"Is there no one stronger?" Gar's voice thundered across the battlefield, like a lion's roar. "You don't have enough people. We need more prey."
His hunting knife dripped with blood.
In just a short span of time, a Marine Rear Admiral who had tried to block his path was already dead, his body torn apart so brutally that it sent a chill through those watching.
Now, two Marine Rear Admirals and five Commodores surrounded Gar. This was a lineup that even seasoned Vice Admirals, veterans of countless battles, would treat with caution.
Gar did not.
The blood mist hanging over the battlefield grew thicker. Fresh blood splattered across his white fur, dyeing it red.
He was no longer just a lion.
He was a mad lion. A blood-soaked beast.
Even Miles, a Devil Fruit user himself, could not compare to Gar in sheer presence.
During the year on Beast Island, Gar's strength had soared. His physique grew tougher, his mastery of both Armament and Observation Haki sharper. More importantly, his aura had transformed. It now pressed down on the Marines before him like a ferocious predator staking its territory.
They dared not underestimate him again. One of their comrades had already paid for that mistake with his life.
All of them were Marines proficient in Haki. They knew that even for Gar, taking them down would not be effortless.
But the moment they faced him, their fate had already been decided.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Laffitte danced.
Bloody arcs of sword light flashed as his figure flickered from place to place. Blood slid down the length of his cane sword.
"You devil…" a Marine Commodore gasped before collapsing.
"Hehe. Thank you for the compliment," Laffitte replied with a smile.
That Commodore had not been weak, yet he still fell within moments.
In true combat, victory could be decided in a single breath.
For Laffitte, those fleeting openings were always firmly in his grasp.
Among the Nightfall Pirates' cadres, his original foundation had been weaker than some of those who joined later. But Teach had personally given him a rare Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, one that matched him perfectly.
That alone catapulted his strength into the top tier of the crew.
Then came the training.
Inside the Nightfall Pirates, Laffitte received systematic instruction for the first time in his life. Rokushiki. Swordsmanship. Haki. Teach himself guided him, using Observation Haki to tailor the most efficient training methods.
The slaughter in the West Blue underworld and the brutal trials on Beast Island became his crucible. Combined with relentless daily training, his growth was explosive.
The Laffitte of today was nothing like the man he once was.
A sharp clang rang out.
Pouf blocked a blade and looked up at the Marine Rear Admiral in front of him. "How long can you block me?" he asked calmly. "Or rather, how long can you last?"
With a surge of strength, Pouf knocked his opponent back and followed up with a massive flying slash.
Nearby Marines froze in place, their eyes unfocused.
Pouf's Butterfly Butterfly Fruit, Illusionary Butterfly form, was not merely beautiful. It was lethal.
The scales drifting invisibly through the air carried hallucinogenic effects. For weaker Marines, they were impossible to detect. Even stronger opponents felt their concentration falter, their bodies grow subtly sluggish.
That slight weakness was deadly in battle.
Wallace advanced like a walking furnace.
His entire body glowed crimson, heat radiating outward. His strength had always grown at an astonishing rate, especially after mastering techniques like Molten Steel Body Forging.
Even without training, his body continued to strengthen. And when it came to effort, Wallace had always been among the most relentless in the crew.
Several Rear Admirals were forced back under his onslaught. The scorching heat and rolling shockwaves meant that even a single punch could be fatal.
"Molten Steel Punch!"
"Before fighting the Nightfall Pirates," Wallace said coldly, "you should know your limits."
He flashed forward and drove his fist into a Marine Rear Admiral's abdomen.
The man's eyes bulged as his body was launched backward. A burned, sunken imprint marked his stomach. If not for Haki, he would have been pierced clean through.
Strength. Ability. Armament Haki.
The Nightfall Pirates' cadres possessed all three to an overwhelming degree.
Their hellish training on Beast Island, endured under Teach's gravity and guided personally by him, had been precise and brutal. Their progress far outpaced any wild, unstructured growth.
They were vastly stronger than when they first joined.
"How could you ever block Lord Teach's path?" Kaguya said calmly.
He crouched low, pressing both hands to the ground as Marines closed in around him.
"Bone Realm Advent."
White bone structures erupted outward from his palms. In an instant, the ground within several hundred meters was swallowed by bone, turning the battlefield into something eerily otherworldly.
