Streaks of light tore across the sky, splashing arcs of blood in their wake as bodies were flung through the heavens.
"Damn it!"
Imu was furious. The detonation of three Da Ivans had pushed her to the brink. Even though she endured the blast head-on, the violent impact aggravated her already severe injuries. Yet her true appearance remained hidden. A hazy mist continuously wrapped around her body, obscuring her form and lending her an indistinct, almost unreal presence.
The battlefield had long since ceased to be confined to one place. The clashes between true powerhouses had spread across the world, into the New World, the first half of the Grand Line, and even the East Blue, North Blue, and South Blue. Not even the Calm Belt was spared.
Only low and mid-level battles remained closer to their original locations.
Figures like the Gorosei, Kong, Sengoku, the Admirals, Whitebeard, Kaido, Dragon, Golden Lion, and Redfield were all monsters standing at the summit of power. While their destructive force might not rival the clash between Lucien and Imu, they were still terrifying beyond reason.
Wherever they fought, mountains collapsed and tsunamis swallowed the seas.
The strength of the World Government was undeniable. Beyond the Marines, the Army, and CP organizations, even Celestial Dragons had joined the war.
Yes, the Celestial Dragons.
Not all of them were useless fools. Some possessed strength that could shake the world.
Most shocking of all, the Red Hair Pirates, long absent from the seas, had appeared and chosen to stand with the World Government.
"Ice Age!"
A monstrous tsunami surged upward, blotting out the clouds and sky, only to freeze solid in the blink of an eye.
At its center, Oven burned like a living sun as he clashed violently with Aokiji.
In the distance, Akainu fought King. Kizaru was locked in combat with Silver Dragon, while Aramaki faced Jozu head-on.
Whitebeard battled Kong, while Redfield, Golden Lion, Bullet, Kaido, Dragon, and others confronted the Gorosei. The strongest figures on both sides collided one-on-one, each exchange shaking the world to its core.
The ocean itself was riddled with holes, and as the war continued to spread, it threatened to usher in the darkest era since that forgotten Blank Century.
Within the Calm Belt, Sea Kings emerged in droves, answering the call of their king. Their massive forms churned the waters as they joined the chaos.
"Found them!"
A sonic boom erupted on the horizon as Emma and Ethan arrived in an instant. Their expressions turned icy when they spotted Mondor floating in mid-air, standing atop his books.
Emma had been observing the battlefield from the very beginning. Her target had never changed.
Lucien.
She had followed his battle with Imu from afar. The scale of that clash made it impossible to ignore.
Like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it, Emma had waited patiently for this moment.
Now, the opportunity had finally arrived.
She knew Mondor's Book-Book Fruit ability well. Lucien had to be inside that book. Kill Mondor, destroy the book, and Lucien would be erased.
"Brother, attack!"
Emma acted without hesitation. Her telepathy merged with Observation Haki, forming a violent psychic storm that surged straight toward Mondor, aiming to obliterate Lucien at the first possible moment.
At the same time, Ethan transformed, his body swelling with brutal power. He swung his wolf-tooth club with savage force, the air screaming as it was torn apart.
Mondor tried to flee, but the psychic storm pierced his mind. His body locked up instantly, leaving him helpless as the spiked club tore through the atmosphere toward him.
If it hit, death was certain.
At the last moment, a massive bear paw shot out from the book and slapped Mondor away. In the next instant, he vanished from his position, reappearing more than a hundred meters away, narrowly avoiding Ethan's strike.
"Chase!"
Emma locked onto him immediately. Her feet detonated the air as she shot forward, her expression cold and merciless.
Ethan roared and leapt after her, moving even faster, his killing intent crushing the surroundings.
Ahead of them, Kuma emerged from the book. Mondor dove back inside at once. Kuma vanished again, repeatedly teleporting away in rapid succession.
He needed time.
Inside the book's space, Law had completed his surgery. His face was pale, his breathing heavy, his stamina nearly drained.
Mansherry was in even worse condition. She was desperately healing Lucien's exhaustion and injuries at the cost of her own life force. What had once been a blazing inferno of vitality was now reduced to a flickering candle on the verge of extinction.
Kuma had already repelled the internal damage within Lucien's body. The internal environment became clear, allowing them to see the outside situation.
Kuma himself was in grave danger.
His mind had been struck hard. For a brief moment, he was dazed. Then pain exploded through his body as if he had been smashed by a mountain.
Ethan's earlier swing was something no ordinary body could endure.
That single blow had nearly crippled him.
Rumble.
Barren mountains burst upward from the ground as a violent storm uprooted the earth. Kuma lay at the center, his chest mangled and torn, bones visible beneath shredded flesh. Even so, he clutched the book tightly, refusing to let go.
"Die!"
Ethan crashed down with a furious roar. His wolf-tooth club descended like a weapon meant to split heaven and earth, leaving no room for mercy.
Kuma had no strength left to move. He could only watch as the club fell toward him.
A thunderous explosion erupted. Mountains and valleys collapsed instantly, turning into a rain of debris that scattered in every direction. The ground beneath them caved in, expanding outward by hundreds, then thousands of meters, like a never-ending earthquake.
Dust rolled across the sky.
Emma hovered in mid-air, her brow furrowing.
"I knew you would appear!"
A calm voice echoed through the chaos.
A hurricane swept the dust away, revealing Ethan frozen in place. His club hovered less than half a meter from Kuma's head, yet no matter how he strained, that distance would not close.
A crystal-clear arm extended from the book, gripping the club with one hand, stopping it completely.
"Brother."
Emma's face drained of color. She knew it was over.
Five seconds. She had only needed five more seconds.
She had wasted no time. Not a single moment.
Yet it still was not enough.
"Roar!"
Ethan's rage exploded. His feet sank deep into the ground as he was forced backward.
Lucien emerged from the book.
He blocked the club with one hand, his expression cold and vicious.
Crack.
Bones shattered. Ethan's chest collapsed inward, blood spraying from his mouth. A devastating shockwave erupted behind him, flattening the surrounding mountains and carving a massive avenue hundreds of meters wide straight through the seabed.
Ethan spat blood uncontrollably.
Before his body could be thrown away, Lucien's hand clenched into a fist and slammed upward into Ethan's chin.
The earth within ten thousand meters collapsed.
Ethan shot into the sky like a cannonball and vanished in an instant.
The ground exploded again.
Lucien was already there.
Ethan was driven diagonally back into the earth, smashing through layers of rock and stone. A deep abyss formed, and he lay at the bottom, broken, drenched in blood, completely unable to move.
"Brother!"
Emma's face turned deathly pale. Her Observation Haki could not even track Lucien's movements.
"What terrifying strength."
Lucien stood in mid-air, flexing his hands. White flames burned along his body, while golden lightning slithered through the air like living serpents.
"Hah!"
He released his presence without restraint.
The sky seemed to freeze.
Above him, the atmosphere twisted into a rotating black vortex. The entire West Blue trembled, air and land alike. Hurricane winds exploded outward from Lucien as the center, golden lightning tearing through the heavens.
"How is this possible?!"
Emma was blasted backward by the pressure. As she stared at Lucien within the storm, panic and disbelief filled her eyes.
"Haha!"
Lucien's purple, spiked hair whipped wildly in the wind. His amethyst eyes flashed with lightning as he threw his arms wide and laughed toward the sky.
Power flooded his body.
Once again, he had activated his near-death ability.
And this time, his aura surged beyond all limits.
___
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