A giant mushroom cloud soared upwards.
Yet, the two colliding figures stabilized their stances amidst the raging turbulence.
Shanks’ face was cold as he stared intently at Sakazuki, his heart sinking. His reaction had been too intense...
Sakazuki's lips curled into a slight grin, and he spoke softly,
"Disturbed, are we..."
*Bang—*
His right hand suddenly erupted in the flames of magma, emitting thick black smoke:
"Meigo!"
Like a meteor streaking across the sky, Red-Hair slashed sideways with his saber.
The sound of metal clashing echoed.
The infinitely extending magma dog head, imbued with black Armament Haki, directly collided with Gryphon's blade, forcing Red-Hair to retreat.
Simultaneously, Sakazuki's figure vanished from mid-air.
The magma dog head that had been pressing Gryphon condensed into Sakazuki's right arm, and Sakazuki himself appeared before Red-Hair.
The scenery of the vast blue ocean continuously swept past behind them.
Sakazuki pressed his fist down on Shanks' Gryphon, saying,
"Strange."
"The Yonko who roams the seas, to lose composure over a brat from the East Blue."
Shanks' thoughts raced, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied,
"That is a young man I placed great hope in."
"But I never expected you to investigate even this kind of matter."
His half-truthful words seemed flawless, yet Sakazuki was not deceived...
Sakazuki's right biceps bulged, unleashing immense power.
*Boom!!!!*
Red-Hair was sent flying like a baseball.
Sakazuki steadied himself, stomped his foot, and his right arm, enveloped in thick black smoke and magma, pursued Red-Hair Shanks:
"Oh?"
"Is that all?"
"A child you placed your hopes in is more important than your daughter and comrades."
"He must be hiding some great secret."
The magma fist clashed with Gryphon in Red-Hair's hands.
*Boom!!!!*
Violent shockwaves erupted outwards, and the clouds above them, centered on the two of them, tore open, dissipating outwards...
This was reality crushed by the clash of Conqueror's Haki...
A red light flashed in Shanks' eyes, and the edge of Gryphon's blade suddenly spat out a sword energy, slicing past Sakazuki's fist towards his head.
Sakazuki watched the incoming sword energy and tilted his head slightly.
The crimson sword energy clashed and dissipated against the Armament Haki coating his chest.
Sakazuki's left hand directly grabbed the sword energy, his large hand, covered in black Armament Haki, clamping down on it.
*Crack—*
The crimson sword energy shattered into fragments. Sakazuki clenched his left fist and directly punched towards Shanks' head.
Shanks' head turned, dodging the blow.
At the same time, he raised his left knee, imbued with Haki, and rammed it forward.
*Crack—*
Their knees collided.
White shockwaves exploded, and Shanks was subtly pushed into a disadvantageous position.
Sakazuki spoke softly,
"A near-idiotic brat."
"What exactly is worth your scheming..."
Shanks' expression remained unchanged, unconcerned:
"Scheming?"
"Then how about you kill him..."
"How about it?"
Sakazuki chuckled lightly:
"Don't worry."
He understood why Red-Hair said this. After all, having uncovered so much, how could he not know that Luffy was the grandson of that old man Garp:
"I will..."
Red-Hair Shanks' pupils contracted imperceptibly. Sakazuki continued,
"However... it will be after I've annihilated the pirates of the New World."
"Otherwise, we would be losing a powerful force for no reason..."
His indifferent tone suggested he was stating a fact:
"Of course..."
"No matter what your scheme is, you won't live to see that day."
"I will let you reunite in hell."
"You will die before that straw-hatted brat, and he will follow you soon after."
"To realize that laughable dream of a Pirate King in hell."
"After all..."
"Wicked pirates cannot ascend to heaven..."
Red-Hair's aura surged, unfazed. He took a deep breath:
"What a terrifying individual..."
This absolute control that could shake one's will...
*Boom!!!!*
The two separated.
Red-Hair retracted and then slashed with Gryphon, a crescent-shaped crimson sword energy, laced with lightning, slashing towards Sakazuki.
Sakazuki's entire body transformed into lava, his form glowing crimson and radiating intense heat, his eyes gleaming gold as he looked at the colossal sword energy approaching.
Extreme danger gathered within him, and he abruptly detonated it.
The world seemed to tremble.
A fiery halo appeared in mid-air, then rippled outwards across heaven and earth, its searing heat making the ripples in the air visible.
The colossal sword energy faltered and shattered, flying backward.
Endless magma surged from Sakazuki's body, expanding continuously.
In an instant.
A lava giant nearly a thousand meters tall materialized, standing tall over the sea.
The spot was not far from the half-sunken island, with the water reaching only its knees.
The thick black smoke accompanying the magma, along with the vaporized seawater, produced a deafening roar.
Before this nearly thousand-meter-tall lava giant.
Everything else in the world paled in comparison.
The lava giant raised its hundreds-of-meters-long arm, aiming at the ant-like black speck on the sea.
Infinite magma erupted from its shoulder, and carrying the colossal magma arm, it shot towards Red-Hair Shanks' location...
Two magma arms were continuously raised, shooting out and regenerating.
Below, on the sea, flashes of sword light shimmered.
Hundreds of meters long red sword energies sliced the descending magma arms into several sections.
However, the immense explosions made it impossible for Red-Hair to maintain his footing, and he could only retreat while slashing.
The continuous magma explosions and the sweeping colossal sword energies agitated the sea, and expanding magma surged outwards in all directions.
From afar.
It looked like an ancient lava demon god was reshaping the land.
The sea surface, visible to the naked eye, boiled relentlessly, being encroached upon by magma, and the entire world was enveloped in white steam.
*Boom boom boom boom—*
The continuous, earth-shattering explosions reverberated for a long time before finally ceasing...
By then, this stretch of sea was devoid of any life.
The ocean had been boiled by magma, and the corpses of marine creatures floated on the surface.
The high-temperature white steam transformed the area into a vast labyrinth with visibility of less than three meters. Coupled with the suffocating heat and the sulfurous scent of the magma,
It had directly turned this into a deathly sea. Even seagulls passing overhead far above could not withstand the heat and aura, falling into the ocean...
From the head of the lava giant, Sakazuki's figure materialized, perceiving the surroundings for a long time.
All he saw was white steam, and even his Observation Haki could not detect any trace:
"Escaped..."
*Rumble—*
A deafening roar sounded, and the lava giant, standing in place, strode towards the depths of the mist...
And disappeared...