Crack! Crack! Crack!
A sound of shattering came from the air. On the isolated island, Whitebeard held his hands out in a straight line and fiercely pulled at the empty space on either side. Instantly, the ground on both sides of the island began to churn and roll. But Alucard, a step ahead, had already transformed into a swarm of bats and reappeared directly above Whitebeard's head.
Click!
The black pistol, Jackal, was reloaded. Whitebeard's expression turned grave when he saw Alucard pull out that black gun again. He spun around, grabbing the large naginata that was plunged into the mud beside him, and coated the entire blade in pure black Armament Haki.
BOOM!
The two attacks collided. A half-second later, the Seastone bullet exploded, but the wound it had inflicted earlier on Whitebeard's arm burst open again, spilling a torrent of blood that stained his entire arm crimson.
"You really are getting old, Whitebeard."
Alucard flicked the Jackal, and the empty shell was ejected. "It's been a long time since our last fight, but your decline is even worse."
Nearly a decade had passed since their last battle. Back then, Whitebeard's hair wasn't gray, and he wouldn't be out of breath after just a few hours of fighting.
After all, he was now an old man well over sixty. "Hmph, you're not so bad yourself."
In the face of danger, Whitebeard just smiled, fiercely twisting his naginata. "You've grown up, and now you like to talk so much?"
"Oh? Heh-heh."
Alucard tilted his head back and grinned. A shadow engulfed the entire island, and countless shadow hands extended from it.
The next wave of attacks had begun!
Whitebeard swung his naginata, demonstrating a powerful aura of one against a thousand, cutting every shadow hand in half. He continued to close the distance toward Alucard.
'What a magnificent man...'
Alucard half-closed his eyes, his internal thoughts full of praise. Whitebeard was a man worthy of admiration. While he had always considered him an "unqualified" pirate, there was no doubt he was a true "man."
"In that case, I'll show you a bit of what I can do, too."
Alucard's elbows became wrapped in the Blacklight Virus, and within two seconds, his arms transformed into two steel claws. Each claw had three large blades, a Form Change of the Blacklight Virus.
Typically, Alucard used the weapon transformation abilities of the Blacklight Virus in a "lolita" state. This was one of his quirks, simply finding it amusing. But facing a man like Whitebeard, Alucard showed a measure of respect and brought out this ability.
Alucard plunged his two steel-clawed hands fiercely into the ground. In an instant, the battle- hardened Whitebeard instinctively felt a sense of danger. His left hand, not holding the naginata, created a web-like quake sphere and smashed it hard into the ground.
RUMBLE!!!
In less than half a second after Whitebeard used his power to shatter the earth, countless oversized steel blades shot up from the ground, instantly turning the area around them into a mountain of swords.
If Whitebeard hadn't shattered the ground that split second earlier, he would have likely been turned into a pincushion.
"GUAAAAAH!"
Whitebeard swung his naginata, completely pulverizing the mountain of swords that had obstructed his view. The violent impact cleared a path for him.
"Beautiful, Whitebeard!"
Alucard's hands returned to normal before transforming into the giant sword he often used. He swung the massive blade, and it crashed violently into Whitebeard's naginata. The resulting shockwaves were like an endless tide, breaking the blades around them one by one.
"Calling you an old man was a mistake. Perhaps 'a wine that gets stronger with age' would be more accurate?" Alucard jeered, his head craned back due to the huge height difference.
Whitebeard, in a crouch, pressed down hard with his naginata, a grin spreading across his face. "Hah! Enough talk. If you've got the guts, come take my head!"
BOOM!!!!
The entire island began to shake violently, and the sky responded with a low rumble of thunder.
Marco, flying in the air, glanced back toward the isolated island. At this point, they were already more than ten miles away from the battle between Alucard and Whitebeard, and he could barely see them as specks. However, the powerful shockwaves from the fighting were undeniably real.
Just as Marco turned his head, he heard the screams of his crewmates from the front. He spun back around and saw Wolf knocking several of his comrades into the sea.
Marco quickly used his abilities to fly in front of Wolf to block him, shouting back toward the Moby Dick, "Hurry up and sail away! Go to the nearest island from here!"
They had already tried cannons, and they were useless against Wolf; that monster's skin was unimaginably thick. Almost all of the Whitebeard Pirates' Devil Fruit users who could fight freely at sea were limited to Marco alone. Even the non-Devil Fruit users were severely restricted in a sea battle. They didn't have the Marines' Geppo.
If they didn't get to shore and fight on land, their losses would only increase.
Conversely, once they were on land, Devil Fruit user commanders like Jozu and Blamenco would be able to fight with their full power, which would put Wolf at a disadvantage.
"Marco, just hold on a bit longer! We'll be at land soon!"
Jozu's voice came from far behind, reassuring Marco. Flying in the air, Marco was like a sparrow compared to a whale. He grinned, "I'll be your opponent until they reach shore!"
But after Marco said this, Wolf didn't attack. Instead, he scratched his fat chin with his hand, his deep voice carrying a hint of mockery. "You... should check what's behind you. I won't attack."
Marco's almost nonexistent eyebrows furrowed. He turned around, unafraid of a sneak attack from Wolf since he had Observation Haki.
However, the sight that met his eyes made Marco's dead-fish eyes widen considerably.
Two red pirate ships, powered by two sea serpents and with sails adorned with the marks of the Kuja and Alucard, were rapidly approaching the Moby Dick.
"The Kuja... Damn it, I completely forgot about them!" Marco cursed hatefully.
He had been so focused on Alucard that he had ignored Wolf, and now he had ignored the Kuja.
At the bow of one of the ships stood Hancock, along with Sandersonia and Marigold, leading a hundred elite female pirates.
"Prepare for battle!" Hancock said, her Haki leaking.
"Yes! Snake Princess-sama!" the elite female pirates of the Kuja shouted, raising their weapons. The opponent was the world's strongest pirate crew. While they were fearful, they were even more excited!
The Alucard Pirates vs. the Whitebeard Pirates had officially begun.
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