WHOOSH!!
Not far from the center of Ohara... Monet's body vanished without warning. The two Vice Admirals immediately halted their advance.
Doberman: "Again..." Vice Admiral Doberman narrowed his eyes.
Onigumo: "Her teleportation." Vice Admiral Onigumo slowly drew both of his swords.
Neither of them dared to blink. The Marine intelligence files had described Monet's abilities. A Paramecia capable of swapping positions, nothing more just fancy moves. But the woman standing before them now... was far beyond that report.
WHOOSH!!
The air suddenly rippled. Monet reappeared several dozen meters away. Her long mint-green hair fluttered gently in the wind. Behind her... nine enormous white tails slowly spread apart. Each tail swayed gracefully. Each movement radiated an eerie elegance.
The Mythical Zoan... Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Nine-Tailed Fox.
Doberman: "Another Mythical Zoan..." Doberman tightened his grip on his sword.
Onigumo quietly observed the battlefield. His instincts warned him that something else had changed.
Monet slowly raised one hand, creating several blank sheets of paper that drifted into the air. At first...
At first, only a handful. Moments later, dozens. Soon, hundreds. Soon...
Thousands of white sheets circled around her body like a miniature blizzard.
Doberman: "...Paper?" Vice Admiral Doberman frowned.
Monet: "My third Devil Fruit." She smiled faintly.
The surrounding Marines instinctively looked upward. Paper... was filling the entire battlefield.
Without warning— WHOOSH!!
Every sheet suddenly scattered in every direction. Like countless white birds taking flight.
Doberman: "Destroy them!" Doberman immediately shouted.
Marine officers swung their swords. Others fired rifles. But... there were simply too many. Thousands of sheets drifted through the battlefield. Landing upon ruined walls, broken trees, collapsed houses, marine uniforms, even the warships anchored offshore. No one realized...
Each sheet quietly attached itself to its surroundings. Like harmless scraps of paper carried by the wind.
Onigumo: "...Your marks." Onigumo's eyes suddenly widened.
Monet: "Exactly." Monet smiled.
Her Paper-Paper Fruit allowed her to create paper, and the Swap-Swap Fruit allowed her to teleport to any marked object. Separated... both abilities were useful. Combined... they became terrifying. Every sheet of paper... had become a teleportation marker. Meanwhile, her Mythical Zoan dramatically enhanced her close-range combat abilities, making her deadly even without relying on teleportation. The battlefield itself... had become Monet's domain.
WHOOSH!! WHOOSH!!
She disappeared again and again. She appeared behind Doberman. Her claw shot forward.
CLANG!!
Doberman blocked just in time. Before he could counter— WHOOSH!!
She vanished again. Appearing fifty meters away. Then another teleport.
Then another.
Then another.
Monet seemed to exist... Everywhere.
Marine Officer: "Where is she?!"
Marine Officer: "There!" Another officer pointed.
WHOOSH!!
She had already disappeared. The Marines could no longer predict her movements. Every piece of paper... could become Monet.
Doberman: "Observation Haki." Doberman remained calm, his senses expanded. Finally... he detected her.
Doberman: "Behind—" Doberman's sword struck nothing but empty air.
WHOOSH!!
Monet had already teleported again.
Onigumo: "Found you." Onigumo suddenly smiled.
Several additional spider-like arms emerged from his back. Each arm wielded another sword. The Vice Admiral launched himself forward. His six blades surrounded Monet from every direction. There was nowhere to escape. Or so he believed.
WHOOSH!!
Monet instantly exchanged places with a single sheet of paper drifting high above the battlefield. All six swords collided harmlessly.
CLANG!!
Onigumo: "...Annoying." Onigumo landed on the ground, his expression hardened.
Monet: "You're fast." Monet gently floated downward.
Monet: "But not fast enough." She smiled. Her fox ears twitched slightly.
