With a bang, the magma pillar that shot straight into the sky exploded in the middle, and a figure with a white beard appeared in mid-air.
He tossed his naginata upwards, formed his hands into claws, circulated his power to cover his fingertips, and gripped downwards forcefully, creating ten curved scratches in the air.
The upward surge of the magma immediately halted, then twisted irregularly, returning to the depths of the earth.
The half-island covered in magma churned and overturned as if the sky had fallen, and the land from both sides began to converge on the erupting magma pillar.
With a roar, the boundless shockwave power plunged into the depths, disrupting the explosive force of the magma, and the surging earth covered the eruption point, temporarily halting the restless magma.
In the distance, Sengoku transformed into a golden Buddha tens of meters tall in the air. Endless shockwaves erupted from his feet as he hovered in mid-air.
He held Cruel in his left palm and raised his right palm, forming a shockwave that continuously bombarded the center of the recent magma eruption.
Whitebeard landed on the ground from the air, looked at the shockwave shot by Sengoku, and swung his left fist towards it.
With a crack, the sound of shattering atmosphere rang out. Cracks spread in front of him, gathering strength before shattering, and an endless shockwave clashed and exploded with the shockwave.
With a boom, scorching hot air erupted outwards in layers like ocean waves, blowing away the dust in the sky.
At this moment, the ground vibrated violently, and both Sengoku and Whitebeard's hearts raced. Sengoku in the air flashed and moved away from the island with Cruel.
Whitebeard stomped his foot and shot into the sky hundreds of meters high, looking down at the ground.
With a deafening roar, the entire island shook violently, and then this half-island began to collapse rapidly.
Countless land masses fell, as if there was a bottomless pit beneath the island.
In an instant, this half-island was about to be flooded by seawater and disappear into the ocean.
At this moment, a red light appeared deep underground and rapidly expanded, occupying the collapsing void. Whitebeard in the air narrowed his eyes.
Endless magma surged out and erupted, forming a stark contrast with the other half of the island covered by seawater.
At the peak of the magma pillar, half the size of the island, which shot straight into the sky, several magma dragons hundreds of meters thick and infinitely extending surged out.
Sakazuki stood on the head of a magma dragon, wielding his sword with both hands, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki.
Several magma dragons circled around Sakazuki, following him.
He drew a perfect arc and dived down.
Standing on the head of the magma dragon, Sakazuki spun his hands, raised his long sword wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, and slashed at Whitebeard in mid-air.
Whitebeard's naginata was also wrapped in Conqueror's Haki. He moved both hands to the tail of the naginata, raised it high, and swung it forward.
With a clang, as the two swords met, black and red lightning erupted from the stimulated Conqueror's Haki.
In just an instant, Whitebeard, with nowhere to brace himself, was pressed down by Sakazuki, accompanied by several magma dragons.
He was forced towards the half-island covered by seawater that had not collapsed.
With a boom, they crashed to the ground. Countless magma dragons rushed towards them, and magma spewing thick black smoke expanded and spread outwards.
In an instant, it engulfed the remaining seawater on the island, and the only half-island was now completely covered in magma.
With a bang, a huge blast wave erupted from the center of this half-island, and the magma within a thousand meters was blown outwards. The epicenter was the two locked in a struggle.
The two either used their Devil Fruit abilities to press down on each other, or their arms bulged with veins, exerting force to push back like giant pythons.
Red and white energy waves, each occupying half of the space, were locked in a stalemate. The black and red lightning from Conqueror's Haki struck the surrounding ground, creating explosions hundreds of meters high amidst the smoke and dust.
As the two increased their power output, the energy waves seemed to reach their limit, merging and intertwining, erupting into a massive vortex of energy. The intertwined energy waves were crushed and dissipated into wisps of red and white energy.
The two swordsmen in the center were separated by the recent explosion, adjusted their stances, and charged again.
