Marineford, Marine Headquarters. The dark sky churned with layers of thick clouds as Kaido's colossal Azure Dragon form shrank rapidly, morphing into his human-beast hybrid. Bluish-green scales covered his body, and his right hand tightened around the kanabo Hassaikai. He bared his teeth—several missing—and growled with raw fury:
"Sephiroth, you insufferable brat! I'll kill you for sure!"
Sephiroth's voice cut through the air like ice. "Hmph. Kaido, since you're here today, you won't be leaving alive. Prepare to die."
Kaido's anger melted into unrestrained laughter, deep and mocking. "Wororororo! Brat, open your eyes! The Marines are trapped between us and the frontlines. They're already losing. If you don't run now, you'll die here with them!"
He couldn't forget how Sephiroth had fought him relentlessly through the night, only to vanish when dawn broke. The memory fueled his taunts.
Sephiroth sneered, his gaze sweeping over the more than 50,000 Beasts Pirates charging across the ice toward the naval port walls. "Ants. No matter how many you gather, they're still just ants. Do you really think they can change the course of this war?"
With a swift motion, he raised the Nether Flame Blade high above his head. Orange-red flame ripples erupted from the blade's tip, expanding into a fiery disk sixty to seventy meters wide. The disk surged with flames, compressing and condensing into a massive fireball, radiating scorching heat like a miniature sun.
Without hesitation, Sephiroth swung the Nether Flame Blade downward. In the same motion, the butcher knife in his right hand tore open a massive spatial rift. The fireball shot through the portal, appearing instantly on the ice among the charging Beasts Pirates.
Those who failed to dodge were incinerated in an instant, their bodies reduced to charred husks by the thousands-degree flames. The air filled with the stench of burning flesh.
Kaido watched impassively, even amused. "A fireball that size? It killed what—a hundred? Pathetic. I brought 57,000 men to this war. Two-thirds of my entire force!"
Before he could finish his taunt, Sephiroth activated the power of the Amplify-Amplify Fruit. "Hundredfold Amplification!"
The fireball, still smoldering on the sea surface, began to expand violently, as if inflated with air. In seconds, it grew from sixty meters to a staggering six thousand meters in diameter—a sun plummeting from the sky into the sea. The blinding, scorching light forced everyone to shield their eyes.
In this terrifying natural disaster, like the descent of a great sun, the flames devoured everything in their path. Except for the four thousand pirates who had already breached the naval port walls, the vast majority of the Beasts Pirates' fifty thousand-strong force were reduced to ash, their charred remains scattered across the ice.
The crimson flames vanished as abruptly as they had appeared, leaving the naval port bay completely transformed. The ice had melted away, and the seawater boiled violently, its surface churning with bubbles. Dead fish floated to the surface, their bodies scorched beyond recognition. A sea breeze swept through, carrying with it the sickening stench of burnt flesh.
Gulp! The sound echoed across Marineford as countless throats tightened.
An eerie silence descended upon the battlefield. Marines and Pirates alike stood frozen, their faces pale with horror as they stared at the bay. Fifty thousand Pirates—gone in an instant. The sheer magnitude of the devastation left everyone reeling, their minds struggling to comprehend what had just occurred.
In that moment, tens of thousands of fighters—Marines and Pirates—felt the crushing weight of their insignificance in the face of such overwhelming power. Even Whitebeard and Sengoku halted their clash, their expressions complex as they gazed at the silver-haired figure hovering in the sky. Sephiroth, the World's Greatest Swordsman, had demonstrated strength that defied comprehension.
Was this man—this being—still human? Or had he ascended to something beyond, a force akin to a god or a devil?
Kong, standing by the execution platform, was the first to shake off his stupor. Snatching up a den den mushi, he roared into it, his voice carrying across the battlefield. "Soldiers of the Marines! The Pirates' strength has been crippled! Now is the time to press our advantage! Victory is within our grasp! Marines shall prevail! Justice shall triumph!"
"Marines shall win! Justice shall prevail!" The rallying cry spread like wildfire, igniting the Marines' spirits. Weapons raised, they surged forward with renewed vigor, their shouts echoing across the battlefield as they clashed once more with the Pirates.
The Pirates, still reeling from the devastation, began to falter under the Marines' relentless assault. The tide of battle had shifted.
Kaido, emerging from his stunned silence, erupted into a fury unlike anything he had ever known. His body transformed once more, his scales shifting from bluish-green to a deep, menacing purple. His muscles bulged grotesquely, his face twisting into a mask of primal rage. Flame-like clouds formed around his eyebrows—the unmistakable mark of his Azure Dragon Fruit's awakened state.
The fifty thousand Pirates annihilated by Sephiroth were no ordinary crew. They were Kaido's elite, warriors he had painstakingly gathered over decades. Each one was a capable fighter, worth five or six ordinary men. These were not mere cannon fodder, but the backbone of his forces.