Her fingers snapped. The countless sheets scattered across Ohara suddenly rose into the air once more. Thousands... tens of thousands... an endless sea of white. Everywhere the Marines looked... there was paper. And every sheet... could become Monet.
Marine: "Burn them!" One Rear Admiral shouted.
BOOOOM!!
Several Marines launched flaming shells. Large sections of paper ignited. Flames spread rapidly.
For only a moment. Then... The burning paper simply dissolved into more paper. Monet calmly tilted her head.
Monet: "Paper burns. Fortunately... My Logia doesn't." She smiled again.
The paper surrounding her body suddenly transformed. Its texture softened. Its shape became fluid. The countless sheets merged together. Then separated again. Pure white paper...
Had become an endless river. The Logia Paper-Paper Fruit. Monet's body itself dissolved into countless sheets. Every bullet passed harmlessly through her paper body. Every sword slash scattered her into countless fluttering sheets, only for her body to reform a heartbeat later. To the Marines... it was as though they were trying to cut the wind itself.
Marine: "...A Logia, without Haki we can't even touch her?!"
Marine: "She has three Devil Fruits?!" Panic spread through the battlefield.
WHOOSH!!
Thousands of paper fragments filled the sky. Each fragment reflected sunlight differently. Each one cast shifting shadows. The battlefield became a maze of moving white. Observation Haki became increasingly difficult. Vision became almost useless.
Monet: "Can you still tell... which one is real?" Monet's voice echoed from everywhere.
The Nine-Tailed Fox answered with her illusions activated. The white papers suddenly transformed. Hundreds... then thousands... of Monets appeared simultaneously. Every illusion smiled, every illusion moved naturally, every illusion carried the same presence.
Doberman: "...Impossible." Doberman's expression finally changed.
Onigumo looked around. Monet stood upon ruined rooftops. Others stood atop broken towers. Others floated in midair. Even some standing among the Marines. Thousands of identical figures, None could distinguish reality from illusion. Every single one of them... was Monet.
Marine A: "Which one do we attack?!"
Marine B: "I don't know!" Another Marine shouted.
Panic erupted. Several Marines accidentally attacked their own allies. Others wasted Haki striking illusions. One after another... the fake Monets dissolved into fluttering paper. Only to reform somewhere else.
Monet quietly observed from high above. Paper wings slowly unfolded behind her. Unlike her fox transformation... She no longer needed [Geppo] to remain airborne. The Paper-Paper Fruit created enormous white wings that carried her effortlessly across the battlefield.
She smiled faintly, Arthur had been right, the fruit perfectly completed her fighting style.
First is teleportation, second are Illusions and finally flight. Every weakness she once possessed... had disappeared. It even allowed her to gather intelligence far more efficiently than before.
Doberman: "Enough tricks." Doberman coated his blade in Armament Haki.
He leaped toward the sky. His slash split dozens of Monets apart. Paper fluttered everywhere.
Then-WHOOSH!!!
The real Monet appeared directly above him, her hand gently touched his shoulder. Doberman's eyes widened.
Monet: "Too late. [Swap]."
WHOOSH!!
The Vice Admiral suddenly found himself standing directly in front of Onigumo's attack.
CLANG!!
Onigumo's swords barely stopped in time. The two Vice Admirals instinctively jumped apart. Monet floated quietly between them. Still smiling.
Monet: "You should be more careful. Friendly fire can be dangerous." Her calm voice carried across the battlefield.
...
Far above...
Nymph: "Master was right." Nymph watched the battle through her targeting system.
Astrea: "About what?" Astrea glanced sideways.
Nymph: "Monet's third Devil Fruit wasn't chosen for raw destructive power." She smiled.
She watched another teleportation. Another illusion. Another impossible escape.
Nymph: "It was chosen because it makes her impossible to catch."
Astrea silently nodded. Below them... even two experienced Vice Admirals found themselves unable to corner a single woman.
Every attack missed.
Every strategy failed.
Every opening disappeared before they could exploit it.
