Saint Mars was extremely fast.
Before the situation could develop beyond salvaging, he arrived at the location provided by the Marines and locked onto the human who was punching the Red Line.
Amid thunderous roars was an utterly berserk power of tremors. Under the continuous assault of that inhuman force, a section of the Red Line had already been smashed apart.
An incomparably massive landmass plunged into the sea, directly forming a stretch of land comparable in size to Wano.
Indirectly, it forcibly suppressed more than half of the tsunami Whitebeard had raised. The tremendous mass even pushed back the seawater, forming a violent reverse tsunami.
"So you've finally shown yourselves?"
Whitebeard ignored the dissipating tsunami. Had no one come to stop him, that tsunami would only then have truly served its purpose.
Now that the enemy had appeared, there was no need to waste any more strength on it.
At this moment, he stood atop the enormous fragment—or rather, atop the continent—waiting on the battlefield he had forged with his own hands.
He raised his head. A mass of shadow suddenly appeared overhead.
The giant bird that had arrived without warning had no intention of talking. It immediately dived, transforming into a falling star as it smashed down.
"One of you isn't enough."
Whitebeard coldly swung out a fist. Two types of Haki wrapped around his quake force as he struck.
Pale scars spread through the atmosphere before shattering, unleashing a terrifying impact like a raging tide that collided with the descending giant bird.
The two enormous wings folded together into a shield. When Saint Mars spread his wings again, he tore through the attack.
The freshly formed land was instantly subjected to a cruel flaying. Within dozens of kilometers, the earth was carved with countless wounds by violent gusts of wind.
However, Whitebeard's offensive came extremely fast, one punch after another.
Even though the giant monstrous bird possessed astonishing defense and overwhelming attack power, it still could not truly cope with the serious attacks of one who stood at the world's peak—no, one who should be called the strongest.
"Gyaa!"
Saint Mars let out a strange cry, folding his wings in to protect his head as he withstood Whitebeard's attack and crashed to the ground.
"I'm going to summon them!"
He seemed to be gathering power, then did something.
Whitebeard threw out a punch of quake force and found there was no reaction. Suddenly, he raised his head. Reflected in his eyes were three... no, another one had appeared.
A full four pentagram magic circles appeared in the sky, followed by an intense flash.
Boom—!
A piercing shriek rang out as black lightning split the heavens. Four bolts of black lightning pierced through the sky and crashed down onto the earth.
Amid the roaring explosions, ominous black flames leapt wildly, as if they meant to burn the world itself!
Terrifying pressures with different auras spread out at this moment. Within the black flames, the sources of those auras gradually revealed different yet equally ferocious forms.
As the black flames scattered, the vicious demonic shadows inside were exposed.
Saturn, who had originally been fighting Red Hair at Sphinx but had no choice but to return due to the urgency of the situation, was still in his Hellish Gyūki form. The eight spiderlike legs of his lower body stamped irritably against the ground.
Beside him was an enormous horse—or rather, the bones of a horse.
Its name was Bakotsu, and it was Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro!
In front of the two of them was an incomparably huge insectlike creature, its lower body buried in the ground.
Its wormlike upper body towered into the air, two eyes staring fixedly at the enemy.
This demonic beast form, shaped like a Mongolian death worm, belonged to Saint Shepherd Ju Peter!
On the sandworm's left side, a massive "warthog" appeared, with four tusks and a body covered in spots.
Nearly identical to the legendary divine beast Fengxi, it was the form taken by Saint Topman Warcury.
And in the center of the formation of four enormous monsters was Saint Mars, who had just activated the summoning.
The giant monster he had transformed into also had a name from legend: Itsumade!
With the five of them appearing, an oppressive pressure spread across dozens of kilometers. Overlapping shadows covered Whitebeard's head.
Within the gloomy darkness, four pairs of demonic eyes, along with Saint Mars, all looked toward Whitebeard.
"How exaggerated. As expected, those of you standing at the peak of the world—are all monsters too!"
For the first time, Whitebeard drew Murakumogiri. Two types of Haki wrapped around it as he prepared himself.
His expression had become rarely solemn, because each of the five opponents before him, without exception, gave him the premonition of being troublesome and difficult to handle.
That was the result of what his Observation Haki had detected. It meant the other side absolutely could not be some counterfeit.
According to Ren's calculations, they should belong at the level of Admirals.
As for whether they were Admirals like Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru, or watered-down Admirals, that would have to be verified in actual combat.
"Edward Newgate. You have committed a grave sin."
Saturn said coldly, "You dared attack Mary Geoise. Do you understand what judgment you now face?"
"Gurararara. Sanctions, judgment, and all that can wait until you're capable of carrying them out."
Whitebeard tightened his grip on Murakumogiri. The instant he stomped down, he turned into a streak of light.
He in his prime was nothing like the slow old man of the past.
Blade light arrived together with quake force, slashing straight toward the Five Elders.
"Impudent!"
Still filled with lingering fury, Saturn's eyes suddenly widened. An invisible force transformed into restraints and pressed down on Whitebeard's body.
Suppression!
Whitebeard's forward charge froze.
Roar—!
A sudden roar erupted from Saint Warcury's mouth. Powerful Conqueror's Haki wrapped around the sound waves, transforming into an extremely powerful Conqueror's Haki roar!
The terrifying Conqueror's Haki sound wave slammed directly into Whitebeard as he charged forward with his blade.