To lose them all in a single moment—without even a chance to fight—was a blow Kaido could scarcely endure. Had they fallen in a hard-fought battle, he might have accepted their deaths as the cost of war. But this? This was annihilation without purpose, a waste of everything he had built.
His hatred for Sephiroth burned hotter than the sun, a rage so profound it could never be quenched. With a thunderous roar, Kaido slammed his dragon claw into the purple flame clouds beneath him, propelling himself forward with a deafening sonic boom. His kanabo, wreathed in purple Haoshoku Haki, swung with devastating force toward Sephiroth.
Sephiroth, calm and unyielding, met the attack head-on. His twin blades flashed as he countered with precision and power. The clash of their weapons sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield, the sheer force of their collision shaking the very air.
Kundali · Ryosengun! The impact reverberated like the tolling of a colossal bell, a testament to the titanic struggle between two forces of unparalleled might.
The clash of steel rang out like a thunderclap. Blade met club in a blinding exchange—dozens of strikes passing between them in less time than it took to blink. At tenfold amplified speed, Sephiroth deflected every one of Kaido's attacks without missing a beat. The moment Kaido's onslaught faltered, Sephiroth pivoted into a counterattack, his Observation Haki painting the future in vivid detail as he outpaced the beast.
His twin blades bit into Kaido's scaled hide again and again, forcing the Emperor to rely on his own precognitive Haki just to keep up. But something felt off—each slash failed to draw blood.
Not that Kaido's defenses were impenetrable. The problem lay in the timing. Sephiroth's strikes came too fast, his retreats too abrupt. By the time his Haki could fully charge, Kaido's instincts—honed by foresight and centuries of battle—had already twisted away, deflecting the saber's edge. No chance to breach those dragon scales. No opening to deliver internal devastation.
Frustration coiled tight in Sephiroth's gut. Against Hawkeye or Vista, this relentless flurry would've carved them to ribbons. But Kaido? His hide laughed at superficial cuts. Only concentrated Haki, driven deep, could wound him.
With a snarl, Sephiroth dialed back to double speed—the sweet spot where blade and Haki could move as one.
Even then, speed remained his weapon. He harried the awakened Emperor, leaving shallow gashes that forced Kaido into reckless Haki clashes just to disrupt the rhythm. Every collision sent shockwaves ripping through the sky, churning clouds and shaking the earth beneath Marineford.
Sephiroth lunged, twin blades gleaming. The air cracked underfoot as his obsidian wings blurred, propelling him like a specter from above. The angle left Kaido scrambling—no leverage to swing, no room to retaliate.
The Emperor jerked back, barely avoiding the killing arc. Almost.
"Two-Sword Style: Ghost Flash!"
Their silhouettes crossed. A severed horn tumbled through the air, its jagged edge still sparking where Sephiroth's blade had sheared it clean.
But Kaido pivoted on the momentum, Flame Cloud flaring beneath his feet. He gave chase, club wreathed in violet lightning. Conqueror's Haki crackled as he dropped like a meteor, trailing destruction.
"Great Wind: Thunder Bagua!"
Kaido used his full strength, raised the club in his hand, and brought it down with apocalyptic force onto Sephiroth's skull.
The impact detonated like a bomb. Purple lightning spiderwebbed across the sky as a mushroom cloud erupted. Sephiroth rocketed downward, breaking the sound barrier multiple times over before cratering into Marineford's streets in a fireball of shattered stone.
Sephiroth's body smashed straight through a building and buried itself deep into the ground, shaking the earth violently. A few seconds later, he emerged from the crater, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle, skull caved in, and the back of his head dripping with blood. He stood upright, dusting himself off. "Sloppy," he muttered. "I shouldn't have used a move with such obvious telegraphing..."
As he spoke, Sephiroth activated his Float-Float Fruit ability, levitating the Nether Flame Blade in his left hand. He grabbed his neck with his free hand and gave it a sharp twist, the sickening cracks echoing through the air as he realigned the broken bones. Kaido's Haoshoku Haki had temporarily suppressed his super-regeneration, forcing him to manually patch himself up. Even his pseudo-elementalization was nullified, leaving him vulnerable.
Coincidentally, Sephiroth had landed right in the middle of a gathering of over four thousand Beasts Pirates.
Gulp—! ×N
The pirates surrounding him stared in horror as Sephiroth casually popped his neck back into place. But when they noticed his bloodied, sunken skull, one of them shouted, "Look! He's already half-dead!" Another chimed in, "Let's take him down together!" A third voice joined the chorus: "Yeah, let's avenge our fallen brothers!"
Bang—! Bang—! Bang—! Gunfire and cannon blasts erupted, all aimed at Sephiroth as he calmly adjusted his skull. Yet, neither bullets nor cannonballs made a dent. A layer of Armament Haki automatically coated his body, forming an invisible shield.
"Annoying flies," Sephiroth muttered, his voice icy. With his injuries fully healed, he turned his gaze to the dozens of pirates in front of him. Just one look was enough. The pirates' blood began to flow backward, their skin turning crimson as blood gushed from their eyes, ears, and mouths. One by one, they collapsed to the ground.
