Chapter 490: The Battle of the Holy Land Begins
The firmament roared, and storms churned.
The air was thick with scorching Haki and oppressive killing intent; even the sea of clouds was forced backward by the tremors.
Roy hovered in mid-air, cloaked in the fierce gale, his eyes as cold as blades.
Beside him, Garp could no longer restrain himself.
The old hero's calloused fists clenched tightly. Veins bulged, his joints trembled, and his bones emitted a low crackling sound.
That face, weathered by years of time, was now filled with fury and sorrow. His jaw was clenched tight, and the fire accumulated over decades burned fiercely in the depths of his eyes.
"So... that monster in God Valley back then—"
Garp roared in a low voice, his voice echoing in the sky like rolling thunder.
"It really was the doing of you animals—!!!"
"RUMBLE—!!"
He shattered the void with a stomp, his figure plummeting sharply as if transforming into a falling star!
Above his fist, Conqueror's Haki churned like raging flames, black and red intertwining as lightning coiled around it.
In that moment, the air was shredded to pieces. The shockwave erupted from his Haki swept out in all directions like a world-shattering roar, tearing heaven and earth in two!
"—Iron Fist: Galaxy Fall!!!"
"BOOM—!!!!!"
The moment that punch landed, the entire sky was dyed crimson red.
Gales scattered, the sea of clouds was torn apart, and the airwaves cut like blades. All sound seemed to be swallowed up.
The trajectory of the fist was like a falling meteor, carrying a destructive aura that pierced through heaven and earth!
On the ground, Saint Warcury abruptly looked up, his pupils contracting violently!
At this moment, his size was as massive as a mountain. With four hooves planted on the ground, his sturdy black armor gleamed with a metallic luster, his tusks were curved, and the hot breath exhaled from his snout was enough to melt through solid rock.
However, when that apocalyptic fist descended, this giant beast known for the "Absolute Defense" felt terror from the bottom of his heart for the very first time!
"HSSS—!!!"
He roared furiously, the Armament Haki across his entire body erupting instantly. Black iron flowing like magma covered him completely, turning the giant boar into a moving black fortress!
"Bring it on—!!!"
Arching his back towards the sky, he braced himself to meet the descending fist head-on!
In the next instant—
"BOOM————————!!!!!!"
An earth-shattering explosion tore through the entire land!
The fist smashed down, the air detonated, and a shockwave shot straight into the sky. The ground for kilometers around cracked and caved in simultaneously!
The shockwave transformed into an invisible tidal wave, sweeping in all directions like a natural disaster.
Mountain ranges were instantly leveled, rocks were lifted by the airwaves, and dust churned high in the sky to form a mushroom cloud!
"MOO—!!!—ARGH—!!!"
Saint Warcury let out a heart-wrenching, agonizing scream. A massive crater was forcibly smashed into his back carapace, which was as thick as a city wall!
The metallic shell shattered, shrapnel flying everywhere. Searing blood spurted out, vaporized into a scarlet mist by the residual Haki shockwave.
The entire giant boar was forcibly smashed deep into the ground by Garp's fist!
Dust rolled, and rock layers collapsed, leaving only struggling, giant hooves and agonized wails bursting from its throat.
Garp hovered in mid-air, his chest heaving violently. His fury had not yet subsided, and Haki still burned around his fist.
"The blood debt from decades ago... today, I'll collect it all back punch by punch!!!"
Right at this moment—
SWOOSH—!!
A cold glint tore through the air, ripping through the wind pressure.
Taking advantage of the lingering shockwaves from Garp's attack, Saint Garling charged out like an afterimage!
Stepping through the void, the longsword in his hand flashed with a bizarre black gleam.
"Marine brat—go to hell!!!"
With a furious shout, the pitch-black sword aura whipped up a storm, tearing through the cloud layers and slashing straight toward Luffy in mid-air!
"Luffy, watch out—!" Beside him, Ace roared and pulled at Luffy, but the speed of that sword aura was too fast for the naked eye to track.
Almost in the very next instant—
Swoosh!
The blade brushed past the air, carrying a chill that even froze flames.
Just as that fatal light was about to graze past Luffy's cheek—
"Oh my~ Actually sneak attacking a child?"
A lazy voice abruptly rang out.
"Kowai ne~ (How scary~)"
Accompanied by those airy words, a golden light descended from the sky!
"Light Speed Kick."
"BAM—!!!"
The golden light collided head-on with the sword aura, the explosive impact kicking up a thousand layers of airwaves!
The dazzling brilliance illuminated half the battlefield. Searing energy swept up rubble and dust, and Saint Garling's figure was forcibly kicked away by the power of light!
"Ugh—!!!"
As if struck by a cannonball, his body tumbled dozens of times in the air, smashing fiercely into the ruins hundreds of meters away and kicking up a cloud of debris!
The golden light solidified, and Admiral Borsalino "Kizaru" slowly made his appearance.
Wearing that familiar, punchable smile, he lazily dug in his ear while looking at the distant ruins.
"Sneak attacking a child... sigh, such behavior isn't very 'holy', is it~"
He dragged out his words, his eyes lazy yet flashing with sharp intent.
"Come on, let me play with you for a bit~"
Before his words faded, his body transformed into a pure beam of light.
SWOOSH—!!
He vanished from his spot in an instant!
"Have you ever—been kicked at the speed of light?"
In the next second, the light reconverged right in front of Saint Garling!
"BOOM—!!!"
Kizaru kicked out, the tip of his foot turning into an explosive flash of light. Saint Garling drew his sword at the very last second, turning to block, but his entire body was still blasted by the light-speed impact!
"BAM!!!"
He was sent flying once again, crashing like a broken meteor into the collapsed stone city further away, rolling up waves of dust!
Just as the air recovered a moment's peace, two sharp sword glints attacked from the left and right almost simultaneously!
—Saint Shanks!
—Saint Shamrock!
The two struck from left and right, their sword strikes interweaving like a storm. The red and silver sword lights crossed, looking like twin wings shearing the firmament!
"Die, traitor!!!"
CLANG—CLANG—!!!
Both swords were intercepted simultaneously!
On the right—
Saint Shamrock's rapier was blocked by a flash of lightning. Electricity exploded, and the air filled with the pungent smell of ozone.
Golden light gathered into a long staff, as Enel sneered, his lightning solidifying!
"Heh—your opponent is me."
Thunder crackled all over his body, his hair flying, his eyes flashing with a wild, electric glint.
"'Gods'? Let's see just how resilient to electricity you are~"
On the left, Saint Shanks's longsword slashed against a black arm completely coated in extreme Armament Haki.
BAM—!
Sparks flew wildly as the blade collided with the arm gauntlet. In the next second, azure-blue flames ignited across the surface of the black arm!
Zephyr slowly looked up. His sunglasses had been blown away by the airwave, revealing his cold, stern eyes.
He grinned with a sneer: "Yo~ Was playing Celestial Dragon for these past two years fun?"
Saint Shanks froze slightly, his pupils contracting as he murmured in a low voice:
"These azure flames? Is this Marco's ability?!"
The corners of Zephyr's mouth curled up as the azure flames burned along his black arm.
"Don't worry," he said in a deep voice.
"I merely borrowed a little 'undying' power to clean up the trash of the old era."
Whoosh—
In the distance, a flash of golden light appeared, and Kizaru's figure gradually blurred.
"I'll leave this side to you guys~"
"I'm going to have a little chat about life with 'Mr. Sword Saint'~"
In the next instant, he completely transformed into a golden line, piercing through the air and vanishing into the horizon.