BOOM!
On Sphinx Island, Whitebeard and the Golden Lion were blasted back dozens of meters by a titanic surge of Haki. Their faces were slick with blood, breath coming in ragged gasps as they struggled to stand. These were the heroes of the age, the strongest pirates alive, the men the world called Emperors of the Sea!
Yet here they were, reduced to a wretched state. In stark contrast, Liltotto—the cause of their devastation—bore not a single scratch. She looked exactly as she had at the start. Her Shodai Kitetsu hummed with a confluence of black lightning, swirling flames, and biting frost.
BOOM!
An ice-blue aura erupted from Liltotto. She vanished, executing a strike of god-like speed. She appeared before Whitebeard in a heartbeat. He didn't even have time to swing his blade; he could only trigger his fruit.
CRACK!
The very air shattered. Combined with his brute Haki, the shockwave tore the ground asunder and collapsed a nearby mountain. But he was no match for her. Liltotto's blade cleaved through the vibration itself. She leaped into the air and delivered a kick to Whitebeard's face that launched him hundreds of meters away.
Shiki dove from the sky to intercept her, but Liltotto caught his dual blades with a single bare hand. The slashes that could split gold and mountains didn't even leave a white mark on her skin. Her Conqueror's Haki flared, staggering Shiki, followed by a vacuum slash that struck him squarely in the chest.
"Puh!"
Shiki spat a fountain of blood, hurtling in the same direction as Whitebeard. Newgate caught his former rival, but the momentum dragged them both further back.
Currently, Liltotto possessed the combined attributes of the Five Elders: Houki's absolute defense, Bakotsu's frost and speed, Gyuki's immobilization and toxicity, Itsumade's telekinesis and fire breath, and Sandworm's devouring maw. Topped with the Elders' collective Haki, she was a demonic deity capable of suppressing the two greatest giants of the era simultaneously.
"This brat is a monster!" Shiki wiped blood from his mouth, his voice trembling. "I've never seen anyone this terrifying."
"Her body is a freak of nature," Whitebeard added, blood dripping from his brow. "She's layered Armament and Conqueror's Haki on top of that monstrous constitution. Our attacks aren't even registering."
Houki's defense was already equal to a top-tier master's Haki defense; for Liltotto to layer actual Haki on top of it was a luxury only she—with five Elders fueling her—could afford.
"I don't want to do this, but we have to bet it all on 'Maximum Haki,'" Shiki said grimly.
Maximum Haki was their ultimate trump card, a move that would leave them completely spent. On an island surrounded by the Navy, it was practically a suicide pact. But if they didn't use it, they would die anyway. Shiki couldn't even fly away; Liltotto was faster.
Beltz, you've truly screwed me this time, Shiki thought, though without true malice. No one could have predicted the Government hid a combatant of this caliber.
"Let's do it," Whitebeard growled, gripping Murakumogiri.
WHOOSH!!
With a deep synchronized breath, their Haki exploded outward, condensing into a singular point of focus.
"Oh?" Liltotto didn't press them. She watched with casual interest, her lips curling into a slight smirk. The endless power surging through her gave her a sense of invincibility. She tightened her grip on the Kitetsu, and the blade screamed under the pressure. Fire and ice erupted as her "backup" arrived. She wouldn't dodge; she would meet their desperate strike head-on.
"Bold!" Shiki laughed. "Shishi Odoshi: Kazefuki Ikibukuyan!"
The move he once used against Roger's Maximum Haki reappeared. Shiki soared like a falling star, the howling winds forming a golden lion of friction and heat. Simultaneously, Whitebeard pushed the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to its absolute limit, tearing space itself as he struck alongside Shiki.
"Gakkidō: Goseishō!"
Liltotto met them. The Kitetsu wailed as the powers of the five stars rotated on the blade: Ice, Fire, Poison, Indestructibility, and Devouring.
BOOM!
The collision shattered the entire island of Sphinx. The land mass disintegrated into fragments. The shockwaves radiated for miles, tilting the ocean and carving deep trenches into the seabed. Above, the clouds were simply vaporized.
"Ugh!" "Ack!" "Gah!"
The shockwave blasted all three backward. Despite Liltotto's power, the combined "suicide" strikes of the two kings forced her back. The Haki at the center erupted like a supernova. A massive vibration hit Liltotto's chest, causing her to cough up blood as she was sent flying into the distant horizon.
Whitebeard and Shiki fared slightly better but were equally drained. Their footing was gone; Whitebeard was about to plunge into the sea when Shiki used his final dregs of strength to grab his hand and pull him onto a floating piece of wreckage.
They were fruit users; the sea meant the end. And they had seen Liltotto—definitely a fruit user—plunge straight into the waves.
"You brat..." Shiki lay exhausted next to Whitebeard. "You owe me a massive favor for this."
"Think about how we're getting out of this circle of warships first," Whitebeard panted. He tried to stand, fueled by sheer willpower. But as he did, his eyes went wide with horror.
"Oi..." Shiki started, then saw it too.
A wet hand reached out of the churning ocean, gripping a piece of floating rock. A soaking wet Liltotto leaped out of the water. She was bloodied and scarred, but she was alive.
How?!
How could a fruit user have the strength to jump out of the sea? How could anyone survive that hit?
Then came the truly terrifying part: her wounds began to knit together before their eyes. The damage it took their entire life force to inflict... vanished.
"Impossible," Shiki whispered. To Whitebeard, she no longer looked like a human, or even a monster.
She looked like a God.
"Is this all you've got?" Liltotto stood before them, clean of blood and wounds. "For the record, I haven't even used my full power yet."
She hadn't even touched her Vollständig.
"But you're lucky. I won't kill you." Liltotto walked toward them, her smile mocking. "Demonic Contract: Domi Reversi!"
She extended her hand, and a magical array appeared beneath Whitebeard's feet.