A pitch-black bat streaked past linlin's eyes.
The moment she noticed it, her expression shifted sharply. Before she could react, a devastating force slammed into her back.
"Heavenly Dragon's Mark."
Boom!
Right before Kuma, the ground beneath linlin suddenly collapsed, forming a deep, square pit. Her massive body vanished into it instantly.
Kuma froze briefly, then lifted his gaze toward Lloyd, who hovered mid-air with both hands in his pockets.
A layer of dark purple energy coated the sole of Lloyd's foot, radiating a heavy and oppressive aura.
Kuma called out, and Lloyd glanced upward slightly, a faint smile forming on his lips.
"You've worked hard, Kuma."
Before the words fully settled, linlin's furious roar erupted from the depths of the pit.
"Bastard!!!"
In the next moment, she rose from the pit, standing atop Zeus as she shot upward.
At the center of her back, a clear, pitch-black shoe print stood out.
As soon as she emerged, linlin began coughing violently, blood spilling continuously from her mouth, revealing the destructive force behind Lloyd's strike.
Lucia flew over at that moment, her black wings moving gently as she positioned herself beside Lloyd in the air. Both of them looked down at linlin below.
On the ground, Kuma rubbed his palms slowly, his gaze fixed upward.
Linlin leaned forward on Zeus, her expression twisted and grim. With Whitebeard and Dragon already eliminated, Lloyd's attention had finally turned fully toward her.
During her earlier battle against Lucia and Kuma, her body had already suffered repeated injuries. Even at full strength, she would struggle against Lloyd. In her current state, the outcome was already clear.
Still, as one of the veteran Four Emperors, surrender was never an option.
Her eyes hardened. She raised her hand, recalling Napoleon, which had been knocked away earlier, and charged straight at Lloyd.
"Mom's Rush!"
Lloyd narrowed his eyes slightly. Without drawing the Demon Blade Muramasa, he raised a single hand coated in Armament Haki and blocked the incoming strike head-on.
At that instant, the overwhelming difference in strength became obvious.
Black lightning burst outward from the collision of Haki, crackling violently through the air. Linlin clenched her teeth as Napoleon trembled in her grip, unable to push forward. Instead, it began to be forced back.
A slight curve formed at Lloyd's lips.
With a casual exertion of strength, he knocked Napoleon away, then drove a kick into linlin's stomach, sending her crashing back toward the ground.
Before she could even land, Lloyd vanished and reappeared beneath her.
His fist shot upward.
"Rising Dragon Fist."
The blow struck directly against the existing mark on her back.
Crack!
The sharp sound of bone breaking echoed clearly.
Linlin's eyes widened, blood vessels bursting across them as the pain surged through her body.
She screamed, but her body was already trapped. A crushing gravitational force held her in mid-air, locking her in place under Lloyd's control.
Across the battlefield, Charlotte Katakuri and the others, who were already struggling against the Navy forces, felt a deep chill spread through them.
Despair tightened around their hearts.
Linlin tried to resist, but her body no longer responded as it once did. Her spine had been severely damaged, leaving her unable to move properly.
Holding her suspended with one hand, Lloyd spoke in a cold, indifferent tone.
"Charlotte linlin, I should thank you for what happened at God Valley."
Her face twisted with rage.
"I should have killed you no matter the cost back then!"
Lloyd let out a soft chuckle.
"You should have. That mistake is yours to regret."
A cold glint passed through his eyes.
With a sudden motion, he hurled linlin high into the air. His figure transformed into a streak of black light as he followed closely behind. Drawing his knee back, he slammed it once more into her back.
Even her monstrous durability could not withstand repeated blows like this.
Crack!
Her spine finally gave way completely.
For an ordinary person, such an injury would mean immediate unconsciousness. Linlin, however, remained fully aware.
That only made things worse.
Because she would experience everything that followed.
The Demon Blade Muramasa appeared in Lloyd's hand, its edge shimmering with dark energy.
He ran his fingers along the blade, sparks of black lightning flickering across it.
In the next instant, he disappeared.
Two intersecting black slashes flashed across the joints of linlin's limbs and torso.
Lloyd landed back on the ground.
A moment later, her massive limbs and body fell separately, leaving only her head attached to a portion of her torso.
Her agonized groans echoed faintly.
Lloyd turned and began walking toward her.
From above, Zeus, Prometheus, and Hera merged together and descended rapidly, aiming straight for him.
Lloyd did not even look up.
A dark tornado rose behind him, swallowing the three Homies entirely and crushing them into nothingness.
Linlin's mutilated body writhed on the ground. She lifted her head, her eyes locked onto Lloyd with unrestrained madness.
Letting out a beast-like roar, she gathered all her remaining Haki into her forehead and launched herself forward like a cannonball.
Lloyd stopped.
Raising a palm wrapped in Armament Haki and dense gravitational force, he pressed it directly against her forehead.
For a brief moment, everything seemed to freeze.
His arm tensed slightly.
He stepped forward.
With overwhelming force, his palm drove her head downward, forcing it into her own chest cavity.
Thump!
Her massive body rolled across the ground.
The battlefield fell into complete silence.
Everyone stared at the grotesque sight before them.
They had expected her defeat.
But not like this.
One of the Four Emperors reduced to such a miserable state.
The so-called trio of power, Whitebeard, Dragon, and linlin, had all been completely annihilated.
Whitebeard had been devoured.
Dragon's heart had been crushed.
And linlin, reduced to a broken shell, her so-called Iron Balloon body utterly destroyed.
Lloyd glanced down at her.
From where he stood, he could clearly see her face embedded within her chest, eyes wide and filled with unwilling fury. Even in that state, she still carried the intent to fight.
To Lloyd, however, it was nothing more than a pitiful sight.
Almost amusing.
Without hesitation, he lifted his foot and kicked her body upward, sending it flying toward Admiral Kuzan, who still stood in stunned silence.
"Kuzan, freeze her too."
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews
(Leave a review/comment)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100
Power Stones.
◇ Read 100+ chapters ahead on P-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/_Zeph