What lay before them were unfamiliar individuals rushing down from the mountains on both sides, and a group of people advancing quickly along the mountain path ahead.
Leading the group was a stunning woman with hair like golden waves, wearing a battle armor skirt and holding a slender two-finger wide sword.
Her eyes glowed crimson, and with each step, her aura intensified, the Supreme King's will emanating from her.
The soldiers in the mountain path trembled all over, eyes rolling back and collapsing with froth at their mouths.
Out of the five thousand soldiers, barely more than a thousand could stand.
And these thousand were quickly ensnared by those descending from both sides.
"Such strong willpower!"
Jabra sidestepped, using 'Soru' to flash in front of a soldier, poking his chest with a Finger Gun, and marveled, "So many still standing."
Although Lily's Supreme King's will wasn't as formidable as Sage's, it was still the Supreme King's, and the cowardly couldn't stand against it.
This many still standing, these soldiers had quite the willpower.
"Ha! No matter how strong, they are still not our match!"
Bellamy tackled obstacles from the mountainsides, his legs turning to springs, continuously bouncing. Each time he bounced into the crowd, his spring-like arms recoiled and with tremendous force and momentum, punched a soldier down.
Amidst the crowd, Gin was like a tiger among sheep, his body flowing like water, evading the soldiers' attacks. His forearms swung, the motion lifting the Meteor Hammer-like forceful club, bowling over several soldiers at once.
Five thousand Pirates against more than a thousand soldiers, with a few minor leaders attacking as well, easily overwhelmed the group without much effort.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as Gin was about to continue his attack, his ears twitched, and his body swerved to dodge the incoming sound of the wind, landing on the ground behind him was an arrow buried halfway into the soil.
Turning his gaze, Gin saw a figure rapidly climbing the mountain, propelling into the air, drawing arrows from quivers at his waist and back, three in succession, like a machine gun, repeatedly pulling the bowstring, raining arrows from the sky.
If struck by this attack, the hard-won victory would suffer casualties.
"Hair Binding Wall Barrier!"
Just as the rain of arrows was about to fall, a mass of hair suddenly extended above their heads, like a black tidal wave covering them, the arrows breaking through the hair, only to be entangled in the shaft, binding the barrage.
"Continue the attack."
Marika smiled, saying, "Don't waste time."
The Pirates snapped back, continuing their entangled battle with the soldiers.
The black wave receded, discarding the arrows, returning to hang behind Marika's head. Meanwhile, Misty, who was suspended in the air, landed on the ground, watchful of these people.
Her gaze lingered on Moriah, frowning, "Seven Warlords of the Sea? Is the World Government planning to attack here? No... I clearly saw the Disaster Pirates enter Augustine through the Radio Snail, have you joined the Disaster Pirates?"
She didn't recognize the others. Not everyone in the kingdom cared about Pirates unless they were exceptionally famous.
Like the renowned Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Disaster Pirates, who shone in the Summit War, she remembered them.
"Kishishishi, you're quite good!" Moriah chuckled, "Sage's plan is correct, if all these people gather in Augustine, it would be a big problem."
Misty stepped back, preparing to retreat, drawing her bow, aiming at the crowd.
There were too many to fight, but holding them off was feasible; keeping them engaged while seeking chances to inform the other teams about the attack was the way to go.
"Aren't you going to surrender?"
Lily looked at Misty, coldly saying, "Sage is recruiting, with your strength, you'd be valued."
"I have nothing to say to Pirates," Misty retorted coldly.
"I see..."
Lily nodded, raising the white thunder in her hand sharply, "Flying Bird·Forest!"
In the moment of raising the sword, the blade flickered with afterimages, launching a barrage of bird-shaped slashes, like a flock of birds chaotically darting amongst the trees, soaring at the soldiers stunned by the Supreme King's will.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
Each slash hit the soldier's head, drilling a hole, blood streaming from the holes, dyeing the ground beneath crimson.
"You scoundrel!!" Misty's eyes widened, her face flushed with an angry crimson, strikingly vibrant against her snow-white skin.
"Then let's not waste time, leave two here to deal with her, the rest follow me," Lily sheathed the white thunder and turned away.
She also understood the actions, such a powerful individual could be quickly disposed of if ganged up on, but only if they were willing to fight; if they fought while retreating, dragging it out was unpredictable.
Time was of the essence now.
According to intelligence, they fought their way through two factions on the northern invasion route before attacking Misty, with the Supreme King's will overwhelming the initial resistance, then killing the rest before dealing with the unconscious.
Lily didn't even have time to wait for their surrender.
The current situation needed them to be subdued, allowing Sage to rule more easily.
They were all nobility anyway, conflicting with Sage's business.
"I'll handle it."
Marika stepped forward, smiling, "I won't let her escape."
"Hehe!"
Renedia stood next to Marika, rubbed the back of her fingers against her little nose, and flashed her small tiger teeth, "Count me in, yah!"
