Chapter 259: The Five Elders, the Submerged Fish-Man Island
In the churning seas of Fish-Man Island.
With the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh and a pained grunt, the spear in Louis's hand, radiating a strange light, pierced Garling's chest under Akainu's watchful eyes. It wasn't until this happened that Akainu had barely managed to rush to his aid, raising an arm that had transformed into magma and was wreathed in advanced Armament Haki to send Louis, who was raising his sword to strike Garling again, flying.
Crimson blood spilled from the corner of Garling's mouth. The intense pain made his expression abnormally pained. He lowered his head, his half-open eyes looking at the spear with its strange light that was embedded in his chest.
The immortal body of a being at the pinnacle of the Celestial Dragons was not playing its due role at this moment. Garling's chest was shriveling at a visible rate, and with it, it was disintegrating. It was clear that under the combined power of Louis's awakened Life-Life Fruit, his Conqueror's Haki, and lightning, the king who had once made a great showing in God Valley, Figarland Garling, was only a step away from death.
Seeing this, Akainu felt an abnormal headache. The Commander of the God's Knights, a being at the pinnacle of the Celestial Dragons, had died. Not only was he at the scene, but his death was also related to him. He wanted to help, but from this situation, he had no way to start.
After a brief silence, Akainu abruptly turned around, his terribly grim face turned toward Louis, who was looking at the mermaid cove with a thoughtful expression. Then, accompanied by a scorching high temperature and an abnormally terrifying aura, he headed in Louis's direction. As he moved rapidly, a rolling heatwave swept through, and from a distance, it baked the originally seawater-soaked land dry, turning it into a hellish land of magma.
In front of Akainu, Louis digested the scene he had foreseen in his mind, slowly looked away from the distance, and frowned slightly. "You can't afford to lose, can you, Imu—"
In the direction of the mermaid cove, in the area that had long been submerged by seawater, Junko, in her standard Celestial Dragon attire, had her gaze on Louis. The light that flashed in her heterochromatic eyes was like that of a different person from a moment ago—detached and chillingly inhuman. Beside her, five giant five-pointed stars appeared again, black flames and lightning flashing and intertwining.
At the same time, a black flame ignited again on Garling's body. The disintegration in his chest gradually eased, and an unknown power was now holding his life by a thread. Then, the light gradually returned to Garling's eyes. Using his rapier as a support, he slowly stood up.
Akainu sensed this in his Observation Haki and then abruptly looked back. After confirming the situation, he stopped his attack and turned back again, lest the Archangel Louis suddenly appear and deal a finishing blow to Garling.
On the other side, Louis, after understanding the current situation, also turned to look at Garling's position. Now, Junko, who was suspected to have been taken over by Imu, had, at the moment he had pierced through Garling, arrived again through the five-pointed star formation that had been left behind. And she had once again used her ability to set up five giant five-pointed star formations to summon reinforcements.
Although Louis believed that besides the unknown Imu, there was no one in the world who was his one-on-one match, he knew his own business. His Conqueror's Haki was not yet as strong as Joy Boy's from eight hundred years ago, to the extent that he could tear the sky with a single person and forcefully interrupt Imu's summoning ability. Therefore, the top priority at present was to kill the already-low-health Garling. In this situation, Imu might give Garling a second chance, but Louis would not.
In that instant, Louis, with the help of the Avant Heim split body on his arm, once again disappeared from the spot. When he reappeared, he had already instantly arrived in front of the panting Garling. A pair of snow-white wings and a tall back were revealed in the eyes of the rapidly returning Akainu.
The Seven Star Sword, which contained multiple powers, was held high in Louis's hand, reflected in Garling's eyes, and then was brought down abruptly.
Garling, who had just gotten a chance to breathe, saw this, and his gaze hardened. He quickly wreathed the rapier in his hand in Armament Haki and held it up in front of him to try and block the blow.
Time seemed to stop at this moment.
This scene was also clearly transmitted to the eyes of "Junko" in the mermaid cove, and her gaze became even colder. She raised her hand and launched an attack at the distance.
The rapidly returning Akainu saw this, and the anger in his eyes almost erupted as a physical flame. He almost crushed his teeth. However, no matter how fast he went, it was ultimately no match for the speed of space travel. He could only watch helplessly as the blade fell.
