"Battle Waltz: Overture!"
With the buffs from his tribal gear active, Bonolenov's speed hit the red line. He and Van Augur were blurring across the battlefield, locked in a high-speed game of cat and mouse.
The two were evenly matched, neither giving an inch.
On the other side of the clearing, the fight between Doc Q and Shizuku had turned… weird.
Doc Q unleashed that terrifying plague mist again, following it up by tossing endless volleys of explosive apples.
However…
Shizuku just adjusted her glasses, gripping "Blinky" with both hands like she was doing Sunday chores.
Whoosh.
She vacuumed up everything.
Blinky could inhale anything inorganic as long as Shizuku commanded it. Just as she had sensed earlier, her ability was the ultimate hard counter to Doc Q.
Doc Q threw bombs; Shizuku vacuumed them.
Doc Q released poison; Shizuku vacuumed it.
Eventually, Doc Q collapsed onto his sick horse, completely gassed out, too tired to even bother with her anymore. It was a total stalemate.
---
Meanwhile, Hisoka had engaged Cricket.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Hisoka started his performance.
He was a natural actor. Using "Bungee Gum" to subtly manipulate Cricket's movements, he choreographed a fight that looked incredibly intense from the outside but was actually just him stalling for time.
Robin, however, wasn't so lucky.
Blackbeard—Marshall D. Teach—was charging straight at her with a dark, murderous look in his eyes.
"Six Fleurs: Clutch!"
Robin didn't hold back. Knowing who she was up against, she went full throttle immediately.
Six arms sprouted from Teach's body, locking his joints in an attempt to snap his spine.
"Got him!"
But a split second later, Robin's expression froze.
The corner of Teach's mouth curled up. Darkness erupted from his back, swallowing the extra limbs instantly.
"Darkness consumes everything."
Robin's face fell. She gritted her teeth and multiplied the limbs. Thirty arms… fifty arms… nearly a hundred arms bloomed, clamping down on Teach like a steel vice.
"Eighty Fleurs: Strangle!"
"Weak," Teach scoffed. "These fragile little arms can't hold me, no matter how many you make!"
SNAP.
Black light flashed across Teach's arms. With terrifying brute force, he tore through the hold, snapping several of the conjured limbs.
Robin gasped in pain, the feedback hitting her real body. She quickly dispelled the arms, cold sweat soaking her back.
Teach grinned savagely. He vanished, closing the distance in a blur. His right arm cocked back, aimed squarely at her chest.
But in the next second—
A sandstorm ripped through the air, blasting Teach straight upward into the sky.
Machi slowly materialized in front of Robin, her eyes locked onto the pirate floating above.
"You want to hurt my crewmate right in front of me?"
"Did you ask for my permission?"
Robin stared at her back, stunned. "!!"
THUD.
Teach crashed back down to the ground. But Machi didn't relax her stance.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch—"
Teach picked himself up, dusting off his clothes. "Not bad. That actually hurt. Almost as much as Ace's fire…"
He eyed the swirling dust around her. "Sand and strings, huh?"
"Just as I thought. Terrifying power." Teach's eyes shone with undisguised greed. "So, the Phantom Troupe also has a way to steal Devil Fruit abilities!"
"However~"
His grin widened, revealing missing teeth. "That kind of power can't kill me!"
Pitch-black darkness began to spill out of Teach's body like thick sludge, slowly covering the desert floor Machi had created.
"Black Hole!"
Everything the darkness touched—trees, rocks, even small hills—began to loosen and sink, dragged down into an infinite void.
The sheer scale of the destruction forced everyone else on the battlefield to stop and look.
Machi and Robin's expressions turned grim.
"I've read about this," Robin said urgently, her voice tight. "That's the Dark-Dark Fruit. Darkness is gravity. It swallows everything—even light."
"You can't beat him, Machi. We need to call for backup!"
Machi glanced at her, then slowly shook her head. She turned back to Teach, her eyes burning with stubborn resolve.
"We have to try."
"In the future, Chrollo won't always be there to save us. We have to be strong enough to stand on our own. You can't grow if you don't face monsters."
"It's not just Uvogin and the other fighters..." Machi's gaze was steely. "All of us have this resolve."
"If we cannot become Chrollo's strength..."
"Then our existence has no meaning."
Crack.
A small yellow pill appeared in Machi's hand. She tossed it into her mouth and crushed it between her teeth.
Then—
BOOM!
A violent, chaotic energy erupted from her body.
Her pink hair began to grow wildly, cascading down to the ground and whipping in the wind. Under her collar, veins of sand and thread pulsed beneath her skin. Her eyes turned pitch black, and her aura shifted into a menacing purple hue.
Robin watched in horror, covering her mouth. "What... what is this?!"
She could feel the energy inside Machi exploding like a keg of gunpowder, growing geometrically and becoming dangerously unstable. As a scholar, she knew that wielding power like this demanded a terrible price.
"Why go this far?"
Robin looked at her, confused and lost. Would someone really destroy themselves for a leader? Does that kind of loyalty really exist in this ocean?
"This power is going to tear your body apart... Machi... just what are you..."
Machi didn't have time to explain. She held up three fingers toward Robin.
"Three minutes. I can only hold this form for three minutes. If the enemy isn't dead by then, use the compass to call Chrollo."
With that, Machi turned back to the encroaching darkness.
The sand around her went berserk.
Before everyone's eyes, the sand rose up, condensing into a shape that blocked out the sun. It was a colossus—over three hundred feet tall—a grotesque, terrifying tanuki-like beast made of high-density sand.
It let out a roar that shook the heavens.
"ROAAAAR—!"
[Shukaku: The Sand Demon]
Machi's body was completely encased within the forehead of the sand beast. Her voice echoed out, amplified by the tons of sand around her.
"After getting the Sand-Sand Fruit, I thought about how to take this power to the next level."
"If I can't be strong enough to help Chrollo through talent alone..."
"Then I'll just have to become a monster."
Shukaku raised a hand the size of a building, casting a massive shadow over the battlefield.
With the force of a collapsing mountain, the palm slammed down toward Teach.
Teach looked up, his eyes wide with genuine shock. "You have got to be kidding me!!"
"Let's see if that giant pile of dirt crushes me first, or if I swallow it whole! Zehahahaha!"
Teach didn't back down. He launched himself into the sky, flying straight toward the descending hand.
Robin watched Machi's berserk silhouette and the earth-shattering clash. She gripped the compass tattoo on her wrist tightly.
She hadn't listened to Machi's advice. She had already sent the distress signal to Chrollo the moment Machi took that pill.
Hurry up...
If you don't get here soon, Boss... that girl is going to die trying.