodbye!" Shiki stood on the new boulder with a proud look on his face.
Behind him was his Seraphim, as well as the rescued Rayleigh, Shakky, and Hancock.
...
"...He got away!" Aokiji gritted his teeth.
Although he could pursue them, he knew that with the opponent having a dual-fruit Seraphim and the Golden Lion himself, he couldn't take them down alone.
He could only watch helplessly as they gradually disappeared into the distant sky.
****
At the same time, on Kuraigana Island.
This was Dracule Mihawk's territory, and a group of uninvited guests had arrived.
"Hawkeye, you'd better surrender peacefully," Kizaru said in his usual lazy tone.
In response, Mihawk slashed his great sword, Yoru.
A massive blade of air shot across the sky.
Two Admiral-class Seraphim instantly dodged, and a deep ravine was carved into the ground where they had stood.
The two machines stretched out their palms in unison, and two laser beams shot out.
Mihawk raised his blade and cleanly deflected both attacks.
It looked like an even match.
Although he was at a disadvantage against two Admiral-class opponents, they couldn't take him down quickly.
"WRYYYY!"
Suddenly, the wail of a Humandrill echoed from nearby.
Mihawk's face darkened.
In this situation, he wanted to escape, but he couldn't abandon the apes.
Over the years, the powerful Humandrills that lived around his castle had become his neighbors, his friends... his only family.
How could he abandon them and run away alone?
Another group of Seraphim was besieging them.
"Damn..."
The two Admiral-class models rushed him again, their longswords flashing with sharp swordplay.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of clashing steel resounded as sparks flew.
"In terms of swordsmanship alone, you two are still far behind!" Mihawk shouted, unleashing a fierce burst of sword energy.
"Ooh, as expected of the world's number one swordsman. That's really terrifying," Kizaru drawled.
"To think he can hold his own against two Admiral Seraphim..."
The two machines worked together, and as their blades clashed, Mihawk felt an unmatched force travel up his arm.
He was thrown back several steps before he could steady himself.
He looked down and saw that the webbing of his hand had been torn open, and blood was dripping to the ground.
His heart sank.
'Could it be that this time, I can't escape this catastrophe?' he muttered to himself.
"Heh... well then, let's have a good fight here!"
A flash of madness appeared in his eyes, and the next moment, Mihawk shot forward like an arrow.
He slashed horizontally with his sword, and the two Seraphim joined forces to block it, sparks flying as they were pushed back.
Mihawk pressed his advantage, but saw that the two machines had given up their defense and were attacking him with their fiercest moves.
They weren't afraid of trading blows because of their inhuman recovery.
He, on the other hand, was different.
If he took a direct hit, he would lose all ability to resist.
But the exchange happened too fast; he couldn't dodge. He could only forcibly block one sword, knowing he would have to endure the other.
He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth.
At that critical moment... CLANG!
Suddenly, the clear and crisp sound of another sword meeting steel resounded.
A familiar blade had appeared in front of him.
Mihawk turned his head in astonishment.
"Huh? Shanks?!" Mihawk was stunned.
"Man, I'm not late, am I?" Shanks grinned, then looked towards Admiral Kizaru and the two Admiral-class Seraphim.
"Next, let us be your opponents."
As he spoke, a Seraphim stepped out from behind him, its momentum raging.
It was the Emperor-class Seraphim developed by Vegapunk.
"Hm?" Kizaru looked on in surprise.
"Yo, Red-Hair, it's you. I didn't expect you to appear here alone."
A slight smile appeared on his face. "Then I'll have to take you all back with me."
"You can try, Kizaru."
As Shanks spoke, the Seraphim behind him suddenly attacked.
As an Emperor-class model, it was much stronger than the Admiral-class ones.
Its figure flickered, and in the next moment, it appeared in front of the two Marine Seraphim and threw an outrageous punch, imbued with Haki.
BOOM!
With just one blow, both Admiral-class Seraphim were sent flying backward.
"All of you, together!" Kizaru ordered the remaining Warlord-class Seraphim.
"You deal with Red-Hair and Hawkeye. I'll handle their machine."