A Marine Rear Admiral's face went pale. He sensed the danger immediately.
"No good. Everyone, retreat. Get out of this area now!"
He leapt upward with Moonwalk, but it was already too late.
The ground trembled.
Then came the sound.
Sizzle. Crack.
Countless sharp bone spikes burst upward. Ordinary Marines had no chance to evade. Their bodies were impaled in an instant.
The bone invaded through their wounds. From inside their bodies, new spikes erupted outward, tearing them apart.
Bone flowers bloomed across the battlefield, stained red with blood.
Even those who had survived the initial impalement died moments later.
Hundreds perished in an instant.
Only a handful escaped, those who had reacted fast enough to take to the air.
Grief and rage filled the Marines' eyes.
Kaguya was already moving again. Bone armor covered his body, a blade formed in his hand. He charged straight at the survivors.
Pito slipped through the Marine ranks like a shadow.
Her speed and reflexes were overwhelming. Marines could not even touch her.
Her cat claws struck with precision, exploiting weaknesses with minimal force.
Only fourteen years old, Pito already displayed terrifying combat instincts. While her raw power lagged behind Gar or Wallace, no one present could stop her.
"Fate stands with us," Van Augur said calmly, cloak fluttering. "You chose death."
A sniper rifle rested in his right hand, a pistol in his left.
As Marines charged him, Van Augur dodged in a flash, swept a kick upward, and drove his foot straight into a Marine's abdomen. At the same time, he raised his pistol and fired behind him.
A Marine fell instantly, a bullet through his head.
Van Augur then lifted his sniper rifle one-handed and fired into the distance.
A Marine Commodore's expression changed, but it was too late. The bullet, empowered by the Penetration Fruit, crossed the distance almost silently and pierced his skull.
Van Augur focused on strong targets first. One by one, Marines of Captain rank and above fell.
Finally, someone noticed.
"Deal with that sniper first!"
Several Marine Commodores surrounded him.
"Oh?" Van Augur smiled. "What made you think you could?"
He moved.
At close range, his sniper rifle fired. With Armament Haki and the Penetration Fruit combined, the shot tore through a Marine Commodore's chest.
Van Augur slung the rifle behind his back and drew another pistol. Two shots rang out.
Two Marines dropped.
The last two closed in. At close quarters, a gunman should have been vulnerable.
Van Augur spun his pistol, gripping the barrel. Hardened with Haki, the handle blocked both blades. He followed with rapid kicks, forcing them back.
Then he raised both pistols.
Bang.
Bang.
Both Marines collapsed.
Across the battlefield, the Nightfall Pirates reveled in the slaughter.
It was completely one-sided.
Their strength exceeded all expectations. The cadres had matured, and the overall improvement was staggering.
The Nightfall Pirates controlled the entire situation. A few Marine Vice Admirals were simply not enough to stop them.
This was no longer a battle.
It was a massacre.
The Marines' expressions darkened. They had never imagined the Nightfall Pirates would grow this powerful in just one year.
Worse still, many Nightfall Pirates could use Rokushiki. Some even fought in the air with Moonwalk.
In a short time, one-third of the Marines' fifteen thousand elite troops had fallen.
Half of those losses came at the hands of the cadres alone.
Marine officers were already showing signs of exhaustion.
Then someone noticed something strange.
In a relatively clear area of the battlefield, the Nightfall Pirates' exclusive band had taken position.
Nelson appeared beside them, panting and covered in blood. With a wave of his hand, instruments and chairs appeared.
Cameras immediately shifted.
Morgans stood before a massive screen, switching views between the most exciting scenes.
List sat at a piano. The other musicians took their places, unfazed by the sounds of battle around them.
They closed their eyes.
Then, music began.
Under the gaze of the entire world, the Nightfall Pirates' band started to perform.
The piece was exactly what Teach had promised.
"Star Sky."
As the prelude echoed across the battlefield, top musicians in the West Blue who were watching the broadcast grew excited. This legendary composition was finally being unveiled.
According to their agreement, once the Nightfall Pirates finished, they would be allowed to perform it themselves.
At the center, a young conductor raised his baton.
On the other side, thirteen young boys and girls stood ready to sing.
Amid blood and fire, under a darkened sky, the music that would shake the world began to play.