The giant lion's head descending from the sky instantly blotted out the sun.
The Red Pirate group below had their attacks ready, but what made them feel even worse was…
A large area of Armament Haki suddenly surged from the center of the colossal lion's face.
Behind the sky-obscuring lion's head, Barrett, Enel, and Sote all pressed their hands onto the rock, their stamina draining like an opened sluice gate.
The Armament Haki of the three converged at a single point, stacking and rushing towards the center of the giant lion's face.
The battlefield, which had been maintaining a delicate balance.
Sote's intrusion became the final straw that broke the Yonko's back.
The massive, widespread coverage left the Red Hair Pirates with no escape.
And after Red Hair's defeat, the freed-up Barrett would support the other Admirals, leading to a chain reaction that would paint a picture of a Navy-led victory.
The howling wind was deafening, like the roar of heaven and earth.
The lion's head, formed by the aggregation of several islands, plunged down, the pressure it brought was unimaginable, as if a meteor was crashing towards them…
As the members of the Red Hair Pirates facing this scene directly, they dared not slacken even for a moment.
In an instant, the distance was less than a thousand meters. Shanks the Red Hair took a deep breath:
"Attack!!!"
The Gryphon blade flashed with red Conqueror's Haki lightning, twining around the swung blade energy, charging upwards.
Hot on its heels were bullets laced with airflow, externalized Armament Haki, roaring sonic attacks, and more…
Converging together, they formed an energy pillar nearly a hundred meters thick, shooting directly at the face of the descending giant lion's head. The two collided…
BOOM—!!!!
The red energy pillar pierced into the giant lion's head, continuously eroding the Armament Haki being pushed by the three behind it.
The giant lion's head paused slightly, then continued its descent without stopping, even as the energy pillar relentlessly pushed deeper inside, unable to halt its downward plunge.
The energy pillar exploded at the center of the lion's head, shattering the aggregated lion's head into pieces.
But its roaring maw, as if biting down on the Red Hair Pirates' ship, was pushing them into the sea.
RUMBLE—!!
Large fragments rained down, kicking up waves tens of meters high that surged outwards. The sea churned and roared, ceaselessly…
-----------
In the sky.
Sote applied buoyancy to their clothes, allowing them to float in the air.
Enel looked down at the surging sea:
"Suicidal fools…"
Barrett grinned, his lips curled into a sneer:
"They should retreat. You go back and defend."
"If they dare to come near, inform me in time, and let them stay here permanently."
"Sote and I will go to Kaido."
Enel chuckled:
"Understood."
Sote smiled:
"Then we'll be going ahead, Brother Enel."
Enel nodded:
"Mm."
Barrett and Sote, propelled by buoyancy, shot off into the distance.
Enel looked at the surging sea below, letting out a cold snort.
*Zzzzzzz—*
He disappeared in a flash of lightning.
As for whether this attack could annihilate the Red Hair Pirates… it was clearly impossible. Driving them back, however, was perfectly feasible.
After all, it was just islands. Without the coverage of Armament Haki, the loose, broken earth and rocks couldn't kill the likes of the Red Hair Pirates.
Only the concentrated gravity, pushing them into the sea, but that wouldn't be fatal either.
However, it was the key to drawing a close to this New World war…
---------
New World, Eren Port.
Evening.
BOOM!!!!
A massive mushroom cloud ascended high into the sky.
The three combatants in their great battle separated once more.
This was where Kaido, Borsalino, and Fujitora were battling.
Just a few days ago, the area below was a Marine base. But under the onslaught of their battle, the island had turned to ashes.
Only the turbulent sea remained, roaring its fury.
In the sky.
Kaido, in his human-dragon form, had many cracked scales, and Fujitora had inflicted several wounds on him.
Kaido's dragon eyes fixed on the two opposite him, a hint of annoyance flashing within them.
The abilities of those two rendered his aerial dominance completely ineffective. The speed of that yellow-skinned monkey was one thing, but the blind man floating on a meteor could control gravity.
He was faster than Kaido, and the crucial point was that the gravity was invisible, only felt when it pressed down.
Kaido had to fly a thousand meters high to feel somewhat safe, otherwise, he had nearly been plunged into the sea several times…
In the air opposite him.
Borsalino remained unharmed. Five days of battle had barely left a scratch on him. He looked at Fujitora with a somewhat leisurely expression:
"Fujitora-san~"
"How are things going~?"
Fujitora stood on a floating meteor, his posture somewhat disheveled, his tattered robes heavily damaged. He wiped a trickle of blood from his lips:
"This old man is unharmed."
"I can still continue fighting."
BOOM!!!!!
A deafening explosion reverberated through the sky.
Kaido, as if struck by a heavy blow, plummeted rapidly downwards.
Borsalino's expression eased, and he let out a long sigh:
"Hoo—~"
"Looks like~ reinforcements have arrived~"
Fujitora also sighed with relief. They truly couldn't kill that guy, but with reinforcements, they might be able to…
He controlled his meteor to dive downwards, flying towards Kaido, who was writhing and transforming into a dragon below.
Borsalino said with some helplessness:
"Really~"
Everyone is so full of fighting spirit…
--------
Kaido, falling downwards, transformed into a blue dragon and rolled.
Flame clouds coiled around his body as he abruptly stopped his descent and charged upwards.
The previous attack had come too fast to react, he didn't even know who had delivered it, but he had to escape the low-altitude state…
Suddenly.
Kaido's dragon eyes narrowed.
A meteor hammer as large as a mountain suddenly appeared in the sky, flashing with Conqueror's Haki lightning and imbued with pitch-black Armament Haki.
It was being swung downwards by a blue silhouette with a sinister grin…
No time to dodge.
*CRASH—*
Kaido's body suddenly erupted in raging flames.
The flames instantly engulfed him, continuously gathering towards his head:
"Rising Dragon: Flaming Eight Trigrams!!!"
Like a meteor crashing into the earth…
*CRACK—!!!!*
A sound like a thunderclap split the sky…
Following that, surging Conqueror's Haki clashed and intertwined. The dark clouds in the sky were completely crushed.
A colossal blue demon phantom condensed from Conqueror's Haki, and a murderous aura like an ancient divine beast, roared and rushed towards each other, constantly contending…
The blue demon phantom was Barrett, who had arrived to provide support.
After Red Hair was repelled, under the chain reaction.
The tide of defeat for the pirate side in this great war was now unstoppable…