Without question, Cracker had lost when it came to army-versus-army warfare.
That was understandable, though. After all, this was the military power Mama had taken an interest in.
If it had not been outstanding enough, Katakuri would have been disappointed. With this level of performance, it could be said to have far exceeded his expectations.
Although Cracker's Biscuit Soldiers became weaker the more of them he created, since there was no way for him to wrap every single one in large amounts of Haki, even so, their strength still belonged to the level of pirates worth hundreds of millions.
Yet those Two-Winged and Four-Winged Angels could take on a Biscuit Soldier with only a few of them working together. Even if the Biscuit Soldiers softened in the blazing environment, that was not something that could be ignored.
Most importantly, these angels were different from Cracker's Devil Fruit creations.
They were numerous, possessed intelligence, could fly, and had special abilities related to fire and lightning.
If the conditions for producing them were not too harsh, they were absolutely a military force that surpassed Homies!
The only thing that could probably be compared to them would be Germa 66's clone soldiers.
In any case, this was now the situation.
'Cracker has been defeated. He failed to probe out the enemy's exact capabilities and instead put us at a disadvantage.
But that doesn't matter. This is only a defeat in basic forces. Once we make our moves, it will be enough to make up for that gap.'
After thinking for a moment, Katakuri made his decision. "Oven, go help Cracker deal with those enemies. Push the battle line deeper into the island.
"Brother Daifuku, Sister Amande, if the Demon Pirates' officers appear, I'll leave them to you.
"As for Smoothie… she should have no problem."
"Mm, no problem."
Amande nodded lightly, then turned and walked into the forest.
Her figure was as slender as a snake, and at her waist hung an equally slender blade.
The famed sword Shirauo. Anyone capable of wielding it was naturally a powerful swordsman.
And in truth, that was exactly the case.
"I'll leave this place to you. If I encounter Ren, I'll notify you."
Daifuku nodded as well, then turned and chose another direction.
The two of them were not directly joining the battle. Instead, they were finding places from which to observe the situation and decide whether to take action.
However, from another perspective, this was also a method to provoke the enemy into making a move.
Katakuri remained on the shore without taking action. His gaze turned toward the distant mountains carved with the large characters for Kuja.
This war had only just begun!
Boom—!
A violent roar exploded in a corner of the forest. More than a dozen towering trees were torn apart by a sharp flying slash.
Smoothie held her giant sword, maintaining the state of her Juice Giant, her expression grave as she stared toward the end of that trench.
Was that all?
In the crater at the end of the flying slash, a pink dragon woman walked out from the smoke and dust. With a casual flick of her tail, she swept away the drifting haze.
"So this is the strength of a Sweet Commander?"
Nojiko lowered her head and looked at the bloody wound left on her abdomen.
Just now, Smoothie had seized an opening in their close-quarters fight, struck her with a combo, and finished with a flying slash.
The result was that the pink scales on her abdomen, wrapped in Haki, had been shattered by that brutal flying slash.
It had left a wound more than ten centimeters long and several centimeters deep!
However, for a Zoan-Type Devil Fruit user, such an injury was nothing much.
"You're strong. That giant dragon in the Dressrosa incident was you, wasn't it?"
Smoothie tightened her grip on her sword hilt, her tone turning solemn. "Tell me your name. If you can let me enjoy myself, I'll leave you a tombstone."
"Nojiko. But you should keep that tombstone for yourself."
Scorching flames surged all over Nojiko's body, making her look as though she had transformed into crimson fire itself.
Imitation: Flame Dragon Torch!
As the surrounding temperature climbed higher and higher, she slightly opened her mouth and spat the terrifying flames she had stored in advance within her throat onto both her hands, turning her ten fingers into pure golden flaming palms.
In terms of temperature and destructive power, it was clearly stronger than Flame Dragon Torch.
But this was not merely the Evil God Lighter. Rather, with Ren's power as the foundation, it was a qualitative enhancement formed through integration.
It was a technique formed by wrapping Haki around the flames of the Crimson Flame King—eight thousand degrees Celsius—together with certain items.
Burning Star: Ashen End!
"Just now was only a warm-up. If you want to kill me, that level still isn't enough."
She lifted her head, her beastlike vertical pupils cold and merciless.
"Then let's try it!"
Smoothie showed not the slightest fear. Instead, her eyes were filled with a desire to fight.
She gripped her greatsword, stepped forward, and burst into a charge. The brief distance between them closed in an instant.
An even more violent roar filled the entire area at once.
"You still couldn't hold yourself back, huh?"
Not long after entering the forest, Daifuku suddenly stopped, his gaze turning toward the direction sensed by his Observation Haki.
The grass rustled softly.
Boa Hancock appeared with extremely swift steps, her expression proud and cold as she looked at the intruder.
"This is not a place where you people should be, you bastards of the Big Mom Pirates."
"Since you know where we come from, choosing not to surrender is hardly a wise move."
Daifuku narrowed his eyes, his hand moving to his belt. "Where is your captain? Don't tell me he deceived you all and ran away by himself."
"How utterly boring. This Empress should simply turn you into a statue!"
Hancock did not fall for Daifuku's provocation at all. In the next instant, she erupted with a kick.