SHING...
The clear hum of the blade traveled on the wind pressure. A blow containing a destructive power directly cut through the rapier and, with undiminished force, instantly passed through Garling's neck. The broken blade, crimson blood, and the aged head flew into the air, crashing heavily to the ground.
The awakened power of the Life-Life Fruit was released again, completely absorbing Garling's life force and utterly extinguishing his vitality. The Commander of the God's Knights, Figarland Garling, had died in battle on Fish-Man Island.
At the same time, on the other side of the island, Shamrock, who was in a fierce battle, seemed to sense something and abruptly turned his head to look at the spot where Garling's aura had disappeared. A hint of gloom flashed in the eyes beneath his messy red hair, and his face became terrifyingly grim. Then, he abruptly looked up at the ice-and-snow-covered battlefield in front of him, at the tall, dark figure with multiple wounds, with oni and deer horns on its head.
"You really deserve to die..." Shamrock's eyes were bloodshot, his face, so similar to Shanks's, filled with an endless killing intent. "You lowly pirates!"
The next second, he attacked again, like a furious hellhound, charging at Yelena. To this, she showed no fear at all, gripping her cold and heavy war hammer as she met him head-on.
"You damned pirate!!" The furious Akainu returned, his fist, which had transformed into magma and was wreathed in Armament Haki, raised high as he smashed it at the pirate who had killed in front of him.
With a whoosh of air, Louis turned around. The blade, wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, was held horizontally in front of him, directly blocking the blow.
CRACK—
Magma splashed, and Akainu, who was covered in it, glared angrily at Louis, looking as if he wanted to eat him alive. Akainu didn't know what kind of punishment he would receive from the Five Elders for Garling's death, with him at the scene. But it was foreseeable that the position of Fleet Admiral, which was only one step away from him, had at this moment become out of reach.
Louis slightly lowered his eyes, coolly watching Akainu. "If anger were useful, there would be no pirates in the world."
Akainu had no mind to listen to Louis's nonsense. He quickly turned his other hand into magma and, with the force of a volcanic eruption, blasted it at Louis's head.
Louis tilted his head, and Akainu's punch grazed past his golden hair. Immediately after, a scarlet light flashed in Louis's eyes. His entire body leaped into the air, dodging the one after another of arrows that were extending from the horizon.
Louis looked at the arrows rapidly extending under his feet and said thoughtfully, "Is this Junko's ability?" But soon, he overturned this guess. "No. Junko's performance just now was far from this. So, is the current Junko really Imu? And—"
"The Five Elders."
At the end of the horizon, a sharp slash rose. In addition to cutting through the monstrous wave, it released an extreme low temperature, freezing the churning waves. Then, four ferocious giant beasts, wreathed in black smoke clouds and with bodies that were immeasurably larger than a giant's, strode across the frozen glacier, attacking without any concealment.
"A sand worm, a gyuki, a bakotsu, and a hōki..."
"And..." Louis looked to his side, at the ferocious giant bird that had torn out from the steam that had been evaporated by the high temperature, and spat out the last word, "...Itsumade."
As Louis's words fell, the bird's talons, as thick as a giant's waist, extended with a terrifyingly strong power and Haki lightning, grabbing straight for him.
Seeing this, Louis clenched his fist, and black and red arcs of electricity coiled and flashed. Making it blossom like a black and red cross-star, he smashed it forward.
The punch, which was like a black and red cross-star, made contact with the giant bird's talons, and a deafening roar erupted, creating a visible ripple in the atmosphere. The Itsumade's giant body, along with the resulting impact, was sent flying back several hundred meters. After steadying itself with its broad wings, it opened its saw-toothed beak and spat out a searing flame. The searing pillar of fire ignited the atmosphere from a distance as it flew straight toward Louis.
At the same time, the bald man, whose upper body was that of a human wreathed in black smoke clouds and whose lower body was a skeleton horse, leaped high. He held a cursed sword in both hands, his glasses reflecting a chilling white light. The next moment, he raised his hand and swung out a sharp slash that tore through the sky of steam and slashed toward Louis's back.
A shockwave wreathed in Haki lightning, accompanied by a heart-stopping roar, attacked, forming a pincer attack with the slash and the flames, completely sealing Louis in. The next second, the three attacks arrived in an instant, enveloping him.
