With a single blow, Sakazuki brought down a knight. He looked at the tattered cloak of justice lying on the ground, a trace of sorrow flashing through his eyes.
That sorrow was quickly suppressed, replaced by seething anger.
At the same time, the situation on the battlefield shifted dramatically. Earlier, when the God's Knights had led the charge into the fray, they had nearly shattered the Marines' offensive formation.
Now, with Sakazuki and several high-ranking Marine commanders joining the fight, the once-suppressed ranks rapidly regrouped, erupting again with the momentum to punch through the Holy Land Guard's defenses.
The moment Sakazuki killed a knight, he drew immediate attention.
Another knight, clad in equally strange armor and wielding a massive greatsword, fixed his gaze on Sakazuki from afar. Unlike the previous knight, this one bore a pure white pattern on his shoulder armor.
That marking belonged exclusively to the five Great Knights of the God's Knights. The Celestial Dragons revered white, favoring white robes in their daily lives. Every member of the God's Knights was a Celestial Dragon, and to distinguish status and strength between Knights and Great Knights, only those promoted to Great Knight were permitted to bear white markings on their shoulder armor.
Sakazuki was well aware of this intelligence. When he noticed the figure, his brow creased with undisguised disdain.
"So it's you," he said quietly. "The ones who claim to rival Marine Admirals."
Like the other knights, the Great Knight wore a helmet that concealed his face.
"Sakazuki, traitors like you and Ortoren deserve to be purged," the Great Knight said in a low voice.
The instant the words fell, he kicked off the ground and shot forward. Sakazuki's eyes sharpened. At the very least, the explosive speed this man displayed had truly reached the level of a top-tier fighter.
But Sakazuki was not the type to dodge. He roared, thick smoke rolling off his body as magma surged forth. He threw a punch, which transformed into a massive fist of molten rock.
In the next moment, the Great Knight's blade slammed straight into the erupting magma fist. A shocking sight followed. The enormous magma fist vanished the instant it made contact with the blade.
As if it had been erased.
"An ability?" Sakazuki was startled. He slid back, retreating several steps.
As he withdrew, the Great Knight slashed again. Wherever the blade passed, the magma Sakazuki had left behind disappeared once more.
There was no doubt about it. This was some kind of ability.
Sakazuki had never encountered it before, but as a seasoned Admiral and a veteran of countless battles, two exchanges were already enough for him to grasp part of its nature.
"It needs to make contact to make things disappear… no," Sakazuki corrected himself inwardly. "More like… 'purge'?"
He suddenly recalled what the Great Knight had said earlier.
Traitors deserved to be purged.
Before he could think further, the sky above the Great Knight's position suddenly erupted in a blaze of multicolored light. In the next instant, a chaotic barrage of attacks came crashing down, flames, lightning, ice, and all manner of elemental powers unleashed at once.
The Great Knight was furious. He swung his greatsword again and again, clearing away every flashy attack that came at him.
At the same time, Momonga appeared at Sakazuki's side, smiling as he spoke.
"Sakazuki-san, how about leaving this one to me? Your opponent seems to be waiting for you over there…"
As he spoke, Momonga raised his hand and pointed into the distance.
Most of the God's Knights wore helmets and masks, completely hiding their appearances.
Only one man was an exception. The supreme commander of the God's Knights, Figarland Garling.
At that moment, numerous Marine corpses lay scattered around Figarland Garling. He lightly flicked his wrist, shaking the blood from the Executioner's Blade in his hand, and then turned his gaze toward Sakazuki.
He glanced at Sakazuki only once before looking away.
It seemed the person he was waiting for was not Sakazuki.
"Not here?" Garling frowned slightly and murmured, "Benn Ortoren…"
On this battlefield, he saw no sign of Ortoren.
But the thought had barely formed when a violent wave of scorching heat surged from his side. Garling's reaction was lightning-fast. He pushed off the ground and instantly leapt back, opening up distance.
The instant Garling pulled away, the rock underfoot had already melted, turning into magma that surged upward.
Sakazuki stepped out of the magma and looked at Garling.
"What are you waiting for?"
Garling's gaze was flat and unruffled. He only sounded faintly regretful.
"Seems Ortoren won't step onto the field until you're dead… Very well, Sakazuki. Your crimes are unforgivable. Here and now, I will pass judgment on you."
Sakazuki couldn't be bothered to listen to him talk. Wild magma began to roll off his body again, but just as he was about to move, Garling drew the Judgment Blade through the air in a casual, empty slash.
Then he spoke.
"Edict: In this battle, no one may use abilities involving flames, heat, or related elements."
The moment the words left his mouth, Sakazuki threw a punch. But the instant he moved, he felt it. Something was wrong.
His raging magma wouldn't answer him. It cooled. It went dead.
"This…?" Sakazuki's eyes widened again.
The Great Knight's "erase" and "purge" ability had already been a shock, but now Garling could directly seal his power?
Words that became law?
What kind of ridiculous Devil Fruit was this?
Was the God's Knights really stacked with monsters?
Even as the surprise hit, Sakazuki caught a couple of key details.
First, the edict sounded almost… fair. Garling had said "no one," which meant Garling himself shouldn't be able to use flames, heat, or anything related either.
Second… the moment Sakazuki's magma died out, Garling's aura wavered, just slightly. Most people would never notice it, but Sakazuki did. And right after that, he saw it.
A thin line of sweat sliding down Garling's temple.
He'd only spoken a sentence, and it had cost him a huge amount of stamina.
And if Sakazuki's magma was his strongest, most fundamental power, forcing it shut with an "edict" couldn't possibly be free. If anything, the price had to be enormous.
"Losing access to the Logia power you're so proud of," Garling said softly, lifting the Judgment Blade. "That feeling… frightening, isn't it?"
Sakazuki paused, then forced a stiff smile onto his hard features. His voice carried a faint edge of scorn.
"You don't actually think I became an Admiral by leaning on a Devil Fruit, do you?"
As he spoke, he bent down and pulled a Marine command sword out of an enemy's body.
He gave it a few casual flicks, and a hint of old memory surfaced in his eyes.
"Still… it's been a long time since I used a blade. Wonder if I've gotten rusty."
In the next instant, cold light flashed. Sakazuki casually sent a razor-sharp slash flying straight at Garling. Garling's expression showed a flicker of surprise, but the Judgment Blade answered immediately with a slash of its own.
Then Sakazuki rushed in.
In a heartbeat, they traded dozens of blows. Steel rang out again and again, and the shattered, razor-edged shockwaves from their strikes spread outward in all directions, like the calm center of a storm turning everything around it into chaos.
A dozen seconds later, Garling's voice sounded again from the heart of that storm.
"Edict: A higher-quality weapon will sever a lower-quality weapon!"
The moment the edict landed, the Judgment Blade struck once and cleanly cut through Sakazuki's command sword, even though it was wrapped in powerful Haki.
It was as if the Haki's protection simply didn't exist.
Sakazuki didn't panic. Almost at the exact moment the blade broke, he seized the opening and drove a fist into Garling's face, sending him flying.
It made one thing painfully clear: Garling's real combat experience was nowhere near Sakazuki's. In a moment where Garling should have held the advantage, Sakazuki still found the gap and made him pay with a solid punch.