Lafitte moved like a phantom around Legate, his silhouette flickering through the air with playful cruelty. He could have ended the man with a single clean strike, but mercy had never been part of his plan. He wanted Legate to suffer.
Cuts and gashes covered Legate's body. His sword had long since fallen from his grip, and his legs were too mangled to support his weight. He knelt in the dirt with several bloody holes punched clean through his thighs.
At last, his strength failed. Legate collapsed fully to the ground.
He was still breathing, but only barely. His face was a ruin of exposed flesh where Lafitte's blade had carved away layers of skin. Even so, Lafitte no longer spared him a glance. Legate would not survive long enough to matter.
Scooping the unconscious Masolin over his shoulder, Lafitte left the broken swordsman behind and vanished into the shadows to assist the others.
Clemons fought further away, muscles tight and breath labored. Every movement unleashed explosive power that cracked through the air. Iron armored guards flew from each punch, tossed aside like dolls, yet more continued to swarm around him.
Then the sharp report of gunfire echoed across the battlefield. Guards dropped one after another. A streak of blood red swept through the chaos as a familiar figure arrived with dark crimson bat wings unfurled. Blades of red light cut through the crowd with every graceful flash.
Two high ranking fighters of the Nightfall Pirates had returned. The implication hit the guards hard. If these two were back, it meant their captain had fallen. The thought terrified them, but no captain appeared to confirm or deny it.
For the Nightfall Pirates, their arrival had the opposite effect. Morale surged. The battle shifted sharply in their favor.
Far to the north, the palace gate and the surrounding courtyard had been reduced to scorched rubble. Heat shimmered in waves across the cracked earth.
At the center stood Wallace, facing two formidable enemies at once. Dink, a bounty hunter with a record full of captures worth over one hundred million, swung his long sword with unmatched skill. His strength had grown since his years of hunting criminals.
At his side, the vice captain Tyera fought with the power of the Hedgehog Zoan. His body bristled with sharp steel quills that could both defend and strike.
Dink and Wallace clashed weapon to fist. Armament Haki coated Dink's blade while Wallace's arms glowed a dark molten red. The heat rolling off him made the air ripple.
Tyera circled from the side, searching for an opening. He had to stay clear. A single hit from Wallace's Molten Steel Fist would drop him instantly. The heat alone could melt metal.
Wallace burst forward. His body flickered, and then he was no longer where he had stood. His fist slammed into Dink's blade with a deafening crack.
Dink staggered back seven or eight steps, arms shaking. Even gripping with both hands, he struggled to keep his sword steady. Wallace did not give him even a heartbeat to recover.
Tyera seized a moment and fired a storm of quills. Dozens of steel spikes launched toward Wallace like bullets. Tyera kept his distance. Getting hit again by that molten fist meant certain death.
His body still bore the imprint of Wallace's earlier strike, a massive fist-shaped crater punched into his back. The flesh inside had cooked where Wallace's heat had burned through him.
The quills never reached Wallace. They melted the instant they touched the furnace of his body, dripping away as liquefied metal. Even Dink's Armament could barely withstand the blazing heat.
Wallace ignored Tyera entirely. Without Dink, the hedgehog Zoan would pose no threat.
Dink's confidence faltered as the assault wore on. Every blow scorched him, and the air itself seemed to burn in his lungs. Wallace dominated every exchange, overwhelming him with a blend of physical might, Devil Fruit power, and brutal combat experience.
"How is he this strong!" Dink gasped, skin blistering. The heat waves distorted his vision, and panic crept into his heart. He wanted to run. He wanted to live.
He and Tyera had only come to the Kraken Kingdom to escape their past lives, to settle down as pseudo nobles and enjoy the peace they had bought. Titles were cheap, but they granted privileges. With enough time and enough generations, they could have become true nobles.
But none of that mattered now. Not before this monster.
"Boss Dink, we cannot beat him. If we stay, we die. Let's run," Tyera called out, firing more quills in a feeble attempt to slow Wallace.
He raised his voice on purpose, hoping Wallace would hear their surrender. Running did not just mean fleeing Wallace. It meant abandoning the Kraken Kingdom and becoming wanted men again. But that was still better than dying here.
Besides, something else weighed on Tyera's mind. He could feel it. The Kraken Kingdom was under attack from all sides. The chaos had spread far beyond this one battlefield.
Perhaps they could escape to another sea, or even return to the Grand Line. Almost anywhere was a safer bet than staying here.
Tyera hoped Wallace would accept their surrender.
Wallace did not react. He continued advancing.
Dink hesitated, then looked at the fear in Tyera's eyes and finally shouted, "We surrender. We will leave and not interfere with you."
He tossed away his sword to show sincerity.
"We can even give you information if you let us live."
But he had forgotten one simple truth. Wallace held the power in this exchange.
A faint smile appeared on Wallace's lips.
In the instant Dink dropped his weapon, Wallace blurred forward. Heat blasted from his feet as he closed the distance.
"Molten Steel Fist."
His fist struck Dink's chest like a rocket. Dink tried to raise Armament as a shield, but it shattered instantly before the punch burned through his body.
"Boss Dink!" Tyera screamed.
Dink stared in horror at the smoking hole in his torso. "Why?"
Wallace tilted his head. "The Nightfall Pirates do not accept surrender from enemies. And I never agreed to anything. You were already my prey."
The heat corroded what remained of Dink's flesh. His eyes faded, and he collapsed lifelessly.
Wallace withdrew his fist and turned to Tyera with mild interest. "Not running?"
Tyera trembled. "I cannot escape," he whispered. He had seen Wallace's speed. There was nowhere to go.
"Your luck is decent. I do not plan to kill you," Wallace said, walking toward him.
Tyera blinked, shocked. Then relief flooded his face. "So I live?"
Wallace nodded and secured a Sea Stone cuff around Tyera's wrist. The Zoan's strength drained away instantly.
"Perhaps," Wallace said.
He knew Teach well. Whatever came next would not be simple. Teach had specifically ordered Devil Fruit users captured alive. There was a reason for that, and it certainly involved their fruits.
Elsewhere on the eastern battlefield, Pito and Kaguya fought in another brutal struggle.
Like Wallace's battle, it was one sided, but not with the same crushing force. Kankani fought Kaguya with all the skill he had gained on countless battlefields, yet he was still being outmatched.
Kaguya lived for combat. He trained through battle every day, sharpening instinct, instinct sharpening technique. Every clash strengthened him.
At first, Kankani had suppressed him through experience and speed. But Kaguya's bones were as hard as steel, and he adapted quickly. Bit by bit, he started reading Kankani's patterns.
Soon, Kankani found himself being pushed back.
He tried to regain momentum, searching for openings, but Kaguya broke through every attempt.
"Ten Finger Piercing Bullets."
Kaguya's calm voice cut through the sound of battle as he raised his arm. Ten sharp bones extended from his fingers and shot forward at bullet speed.
Kankani's instincts screamed. He knew he could not dodge. No matter which direction he chose, those bone bullets were already predicting his movements.
He shifted to his right, arms crossing in front of him, steel gauntlets raised for defense.
And the bone bullets closed in.