After only an instant of deadlock, the sound wave created by Saint Warcury's roar pierced through Whitebeard's body.
The sound wave continued expanding outward, crushing the ground within dozens of kilometers with savage force!
A look of pain crossed Whitebeard's face as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
But this level of injury was still not a problem. The effect of Word Spirit: Don't Die could delay even the footsteps of death.
It was just that the Five Elders coordinated with each other the moment they attacked.
Tap, tap, tap—
A rapid clatter of hooves rang out. Bakotsu, whose appearance resembled a skeletal horse, changed into his hybrid form.
Saint Nusjuro drew Shodai Kitetsu. Dense, heavy dual-colored Haki wrapped around the blade.
Then the four hooves of his lower body accelerated with frantic steps. The distance of roughly one kilometer was crossed by him in an instant.
Several sonic boom rings stretched far behind him, replaced by a slash as swift as lightning that came chopping down face-to-face!
Fortunately, Whitebeard broke free of the restraints in time and raised Murakumogiri to block.
Conqueror's Haki collided with Conqueror's Haki. A dark red sphere of light appeared amid the twisting space, then unleashed an incomparably violent shock wave.
As the swordsman's slash clashed against quake force, sheets of frost condensed from the blade of Shodai Kitetsu and spread forward.
Even the raging storm was dyed with a pale-white hue, as if it were about to be forcibly frozen solid.
"Frost?"
Whitebeard frowned. Quake force erupted from the surface of his body, blasting away the frost along with Saint Nusjuro. That berserk power even erased the aftershocks stirred up by their clash just now.
Just as he was about to move, a burst of blood exploded from his forehead.
The eyes of Hellish Gyūki Saturn were crimson beyond compare. The ability known as Evil Eye was applied to Whitebeard's body.
But immediately, he frowned. Because this technique, which ordinary Marine Headquarters commodores could not resist, seemed to have failed to cause much damage to the enemy.
"Tricks like this aren't enough."
Whitebeard wiped the blood from his forehead and grinned fiercely. He spread both hands, and white halos enveloped his entire body before erupting violently.
Two types of Haki wrapped around quake force, repelling outward in every direction.
Whether it was Itsumade Saint Mars, who had secretly circled into the sky and was preparing to dive down and attack; or the sandworm hiding underground, ready to strike at any moment; or Bakotsu Saint Nusjuro, who had turned around and wanted to attack again—all of them suffered a fierce impact of quake force in that instant. The mirrorlike pale cracks shattered with crackling sounds, and incomparable destruction blasted away everything within dozens of kilometers.
Amid the roaring explosions, the fragment of the Red Line trembled ceaselessly. The indiscriminate quake force nearly tore apart the sandworm underground.
Itsumade Saint Mars was blasted several kilometers away. Only Fengxi Saint Warcury, heavy as a mountain, managed to withstand the attack.
The furious "wild boar" almost ignored the quake-force attack. He lowered his head, tusks turning into blades, and then launched a brutally forceful charge.
In the direction of his charge, Whitebeard, who was likewise striding forward like a meteor, gave a savage grin.
He stomped down with force. The earth instantly shook and rose in waves. Even space seemed to spin and warp as balance itself was destroyed.
Fengxi Saint Warcury instantly veered off course. He instinctively raised his defenses in preparation for the attack.
But his enormous eyes saw the enemy turn into a streak of light and sweep past.
A slash wrapped in a white aura swept toward Saturn with terrifying might.
"Using me as your breakthrough point?"
Saturn sneered and changed into his beast form. His body became as enormous as a giant's.
His arms disappeared, and his eyes became strange, filled with a murderous desire. His lower body swelled, making his eight lower limbs as sharp as blades.
Highly corrosive venom dripped from those sharp legs. The ground stained by the venom was almost instantly corroded away at a terrible cost.
Then those blade-sharp legs, each surpassing famous swords in sharpness, crossed and stabbed forward in a deadly attack!
"Don't look down on me too much."
Whitebeard suddenly threw out a punch. Berserk quake force erupted along with shattered pale scars, forcibly blasting aside the eight incoming sharp legs.
Then he gripped his blade hilt with both hands. Murakumogiri erupted with surging white light and unleashed a blow.
Boom—!
The air twisted. Everywhere the eye could see, the atmosphere was covered in countless cracks.
The ground where Saturn stood, along with the sky behind him, seemed to have become a mirror on the verge of shattering.
Then the mirror broke, and boundless power surged forth.
One-Sword Style: Shattered World!
The earth within dozens of kilometers instantly broke apart. A sky-reaching hurricane rose from the ground, carrying seawater with it.
Under this strike that seemed capable of destroying the world, Saturn, struggling with all his might, was unsurprisingly crushed into dregs.
"One."
Whitebeard turned around with his blade, about to deal with the wild boar charging in from behind. Yet before he could truly make a move, his expression changed and he turned his head.
Within the range of his Observation Haki, within the range of his vision—
Saturn, who had originally been crushed from within, was recovering at astonishing speed—or rather, being repainted.
His method of recovery was not growth. Instead, large amounts of shadow gathered and formed a physical body out of thin air.
The instant he recovered, the vicious light in Saturn's eyes surged. Evil Eye and Suppression were both applied together.
Whitebeard's movements froze for an instant.
Then he was struck head-on by Fengxi Saint Warcury's charge.
(End of Chapter)