As for himself, he turned into a ray of light, crackling with electricity and instantly appeared above the Emperor-class Seraphim.
Arcs of lightning flickered as thunder rumbled.
"Thunderbird Strike!"
In an instant, an attack formed by the combination of countless bird-shaped bolts of lightning and light poured down like a hurricane.
Seeing Kizaru's fierce attack, Shanks simply glanced back at his Seraphim.
"It's all yours."
"No problem," the machine replied calmly and took a single step forward, not even assuming a defensive posture.
Kizaru's fierce attacks simply exploded in mid-air, as if blocked by an invisible barrier.
"Huh?!" Kizaru looked on, shocked. "How is that possible?!"
"Hahaha, sorry to disappoint you Kizaru," Shanks smiled.
"A Devil Fruit ability?!" Kizaru's eyes widened in surprise.
Other than a Devil Fruit, what else could do this?
As a Marine Admiral, he could distinguish between Haki and a physical barrier.
"Yes," Shanks nodded with a smile, but he did not reveal the name of the fruit.
They were enemies; as an Emperor, he would not expose his trump cards so hastily.
His Emperor-class Seraphim possessed the power of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, a power that was incredibly effective when used well.
"Okay, we're leaving," Shanks ordered.
The next moment, his Seraphim pushed its hand into the air, and a transparent "Air Door" appeared out of thin air.
"Let's go."
Shanks grinned and, along with Mihawk, calmly stepped through the portal into another dimension.
They even took Mihawk's group of Humandrills with them.
Finally, the Seraphim itself lifted its barrier and, with lightning speed, entered the Air Door and disappeared.
Kizaru was silent for a long time before letting out a light sigh.
"I didn't expect they also gave their Seraphim two Devil Fruit abilities. An unknown defensive power... and the Door-Door Fruit of CP9's Blueno."
The first ability could resist attacks, and the second could open a door to another dimension, making escape incredibly easy.
Thinking of this, Kizaru felt a headache coming on.
"Forget it. Let's go back and report."
He could only return to Marineford with his two Admiral-class Seraphim empty handed.
*****
At the same time, in the Florian Triangle.
"Kishishishi... The World Government is truly cruel," Gecko Moria smiled angrily.
"Just after using us, they turn around and try to wipe us out. How cold-hearted of them." He looked at Vice Admiral Momonga and couldn't help but mock him.
"Hmph. You were only ever a tool," the Vice Admiral replied coldly.
"You don't really think the Marines won the Summit War because of you Warlords, do you?"
Hearing this, Moria's expression sank.
Indeed, the one who had truly affected the outcome of the battle was the child known as the God of Technology—Leon.
"Go! Kill him!" Momonga ordered.
Immediately, five Warlord-class Seraphim shot forward at the same time.
"Damn it! The Marines really think highly of me, sending five Seraphim and one Vice Admiral!" Moria's expression was extremely ugly.
He even called out his own Seraphim to help him defend.
But even the marine Seraphim all possessed Warlord-level power.
One was dispatched to entangle his own Seraphim, leaving four to attack him collectively.
"Shadow Mage!" He cast a shadow clone, which managed to stop one more Seraphim, but he still had to face the remaining three by himself.
It was too much for him.
BOOM!
Moria was forced to dodge again and again, and his heart gradually sank to the bottom.
A look of despair rose in his eyes.
'Damn, this time I'm really going to die here... I hope Perona and the others have escaped,' he prayed in his heart.
However, a cry of battle sounded from a distance suddenly.
"KILL!"
"Huh?!" Vice Admiral Momonga was startled and quickly looked around.
He saw Edward Weevil, "Whitebeard Jr.," leading a group of his own Seraphim, charging quickly toward them.
"Gecko Moria, follow us!" Weevil roared, slashing horizontally with his massive blade and sending a group of the Marine Seraphim flying.
His own Seraphim fired their lasers, forcing Momonga back.
"Go!"
The overwhelming difference in strength allowed Weevil to easily rescue Gecko Moria, leaving the Vice Admiral roaring in frustration.
-----------------------------
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