"Perfume Femur!"
The ferocious kick pierced through the air. Moving at several times the speed of sound, Hancock launched an incredibly fierce attack.
So strong!
Daifuku's pupils shrank. His palm brushed across his belt, and surging smoke emerged, transforming into a genie.
"Genie Slash!"
A vicious slash tore open the earth along its path, colliding with the kick in the next instant and erupting in a thunderous crash.
Amid cracking sounds, the genie's large blade was petrified by the kick and shattered.
However, rolling smoke immediately formed a new blade.
The genie swung its great blade in a horizontal slash, forcing Hancock to retreat and dodge.
The moment she opened some distance, Hancock raised her hand to her lips, pulled out a heart, and shot out a large number of Slave Arrows as though drawing a bow.
The genie swung its blade and immediately intercepted them. It blocked, was petrified, then reappeared again amid the tumbling smoke.
The situation seemed to become troublesome.
Daifuku's genie had no true physical body. Its essence was formed from smoke.
Even if it was petrified, he only needed to recreate a new genie.
"Hancock, your petrification has no real effect on my genie. Since we knew the enemy was here, how could we not have made even the slightest preparation?"
Daifuku spoke coldly.
"Are you looking down on this Empress?"
Hancock raised both hands to form a heart gesture and released a pink light wave.
"Mero Mero Breeze!"
However, the genie once again stood in front of Daifuku, blocking his line of sight while also taking the light wave in his place and turning into a stone statue.
Hancock seized the opportunity and instantly burst forward in a charge.
Amid thunderous booms, an intense battle erupted throughout the area.
Far away, Amande heard the commotion and raised her head slightly.
But she did not look in that direction. Instead, she looked ahead of her.
A green-haired swordsman with three swords at his waist was walking over slowly, his expression cold like a tiger about to hunt, carrying a ferocious air about him.
Almost instinctively, Amande tightened her grip on her sword hilt and entered a battle-ready state.
A bone-piercing killing intent filled the forest, making her hair stand on end while also putting her under tremendous pressure.
Just looking at him was enough to feel that the man before her was terrifyingly strong!
This was the first time she had ever encountered such an opponent.
Originally, she had thought she would only show such a reaction when facing the world's greatest swordsman, Hawk-Eye Mihawk.
And now…
"I still have something to do. I only have one slash for you."
Zoro ignored Amande's bristling reaction and calmly placed his hand on Shusui's hilt. "After one slash, whether you live or die depends on whether you're strong enough."
Arrogant.
Conceited.
A self-important madman.
Amande originally wanted to scold him like that, but the immense pressure surging toward her together with his killing intent left her completely unable to say such words.
With her strength, even in the Big Mom Family, she could be considered a first-rate monster.
She had never imagined that in this place, she would encounter a swordsman who could give her such a lethal sense of danger!
Without saying a word, Amande drew her blade in her most serious state, and astonishingly, she took the initiative to charge forward.
Slow Waltz: Funeral Dirge!
A seemingly slow blade-light swept across the short distance at astonishing speed.
The contrast between the cold blade-light's sluggishness within one's vision and the swiftness with which the slash arrived created an extremely powerful discrepancy.
If it had been an ordinary opponent, they would have already been cut down on the spot.
However, what answered her… was an incredibly swift flash.
"One-Sword Style Iai: Death Lion's Song!"
The low murmur sounded after the flash. A scarlet line of blood bloomed from Amande's waist, while drops of blood fell from Shusui's blade tip, forming a small pool of blood behind her.
Zoro held the pitch-black long blade and walked coldly toward the distance.
Behind him, first came the mournful cry of a sword. Then the famed sword Shirauo, like its master, was cut cleanly in half at the waist.
'How could this…'
Amande spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
On the verge of death, she still could not understand how she had failed to survive even a single move.
But reality would not change because of that.
"So only that guy is left?"
Zoro flicked his long blade, sending the blood on Shusui's edge flying cleanly away.
He sheathed his sword again and walked toward the coast with a hint of anticipation.
Ren had said that if he could defeat Katakuri head-on, then he would most likely have the qualifications to face Mihawk.
The other party represented the strongest tier beneath the Four Emperors.
Only by defeating him would Zoro be qualified to step onto the track leading to the strongest peak.
At the end of his gaze, Katakuri suddenly moved. Under Cracker's astonished eyes, his expression changed drastically as he leapt toward the shore.
He charged directly toward the location where Amande was within his Observation Haki perception.
However, before he could truly approach, he suddenly stopped again.
Ahead of him, in what seemed to be an empty space, a person abruptly appeared.
Black hair, crimson eyes, and purple calabash earrings.
"Demon Ren!"
Katakuri spoke the other party's title, cold sweat flowing down his forehead.
"Interesting. Observation Haki's future sight. Was it because you sensed that your family member was about to die, so you instinctively concentrated and triggered your future sight?
"What a cheat-like ability. No wonder they say you're the vice-captain of the Big Mom Pirates."
Ren tilted his head. That pause just now had been far too abrupt.
It was practically as if Katakuri had predicted something.
"…Isn't someone who attacks from behind even more despicable?"
(End of Chapter)