The battlefield no longer belonged to the Marines. It belonged entirely... to Monet.
...
Only a short distance away... the battlefield had fallen strangely silent. Two Vice Admirals stood motionless. Vice Admiral Momonga and Vice Admiral Dalmatian. Both stared at the woman calmly standing before the Tree of Knowledge. Neither spoke first. The wind gently stirred Robin's long black hair. She quietly looked up at the ancient tree. Her expression remained peaceful. For a brief moment... she seemed completely unaware of the enemies surrounding her.
Momonga: "Nico Robin." Momonga finally broke the silence.
Robin: " "Vice Admirals Momonga and Dalmatian." Robin slowly turned around.
Dalmatian: "Your journey ends here." Dalmatian rested one hand on his sword.
Robin: "Those exact words... were spoken here twenty years ago." She smiled gently.
The atmosphere instantly became heavy. The Marines instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons. Robin slowly crossed her arms. Petals drifted into the air. Hundreds... then thousands, The Flower-Flower Fruit awakened. Gigantic arms bloomed from shattered walls, stone pillars, ruined rooftops, from the branches of the Tree of Knowledge... even from air itself.
Marine: "They're everywhere!" The Marines looked upward in horror.
Robin: "Cien Fleur..." Robin remained perfectly calm.
Marine: "Move!!" Massive hands reached down from every direction.
BOOOOM!!
The battlefield erupted into chaos. Momonga slashed through several giant arms with powerful bursts of Armament Haki. Dalmatian charged directly toward Robin. He moved even faster than Soru. Robin quietly watched him approach. She didn't move. She simply smiled.
Robin: "You're looking at the wrong Robin."
Dalmatian: "...What?" He blinked.
His sword pierced straight through Robin's body. It exploded into flower petals. His eyes widened. An illusion. High above... a beautiful voice echoed across the battlefield. Everyone instinctively looked upward. Robin floated gracefully in the sky. Pure white wings stretched behind her. The Mythical Zoan Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Siren. Sunlight reflected beautifully across her feathers. She looked almost divine.
Marine A: "...She's flying..." The Marines hesitated.
Marine B: "Another Mythical Zoan..."
Robin gently folded her wings.
Robin: "The scholars of Ohara spent their lives protecting knowledge. Today... I'll protect their home." Her voice remained calm.
She sang. A soft... beautiful... almost ethereal melody drifted across the battlefield. The Marines gradually slowed. One soldier dropped his rifle and another lowered his sword.
Marine: "...What... is this feeling..." Several simply stared upward.
The Siren's song. Not a physical attack. A mental one. Even hardened Marines struggled to resist.
The leaves of the Tree of Knowledge trembled gently as her voice echoed across Ohara. For an instant... the island itself seemed to remember the little girl who had once cried beneath its branches.
Only the Vice Admirals immediately blocked the Siren's song using fighting spirit.
Momonga: "Cover your ears!" Momonga shouted.
Momonga's warning came too late. Dozens of Marines had already fallen into a trance. Robin calmly extended one hand. Flowers bloomed beneath every distracted soldier. Gigantic hands gently wrapped around them. Dozens were restrained simultaneously.
Robin: "[Clutch]" Robin lowered her hand.
CRACK!!
One after another... the restrained Marines falling to ground. They weren't killed, only rendered unconscious.
Momonga: "...Her abilities have become far more dangerous." Momonga frowned.
Robin: "I've had twenty years to grow." Robin looked directly at him.
Then... her smile disappeared. For the first time since arriving on Ohara... cold determination filled her eyes. Robin slowly looked around the battlefield.
The burning ruins.
The shattered streets.
The Tree of Knowledge.
The Lake of Books.
Twenty years ago... she had fled this island alone. Powerless, terrified.
Today... she stood here once more. Not as a frightened child but as one of the strongest women on the seas. Robin quietly crossed her arms once again, thousands of petals erupted into the sky.
The battle... had only just begun.