Thump! Thump!
Streams of crimson blood were drawn out by the power of the Vampire Fruit, swirling around Sephiroth. He absorbed the life force within, replenishing his reserves, then casually let the blood pool at his feet. The sight was horrifying.
"Monster!" one pirate screamed. "He's a monster!" The Beasts Pirates froze, their attacks halted. Some took a step back, while others turned and fled outright.
Sephiroth didn't bother chasing them. These small fries weren't worth his time. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, his gaze locking onto Kaido, who still hovered in the sky. It was clear Kaido had no intention of landing for a ground battle. The reason was obvious.
Thanks to his Flame Clouds, Kaido fought in the air as easily as if he were on solid ground. For Sephiroth, even with the speed boost from the Amplify-Amplify Fruit, aerial combat limited his movements. Attacks with too much wind-up left him vulnerable to inertia and other aerial disadvantages.
In fact, if Kaido dared to engage Sephiroth in ground combat, Sephiroth was confident he could overwhelm him with sheer speed. But Kaido had clearly figured that out, which was why he stayed airborne.
"Tsk," Sephiroth scoffed. "So this is the so-called strongest creature on land, sea, and air?"
Sephiroth sneered, dark red Haoshoku Haki flickering like flames as it enveloped his body. The energy masked his aura while activating Observation Haki mode. In an instant, he launched himself skyward, streaking into the heavens.
With double-speed and Observation Haki on his side, Sephiroth began gaining the upper hand against Kaido. His sword left a trail of brutal wounds across the Emperor's body. Below, the battlefield was chaos incarnate. Doflamingo casually snapped a Vice Admiral's neck, his cold gaze fixed on the aerial duel above.
It was clear Kaido was losing ground. The Emperor didn't dare land, forced to engage Sephiroth in the skies as his injuries mounted. If this continued, Kaido would fall.
Doflamingo analyzed the situation with growing unease. Among the three Four Emperors crews, the Beasts Pirates were taking the heaviest losses. Their troops and generals were being decimated. If this attrition continued, the remaining four thousand-plus members of Kaido's crew would be wiped out entirely.
Regardless of the war's outcome, the Beasts Pirates would emerge weaker, their territories shrinking instead of expanding. In that scenario, how could he break free? Kaido would never let him go. A sinister glint flashed in Doflamingo's eyes as he turned his gaze toward Sephiroth.
In a flash, he closed the distance to Sephiroth's position on the ground. Watching the two titans clash in the sky, a cold smile spread across his face. With a stomp, Doflamingo shot upward like a cannonball, aiming straight for Sephiroth.
His right hand shot backward, dozens—no, hundreds—of nearly transparent threads erupting from his palm. They twisted together into a thick column, coated in dark Armament Haki and crackling with dark red lightning. Overheat Whip!
With a sonic boom, Doflamingo swung the thread whip, aiming to slice Sephiroth in half. But—Perfume Femur! Hancock materialized in his path, her purple qipao flaring as her high-heeled shoe, wreathed in dark red lightning, slammed into his chest. The impact sent him hurtling backward, crashing to the ground.
Hancock landed gracefully, arms crossed over her chest. Her voice was icy. "Doflamingo, I won't let you interfere with Sephiroth's battle. If you want to touch him, you'll have to go through me first."
Though she'd been conserving her strength since the war began, Hancock had kept a close eye on Sephiroth, always ready to intercept threats. That's why she'd been able to stop Doflamingo so quickly.
Doflamingo chuckled darkly. "Fufufufufu! What a troublesome woman... I'm not interested in getting entangled with you." With that, he distanced himself, turning toward the Marine ranks. His threads lashed out, cutting down soldier after soldier in a brutal harvest. One encounter was enough for Doflamingo to realize Hancock was no ordinary foe—she, too, had mastered Haoshoku Haki.
The fight would drag on endlessly if he kept engaging this woman. Better to withdraw now and pick off more Marine Generals instead—that'd tip the war's momentum in the Pirates' favor. But Doflamingo's sudden retreat caught Aokiji's sharp eye.
The Admiral abandoned his duel with Jozu mid-swing, ice crystals still clinging to his sleeves as he materialized directly in Doflamingo's path. "Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!" Aokiji's outstretched hand unleashed a razor-winged construct of glacial air, its frostbite breath crackling through the battlefield. Doflamingo's grin twisted into something darker.
"Persistent bastard, aren't you? Fine—if an Admiral's begging for death today, I'll happily oblige!"
Doflamingo cursed under his breath, waved his right hand, and lashed out with a whip of razor threads. The ice bird shattered into glittering shrapnel. Within seconds, their clash escalated into a whirlwind of frozen spears and singing filaments—Aokiji fighting to pin him down, Doflamingo weaving through every attack with mocking precision. No more easy targets among the Marine ranks now; the Warlord's killing spree had been thoroughly interrupted.