Alucard was forced back more than fifty meters, his back to Whitebeard. Whitebeard didn't press his advantage, not because he didn't want to, but because he had just used the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and needed a moment to recover.
"Huff... huff..."
After taking a couple of breaths, Whitebeard took his hand off his chest and yelled, "That must have hurt, you immortal brat!"
"Heh... heh heh heh..."
Hearing these words, Whitebeard saw that Alucard, still with his back turned, was twitching uncontrollably. A sound of frenzied laughter echoed as Alucard slowly stood up, mumbling to himself, "I can't help it... I truly can't help it..."
Alucard turned his face slightly, his right eye glowing with a bloody red light as he looked at Whitebeard. "This is it. It's because of this that the New World is so beautiful."
"Gurararara... Do you understand that?" Whitebeard grinned.
"No, that's not right," Alucard suddenly shook his head, denying his own words. His body began to transform in a vampire-like Bat Transformation, his hair spreading out into a flurry of dancing bats. "I should say that it is because of monsters like you that the New World is interesting."
With that, Alucard spun his entire body around, raising his hands high and swinging them violently. Various parts of his body turned into wildly dancing bats. "Come on! Let's keep dancing, Whitebeard! Whitebeard Edward Newgate!"
Whitebeard, who already had over seven minor and major injuries, seemed to forget his pain upon hearing Alucard's words. He swung his naginata forward, a web-like quake sphere appearing on its blade. Each swing brought with it a powerful shockwave.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Whitebeard swung his blade several times in a row. The battlefield stirred, and limestone dust flew everywhere, obscuring their line of sight.
In response, Whitebeard closed his eyes. Two seconds later, he suddenly swung his blade to his right. An afterimage of Alucard appeared there, and Whitebeard's strike cut it in two.
Squelch!
A splatter of blood. Alucard's body was sliced in half. But this had happened so many times that Whitebeard didn't believe for a second that he was actually dead.
Suddenly, Whitebeard's eyes narrowed. This time, he swung to his left, cutting yet another afterimage of Alucard's body in two.
"Another afterimage?" a deep, rumbling voice came from Whitebeard's throat.
"No. A superior vampire has the ability to turn into mist. Quite useful, isn't it?" Alucard's voice echoed. Whitebeard instantly lifted his naginata high and spun it madly like a helicopter propeller.
A moment later, the gust of wind blew the mist away, revealing countless black, dog-like creatures, Baskerville, each covered in red eyeballs.
Each of them was nearly twenty meters tall, surrounding Whitebeard completely. They watched him with hungry eyes, saliva dripping from their mouths.
"ROOOOOAR!!!"
More than a dozen Baskerville charged at once. Whitebeard plunged his naginata heavily into the mud at his feet. The huge roar and tremor it generated made the black dogs stumble, and Whitebeard seized that momentary chance. He spread his two hands wide and grabbed at the air as if to tear something apart.
"World Tremor!!!"
Just as the name of the attack suggested, the entire world seemed to freeze for an instant. A few seconds later, the black dogs, which had been charging with jaws wide open and full of murderous intent, froze in place. It wasn't just them; the entire island, and the entire sea, seemed to flip over like a table.
Hancock, who was fighting Jozu and Vista, quickly steadied herself. Using the power Alucard had given her, she transformed into mist to avoid an attack, then quickly regained her footing, frowning. "This... this is the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit... Whitebeard's strength..."
From her position on another isolated island, Hancock looked at the distant island, now a mere speck, and worriedly muttered, "Master..."
Even from so far away, she could feel the terrifying pressure. What kind of impact was Alucard enduring in the close-quarters fight?
"Don't get distracted, Pirate Empress!" Vista shouted, swinging his rapier.
Hancock sidestepped, dodging Vista's blade, and then delivered a high kick. Vista crossed his two swords to block her heel, but was sent flying dozens of meters back.
"What kind of kick was that? Is she really just a rookie?"
The retreating Vista frowned. Even though her initial bounty was as high as 180 million, the immense strength Hancock had displayed since the start of the battle was astounding to a seasoned pirate like him.
"Move, Vista!"
Hearing the voice from behind, Vista quickly dodged to the side, just as Jozu, his body completely transformed into diamond, charged forward like a chariot toward Hancock.
"Hmph! Such a direct attack!"
Hancock lightly tossed her long hair back. A dark red, shadowy flame suddenly erupted from her body, making her look like a female demon from hell.
"Perfume Femur!"
Wearing pink high heels, a blur of motion, Hancock appeared in front of Jozu in an instant, startling him. Her heel struck Jozu's diamond-hard left arm.
"How is that possible?! She's taking Jozu on head-to-head with strength?!"
Vista shrieked. Jozu's strength was one of the greatest in the Whitebeard Pirates. No one had ever dared to clash with him head-on, not even Marco.
And this beautiful, tall woman actually dared to face Jozu with a single, slender leg. Was she insane?
But the truth proved that Hancock was not insane. On the contrary, she forced Jozu back. Having received vampire powers and undergone strict training, Hancock was terrifyingly powerful.
Her physical combat skills were even more formidable than her Devil Fruit ability; her fighting style was based on Haki and martial arts, with her Devil Fruit as a secondary tool.
However, her Love-Love Fruit had not yet reached its "Awakened" stage, so her future potential remained unpredictable.
"Gh!"
Jozu grunted, forced back more than ten meters. Hancock lowered one of her legs slightly but kept it at a certain height, as if showing off the power of her last attack.