Sakazuki held his sword with his left hand and circulated his ability with his right, slashing at Whitebeard.
Whitebeard held his sword with his right hand, and his left fist formed a semi-transparent light ring as he slashed down.
With a clang, the two swords met and were locked in a stalemate. Sakazuki punched Whitebeard's abdomen, while Whitebeard's left fist moved towards Sakazuki's head.
With a boom, Sakazuki's punch landed on Whitebeard's abdomen. The immense impact of the magma erupted, causing Whitebeard to float slightly and retreat a little.
The magma fist broke through the surface skin of the abdomen and continued to exert force deeper inside.
But Whitebeard's expression was indifferent. His left fist did not stop, smashing towards Sakazuki's head.
An irresistible force struck him, and Sakazuki felt his entire upper body twist and compress.
This was not an illusion. Whitebeard's Devil Fruit ability was pressing down on Sakazuki, crushing him.
Sakazuki's entire upper body was constantly compressing and deforming, and his sense of danger grew with each passing moment. A fierce look flashed across Sakazuki's face.
He increased the output of his Devil Fruit ability in his right arm, and at the same time, the vibration circle in Whitebeard's hand that was twisting Sakazuki's upper body seemed to have reached its limit.
With a crack, Whitebeard's ability exploded, and the atmosphere, along with Sakazuki's upper body, shattered. Sakazuki felt an infinite tearing pain pulling him outwards.
Sakazuki endured this intense pain, detonated the magma in his abdomen, and before the atmosphere and his body completely shattered, a red light erupted from his body.
With a massive explosion, Sakazuki's body exploded, colliding with the vibration force erupting from him.
The self-detonating magma expanded outwards, engulfing Whitebeard's figure and spreading across the entire island.
In the distance, Sakazuki's figure coalesced, looking disheveled, his chest slightly sunken, blood flowing from his mouth and head. He stared expressionlessly at the center of the magma.
With a bang, a large area of magma exploded, forming a vacuum zone hundreds of meters around Whitebeard.
Whitebeard clutched his abdomen, where a large, bleeding wound was.
A trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. He squinted his eyes and looked at Sakazuki.
"Gurara-la-la-la-la, magma brat, try this move."
With that, he planted his naginata in the ground, clenched his fists, and drew them back to his sides near his abdomen, then swung them outwards forcefully. The atmosphere on both sides exploded.
The seawater surrounding the entire island churned and surged, forming an irregular water bubble that rose infinitely, reaching nearly a thousand meters above the island before exploding with a roar.
A thousand-meter-high giant wave surged from all directions, enveloping the entire island.
Then, his ability erupted from his feet, and Whitebeard shot straight into the sky, above the giant wave.
He then gripped his naginata with both hands, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, and slashed downwards, following the descending giant wave.
Sakazuki stood on the ground, looking up at the sky at Whitebeard slashing down. He snorted coldly, clasped his hands together, and slammed them.
The ground of the remaining island rapidly deformed and turned red. A sword tip, half the width of the island, surged out, and then shot up into the sky at an extremely fast speed.
Cliff Sword!
Sakazuki's figure disappeared from the ground, and the infinitely rising giant lava sword reached the sky.
In an instant, it surpassed the height of the waves, its tip directly aimed at Whitebeard.
Whitebeard slashed downwards, and the Cliff Sword, half the size of the island, split from the middle and divided downwards.
The infinitely surging magma lifted this Cliff Sword. Even though Whitebeard kept slashing downwards, his body was rising higher and higher.
As the surrounding giant waves crashed onto the Cliff Sword, the lava rapidly cooled and solidified.
The island on the ground disappeared, replaced by a massive black lava sword, half the width of the island, over two thousand meters tall, cooled and solidified, standing on the sea.
At the peak of the Cliff Sword, the tip, split by Whitebeard, divided into two ends.
Sakazuki and Whitebeard each occupied one end, their eyes filled with killing intent as they looked at each other.