"Urgh!"
Galvan let out a muffled groan and staggered backward.
His eyes locked onto Imu, filled with shock and fury.
The defense and power he had always taken pride in were gradually being overwhelmed by this strange masked man dressed in white.
Imu stood calmly with his sword in hand.
The tiny crack running across his white mask seemed almost mocking.
He had completely seized control of the battle.
The scales were tilting steadily in his favor.
Anyone with eyes could see the outcome.
If this continued, Galvan would die.
Just as Imu's shadow blade slipped past Galvan's gravity gauntlet once more and carved a deep scar across his chest armor, forcing him into another retreat...
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A barrage of piercing sounds suddenly erupted from behind.
The towering giant who had remained silent throughout the battle finally moved.
Steelbone Barrett.
(And yes, the name was absolutely the author's personal joke.)
The enormous Thousand-Blade Arsenal mounted on his back unfolded completely.
Countless flying blades, energy spikes, and miniature missiles poured out like a metallic hurricane.
Their target was clear.
Imu.
More specifically, the moment after he'd just finished attacking, when his old strength had been spent and new strength had yet to emerge.
It was the perfect opening.
The attack covered an enormous area.
The speed was terrifying.
There was virtually no room to dodge.
This was a carefully prepared killing strike.
Barrett understood the battlefield clearly.
There weren't many truly dangerous opponents present.
If he coordinated with Galvan and crippled this troublesome masked man, the battle would become infinitely easier.
Faced with the sudden ambush, Imu didn't even turn his head.
His white mask remained fixed on the wounded Galvan charging toward him in rage.
Was he too late to react?
Or...
Did he have confidence in something else?
The metallic storm was moments away from swallowing him whole.
Then—
"ROOOOAR!"
A dragon's roar exploded across the battlefield.
The sound was so overwhelming that the entire war zone seemed to freeze for an instant.
A gigantic blood dragon formed from condensed crimson mist appeared beside Imu.
Its jaws opened wide.
"Mist God Style: Devouring Blood Dragon!"
Ritter's familiar arrogant voice echoed lazily through the battlefield.
The next moment, every blade, missile, and energy spike disappeared into the dragon's mouth.
Not one escaped.
Then everything simply vanished.
Gone.
As if it had never existed.
Barrett's carefully prepared ambush was erased as casually as someone brushing dust from their shoulder.
At the same moment, Imu's sword struck again from an impossible angle, forcing Galvan to retreat once more.
Only then did Imu slightly turn his mask toward Ritter.
His gaze briefly swept across the representatives of the Twenty Kings watching from afar.
Some of them were observing like spectators at a show.
Others looked almost pleased to see Imu in danger.
Not that they could have helped even if they wanted to.
"I knew it."
Imu's voice carried the faintest trace of satisfaction.
"When the critical moment comes, you're the only one who'll step forward."
As for those so-called allies...
Expecting them to help when things became dangerous?
What a joke.
Ritter rested Black Tide across his shoulder.
At some point, he had already appeared in the sky nearby, blood mist swirling around him.
He casually picked at his ear.
Imu's almost complimentary words didn't impress him in the slightest.
If anything, they made him uncomfortable.
It felt like having a friend who spent years talking about his son, then suddenly one day looked at you and said:
"You're my best friend for life."
At that point, he better be dying.
"Tsk. Cut it out."
"If you got killed by a cheap sneak attack, it'd just create more trouble for me."
His crimson eyes swept across the gathered kings.
"As for them?"
"A bunch of useless deadweights."
"If you relied on them, you'd have died eight hundred times already."
The words landed like slaps across the faces of the royal representatives.
Kings?
Ritter had killed so many kings over the years that he'd long since lost count.
Anyone foolish enough to act tough in front of him was usually sleeping permanently afterward.
Several royal figures looked furious.
Yet none of them could argue.
When Barrett launched his ambush, not a single one had moved.
Some had even secretly hoped that Imu, this difficult ally, would suffer a setback.
Imu wasn't offended in the slightest.
If anything, his tone seemed lighter.
"It appears our cooperation still has room to deepen."
Ritter immediately grinned.
"Not into men. Thanks."
Imu: ???
Several question marks practically appeared above the masked ruler's head.
Ritter ignored him and turned his attention toward Barrett.
The giant's expression had darkened considerably after his failed attack.
Meanwhile, Imu's offensive was becoming increasingly fierce.
"Hurry up and finish your giant metal lump."
Ritter pointed his sword toward Barrett.
"As for that silent knife rack over there..."
"He belongs to me."
"The kings are pretty useless anyway."
Before anyone could respond, blood mist exploded around him.
Ritter transformed into a crimson meteor and shot toward Barrett.
"Come on, you mute!"
"Let's see if that metal box of yours is actually tough enough!"
At the same time, on another part of the battlefield...
Photon Lyseline and Doctor Alpha finally entered the fight.
Lyseline's photon bow vibrated.
Countless arrows of light rained down upon the Allied Army.
Every shot carried enough power to pierce steel.
Meanwhile, Doctor Alpha's floating artillery drones spread throughout the sky.
Each one precisely targeted commanders and powerful officers within the alliance ranks.
If those two were allowed to operate freely, the Allied Army would suffer catastrophic casualties.
Their numerical advantage would become meaningless.
The front line might even collapse entirely.
"Stop them!"
And people seemed to have forgotten something.
The Twenty Kings still had their armies.
From within the royal coalition, orders finally rang out.
The kings all had their own agendas.
But even they understood one thing.
If the front line collapsed, none of them would escape the consequences.
More importantly...
The overwhelming arrogance displayed by the Four Generals of Pilurka had thoroughly enraged them.
These self-proclaimed rulers of the world were not accustomed to being looked down upon.
Boom!
Nearly twenty powerful auras erupted from the royal camp simultaneously.
Of course, anger alone wasn't enough to win battles.
The kings were powerful.
On the seas, each of them would be considered a dominant force.
The problem was that this was the world of One Piece.
Power levels here had brutal divisions.
A Yonko Commander could never defeat a Yonko.
The gap was simply too vast.
Take Ritter as an example.
He could strangle four top-tier Yonko Commanders with one hand.
That was the difference between tiers.
That was the wall separating monsters from everyone else.
A massive king clad in magma armor stepped forward.
With a furious roar, he slammed both fists into the ground.
A tidal wave of molten lava surged forward, devouring and vaporizing much of Lyseline's rain of light.
He was the ruler of a nation famous for volcanoes and forging.
A master of magma itself.
Nearby, a royal woman who controlled storms raised a gemstone-studded staff.
Violent tornadoes erupted from the battlefield.
The winds sought to scatter Alpha's drone formations.
Another king transformed into living lightning.
His speed became a blur.
Holding a spear crackling with thunder, he shot directly toward Doctor Alpha.
...
For a moment, the battlefield descended into chaos.
Elements raged.
Energy exploded.
Haki surged in every direction.
Eighteen royal powerhouses, excluding the Bird Rider who had somehow become Doctor Alpha's strangely sympathetic rival and a few others who still refused to move, unleashed their full strength.
Together, they barely managed to intercept the attacks of Photon Lyseline and Doctor Alpha.
Yet despite their numbers...
The battle was far from one-sided.
The Four Generals of Pilurka showed no sign of being overwhelmed.
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