"A... a meteor?!"
"That ability... is this some kind of sick joke?"
"As expected, Marine Admirals are all monsters!"
The Cipher Pol agents stood frozen, jaws dropping at the sight. Aside from Onifox, none of them had truly understood that this Marine recruit, a man fast-tracked to Admiral, possessed such world-shaking power.
Even Onifox, though familiar with the intelligence reports on Fujitora Issho, found the reality of the scene staggering.
To use one's ability to drag a meteor from the vacuum of space, tens of thousands of kilometers away... what level of Observation Haki did that require? What kind of terrifying depth of strength was this?
An Admiral of the Navy, a terror beyond words!
…
On the high slope flanking the river, Zephyr stood firm alongside Binz, Shuzo, and six hundred subordinates. They had occupied this strategic high ground, ready to rain hell down upon the approaching Marines.
However, the Marines' counterattack far exceeded their wildest calculations.
"Oi, oi... you've got to be kidding me!"
"Is this some kind of prank?"
"How is this possible? How can human strength reach such heights?!"
"A meteor that size... it's going to level the entire area!"
Beads of sweat formed on the foreheads of Shuzo and Binz as they stared at the sky. A gargantuan shadow had already swallowed the slope, and the shrieking wind grew into a deafening roar. The pressure was suffocating; several men had already collapsed, their legs giving out from pure terror.
The meteor was at least fifty to sixty meters wide. After a vertical acceleration covering tens of thousands of kilometers, its velocity had reached dozens of kilometers per second. Its destructive potential was apocalyptic. Once it made impact, anyone with a Doriki level below five hundred wouldn't even have a ghost of a chance at survival.
"Hahahaha! Well done, Issho! What a terrifying ability!" Zephyr stood tall, chest out, laughing without a trace of fear.
BOOM!
Zephyr's legs coiled like springs before he suddenly lunged upward. The sheer force of his jump cratered the ground beneath him, leaving a pit over a meter deep. His body became a living arrow, shrieking through the air as he nearly shattered the sound barrier.
"Double Hardening!!!"
Mid-flight, Zephyr let out a low growl. A faint, nearly imperceptible shimmer rippled across his body before his right arm was coated in a pitch-black sheen, gleaming with a metallic luster.
"Shigan: Heavy Fist Style!!!"
In a flash, Zephyr threw a punch. It looked like an ant striking an elephant, yet his fist slammed into the descending colossus with the speed of a lightning bolt.
RUMBLE—!!!
A titanic roar shook the island as two colossal forces collided. The atmosphere rippled with violent tremors, exploding into a circular shockwave of white vapor.
CRACK—!
A fissure appeared on the meteor's surface, spreading like a spiderweb in the blink of an eye. The massive rock disintegrated, shattering into countless fragments, large and small, that rained down across the battlefield.
"He shattered it... with his bare fist!!!"
Thousands of onlookers watched the scene, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
"Zephyr-sensei... he's as powerful as ever," Bastille muttered, wiping cold sweat from his brow, his lip twitching.
"An ex-Admiral is still a monster among monsters," Onifox remarked, his gaze heavy as he tracked the silhouette suspended in mid-air.
"So, it was blocked," Issho noted. His lips curled upward into a slight, appreciative smile.
Up on the slope, red-hot fragments of the meteor began to pelt the ground.
"Mosa! Mosa! Mosa!"
Binz twisted his body in a rhythmic dance. A dozen vines erupted from the soil, growing as thick as a man's thigh in the span of a few breaths. Like giant pythons, they lashed out into the air, swiftly intercepting and wrapping around the falling debris to protect the men below.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
"Shigan: Ten!"
Shuzo extended his segmented, three-section-staff-like arms and took to the air using Geppo.
BOOM! BOOM!
With a series of explosive strikes, Shuzo's hands, shaped like eagle talons, smashed fragment after fragment.
Following his lead, over a dozen experts with Doriki levels exceeding five hundred leaped into the fray, shattering or deflecting the falling stones to keep the unit intact.
At that moment, Issho swept his hand forward and bellowed: "All units, charge!"
"KILL! KILL! KILL!"
"Long live the Marines! Long live Justice!"
Three thousand Marines roared in unison, launching a full-scale assault up the slope.
"Open fire! Hold them back!" Shuzo landed and immediately began directing the defense.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunfire erupted, the muzzles spitting thick smoke and flame. Black lead shot whistled through the air, and blood soon stained the earth as dozens of men from both sides fell in the opening exchange.
Ironically, the meteor Issho had summoned provided cover; the large craters and scattered boulders now served as makeshift breastworks on the previously barren hillside.
"Alpacacino, fire!"
Shuzo patted the Cannon-Llama at his side and barked the order.
"ROAARR—"
Alpachino's eyes turned blood-red as it let out a guttural cry, aiming down the slope.
BOOM—!
Accompanied by a gout of searing flame, a pointed artillery shell shrieked outward. The massive recoil forced Alpachino back several paces.
KABOOM!
The shell traveled with a piercing shhh sound, instantly impacting a two-meter-high boulder. The resulting explosion was violent, reducing the rock to dust.
The debris, caught in the blast wave, sprayed outward like shrapnel, tearing through the nearby Marine ranks.
Shell after shell slammed into the Marine formations. Explosions followed in rapid succession, the shockwaves tossing soldiers through the air like ragdolls.
Many Marines tried to deploy the artillery they had brought ashore, but before they could even aim, five or six cannons were blasted into scrap metal. For a moment, the charging Marines were pinned down on the hillside by the intense suppression fire.
"ARGH—!"
"My arm! Someone help me—!"
"Medic! Medic! My leg—!"
The agonized screams of the wounded began to eat away at the Marines' morale.
Issho frowned. Through his vast Observation Haki, he sensed that his forces were losing momentum and were unable to even set up their own artillery.
Shing—
Issho drew his blade. A localized gravity field manifested, causing the meteor fragments scattered across the hillside to float into the air.
"Go."
Issho let out a low command and slashed his sword forward. The boulders shot outward, whistling through the air with a terrifying whine.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
A rain of stones battered the defenders on the high ground. Chaos ensued as Shuzo's men scrambled for cover; dozens were crushed or killed instantly.
With Issho's intervention, Bastille and the Marines finally had a window to breathe. They seized the opportunity and surged upward once more.
Seeing the sea of white-clad Marines closing in, Shuzo gritted his teeth. He waved his hand, ordering his men to prepare for the inevitable melee.
It was to be expected. With an Admiral leading the charge, victory wouldn't come easy. Had Issho known the situation would be this stubborn, he might have summoned multiple meteors to blanket the entire area, for even Zephyr could not protect everyone from the sky falling in its entirety.