BOOM!
With a series of roars, the sky was swept by a terrifying explosion. The rolling sound waves spread, shattering the ice and seawater that were everywhere on Fish-Man Island from a distance. Immediately after, a strange light enveloped the spot where Louis had originally been, obscuring everything above.
On the pale ground, the four Mythical Zoan users, in the form of beasts wreathed in black smoke clouds, were scattered in various places, glaring at the sky.
Although the blows from the Hōki, the Bakotsu, and the Itsumade had all landed, the tyrannical aura coming from the sky told the five of them that their combined attack had not dealt any effective damage to the Archangel.
"Just as the rumors say... an unreasonable defense," in a special telepathic channel, Saint Saturn, in his Gyuki form, whispered.
The Hōki, with its boar-like appearance, had its gaze on the sky and added, "This defense... surpasses my own."
The strange bird, the Itsumade, which was soaring with its broad wings, suddenly sensed a terrifying sense of crisis. "Knock him down—" it screeched.
However, the next moment, a giant hand extended from the strange light, grabbed it, and squeezed, choking off the unfinished words.
Just then, the strange light that covered the sky dissipated. Louis, with his snow-white wings spread high in the sky, displayed a holy form that was in no way inferior to that of the Five Elders. The incomparably holy Louis casually held the Itsumade, lowered his detached eyes, and looked down from the sky at Akainu, the other four Five Elders, and Junko.
"..."
Louis's current holy form made the group extremely wary, and also filled them with doubt. "Is this... an awakened Mythical Zoan, just like us? Or is he, as we speculated, an unknown Paramecia user?"
On the ground, Junko looked up at the sky. Her equally detached eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure.
Just then, the hand that Louis was gripping the Itsumade with crackled with black and red arcs of electricity, and a golden holy light rose. With an exertion of force from Louis's palm, the bones of the originally struggling Itsumade creaked, and it let out a piercing scream.
On the ground, the eyes of the other Five Elders suddenly changed. They decisively launched a coordinated and powerful joint attack. In that instant, countless terrifying blows enveloped Louis. Among them were no shortage of attacks wreathed in Conqueror's Haki, which directly created an endless vacuum zone in the air.
Akainu saw this and, after taking a deep breath, raised his hands, transformed them into searing magma, and continuously poured it toward Louis in the sky.
To this, Louis merely glanced over, spread his broad wings, and moved, letting the attacks miss.
Just as he was about to completely kill the Itsumade, an unexpected accident occurred. He felt his palm go empty. The Itsumade, which he had been gripping tightly, had instantly disappeared.
"Disappeared..." Louis's brow furrowed slightly. He then turned his eyes to the ground and caught sight of the Itsumade's trace. He appeared in the form of a black flame beside Junko, transformed back into the white-haired old man in the black suit, his arms twisted abnormally, and he coughed up blood.
"Summoned back?" Louis thought, then reverted to his original form. The Avant Heim split body reappeared in the form of a gauntlet. Then, he once again gripped his spear and sword and quietly watched the seven people present.
On the ground, "Junko's" bloody ring-pupil looked toward Marcus Mars at her side, taking in the full view of his injuries. After a moment, she swept her gaze not far away, at the two hideous cuts on Akainu's chest, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Permanent injuries—"
Then, she looked up at the sky, and her gaze met that of the figure who was completely different from the Lunarians she knew. At the same time, Louis, who was hovering in the sky, gave "Junko" a deep look. He then raised his hand and opened a portal at his and Yelena's side. Then, without the slightest hesitation in front of the seven below, he stepped through the portal and disappeared.
Now that the evacuation of Fish-Man Island was complete, and he himself had killed three of the God's Knights, and had left permanent injuries on Akainu and one of the Five Elders, there was no need to stay and continue this death match with these seven people.
Dozens of seconds later, Louis, holding the Lance that Shines at the End, stood on the surface of the sea. He opened a portal connecting the sea and the sky above Fish-Man Island, and threw his strongest blow, instantly piercing through the entire island's bubble.
With the bubble pierced, the balance inside and outside was broken. An immeasurable amount of seawater poured down from all four directions. The blow, which contained a destructive power, also came crashing down with an endless might toward the Five Elders and the others.
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