Lily nodded, seeing that most people had been killed, so she quickly led others to retreat to the next target.
"Don't go!"
Misty quickly shot an arrow. As she drew the bow, the tip of the arrow was visibly coated with a jet-black hue, shooting straight into the crowd.
Clang!
A spear-like strand of black hair whipped out, deflecting the arrow, causing it to spin several times in the air before plunging into the ground.
"Armament Haki... plus that dodging move from earlier, she must have Observation too. Ah, truly a hassle, mastering two Haki colors."
Marika's hair fluttered in the air, with one strand curling back like a snake in front of her, constantly swaying, its tip also imbued with Haki.
"Power Machine Gun!"
Renedia didn't waste any words, unfurling her Mechanical Hammer, aimed it at Misty, twisted the hammer handle, and a tongue of fire spat out, sending spindle-shaped bullets shooting forward.
In Misty's pupils, red dots flashed. She stepped on the air as if using Moon Step, propelling herself skyward, raising her hand to shoot three arrows at Renedia.
As she shot her arrows, she continued stepping on the air, moving straight out of the mountain.
Bang bang bang!
Several snake-like strands of hair struck the arrows, deflecting them. Marika turned to look at the already leaving Misty, shouting, "Reni, stop her."
"Roger that!"
Renedia aimed her Mechanical Hammer at the mountainside, quickly twisted the hammer handle, "No one escapes in front of me! Power Cannon Attack!"
Boom!
She had three specially made shells hidden, not needing to convert energy, just blasting away.
The red special shell was propelled by the discharge, fiercely hitting a section of the mountain, erupting in a loud explosion, causing a massive dust plume. The mountain collapsed, scattering a large amount of rock debris outward. The shock wave beyond was enough for Misty in the air to hesitate and fall downward.
But in just an instant, Misty quickly adjusted her posture. She glanced in surprise at the little girl, intent on moving again, just when an afterimage flashed before her.
"You're not the only one who can fly, you know."
Marika also stepped on air, appearing before Misty. The characteristic air bounce of Moon Step made her leap up. Her hair, at that moment, wrapped around her arm, coiling in Haki, smashed down fiercely.
"Hair Binding Hammer!"
With such a fierce hammer strike at such close range, it should have hit Misty. But as Marika's attack descended, Misty's body seemed to be moved by the air, gliding to dodge from the fist wrapped in strands of hair, like being swept aside by the wind.
"Glide Shot!"
After sliding past Marika's attack, Misty twisted and drew her bowstring, shooting three arrows straight, only to be entwined by Marika's outstretched strands of hair.
Da-da-da!
Below, bullets continuously rushed in this direction. Misty, as if mastering Kami-e, kept dodging, slipping past the edges of the bullets and advanced straight towards Renedia.
She twisted her body, dodging a bullet in the air, drew her bow aimed at Renedia, but then saw the little girl baring her teeth, revealing her little tiger teeth, and fiercely twisting the hammer handle.
"Power Cannon Attack!"
Boom!
The specially made shell quickly flew in, exploding right in front of Misty, its explosive airflow continuously swayed her body, causing her to drift in the air. Just as she was about to continue attacking, she suddenly sensed something, swiftly spinning to dodge a few attacking black snakes from behind.
The moment she dodged, she reached back, her pupil shrinking, obviously taken aback.
The three quivers at her waist and back, empty...
The attacking 'black snakes' sharply retracted, and at that coiling point, three quivers were entwined.
"An archer without arrows is like a chef without a knife, you know."
Marika continuously stepped on air, heading straight for Misty in the sky. Her hair spread out, like a giant black net, attacking her from all directions.
But at this moment, Misty reached out and drew the bowstring. Without any arrows, she fiercely shot at Marika.
Bang!
The twang of the bowstring alerted Marika, instinctively feeling something amiss, her rushing figure dodged to the side. In that instant, an arrow formed by airflow shot through her hair, blasting open a hole beside her head, headed straight for the mountain behind, creating a dent.
The change in airflow, the twisting of air, stalled Marika's Moon Step for a moment, causing her to descend to the ground.
She looked up at Misty in the air, wrapped in wind, seemingly flying, her smiling eyes slowly opening, revealing cold pupils.
"An Ability User, huh?"
At this moment, Misty was no longer shifting as if using Moon Step, but instead suspended directly in the air, with airflow swirling around her.
"The reason I'm called 'Wind Chasing General' is due to my ability... I ate the 'Air-Air Fruit' and became an Airflow Person, able to manipulate airflow at will. The movement of air is something I can freely control!"
She extended her fair fingers, the air forming into streams of airflow, gathering at her fingers, shaping into arrows, loaded onto the bowstring.
Her body turned sideways, aiming at the ground, drawing the bowstring.
"Scattering Wind Arrow!"
As the airflow-gathered arrow was released from the bowstring, it transformed into countless tiny airflow arrows at the moment it left the string, densely scattering towards the two of them.